99 C099 - The rarest fairy pokemon

Well, Pete did not get a mission regarding the mythical water pokemon Manaphy.

As the young assistant professor stood at the beach, the small ocean waves were gently crashing against his feet. He looked to the few water pokemon going about their day in the far distance.

"It wanted me to pluck an itching tooth at the very back of her mouth," Pete mumbled as he looked to his hands that did the deed. "Nobody understood what she wanted for months, and she heard about my suspected psychic affinity because I would get her question."

Ten minutes later, Pete shouted, "WHAT THE HELL!? I THOUGHT SOMETHING COOL WOULD HAPPEN!!!"

"Everything alright, dear?"

Pete turned to see Dana look at him with an amused expression.

"Haaa, yes. By the way you talked earlier, I was kind of thinking I'll be sent on a grand quest to save a mythical or legendary pokemon or something," Pete responded with a sigh.

"Who would ever get the chance to talk to such a powerful pokemon?" Dana asked in wonder.

Pete looked at her for a short moment before shaking his head.

"Right."

"In any case, what did you talk about with the matriarch?"

Pete shook his head once more and said, "She had a tooth that hurt all the way back in her maw. I got it out for her."

"Wow, I was sure she'd talk to you about something... more adventurous."

"Same. She talked about a Sharpedo swarm that used to trouble the waters a little deeper and would have asked for my help, but a wild mega evolved pokemon took care of it a week ago."

"There are wild mega pokemon? Wow, I did not know that," Dana replied in wonder.

"They are exceedingly rare because without a keystone wielded by a bonded trainer, they cannot be sure the stone would help in their mega evolution. If they swallow a stone they aren't compatible with, the excess typing energy will instead kill them - most pokemon stay away from that unless they are dying or... desperate for power."

Except for the calm sound of the ocean, silence hung over the two for a short moment until Dana broke it, "You should be a teacher! My little Lana could learn so much from you!"

"Hmm? Isn't the school here on Melemele Island already plenty amazing?"

"Sure, but can a school really have too many excellent teachers?"

Pete turned back to the ocean to ponder that question but quickly replied, "Touché."

Dana eventually took out a Heal Ball from out of nowhere after a bit more idle talk. A Heal Ball is a pink fashionable pokeball variant that aided in recovery of the pokemon it held.

Pete didn't want to be rude, but he really wondered where she got the Heal Ball from. She only wore a tight blouse that exposed her midriff and a thin cloth as a makeshift skirt over her bikini bottom... there was no bag anywhere in sight.

"Hehe, trying to find out a woman's tricks?" Dana teasingly asked.

Pete hurriedly shook both hands, but Dana was quicker and brought her tanned right leg from under the skirt. There was a band bound around her thigh, roughly three fingers wide, and it held five more miniature Heal Balls that looked to be empty by the way they looked.

With a wink, Dana continued, "Pick one up for your wife. A woman should have some secret weapons. Especially if she looks good in a skirt or dress."

"I'll keep that in mind," Pete replied as he inwardly planned to look for those bands in the city on his way back as the first gift for the three girls living on his farm.

He wasn't quite sure if they already owned such a pokeball-belt - well he was sure Jasmine didn't, but maybe they come in unique fabrics here in Alola.

Dana handed over the ball and explained, "This Popplio was eager to see the world and asked to be adopted by you. Please treat her right."

"Oh? You would part with a female? Aren't female Popplios rarer than males?"

"You mean we as breeders should only hand out male offspring? You aren't wrong, but we also have to count on whether or not they want to be around. If a girl becomes moody and refuses to socialize with the rest, we have no benefits."

"I see," Pete mumbled for amoment. "Hmm, when we made this appointment you mentioned that you would rather trade the pokemon in exchange for gifts, but if you can part with a female Popplio, I feel like the Water Stones I brought aren't enough. You guys plant some of your own food, right? I have some seeds that a wild Ludicolo once handed me in Hoenn. It isn't wrong to say they are just as miraculous as berries. Would you accept this sack of seeds in trade for the pokeball?"

"Oooh, new food! Sure! Are there any effects we should look out for?"

"Hmm, these specifically are what I call Life Seed. They help in stamina recovery and can be eaten raw in a salad or cooked like beans. Grass, ground, rock, and water pokemon especially love to eat them, so they should become a huge hit for you guys," Pete explained as he forwarded Dana some observations he had written down while cultivating these seeds. "As for side effects, uhm... they help a man out with stamina issues..."

"Oh, you mean like in bed? Wonderful! My husband isn't getting any younger, hehe."

Discussing her marital problems with the woman wasn't on Pete's to-do list for the Alola trip, so after handing over the sack of seeds and one Water Stone out of the four he brought, he hurried back to the bike he had parked a little outside of their premises.

It was already getting a little darker, so Pete released his new Popplio, introduced her to Eevee, Espeon, and Togekiss and started biking back toward Hau'oli City.

The road he was on required him to turn on the torchlight on the front of his bike which made it impossible for him to see as much of the happenings in the woods left and right of his path. He was also immersed in talks with his Togekiss the entire time who lazily floated along - until Espeon forcefully stopped his bike with his psychic energy.

Pete was sure the road in front of him was empty, but when he looked again after Espeon 'told' him to be vigilant over their bond, he saw a small pokemon in his way.

In the darkening sky and the tall trees in route 2 casting long shadows, anyone would have mistaken it for a Pikachu - especially since the pokemon Pete looked at was still treated as a myth by most people. But eventually, nobody would be fooled by the disguise Mimikyu threw over its form.

Naturally, Pete wanted to immediately catch it and bring it back to his farm since it was one of the rarest fairy pokemon - who were already plenty rare - but the pokedex entries he remembered from the games expressively mentioned that anybody peeking under the rag covering Mimikyu would die. Even if it was by accident, like the wind lifting the rag for a moment.

Still, that was more of a myth, not an absolute he hoped. Pete would rather like to think that if their bond was deep enough that Mimikyu wouldn't mind if it was an accident. Arceus wouldn't have cursed an entire pokemon species to bringing death to anyone that saw their true form. Right?

"Thanks, Espeon," Pete spoke out loud when he decided on his approach. "I didn't want to run over this cleverly hidden Pikachu."

Everyone loved flattery, right? Especially Mimikyu, who wanted nothing more than to be seen as a Pikachu.

"Say, are you all alone, Pikachu? That's not very safe..."

Mimikyu shook its head gently, but Pete didn't get what that meant. It was clearly alone, no? So he simply continued with what he thought a Mimikyu might want most in life.

"Well, if you are lonely - I could offer you a place in my home. It's a big farm in another region with hundreds of pokemon living in peace. I even have a whole bunch of fairy pokemon who like playing tag and hide & seek all day. And at night, I have a giant Golurk who patrols the farm and takes everyone else who can't sleep on long walks," Pete explained, silently thinking he probably oversold his pitch. "If you want, you could be a part of such a place?"

Mimikyu hurriedly nodded and waddled over. Yikes - the rag was even more creepy up close. "You know, I think you look like a really special Pikachu. Mind if I call you Mimikyu as a nickname?"

The pokemon froze on the spot. It didn't have any facial expressions, but it looked like it was... resigned when it finally nodded?

'Huh, so I probably broke that disguise a little too early. Hopefully, it won't hold it against me since I didn't lie. With its typings, it can probably tell quite easily,' Pete thought as he asked Espeon and Togekiss to talk to Mimikyu and fill in whatever he missed explaining to the pokemon.

In the meantime, Pete pushed his bike with Eevee and Popplio still in the basket at the handlebars and gave them a little attention. On the way, he quickly noticed that he was very close to the city cemetery when he met Mimikyu, so it should have come at no surprise to find it there.

But since Hau'oli City had a strict two pokemon maximum policy, Pete finally balled all his pokemon except for Espeon and Eevee, who wanted to explore the place. Mimikyu was a little reluctant to go into a pokeball, but with the encouragement of Togekiss, it finally relented.

He found a whole bunch of stores that sold those colorful clothes the women in Alola tied around their waists as skirts and two stores that sold thigh-pokeball holsters. He probably bought way too many of them, but since he had the money, he didn't mind presenting a few options to Jasmine, Courtney, Valerie, and Sophie.

Before he left the city to go to Professor Kukui's home, Pete visited a crafts shop and bought some supplies to make another Pikachu disguise for Mimikyu if the need ever arose. He also chose a rather heavy fabric that was much harder to be picked up by the wind than regular fabric - as a safety measure.