Silence lingered on the phone call just a second too long to be comfortable. "You're serious, aren't you?" asked the recipient.
"I wouldn't be asking you if I wasn't," came the answer from the other end. It was a foolish question to have asked, really. The two of them had known one another for half their lives by this point. "Jet's given me a huge thumbs up for her, and that's a heck of a commendation. A championship caliber athlete, and Roisin was keeping up with them, I can't think of too many folks that could pull that off."
Another pause. A brief respite for the Charizard to search through the jagged interior of his mind for the right way to explain his situation. "Rocky..." he began, staring out from the window toward the horizon, a thick gray overcast canvas muting the otherwise idyllic view. "Ever since I moved to Canalave, I've done everything I can to take care of Roisin, and if there was anybody else that I would want looking after her while she was doing this, it would be you." He took a moment, trying to dredge up the words he needed. "But you're asking me to sign a document saying I'm happy to give up my daughter's safety. And I don't know if I can do that."
"I get that, Andy, I really do," the Golem empathized through the mild buzz of the phone. "And I wouldn't want anyone else to be looking after your daughter while she was doing this either. You've told me how much she means to you so many times over the past 20 years or so, I know..." Now it was his turn to search for the right words. "...the weight of what I'm asking you to trust me with, but you wouldn't be giving that up here." Rocky continued, trying his best to reassure the Charizard. "You'd just be handing that responsibility over to me, and I'll be the one keeping her safe."
The Charizard once again fell quiet for a spell. He and Rocky had fought one another countless times over their careers back in Kanto. He trusted Rocky more than anyone when it came to fighting. Even after he had been forced into retirement and relocated to Sinnoh, Rocky had moved there himself just one year later, transitioning into a more managerial role, stewarding the burgeoning careers of many an aspiring fighter in the region, some of whom had already made it all the way to the national championship tournament.
But while the Golem had been able to take care of dozens of folks all at once, the Charizard had only had to take care of one. The most precious one he had.
And she was already gone.
It was Rocky who piped up to break the silence. "I'll give you a little more time to think it over if you need to," he began, "and I'll-"
"No, no, that's..." Andy interrupted him. "That's fine, it's just that......I made a promise. A promise to her, and a promise to myself." His gaze fell from the seascape outside to the desk in front of him, only the dull light from outside washing over it. "But you're right."
A deep breath, a reluctant sigh, and the final resignation from the Charizard. "Bring the forms over, and I'll sign it off."
"Okay, Andy, no problem at all," Rocky replied calmly. "I can be there later this evening, if that works for you?"
"As soon as possible," came the swift reply.
"Can do," said the Golem. "I'll see you then, Ace, take care of yourself. And thank you."
The Charizard could only manage a hushed whisper of a response. "You too."
A tap of the screen severed the call, the phone was placed on the table in front of him, and Andy was left hunched over, head in hands, mulling over the decision he had just made. Always, he had been adamant that Roisin would come before anything else. Always, he had been adamant that she wouldn't follow the same path he had. Until now.
A third, comforting voice moved into the picture, along with an ever reassuring hand on his shoulder, as it had so many times in the past. "Andrew..."
He didn't even raise his head to acknowledge her. "...I promised, Tricia...I promised I'd keep her safe..."
His wife nodded solemnly. "Andrew, I know how hard this is for you," she told him, "but you did. You kept her safe for as long as you had to. All while she was growing up, through both of her evolutions, you did everything you could. We both did, and now Roisin's strong enough to make it on her own."
The Charizard's hand made its way on top of the Altaria's, and stayed there. Holding onto the woman who could given him all the strength in the world whenever he needed it the most. And gently, Tricia's hand cradled itself into his.
