Feburary 19th 

1997 

Friday 

1:30 PM 

Nick sat in the living room playing with his toy pokeblocks, donned in a light-blue onesie with silver snaps on it. His mother watched over him while the television showed some afternoon comedy show. 

Just as Ranae was about to change the channel, she and her son heard someone knocking at the front door. The pup was confused because he knew that his sister wouldn’t be back home until later. 

“Who could be knocking at this time? Must be one of the neighbors.” the mother said as she slithered over to the front door. Her little boy toddled behind her, since he was curious too.  

The grassy serpent opened the front door with her vines and it was revealed to be a man in his 30s with in a blue and white lab-coat, on the front was a circular badge with  text that said ‘Plasma Robotics’.  Standing at his side was a humanoid robot with glowing-blue eyes, and shiny chrome skin.  

Ranae was quite surprised to see this, and believed this to be one of those door-to-door salesmen that occasionally wander the neighborhood.  

“Good afternoon, ma’am.” said the man.  

“Hello, what brings you here to my property?” asked the serpent.  

“I am Jervin Stalfont from Plasma Robotics, and I have an amazing deal for you madam! One that would make parenting easier!” He responded. 

“Huh?” asked Nick.  

“What do you mean?” Ranae said.  

“Let me introduce you to the latest up-and-coming advancement in robotics, the Robo Guardian 1500!” said Jervin. 

The robot looked at them before scanning them over with his eyes for proper identification. It’s face lacked emotion and appeared to be stoic. It emitted many beeps and blips before it finished the process after thirty seconds. 

“Greetings Ranae and Nicholas Marbette...” said the robot.  

“Oh my...! How does it already know our names?’ asked the grassy serpeant.  

“Is it a toy, mama?” asked Nick as he approached it.  

“It’s very simple, I hooked it into the Unova Citizen Database and transferred the data into its internal storage unit. It can easily scan and determine who someone is. We already got permission from the Mayor to do this.”  said the salesman.  

Just as the pup was about to touch the robot, Ranae used her vines to drag him away from it. She didn’t trust a random machine to take care of her children, and this deal just seemed to good to be true.  

The salesman was quite surprised that the mother wasn’t really impressed by the robot humanoid. Which meant he had to come up with an idea to try and get her to possibly make a purchase. 

“There’s no need to be alarmed, the Robo Guardian is very friendly and wouldn’t harm anyone. Not even a young child such as yours.” said Jervin. 

“Isn’t it creepy that it already knows who we are? I’m doing fine taking care of my own children.” said Ranae. 

“Of course not, it’s only natural that it learns to know who you are. It helps with improving it’s functionality. Why not think about it Miss Ranae? Think about how easier it would be with our machine. It’s simply revolutionary! You’d be able to go out with your husband without needing to worry about your kids...” said the salesman.  

“And....?” She asked.  

“There’s so much more: it can change diapers, provide proper meals, and even do house chores when your not around. There’s so much it can do that I can’t describe it all in one sentence!” said Jervin enthusiastically.  

Ranae stared down the salesman and his humanoid machine, she still wasn’t buying the fact this machine could many things. It seemed like this man was just buttering her up. 

She slithered around the two, observing them from all sides before returning back to her son. The salesman grew nervous, especially trying to make a sale with a big snake who is very cautious and skeptical about his product.  

“Hmm.... I don’t trust a robot taking care of my children. Parenting is not supposed to easy, there are struggles that come with it. The reward is when your children grow up and head off on their own journey. If you don’t want to take care of your own children, that doesn’t make you a proper parent.” The mother said.  

“Ma’am, please be reasonable.... some parents need a break now and then. It wouldn’t hurt to have a little help right?” asked the salesman. 

“I’d rather trust my neighbors or my husband than this metallic hunk of junk.” said Ranae. 

“If you buy it right now, I’ll give you an extended warranty on it for free, no additional charges or hidden fees!” said Jervin. 

“The answer is no... I don’t even trust people like you, unless its someone from this part of the neighborhood.” said the serperior. 

The salesman was starting to run out of options, so he went for a rather risky manuever that would hopefully get him the deal he wants. He crouched down and look towards the pup. 

Nick wondered why this man was just staring at him, and he was getting a nervous feeling. He didn’t know why the salesman was doing this. 

“How about you, would you like your mommy to buy this robot?” He asked. 

“Excuse me?!” said Ranae as she used her vines to slap the salesman in the face, watching as he stumbled back. “How dare you try to use my son like that! People like you are dirt and grime! How low can you go!?” 

The salesman rubbed his face a bit as he tried to keep himself composed, but his own confidence was pretty much shattered. He wanted to run, but he didn’t want to leave without at least making one successful deal.  

Some of the neighbors were watching this take place, one of them being Martha’s mother who was outside watering her garden. Elise stopped what she was doing and confronted the man. 

“That is shameful behavior right there, never in my time have I seen a salesman try to use children as a way to make a deal succeed... get out of the neighborhood!” said the raichu. 

“But...but... I’m allowed to be here...” said Jervin as he stepped back.  

“Then you should be mindful of people, if someone says no to buying something... then its final!” shouted Elise.  

Ranae angrily glared at the salesman while extending her tongue for a moment while hissing loudly. This caused them to run off with their product, it was unlikely that this man would be returning to the neighborhood for a while.  

“Thanks Elise, that man was intolerable.” said the serperior. 

“Not a problem, the truth is.... we already encountered him today. He also went to other houses too. Hopefully we don’t see his mug around here for a good while, but you never know.” said Elise. 

“Hello Elise!” said Nicky. 

“Hey Nickster, good to see you kiddo!” said the raichu as she patted him on the head. “ 

“If you see any other bad salesman around here, please let me know.” said the mother. 

“Of course, we’re neighbors after all. We all look out for each other in this neighborhood. I’ll be sure to tell the Rose Patrol about this man too.” said Elise. 

After dealing with that little event, Ranae went back inside the house with her youngest child toddling behind her. Elise headed back to her home and resumed with her gardening.