The Spinda Café was once a small time establishment working quite literally underneath a rock. However, thanks to Spinda's wonderful Berry drinks and Wobbuffet and Wynaut's extremely useful Recycle Center, the Spinda Café soon became a very popular stop for explorers over time. And as more explorers stopped by, the more they talked about it on their travels with other Pokémon. And before long, it became almost as well known as the Wigglytuff Guild itself.

Soon, thereafter, more Pokémon wanted to open up shop nearby the famous establishment. First, a Gulpin opened a service for getting rid of rotten food and Berries that wouldn't be accepted by the Recycle Center. Then a Smeargle opened an art gallery, and then a Mareep and Leavanny pair opened a clothing boutique. Even a Kirlia who had a hidden service within certain mystery dungeons opened up shop here. Soon enough, the Spinda Plaza was born, named after the ambitious Pokémon that started it all, a place where various Pokémon could come together and share their wares and services, whatever they may be.

But, of course, the main attraction of the plaza is, and most likely always will be, Spinda's Café, which has become a Combee-hive of activity nowadays. Especially after the discovery of a new type of drink, one that Spinda had discovered purely by accident by leaving an Oran Berry concoction out in the sun too long, one that had a strange taste, and left Pokémon feeling rather dizzy after consuming too much of it. A drink that Pokémon have begun calling "Spinda's Berry Spindles."

It was this particular drink that Leonidas was currently drinking at Spinda's Juice Bar, in an attempt to try to lessen the impact of what had happened earlier. He couldn't believe that his son, Leon, would be caught up in the middle of something so...big. And when he heard that he had actually fought a couple of bandits in a battle, he just couldn't-

Leonidas shook his head. He held up his glass and said, slightly slurring his words, "Another Spinda Spindle, please!"

Soon, a Pokémon seemingly stumbled over to the Kecleon. She was a small rabbit-like Pokémon about the same height as Leonidas. She had white fur except for the red spots covering her right eye, her left cheek, the left side of her chest, and on her back by her tail. Her eyes also appeared as swirls instead of actual eyes. The silly smile on her face slowly faded as she saw who called her.

"Oh, Leo," she said, sounding concerned despite her cheery voice, "Again? This is your fourth glass. I'm sorry, but I think if I serve you any more, you might look like a Spinda yourself on your way home. If you could even find your way there."

Leonidas looked up at her, glaring. "Don't call me by that name! Nobody has called me that since-" He cut himself off, as he didn't want to say it, even though both of them certainly knew what he was about to blurt out. "Sorry about that. I'll be fine," he said, a little calmer, "Just get me another glass, will you, Carmen?"

The Spinda sighed. She had only worked at the Spinda Juice Bar for about half a year, ever since the original Spinda retired since he had made enough money, but she had always made it a point to be friendly with everyone who came into the café, even going as far as learning the names and getting to know everyone in town, and even some of the Pokémon who were just passing through. And she couldn't bear to see anyone looking down.

She looked over to another Spinda who was talking to a pretty Kirlia and Gothorita pair at a nearby table. "Preston!" she called out.

The Spinda turned around and looked at her. "Yes, Mom?"

"Could you please take over serving the drinks for a minute?"

"Sure thing!" As soon as he said this, however, Preston immediately turned his attention back to the girls in front of him. He said something to them quietly so no one could hear him, and the two of them suddenly burst out into a giggling fit.

Despite the fact that Preston basically ignored his mother completely, Carmen seemed satisfied enough to grab a glass and fill it with some MooMoo Milk, before she wobbled out of the bar area, keeping the glass perfectly balanced all the while, and took a seat next to Leonidas. Taking a sip from the glass after she settled, she suddenly appeared rather serious as she said, "I heard what happened today at the square."

Leonidas sighed. "Oh, you did, huh? Of course you did. You basically know all the gossip that goes around this town."

Carmen looked at Leonidas, a serious expressing on her face. "I think it's a little more than just simple gossip. I know that you only come here and drink this much of the Spindles when you have a serious argument with Leon. And from what I heard, it was a pretty big argument."

Leonidas remained quiet. Carmen reached an arm over and place it on the elder Kecleon's shoulder. "You know you can tell me what's on your mind. I'm starting to think that maybe, just possibly, that's the reason you keep coming here, right? Or are my Spindles really that amazing?"

Leonidas jerked his shoulder away, which Carmen immediately let go of, and was starting to get out of his seat. However, after a moment of consideration, he sighed sadly and sat back down. "It's just...he just has so much of Kiera in him."

Satisfied that he was finally starting to talk to her, Carmen smiled, "Well, she was a very big part of his life. I think it's pretty natural he took her on as a role model."

"That's just it!" Leonidas snapped. "I can't let him be like his mother, not after what happened to her. He doesn't understand that I'm trying to keep him safe! If he would just focus on working at the shop like Kenan does, then he wouldn't be in any danger."

Carmen swirled the milk in her glass, seemingly distracted. Suddenly, she smiled and chuckled lightly. "You know, you almost sound like how I feel at certain times. Let me tell you, having both my husband and my son in the exploring business can be pretty taxing on me at times. I sometimes imagine the Guildmaster coming to my doorstep and telling me that either Slasher or Paul have turned up missing on an expedition, or worse. And sometimes, I wish they could just quit and come back to me where they would be safe.

"But," she said thoughtfully, "then I think, 'would they ever be happy with simply staying home with me?' They chose their lives and what they would do with them, so who am I to decide what they should do?"

"Wait. You just said you worry about them all the time, though," said Leonidas, looking at her rather than his glass. "Doesn't their safety mean anything?"

She locked into his gaze, smiling. "You should listen to what I say better. Yes, I worry about them sometimes. And yes, I think that it would be safer if they just stayed home. But, if you ask me, I think they know what they're doing. Especially Paul." She chuckled at the thought. "I actually tried to convince him to stay home and help me at the café, like Preston is doing now. But, I could tell from the look he gave me that he had his eyes solely on catching up to Slasher, so I did the only sensible thing I could do, and let him go to follow his dreams."

Leonidas remained quiet, staring into his empty glass. "And something tells me," Carmen continued, "that that might be what Leon is aiming to do with his life. I can't tell you how you should raise your child, but I just can't help but wonder if, just maybe, you might've forgotten about Leon's feelings along the way of trying to protect him. And perhaps, from what I heard he accomplished today, he might have grown up without you even noticing."

Leonidas' instinctive reaction to her statemet was to lash out at her for questioning how he was raising his child, and that it wasn't her place to say what he did. But, the more he thought about it, the more he realized that she might have had a point. Was it true? Had Leon really grown up and left him behind? And worse, how distant had he grown from him?

Leonidas stood up from his seat suddenly. He removed a little sack from his person and placed the proper amount of money he owed on the counter, and turned to leave the café and Carmen. However, he stopped and turned to the Spinda, a slight smile on his face. "Maybe you're right, Carmen. Maybe I do come here because you're so easy to talk to about these types of things. So, thank you for listening."

Carmen gave him a happy smile. "Of course! I'm always happy to help!"

The Spinda watched as Leonidas turned his attention ahead of him and continued up the stairs and out into the night. She continued staring that way for about another minute before a loud noise from somewhere down the bar shouted, "Hey, Carmen, where are you at? Please tell me you didn't put Preston in charge of the bar. I'm dying of thirst over here!"

Carmen got up from the chair and stumbled back over to the bar, her smile a little wider, and if anyone could even tell through her clumsy manner of walking, she had a bit more of a spring to her step than normal. "Coming!" she said in a loud sing-songy voice, ready to serve her next customer, whether it be to satisfy their thirst or their conscience. Whichever works.

Leon laid in his bed, unmoving, staring up at his ceiling, emotionally dead as far as he was concerned. He had already done everything he could think to vent his frustrations at his father. He cried into his pillow, he screamed into his pillow, he punched his pillow, he threw his pillow to the other side of the room. In other words, this was a bad day to be a pillow with Leon's tantrum going in full swing.

He never usually acts out in this way, but considering the embarrassment his father put him through, he felt it was more than fair to express just how he felt about all of this. However, considering he pretty much abused his pillow to death and have now fully vented, he now just felt emotionally exhausted.

He didn't react when he heard the door to his room open and the sound of footsteps made their way inside. "Hey, Leon," he heard Kenan say, "Dad wants to see you in the dining room."

"Okay," Leon replied distantly. He figured that his dad would return sooner or later from the Juice Bar, but he didn't think he would come back so quickly. It was still fairly early in the evening, around 8 o'clock or so. However, he still felt fairly horrid from earlier, so he dawdled quite a bit as he slowly rotated in his bed so he was facing the door to his room before he slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position.

"What the heck are you doing?" Kenan asked impatiently, tapping his foot in irritation.

"Sorry. I'm just...not really feeling up to it right now." Leon said quietly.

Kenan huffed, rolling his eyes. "Oh, quit feeling sorry for yourself! What happened to your stupid 'tomorrow's another day' schtick you like to do?"

Leon looked at his brother, a little more than irritated. "Oh, shut up, Kenan! You have no idea what I'm going through now."

Kenan scoffed. "Whatever. You know something? If you had just stayed home and helped with the shop, than none of this would've happened! Dad wouldn't have gotten in your face for doing all that dangerous stuff, and you wouldn't be in here throwing yourself a pity party like you're doing now!"

Leon remained silent, staring at the wall in front of him. He felt that if he responded to that, then it would only help to prove his point. So, it came as an even bigger surprise to him when Kenan said, "But, if you hadn't gone out today, then that priestess probably would've been kidnapped or worse, and it was only because you were there that they failed."

Leon pushed himself up from his prone position and turned to Kenan, who was giving him a kind of half-smile. "Listen man, I think we all know you have your heart set on other stuff than this shop. Now, I really don't know what could be so appealing about being an explorer or whatever. I just can't see myself doing all of that hard labor and battling, and I honestly like working at the shop. But you? You're way too restless to even think about running a shop. In a lot of ways...you're exactly like Mom was."

This last comment especially surprised Leon, as he couldn't remember the last time Kenan ever talked about their mom after her disappearance, if he ever did at all. At a loss for words, Leon stammered, "K-Kenan-"

His brother cut him off with a sigh. He let it stand for a moment, and then said, "You know, I think you're stupid for wanting to throw away your entire family legacy just to be an explorer."

Leon's expression deadpanned. "Well, gee. Thanks a lot..."

Kenan chuckled at Leon's comment, and suddenly flashed him a thumbs up. "But, I'll support you with whatever you wanna do. I mean, I have to, since I'm your brother and everything. So, get downstairs and give Dad a piece of your mind!"

Leon was left speechless. He suddenly felt his eyes stinging again, but this time with tears of joy. After seeing his brother's reaction, Kenan quickly folded his arms and said dismissively, "Oh, knock it off, Leon! And by the way, if you get in trouble for telling off Dad, I will deny having any involvement with that crazy idea, ya hear me?"

Wiping the tears from his eyes, he gave a huge sniff and nodded his head with a huge smile on his face. "Alright."

"Good." Kenan walked out of Leon's room, shutting the door softly. Leon pushed himself out of bed and walked over to the window. He opened it and stuck his head out, letting the cool night breeze dry what remained of his tears. He breathed in deeply before exhaling quite loudly, feeling at peace for the first time that whole evening.

Breathing in and out once more, he pulled his head back in and shut the window once more. He then proceeded out the door and made his way to the stairs. He hesitated for a moment at the top of the stairs, but after taking another breath, he began to move down the steps.

When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he saw Leonidas sitting at the table in the dining room, with an small, old looking chest sitting in front of him. He saw that both his and his brother's chairs were stacked an put aside towards the wall, leaving only his father's and...

"Leon," Leonidas said softly, breaking the Kecleon from his thought, "please, take a seat." He gestured towards the empty chair in front of him.

Leon, being caught off guard by all this, did what he was expected to and sat in the chair opposite his father. There they sat, two Kecleon, both father and son, for a good several minutes in complete silence, neither willing to break it as the uncomfortable feeling grew ever more pressing.

Finally, Leonidas broke the silence. "Son, we need to talk."

"Talk?" Leon asked. "About what?"

His father reached over to the chest in front of him and undid the latch on the front, before turning around so the front was facing Leon. "We need to talk about...your mother." He lifted the lid of the chest, revealing the contents within to a completely stunned Leon.

And cliffhanger! Sorry about that guys, but after nearly a year without an update, I'm glad that I was able to come up with this! I especially enjoyed writing the interactions between Leon and Kenan, as I was able to channel a lot from my personal experience dealing with my dad and my brother, so this one was a pretty personal chapter for me.

Plus, one of the major things that I kept advertising in this story finally came into effect in this chapter, the fact that you can submit your own characters into it. I'm so happy to finally announce that one of the characters that was submitted made their way into this story. (Well, specifically, it wasn't the character that appeared, but one of his relatives.)

So, straight from TheEnigmaticSoul, the character that made their appearance in this story is none other than "Carmen" the Spinda! However, as I said, this is only one of the relatives of the character she has submitted, and that character will eventually make an appearance in this story, but hopefully you will like Carmen's appearance in this story just as well!

Now, I know that I've been taking a long time on these stories, and I apologize for it. But life has kept catching up to me in the worst of ways, and frankly because I've been doing nothing but write long chapters for both Five Nights of Truth or Dare at Freddy's and A Wild Kecleon Reviews, so I ended up getting burned out from the whole writing scene for a while. But let me assure you guys that I am not only still willing to write, but I am currently working on several chapters for other stories that I have as well as this one. So keep an eye out for those, and hopefully I won't take another year to write a single chapter again. (Technically two, but...)

So, for now, take care everyone, and please leave a review to my story, as it only helps me in the long run! And since I now have proof that I was serious about the whole SYOC thing, go and check out the character submission form on my profile so you can attempt to get your character in too! So, until next time, stay tuned for the next chapter. Seriously though, fingers crossed that I don't take forever next time.