Write a one shot based on something that you WISH existed in the Pokémon fandom. This could be a bit of plot from a video game you wish that you could play, a scenario that you wish would happen in the anime, an evolution/mega evolution/alternate form that you wish would be invented, or anything else that uses your imagination to add to or transform the current canon.

(Written by Inuwanforall )

Caroline giggled herself awake as Delcatty's tulip-shaped tail tickled the woman's nose. She gave her Pokémon's back a gentle scratch before getting up, knowing that she had been sleeping in far too often lately. 

Caroline decided to start her afternoon the same way she started her mornings, with a tall glass of iced coffee. She collected ice cubes from the freezer, the chill they placed on her skin shocking her closer into full consciousness, before dropping them into her cup with resounding clink noises.

She grabbed the coffee from the cabinet as well as milk from the fridge, pouring in the steady brown liquid before diffusing it with a splash of the white. Delcatty padded into the kitchen, a jar of sugar perfectly balanced on her head.

Caroline thanked the Prim Pokémon with a smile, stirring in the milk and sugar before taking a satisfying sip. She was finally awake.

She propped open the front door to see the daily newspaper sitting on the welcome mat, already toasty from the bright, warm rays of the sun.

Caroline sat on the sofa and ran her fingers through her hair as she read, her long nails combing through her auburn curls. The very front page perked her interest, and she glimpsed at a photo of none other than her husband and son.

Norman Vs. Brendan! A Stunning Battle Between Father And Son!, the headline read. Caroline read the article with a steady smile, a rush of pride filling her chest as she learned that Brendan went on to win his sixth badge. The article ended with the speculation that the boy would go on to have even more victories, something Caroline was absolutely certain her talented son would.

She then glanced at the frames resting on the shelf, depicting a time when her family was still quite young and when there was always something exciting going on in the house. Although she yearned for those days, she knew it was unrealistic to expect both Norman and Brendan to be back at home at the exact same time. After all, Norman was always busy dealing with challengers at the Petalburg Gym, and Brendan was off completing his journey.

Caroline grabbed her drink from the coffee table and took a few more sips before the phone rang. Her heart launched into the air, and she quickly leaped from her seat to answer it. But it was a woman's voice that she heard.

"Caroline, are you ready for the meeting?" She recognized the voice to be that of her good friend, Colleen, and just then did the memory of their planned meeting pop into mind.

"Um, yes!" Caroline quickly nodded, even though she knew Colleen wouldn't be able to see it. "I'm on my way!"

***

Caroline closed the door behind her, Colleen and the others already sitting at the round metal table.

"Did you read the paper today?"

Caroline nodded as she squinted in search for the shape of her chair, finally finding it and sitting down with a sigh. Her friend's basement was exceptionally dark for a room where all their discussions took place.

Teresa slid part of a newspaper across the table and waited for Caroline to read, tapping her fingers along the metal surface. The woman peered down at it with eyes like a Skitty's until Brooke turned on a flashlight.

Recent Statement Regarding A Mother's Place Sparks Considerable Controversy, it read.

Teresa's finger taps grew louder, and behind the flashlight's glare Caroline could see the older woman's eyebrows twitching with irritation.

"So what do you make of this mess?"

Caroline began skimming through the supposedly controversial article, a frown dragging her lips as she read the first sentence.

"Who's going to take care of those hungry husbands and needy children if Mommy's not home?"

Colleen took the liberty of giving a basic summary, her hands slowly folding together. "People have started to question our campaign. This here is an example of one article out of many demonizing Free Moms." She then batted her eyelashes, her voice becoming saccharinely sweet. "After all, where would families be without their precious moms?"

Brooke snorted. "Traveling the world, of course, while we stay at home."

She then leaned into the table, tossing her long black ponytail over her shoulder. "If you take a look at surveys and statistics, you'll find that League challengers are getting younger by the year. One kid from Johto even managed to become runner-up at just eleven years old!" Brooke crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair, a content smile marking her lips as if the silence she was greeted with was clear proof that she was right. "I say it's more than obvious that kids don't really need their mothers after a certain age."

Colleen slowly nodded, the newspaper article dangling from her hands. "It's really just propaganda," she began as the paper between her fingers started to crinkle, "and I know for a fact that May's not out there starving just because I'm not with her."

Caroline watched the puzzle pieces slowly being put together, but unease gripped her as she had no idea of what those pieces were creating. Her eyes lingered on the paper in her friend's hands. While she didn't agree with the words printed on them, something stopped her from outright protesting like the rest of her friends.

"People just expect us to stay cooped up inside like that's the only thing we've done our entire lives." Teresa shook her head, the solid clap of her heels now beginning to sound against the wooden floor. "I swear, at some point in time all your achievements in life become practically non-existent."

"Unless," Brooke pointed out, "that achievement is having a Champion for a kid. If you ask me, the merit in being a mom these days comes from marrying someone famous, and later giving birth to someone even more famous." Her gaze shifted from Colleen to Caroline, both women saying nothing in response.

Teresa sighed. "As for spreading our campaign, we've tried getting the other mothers in town to hear us out, but they just think we're radical." She massaged her temple as if slowly attempting to ease out her frustrations. "It's as if not being one-hundred percent with them is the same as being one-hundred percent against."

"What do you think, Carol?" Caroline jumped at the focus suddenly being shifted to her. All three women were staring at her expectantly. In all honesty, she had no clue what to say. They couldn't force mothers to do something they didn't want to do—that was the exact kind of thing Free Moms protested! But she didn't know how to properly convince anyone, either. She didn't even quite feel entirely convinced herself.

"I—I don't know," she stuttered, staring down at her hands as she folded them tightly in her lap.

"That's alright," Colleen said, the sound of disappointment fresh in her voice.

Caroline felt her face flush with shame. She wasn't particularly helpful during meetings, her indecisive nature something she loathed.

Brooke sighed, and Caroline could hear her pulling her purse over her shoulders. "We'll sort this out next time." She then glanced down at the woman. "I'm sure you'll sort this out, too."

Caroline was the last of the four to leave, the doubt lapping at her heart making her wonder if sorting everything out was even possible.

***

Caroline wandered around the house, keen for any sight of dust despite the fact that thanks to her, everything was always clean. She would sometimes even purposely dirty things herself just to have something to tidy up, a way to keep busy in an otherwise droll day.

She slowly walked past a spotless shelf of photos, where she saw frame after frame of her family throughout the years, a timeline of precious memories. On the far left she saw photos of just her and Skitty, both as lively as they were inexperienced. Caroline compared that life to the current one they now lived.

She didn't necessarily despise her lifestyle, but more often than not she found herself yearning for something more. Magazines would call this feeling a mid-life crisis, but all Caroline truly desired was to accomplish something that would show she had actually been living all this time. A mark, and not in the way that conceiving Brendan was a mark. Something like a blemish attached to her skin, something utterly unique to herself. Something that belonged only to herself.

Was that a selfish desire? Or was it only selfish because for the first time in a long time, Caroline was thinking solely of and for herself?

She then thought of her group, and how she had never been able to decide where she truly stood.

The answer should be obvious, but at the same time it's not.

Caroline sighed, rubbing at the precious photo's wooden frame. She would have plenty of time to think and sort out her feelings during the next meeting. She would only give herself a headache if she troubled herself with such thoughts now.

Eyeing the sofa, Caroline sat beside Delcatty before grabbing the remote and awakening the television with one click. The purple-and-cream feline trilled a late greeting as she stretched, her long ears rubbing against her owner's thigh.

The lively trumpets of a beginning battle blared from the screen, and Caroline watched with widening eyes.

On one side of the battlefield was a tall man and his Camerupt, and on the other side was a young girl standing behind a Delcatty. Caroline's Delcatty meowed at the screen, while Caroline felt particularly intrigued by the girl, who reminded her of herself when she was younger and battling alongside her own Pokémon.

As the battle began, the man was the first to command an attack. His Camerupt bellowed as it reared its bulky body into the air, its large hooves colliding with the ground until it surrendered an enormous tremble.

Their opponents remained calm, and the nimble-legged Delcatty carefully pranced alongside the battlefield, retaining perfect balance against the Magnitude.

"And it looks like Stephanie and Delcatty have taken control! But what's this? Roger and Camerupt are beginning to launch a fiery attack!" The show's host narrated every moment of the battle, her jaunty voice invigorating not only everyone in the stadium, but Caroline as well.

Stephanie's Delcatty quickly strode across the battlefield, her front paw radiating with dark energy.

As her eyes glued themselves to the screen, Caroline found her own lips emulating the host's, and what started out as quiet whispers soon grew into merry cries.

"Delcatty's Sucker Punch takes Camerupt by complete surprise!" the host announced.

"Caroline and Delcatty have taken the lead!" Caroline shouted.

Soon tremendous cheers filled the woman's ears, and she was no longer just seeing a battle—she was living it.

She could hear her own spirited cries as she commanded attack after attack, she could see her and her partner acting in total sync, and she could feel the mesmerizing rush that set her soul ablaze everytime she set foot on a battlefield.

Realizing she was standing, Caroline broke away from her daydream and fell back into her seat, her jagged breathing heavy and her heartbeat speeding as if she had just finished running a marathon. She glanced down at Delcatty, whose gray eyes were bright and shimmery as if they'd been absorbing starlight.

Caroline closed her own, and when she did she could see the younger version of herself. But when she opened them, that energetic girl somehow disappeared as if she'd never existed in the first place.

The auburn-haired woman sighed, her eyes trailing back to the photos lined along the shelf.

She knew that nobody really needed her now, not when they could take care of themselves and were too far away to even see her. And that bothered her, in more ways than she could express, in ways she did despise.

She was supposed to be needed. That was the role society expected of her. She was supposed to be somebody's something, but why did that mean she had to stop simply being for herself?

But she knew that the spark from her past had to be alive somewhere inside her, and twenty years of dormancy couldn't have changed that. A fiery adrenaline ran through her veins, frightening and encouraging all at once, and with it Caroline took to the phone.

It wasn't long until Colleen picked up. "Hello?"

"Call up the others," Caroline said. "I'm ready."

***

Caroline took her seat in the brightly-lit room, glad that she hadn't been the only one bothered by its prior dimness.

Colleen crossed her arms, her face hardened with determination. "I think it's safe to say that Free Moms no longer cares about criticism."

"So we're finally setting forth our plan," Teresa added. "Me and Brooke will form one team, while Caroline and Colleen travel together."

Caroline nodded accordingly, feeling the shape of Delcatty's pokéball in her skirt pocket. She knew other people might find the group's course of action distasteful, but she had realized that it wasn't about what others thought. She and her friends knew what was best for their futures, and they would be the ones she would put her faith in. And maybe sometime along the way, they would gain the faith of other women as well.

"For those of you that have released your past Pokémon," Colleen began, "Birch should deliver a few from the lab. Since he's finished examining them, they should be completely free for the taking."

"Awesome!" Brooke did a little dance in her seat, but paused as a quizzical expression appeared on her face. "By the way, where is that husband of yours?"

Colleen's eyes widened, and the brunette then groaned. "Probably got caught up doing field work again. I'll—"

"I'll get him!" Caroline sprang out of her seat, feeling far too excited to sit around and wait.

As she followed the path to the outskirts of Littleroot Town, Caroline took out Delcatty's pokéball and grinned. "We'll really be going on another adventure, Delcatty!" she gushed. "I can't wait!"

The ground's clear path soon gave way to fresh grass, and Caroline could smell the signature aroma of nature that marked Route 101. She kept her eyes peeled for any sight of Professor Birch, knowing that the man's extensive research could carry him deep into the tall grass.

She then heard a startling yelp and quickened her pace until she finally located the man. However, Professor Birch wasn't conducting research at all—he was running.

Caroline failed to fight back a chuckle as Birch's stocky figure ran in circles, but her laughter soon dissipated when she caught sight of a menacing Mightyena quick on the professor's heels.

"Caroline!" Professor Birch exclaimed, his face drenched in sweat. "Thank goodness you're here! Help me!"

At first Caroline stood frozen in shock. Now that a battle had fallen right into her lap, she had no clue what to do! But then the pokéball in her hand began shaking violently, and in a huge and sudden burst of light, Delcatty emerged. The Prim Pokémon's fur was standing on end, her tail lashing from side to side as she readied herself for combat.

The ice in her blood turning to fire, Caroline took on a battling stance, her hands clenched into fists and her eyes on the Mightyena, who had stopped chasing Birch to face his courageous saviors. There was no time for worrying now—they had to fight.

Mightyena growled before throwing its head back, a loud howl erupting from its massive jaws. It brought its crimson gaze back to Delcatty, its long silvery claws raking the ground.

Caroline pointed at the gray-and-black beast. "Delcatty, use Double Slap!"

Delcatty rushed forward, her tail glowing white as she prepared to use it. Whirling her body around, she launched the tulip-shaped appendage forward.

However, Mightyena's fangs took on a similar gleam, and in a single rush it pushed its head forward and snagged Delcatty's tail between its teeth.

Delcatty screeched, her body convulsing with pain as she tried to free herself from Mightyena's grip. Caroline felt a spike of fear pierce through her skin like a knife, but she wiped the cold sweat pooling on her forehead and scanned her mind for any possible opening.

Her gaze then fell to a patch of ground free from grass, and she quickly figured out what to do. "Delcatty, use that dirt on Mightyena and break free!"

"Mrow!" Delcatty swiped at the patch of dirt and hurled a brown cloud over her shoulder all while shielding her face, and Mightyena reared itself away with a pained whine as its eyes squeezed shut.

"Double Slap!" Delcatty darted to her foe's side, her paws shooting forward with unmatched swiftness. Mightenya yelped as the feline's paws collided with each side of its body with a steady rhythm that refused to break.

"Now use Iron Tail!" Before Caroline even issued the command, Delcatty flipped backwards and hardened her tail, aiming a steel-hard attack at Mightyena's muzzle.

Mightyena yowled as it staggered backwards, and when its eyes finally blinked open, all its feisty hostility was gone. Instead, the Bite Pokémon whirled around and fled with its black tail lowered between its legs.

A sharp sense of victory patting her on the back, Caroline turned to Birch, who was sitting on the ground panting. She held out her hand to help the exhausted Professor to his feet, and he shot her a grin loaded with gratitude.

"Thank you for saving me, Caroline," he said. "I didn't know you had that in you."

"Neither did I." She smiled at her partner, whose chest was puffed out with pride despite her matted fur being covered in dirt and scratches.

"Awe, Rattatas." Birch scratched his head, a guilty look dominating his expression. "The meeting is today, isn't it?"

"Back to the lab?" Caroline offered.

"You got it." The two began walking, and Birch glanced over his shoulder. "At first I was kinda worried about you all traveling again, but after that battle I think you've definitely got what it takes."

Me too.

Caroline giddily followed the professor back to his lab, adding pep to her step and skipping as though she were ten again. She felt ten again.

The inhibitions that had previously held her back were now as weak as the light summer breeze that feebly blew over the town. And so long as she had her partner by her side, she could accomplish anything.

She stopped daydreaming about her past adventures and began imagining the new adventures that were in store for the brave women of Free Moms. She also no longer felt as though she were outright violating tradition. After all, she wasn't destroying a status quo—she was redefining it.