Mihara Rinxue still sat in the corner of the bed in her pajamas, her gaze blank and hollow, negativity radiating from her entire body. Worse, she kept muttering under her breath, leaving the fully dressed Mewa and Dawn exchanging helpless looks.
Mewa held a cute Skitty hair clip, about to tie her hair into twin ponytails, but now she felt awkward, as though this wasn't the time. "Dawn, what do we do? I don't know how to comfort people."
She was very good at being sharp-tongued, though. When someone was this depressed, she usually suggested they write a will first.
Dawn exchanged a look with the Piplup in her arms.
"Piplup..."
"Pip!!"
Piplup leaped down and landed steadily, then patted its chest with a sky-blue wing, holding its head high. "Pip!"
?(?)?
Leave this sort of thing to me!
Under Dawn's sparkling gaze and Mewa's awkward smile as she rubbed her face, Piplup pattered over to Mihara Rinxue, who looked as though she were cursing someone. First, it held a sky-blue wing in front of its beak and coughed, then rested that wing on Rinsetsu's shoulder and patted it twice. "Pip, Piplup..."
Piplup closed its eyes, marveling at itself. How am I so perfect? I can dance, fight, and even comfort people. A Trainer must have accumulated blessings over several lifetimes to get such a trouble-free starter Pokémon...
As it thought this, it glanced sideways at Rinsetsu, who seemed to have calmed down a little. With Eevee trembling behind a pillow and peeking out, it thumped its own chest. "Pip, Piplup!"
It's fine. It's fine.
That was all it had been expressing from the start. She probably couldn't understand it anyway, so getting the sentiment across was enough.
However...
"It's... fine?"
A halting voice rang out, making Eevee's fur stand