Ashley laughed a bit at Alex's description of a psychiatrist, "Why yes they are." she replied, nodding "Although I'm sure you can imagine that it's not quite as simple with pok?mon. I mean, imagine trying to seat a Wailmer on coach." she chuckled "The principle is the same though, you just listen to what they say and see how they act then try your best to find a way to help them." she smiled, adjusting her hold of Kula slightly so as to make sure that the little Snorunt would stay firmly where she was, "Yes, I do help him quite a lot." she replied, "It's mostly smaller errands though, you know...filing, sending letters, reminding people about their payments...small things that he never seemed to get the hang of. I did get to help with the actual patients now and again, and he's always more than willing to tell me about his findings. It's about the only shared time we have..." the girl sighed, "Or...at least used to have."
"Hmm?" Ashley asked at Pete's comment, tilting her head "Oh yes, I believe he did have his show a while back...it only lasted a month and a half, though." she shrugged "Dad always was one to prefer work over publicity, and the producer got tired of his last-minute appearances."
"A crush?" Ashley echoed at Kevin's comment, it figured, she supposed, after all, if you were a celebrity, even a fairly obscure one, you were bound to get at least a few clueless people with far too little other things to occupy their time who suddenly decided to have a crush on you...there had been quite a few letters to that regard, although Ashley had been quite efficient in trashing them. "That could explain quite a few things..."
"Haley..." she repeated for herself, searching through her memories "Oh yes, I remember a Mrs. Haley." the girl said after a small pause, nodding, "She's one of our regular customers, and the only one to always pay punctually." she cast another glance at Kevin, now looking at the boy in a slightly new light. She hadn't connected the surnames at first, probably because there were so many other things occupying her thoughts, but now that she had been asked about it, Ashley remembered Mrs. Haley all too well, although perhaps more essentially, she remembered her pok?mon. The same poor things coming over for treatment over and over, always returning just as spoiled as they were on their last visit, despite all of the advice Ashley's dad had given the woman, advice that she had undoubtedly ignored. The girl had often pondered how anyone could spoil their pok?mon so utterly, especially in repeat, and looking at Kevin in this light, she began to see where the obnoxious attitude was coming from; granted, the boy didn't acknowledge his problem himself, something which was made quite clear simply by the way in which he spoke of his mother being annoying and full of herself, but denial was a completely natural first reaction. He didn't seem to be completely spoiled though, Ashley noted as she thought of the things Kevin had said, he wasn't really all that terrible all of the time. Just incredibly snobbish and self-centered. Maybe...maybe he could be cured yet...if she tried hard enough. She had managed to get some results with the pok?mon after all, and goodness knows she might have been able to make them completely well if it wasn't for the continous bad influence from their owner, and in this case, the bad influence wasn't there. I'll do it... she thought for herself, feeling quite confident that she would succeed as she listened to Kevin naming his Houndour, Although it will take time...
Her spirits immediately sank a bit as the newly christened Adeline bit, or rather nipped, at Kevin's hand, causing the boy to scream in pain as if he had been lethally wounded and began screaming. Yup, it will take time... she thought for herself, shaking her head, A lot of time...
"Oh come now." Ashley said, walking over to Kevin and quickly inspecting what little damage the finger had incured, which was hardly more than a tiny indenture and a small reddened area surrounding it, it wasn't even bleeding. "That's not even a proper scratch, it will dissapear completely if you just let it be for a while, maybe stick it in ice to numb the pain." she cast a glance at the Houndour, who seemed to be finding her trainer's reaction very amusing. The girl was about to comment on this but decided against it, after all, there really wasn't that much evidence to go by yet, it was far too little to make a proper diagnosis.
