literature

How I'd Rather Learn

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"H—hey! Lolly, no splashing in the tub!"

Ryoshi laughed as he brushed some of the spilt suds from his tunic. It was a regular cleaning day in the Apirana Sumiura household, which of course meant both of the twins were playing in the washtub while Amy and Ryoshi tried to rinse them. And it always seemed to go the same way: both of them would quickly become bored with sitting still and start crawling from side to side and splashing one another until their parents managed to finish bathing them.

As the older Mawile managed to grab his daughter and get her settled back down, he had to turn to his wife and chuckle. "The kids really like the water, huh? Lolly especially. Haha, maybe we should have gotten a bigger tub for them to play in!"

"Yeah, no kidding!" The Jigglypuff already had her hands full trying to wipe all the water that had splashed out of the tub with all the spare towels they had. "If only we could fit a bigger tub in this tiny house. But you know? There's a lot more water where that came from!" she added, smirking at him.

Lolly laughed. "Splashy splash!" she chirped, still trying to splash more water at Ichiro.

"Splosh!" Ichiro squealed as he less successively tried to throw some of the soap foam back at her.

"More water…?" Ryoshi had to think about what Amy meant for a moment, but once he understood what she was getting at, he flashed an equally devious grin back to her. "Oh yeah, at the river~. Hm... You know, it might be about time to try and teach them to swim. They're both starting to get to the age where they could run off on their own. Last thing that we would need is for them to escape when Mom and Dad are watching them and fall in the ocean."

He shivered slightly at the thought. Ugh, just thinking of them drowning was enough to make him paranoid. He leaned back over the tub, patting Lolly's head. "I mean, she's probably kinda buoyant like you, but... Ichiro isn't. And something could still happen to Lolly either way..."

"...That's a good point." Amy nodded. "Lolly especially is starting to be able to run around pretty far outside. And besides, everyone in the tribe always says that you should learn how to swim when you're young, or else it'll be harder later on. But at the same time, I feel like we have to make sure they can actually swim...hm...Oh, I know!"

She walked up to him and patted his back. "Maybe tomorrow, we can teach them how to swim! It's pretty hot outside nowadays, so we might as well. Plus, we could bring your mom to help us out. If there's anyone who's a master of water, it's her~."

"Right! My mom is the only Water-type in the family. At least, the only one not back at the Dragon Palace..."

He chuckled again, but he felt like there was an idea on the tip of his mind. One that had flashed through when Amy patted his back. His pouch had jingled...

"Oh!" He exclaimed excitedly before reaching under his tunic and dredging out his bandanna pouch of various items. A quick fish through it revealed a bright blue, teardrop shaped scale. "What about our Aqua Scales? They let the holder float, right? If the kids will hold them in the river, we can focus on showing them the strokes and not worry that they'll sink!"

"Oh...!" Amy rummaged through her special items chest in the bookcase and grabbed a similar looking scale. "Yeah, you're right! Lolly will probably be okay since she's an Igglybuff, but I think it might help, just in case. I know it'll really help Ichiro." She whistled. "Wow. And here I almost forgot about these since we rarely use these things..."

"Yeah, I don't even use my Ruby Scale now that I took it off my necklace..." The Mawile instinctively reached up for the collar, rubbing the Mawilite stone now implanted in the spot where said scale use to sit.

He glanced back at the two children still playing around in the tub. "Maybe she won't, but I'd say it's better we start off safe... Alright, tomorrow we strap these bad boys on the kids, go get my mom, and head for the river!"

"Yeah!"

Amy then ran up to her kids and gently pulled Lolly away from Ichiro. "All right, kids, that's enough for today! But I sure hope you're excited for tomorrow, because that's when we'll go swimming~."

"Yaaaaay! Swimming!" Lolly giggled and splashed some more.



And so it was that the next day rolled around quite quickly. By the time it was high noon, everyone had eaten their lunch and gathered the small assortment of items they needed for the day before making the short trip over to Ryoshi's parents' tent. Umei was thrilled to be invited to the event and happily took the chance to help her grandchildren learn to swim. With another short hike through the woods, Amy and Ryoshi finally found the river from which they always retrieved their water and began to make some final preparations.

Ryoshi gently ran his hand through his son's hair. "This is the river, Ichiro. It's full of water just like your tub, but it's a looot bigger. Mommy and Daddy are going to let you and sis play in there today. Sound like fun?"

"River big..." The tinier Mawile gasped in awe.

Lolly squealed and rushed forward. "Giant bath!!" she squealed, leaping right in and splashing around.

"Whoa, whoa, Lolly...!" Amy used Psychic to drag Lolly back so she wouldn't drown herself. "Yes, it is a giant bath! But you can't just rush in there like that, okay? Even if you can float, you might still accidentally drown, especially if you fall face first and can't get up! Now you don't want that, okay?"

"Aww..." The little Igglybuff seemed crestfallen. Though it was clear that she still couldn't quite understand every word her mother was saying, she did understand enough of it, but still wanted to try, as if wanting to show her that she wouldn't drown after all.

"Yes, dearie, for water is both the gentlest and most powerful forces in the world~." Umei lightly hummed to both of the girls. "That's why we have to be careful with it! I'm a Water-type, and even I still have things to look out for."

Ryoshi quickly trodden up behind the group, carrying not just Ichiro but both of the Aqua Scales too. He stood his son up beside his mom before handing one scale to each child. "Here, these are some very special items from Mommy and Daddy's personal collection. You have to hold on to them really tightly, okay? Think you can do that?"

“Yeah!” Eager to please her daddy, Lolly took one of the scales and stared at it. "Oooh, shiny~."

"Yes, it's very shiny!" Ryoshi laughed.

Ichiro slowly grabbed the other scale and twiddled it around in his tiny hands. He stared at it quietly, but Ryoshi knew that all that focus was his way of showing something's importance to him.

"These will help you stay above the water while you’re out there. Very important to hold!" The older Mawile stressed again.

"Very important!" The little Igglybuff nodded. To demonstrate her point, she clenched it in her tiny hands and held it at tightly as possible; which looked so cute that it made Amy laugh.

"All right, all right. Is everyone ready now?" she asked, recovering from laughter.

"Ye!" Ichiro squeaked, holding his scale high above his head.

Ryoshi and Umei both laughed too. When they managed to stop, the elderly Vaporeon hopped in the river. "You can help the kids get in, dearies. I'll make sure they don't run off or get swept away."

"All right." Amy nodded at Umei before turning to Ryoshi. "You can help Ichiro out. I'll make sure Lolly stays upright, myself. Is that okay?"

"That's alright." He nodded. "After all, we know their body types better and how they should swim."

Ryoshi grabbed underneath his son's arms, gently hoisting him up and down into the water, where he sat him down until the scale took effect and the smaller Mawile began to bob softly on the water's surface.

"Ooh..." Ichiro murmured excitedly at the sensation of floating, something he had never been able to do unlike his sister.

Amy also helped Lolly into the water, where the little Igglybuff started to float, and even with the scale's power, it didn't seem to cause much of a difference from how she always floated in the bathtub.

"Whee~" It didn't stop Lolly from enjoying it, though.

"All righty. First up, Lolly, you'll want to orient yourself like this~." Amy then paddled up to Lolly and made sure her head was positioned just above the water, just like her. "Ichiro, you too."

"Right!" Ryoshi helped him get into a more correct position, with his head held high above the surface and his body straight down. "Just like in the tub, your head should stay above the water. We can't breathe under there, so it's best just to not stick our heads under."

Ichiro stared down at the water's surface with a tilted head before slapping it gently with the scale held tightly in his hands. Ryoshi was pretty sure that the little guy didn't understand quite every word of that, he could be pretty sure he would understand not to stick his face under the surface.

When he was convinced Ichiro was staying upright, Ryoshi let go of his son and let the tiny Mawile bob on his own, allowing him to get a feel for what floating was like in such a large and open body of water. Ryoshi was quite impressed; for his first time in anything larger than a bath tub, Ichiro seemed to be quite calm in the water. He at least certainly wasn't flailing around.

"Okay Ichiro, we're going to work on the movements you have to do to swim. You can't use the scale forever." Ryoshi rubbed his head after the youngest had been floating for a while.

"S-swim!" Ichiro giggled.



Over the course of the remainder of the day, both of the parents showed off proper swimming etiquette and techniques to the twins. They were pretty fast learners, picking up most of the moves within a few assisted tutorials. By the end of the it all, both were capable of swimming from their parents all the way across the river to Umei, and back again with good success. The only problem that ever arose was Lolly getting a tad too excited and trying to swim further down river, a problem quickly solved by Umei's hasty speed in the water.

The sun was just beginning to dip lower than the treeline as Ryoshi and Amy helped their kids out of the river. Everyone was pretty exhausted after a whole day of activities, the kids especially. As Ryoshi helped Lolly towel off, he looked over to his wife with a grin.

"I think this has been a rather good day! The kids seemed to enjoy it at least."

Amy nodded and smiled back, carrying Ichiro. "They definitely did! They both did so well and learned a lot. I think they'll be more or less okay now even if they happen to accidentally fall in something."

She sighed and snuggled up with him. "I really am glad, though, that we're helping them to learn at their own pace. Not that I'm complaining or anything, but I feel like I probably would like it a lot more if I had the same opportunity back then~. What about you, honey?"

He nodded. "I can totally agree. Doing things at your own pace is one of the best ways to implant them into your head, since you're less likelyto remember things you don't want to do."

"Own pace..." Ichiro said drowzily.

Amy then noticed that the little Mawile was getting tired and rocked him back and forth gently. "Aww, you getting tired, Ichiro?"

"Ye..." The little guy yawned squeakily before burrowing his head into the Jigglypuff's chest.

Ryoshi laughed. "They've both been playing like crazy today, I would be tired if I was in their shoes too."

"Yeah. It's getting pretty late, too," said Amy, taking note of the sun's position. "We should be getting back."

She then turned to the elderly Vaporeon. "Oh yeah, Umei! Thanks for all your help. I was really worried for a moment about Lolly there~."

"It was really no problem dearie~." She purred from behind the group. "It was a pleasure seeing my precious little grandchildren take to the water so well! Why, if I didn't know better, I'd think they were water types too~."

"They certainly seem to enjoy swimming as much as fish, haha!" Ryoshi chuckled. "If we ever do this again this year, we'll definitly come invite you. Come on, let's get you home."

"Thank you dearie." She smiled.

When Umei was brought home, the two headed home before the sky turned completely dark. Both Lolly and Ichiro were so tuckered out by the time they got home that Amy and Ryoshi put them to bed immediately, with a smile on both of their faces. It really was true what Amy had said; the best way to learn was at one's own pace.

Featuring Amy-the-Jigglypuff's Amy Apirana the Jigglypuff and ChicoChikorita's Ryoshi Sumiura the Mawile
Amy Apirana Sumiura - Pokemon of Avalon Member App by Amy-the-Jigglypuff Ryoshi Apirana Sumiura - Pokemon of Avalon App. by ChicoChikorita

Table of Contents for Amy Apirana: fav.me/d6zquvw
Table of Contents for Ryoshi Sumiura: fav.me/d67tvml

Summary: While the kids are taking a routine bath, Amy and Ryoshi decide it might be high time they learn to swim, in case they run off and fall in some water. With a little help from Umei and Aqua Scales, they show Ichiro and Lolly the proper way to handle deep water.


This was one of the RP ideas I had here at the end when Amy was running out of ideas. (Just so you know, Amy usually thought of RP ideas because she preferred it that way.) This is the last sort of 'pointless' RP we have planned (that meaning, just an RP that doesn't effect the storyline in a big way.), all that remains is Mission 4 and a final wrap up. I hope you enjoy tihs, and are looking forward to the last of what we've got planned!

:star: Words: 2256 = 2250 cressents :star:
© 2014 - 2024 Mosshrooms
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MegaLCRO's avatar
Gonna be weird without the adorable family all together, no?

Nice work, though!