60-61

Chapter 60 – Promised Evolution

 We were back at the castle. It was still a ways off before dinnertime and me and the team were spending our remaining time just laying about at the castle's training grounds. After intense training sessions like that I usually spend the remainder of my free time grooming my Pokémon; trimming their coats, cleaning their ears and brushing out any tangles. As a fire type specialist I was spared from doing any dental cleaning. A fire type Pokémon's mouth was the most inhospitable place in the world for germs, so, my Pokémon always had sparkly clean chompers. It was Raven's turn and I was making efforts to destroy a particularly stubborn cowlick when suddenly Phoebe rushed up to us with an older girl who I have never met before."Egon! I want you to meet my rival, meet Glacia. Glacia this is the kid I was talking to you about."Glacia looked to be around seventeen or eighteen. I knew of her beforehand, mostly from listening to Phoebe rave on about her. This was the first time I've met any of Phoebe's other friends, so I resolved myself to try and leave a good first impression."It's nice to meet you, Glacia. Phoebe has told me much about you.""Was it you?""Uhm I don't really understa..""Phoebe has no other friends on the trainer scene besides me. By process of elimination that must mean you are the one who told her how to evolve snorunt into froslass."'Damn she's sharp.'"Hey, that's unfair! Phoebe's family are the premier experts when it comes to ghost types. They could've figured it out all on their own!""Could've? So, you did help her.""Stop trying to trap me with my own words!""Please tell me you haven't shared this information with anyone else. A trainer like me needs all the advantages she can get.""Hold it right there lady! First off, I only share my extensive knowledge on Pokémon to friends and those who've done me a favor. Secondly as far as I am aware nobody can actually own the exclusive right to an entire branch of evolution.""This isn't about advantages in battle you dork! One of my sponsors chose me based on the fact that I was the only one in the region with a froslass. If that stops being the case, they might stop doing business with me. Do you know how much it costs to feed my dearest Walrein and her two equally amazing sisters?""Which company?""Castella Factories, they make the best ice cream in the entire world! If you haven't had the chance, I highly recommend special ordering a casteliacone. From their singular location in Mauville city.""Casteliacone!!""I had them, they are indeed the best. Most of my Pokémon don't like ice cream but there's one in particular that adores casteliacones."Glacia took one look at the Pokémon who had gathered around me on the yard to renew her assessment of me."Fire types ugh... that's great, and you are from Unova as well I take it?""Well… I have Unovan nationality, but I grew up in Hoenn. Hoenn mother, Unovan dad who left her behind after they shacked up once during the circuit. You know, the typical irresponsible parent scenario.""You too?!"The admission of my household's situation seemed to have effectively pierced her icy demeanor, getting her to lower her barriers immediately. If there is one thing I've learned over the years is that people with comparable pasts are inexplicably drawn to each other. Glacia sat down next to me to continue our conversation."With me it was my mom who left. She stayed in Unova though. When it came time to start my trainer career, I opted to get a fresh start here in Hoenn. Leave all the family drama behind in Unova where it belongs."I could tell that Phoebe was completely baffled by the outcome of this encounter. Glacia must have grilled her for a long time to get the truth out of her. The girl must have brought Glacia here to get some of that heat off of herself."So, ice types. What's that like?""Not much different from training up fire types I'd imagine. You just have to get used to living in colder environments. We resided in Icirrus City for most of my life, so it came with the territory. I even interned at the local city gym for a spell, learning all that I could.""You worked with Brycen?! He's like my second favorite movie star. What's he like in person?"Phoebe took this opportunity to let her displeasure be known."I object! Fire and Ice don't mix, stop getting along!""Take it easy Phoebes, just because we have contrasting specializations doesn't mean that we automatically dislike each other."'Phoebe is still a tad insecure about her friends knowing each other. She's probably thinking something along the lines of: If those two become friends, then they will start coming to see me less and less.'"Does that really happen?"'Yeah, but those kinds of people aren't even capable of making true friends anyway. Only ever being able to see relations under the lens of a cost to benefit analysis.'Glacia being the young adult that she is, could already anticipate Phoebe's state of mind and acted appropriately to defuse the situation."Phoebe how about you show me the rest of your beautiful home. We can catch up with your little friend later, perhaps over dinner?"Phoebe regained some of her youthful vigor and grabbed Glacia's hand before pulling her along. No doubt intending to show off her collection of creepy dolls half of which were close to transforming into Banette. The first time she showed me I had a less than stellar reaction. No doubt the teen was hoping her interests aligned more closely to that of a fellow female trainer. Now that the two of them have left our immediate vicinity Victini uncloaked herself and I continued on grooming Raven. She'd been busy all day getting blasted by fire type moves and although her fur was completely immune to getting scorched it did start showing signs of crinklage."Vi?" "Can I make friends with her?""Sure, go ahead. Enough people know of your existence that it has become pointless to hide you anyway. Just make sure to ask Phoebe if Glacia is on the up and up first. She's from Unova as well and seeing as we'll be going back there next year it'll be good to get some more insider knowledge of the local battling scene."With that my rabbit friend darted off in the girls' direction forgetting the fact that she has a particular effect on women who see her for the first time. Not that it was a problem to me. I rather liked seeing girls gush over her."Ruff.""Don't mind it, she grew locked up in a basement for over a hundred years. Now that she's free it would be overly controlling of me to say who she can and can't make friends with. I want her to gain as many new experiences as possible."Around the same time, I was done fixing Raven's coat. I could hear a loud scream echoing throughout the empty halls of the castle."Kyaaa! You are so CUTE!" Dinner* Glacia laid claim on the privilege of having Victini remain seated on her lap throughout the entirety of the meal. Insisting on handfeeding her bits and pieces from her own plate even though she was perfectly capable of doing that on her own. Phoebe's family seemed okay with letting this play out"She's so adorable! Just like a baby spheal. You must be one lucky trainer to have caught such a special Pokémon."The thin veneer of professionalism was shamelessly thrown away in favor of babying my Pokémon some more."So, I was wondering where one would stable Ice types inside a tropical region such as this. Perhaps some sort of refrigerated warehouse?""Can't, that's way too expensive. I have a deal with a nice older craftsman who camps out inside the shoal cave. He looks after my Pokémon and in return I give him a small percentage of my winnings.""Shoal Cave?! Isn't that the place housing Hoenn's singular Ice Rock?""Yes! It keeps the cave cold despite the region's ambient temperature. It's the only spot in all of Hoenn where you can find wild ice types.""Isn't that…?""So… Have you ever tried evolving an Eevee into a Glaceon?""No though I would wish to. That particular evolutionary branch is kept a secret by the Sinnohian league association. Their native trainers who wish to obtain the method of doing so have to be in good standing and sign an NDA first. Which is not technically legal, but it keeps them in line with all the implied consequences.""Tell her so I can escape!""As we have established before I am quite learned. I could tell you their secret method. On the condition that Victini is to be released and given the liberty to assemble her own plate of food."Glacia seemed to be conflicted for just a moment before reluctantly letting go of Victini allowing the fire type to float off and onto the chair with a booster seat specifically set aside so she could join us at the dining table."My findings indicate that when an eevee is kept in close proximity of an Ice Rock the evolution triggers automatically. It might take a while though I haven't experienced this phenomenon myself, but I do know that the Sinnohian league hides their Ice Rock in some women's garden on route 217 near Snowpoint city.""Phoebe, would you mind me making use of your home computer after this?""Huh?! Why?""I've suddenly found myself in need of a credible eevee breeder."The dinner conversation tapered off after that. I could sense that the elderly couple desperately wanted to talk about the travelers' shrine's more recent visitor but decided to keep quiet until their new guest was done eating and brought back to her own home. Victini's existence was explained to Glacia as being a rare fire type not seen before. Her status as a mythical Pokémon not being explained clearly to the visiting woman. Which in hindsight wasn't a bad move as long as we made sure she didn't start taking pictures of Victini we could always maintain plausible deniability.Glacia and Phoebe eventually walked away after finishing dinner. Which left me alone with the elderly couple who were set to have a more serious conversation with me."So… that's pretty amazing right? That one of the shrine's patron legendary Pokémon came over for a visit.""Indeed we have already hired a traditional woodworker to come and give the shrine a much needed renovation. But there is something else we must discuss. Your grandmother's skill as a baker secured us a repeat visit. We would like to put in an order for a year's supply of her Lava cookies""Uhmm that's…"'three hundred sixty five divided by three times two in case Latias brings over her other half.'"Vi." "Rounded down, that's 243 cookies dummy.""That's two hundred and fifty cookies. My grandma makes each of them by hand. They are artisanal, so I don't even know if we have that many on hand at the moment. Would the two of you prefer that I make the request myself or…?""Yes, with the understanding that you don't elaborate to anyone on why we are buying so much of her stock on such short notice.""Hmm okay, though if my family asks, I am not going to lie to them."The two of them gave each other a glance before the elderly man made an attempt to reassure his wife."It's fine dear I've known Ralph all my life. He'll keep the secret to himself.""I don't understand all the extra precautions though. Latios and Latias are faster than jet planes, can turn invisible and unlike other legendary Pokémon have an entire family unit backing them up. Only desperate idiots would try to forcibly catch one of them.""That's reason enough youngster. History has shown us that offending Legendary Pokémon always ends up badly for the region as a whole."Not wishing to argue the point I wished the couple a pleasant evening before retreating back into my personal guestroom."Will I be able to meet them?"'Well… you could always teleport back. We just need to have someone at the shrine alert us when the next visit happens. I am sure you can convince that old man to give me a call. The way he's raving about legendary Pokémon leads me to believe he would go the extra mile to get on your good side.' Six days later* Today marked a very special day for Rena. The culmination of her weeks of painstaking effort. For the first time since she started this training, Rena was able to increase the sun's intensity without having to execute the move Sunny Day. As we've discussed extensively over the course of our stay here this also meant that I have deemed her ready to evolve. Rena looked forward to rubbing her success in the faces of her impertinent younger siblings; sadly her little brother had already gone back with Flannery, to my hometown, and the only other target of her revenge was living inside her mother's den. This meant me and the team who were also excited to be with her on that once in a lifetime special day currently found ourselves in front of the cave's entrance making nice with said mother."Ninee?""Ahem, you see Rena was able to complete her special training. And we thought it would be nice to share her evolution day together with her family.""Nine!"'Something about a test?'"She approves but would like to inspect our firestone first to assure herself of its quality."'She can check all she wants. I've received this stone as a reward from Professor Juniper's lab for my contributions to the expedition. There's no way he would send me a faulty stone.'Ninetales led us inside the cave and the sight of Rena's childhood home left me astonished. Most of it was fully furnished with furniture of all different sizes most likely put there to accommodate all sorts of Pokémon visitors. She had a bouncy house in the corner and all sorts of stuffed toys were neatly lined up along the wall. Ninetales even had a cold room to preserve perishable food. Although I could see no hints of electrical wiring which probably meant there was an ice type living nearby which would have to visit her home every so often. All the way in the back I could see a large communal bed large enough to fit the whole family and then some. Currently the bed was occupied by a sleepy little sister who was watching us from afar with one eye open."Nine!""You have a lovely home. Rena is one lucky girl to be raised in a place as accommodating as this. Just hold on sec the firestone is in my backpack."My trusty old backpack, which has been with us through thick and thin, was still in excellent condition if one disregards the Zoroark actor's pawprint. I removed it from my shoulders and opened the zipper, peering into its valuable contents. Over the months it had grown heavy with all sorts of rare items, some of them mere souvenirs, others extremely valuable to the right buyers. This time I knew what I was looking for hidden inside a small safebox together with all my other valuable stones and Rena's prized bracelet. The opening mechanism was a passcode of Zinnia's birthday. Anyone who wanted to burglar me would have to bring a strong Pokémon or get specialized tools to get to our treasures. I opened it and removed the fire stone before closing it back up and putting it back where it belonged. With an open palm I presented the firestone to Ninetales eagerly awaiting her approval. She gave the stone a sniff test, licked it for good measure and didn't stop staring at it for a good minute before giving us her judgement."Nineee"I didn't need Victini's translation to figure out what that meant. At this point all the commotion had caused the little sister to give us her full undivided attention. That or it was Rena's insistence at pulling her out of bed by her tails."Pix! Pix!" "Vuuul!"We all watched on as the siblings continued play fighting. My own partner easily getting the upperpaw over her younger less experienced sister. Eventually the younger one submitted crouching down and exposing her belly to the victor. With a small huff Rena turned her back on her defeated foe her point being made. I already knew why Rena was being belligerent like this, she wanted to prove her superiority before evolving to make it clear to her family member what the actual pecking order was. Doing so now sent the message that she didn't need to evolve to beat her impertinent siblings. Strangely enough her mother seemed content having this spiel play out without intervention. A stark reminder that at the end of the day it was the norm for most Pokémon to establish strength-based hierarchies."Are you ready?""Vuuuul!"Needing no further encouragement, I laid out the stone in front of Rena. She observed the stone for a split moment before touching it with one of her paws. The change occurred almost immediately as flashes of light filled the cave and my partner evolved into her final form. I tried to keep my eyes from watering or closing as I bore witness to this miraculous process. Within the span of a more or less half a minute Rena doubled in height and sprouted three more tails. Her red-brown pelt was replaced with thick luxurious golden white fur and the three locks that adorned her head were now replaced by a singular fluffy crest. The firestone was now nothing more than a speck of dust burnt up in the process."Nineeee!""Happy evolution day Rena.""Vi!" "Pretty!""Came." "Arf!" "Lit!" "Vess!" "Nitan!"My little fox now turned big fox preened under the attention that myself and the other team members were giving her. Her mother seemed content to just watch us cheering at her daughter's successful evolution. The little sister sported a look of dismay as if her worst fears had become realized."Pix…"Smiling slyly like a thievul Rena once again approached her younger sister but instead of starting round two she lightly nuzzled her younger sibling's head as if their rivalry had all but been forgotten. Afterwards turning towards her mother and giving the older Ninetales the same treatment. It seemed like her evolution brought out a new perspective wiping away some of that previous insecurity. While all of this was going on my mind was going through a different set of issues.'I'll have to increase her portion sizes. That thick coat, and the three extra tails will inevitably mean an increase in the amount of time I spend grooming.'"Nine!"Ninetales stood in front of me having finished tying things up with her family. Her now blood red eyes staring at me accusingly."I was just thinking… We'll have to buy you a new grooming kit when we get back to Lilycove city. The one I have now is specially made for a vulpix."Not that I had grooming kits for all my Pokémon. Most of my team members didn't particularly care how they looked as long as I kept them at a minimum level of decency. Just keeping their nails and claws trimmed and removing any excess hair was enough. Not that I didn't go the extra mile anyways. However, Rena always required me to have everything done to her exact specifications and I knew that I couldn't achieve that with her old grooming set."How about you and I go shopping at the Lilycove department store later today?""Nine!"Having finished up our business at Rena's maternal home it was time for us to head out to Lilycove city. We had a busy schedule to keep, not least of which was booking a room at their local Pokémon center in preparation for tomorrow's gym battle."Thank you for hosting us. Now that our friend Victini here has gotten familiar with Mt. Pyre Rena can come visit you whenever she likes.""Nineeeee!""No, your mom is amazing and deserves to be visited at least once every so often.""I am sorry ma'am Rena can't be honest with herself. Before we came here, she basically demanded that we stop by."The older Ninetales seemed amused enough by our antics and with a short yip let us know that we had her permission to drop by whenever we wanted. It was unusual for Pokémon to place as much importance on family ties. Numsy almost never talks about his family other than the fact they lived somewhere along the fiery path. While the other members of my team all had their own unique circumstances. From wanting to meet their mother like Halo or not having any family at all like Orin.With things winding down I recalled most of my team members inside their poké balls to streamline the teleportation process. I motioned for Rena to get closer so that Victini could grab the both of us simultaneously."Can you take us to where we need to go?""Easy!"The landscape shifted and what was once the insides of a fancy live-in cave turned into that of the topside of a lighthouse with a view overlooking the entirety of Lilycove city. My acrophobia kicked in immediately and I held onto the railing for dear life."Almighty Arceus! You know I have a fear of heights Tini!""Vi Vi!" "This is the only spot I could teleport to, okay?!""Nine! Nine!"There I was clinging for my life on the edge of what I could only summarize as a two hundred- and fifty-feet tall deathtrap. Rena wasn't faring much better not having anticipated that Victini would put us in such a precarious position she was similarly clinging to the edge her new tails immediately seeing use as makeshift grappling hooks."We can't be up here! Use Teleport again to bring us down quickly!"Victini immediately shifted us back aground not finding any difficulty with making use of the move when the target location was within eyesight. Back on solid ground my body was still in a state of fight or flight. I concluded my next best course of action was to sit on the nearby bench until my body's adrenaline levels had gone back down."Sorry!""It's fine, I just hope nobody saw us. There's bound to be a steep fine associated with breaking and entering private property."Rena took her place beside me on the bench letting her head rest on my lap. She had grown too big of a size to sit comfortably on my lap. By my estimation this would remain the case until I was done with puberty. Any attempt to do so in the interim would make for a comical sight for anyone near enough to witness it.It took a couple of minutes but eventually my body calmed down enough to properly observe my surroundings. There were quite a few beach goers down below and the odds of one of them having spotted us during the scant few seconds in which we were trapped was quite low. At least down here it would be very hard to see anything more than the outline of a person or Pokémon so Victini's identity would have remained a secret even if we were seen."Whatcha doing up there? Oh! Can I pet your pretty Ninetales please?"I turned around and saw a little girl being escorted by what was probably her mother judging by their facial similarities. The both of them had blue-green hair and while the girl seemed only mildly interested in our lighthouse fiasco the mother seemed about ready to give me a stern talking to."Young man, we saw you all the way up, holding onto the railings. What were you thinking?!""Well, my psychic type Pokémon momentarily forgot that I was deathly afraid of heights. It won't happen again. We just have to find another place that's free of pedestrians the next time we teleport on over to Lilycove.""Kids these days are always pushing on ahead without thinking things through. You remind me of my little brother before he got together with his current girlfriend."While I was busy appeasing the disciplinarian mother the overly excitable little girl went ahead and started petting Rena without waiting for permission. My Ninetales had taken an instant liking to the girl and magnanimously allowed the strange kid access to her luxurious golden coat."Waaa …soft! I'll call this new chapter: Unexpected Encounter! Happy Fluffy Accident!""Nineeee."The quirky kid seemed to have a penchant for loudly narrating by herself as if she were standing in front of a large gathering of people. The mother finally realizing what her daughter was up to lightly scolded her for presuming it was safe to start petting another's Pokémon."Lisia… what did I tell you about petting another's Pokémon without waiting for permission?""I don't know but Ninetales doesn't mind right?""Nine!""It's okay Miss my Pokémon likes it whenever someone compliments her on her looks. I can already tell Lisia here is going to be a great trainer someday with that kind of insight.""I've decided you'll be the first!""The first what?""Lisia's…Miraculous…Contest Scouting!""Uhmm…?""When I take a good look at a trainer, I can easily tell… Wait, what is your name?""Egon…""One look at Egon here easily tells me that he already owns multiple badges! But I don't want to see his Pokémon just become strong. There's a whole other side to them that most trainers don't even explore. That brilliantly shining side is drawn out while on stage in a contest!""No no no no. We don't have time for that."The little gremlin completely ignored me and continued on."Take this! This is a Contest Pass with this you will be allowed to freely participate in any…"Her mother, now thoroughly exasperated from her child's antics, started employing a more forceful method to get the girl to start listening to her. It made for quite a sight seeing the overly excitable kid get ear pulled into submission by her guardian."Ow! Ow! Owie! Mommy why?!""Where did you get that Contest Pass?! You know you're not supposed to take your uncle Wallace's belongings.""Uncle gave it to me! He says I can scout whichever trainer catches my eye!""That slowpokehead! Sometimes it feels like I am raising two children."Having successfully disciplined her wayward child the mother readdressed me with an apologetic look on her face."We are terribly sorry for having her put you on the spot like that. Isn't that right Lisia?""It's fine. I am flattered really, and we might take her up on her offer in the future but for now we are solely focused on qualifying in time for the conference.""I still feel bad… how about you come and have lunch with us at my house as an apology? Your Pokémon can eat as much as they want.""We could eat.

Chapter 61 – Lilycove Superstar "Is this your home? It looks like a Pokéblock store.""That's because it is. We sell high quality Pokéblock for coordinators on the go.""Wait?! How can you afford to take the day off like this and to go to the beach with your daughter?""I make large batches of specialty Pokéblock in the morning and when that sells out the store is closed for the rest of day. We are also contracted with a handful of the more successful coordinators to supply them with all the Pokéblock they need for their charges. All in all, I don't need to work extreme hours anymore, not since Wallace got so successful. He promotes our store's wares free of charge even though I told him that we don't need the extra help anymore."We stepped inside and I was greeted by the sight of empty rows of shelves and packages of mint condition berry blenders. The absence of any products to sell fully corroborated her reason to close up shop early."You kids go have fun ,while I make us some lunch. How many partners do you have with you Egon?""Six, two large, one medium and three smaller sized Pokémon.""Seven!"'Technically regular trainers can't have seven on them, it's illegal. Besides, do you really want to out yourself in front of this hyperactive contest kid? There's a real possibility she'd kidnap you and never let you go.'"Liar! We already got found out! and I am not skipping meals ever again!"'Orin doesn't eat regular food, we'll just ask her to pack up the extra meal to take with us.'"No way that'd be rude. If someone makes a delicious meal for me, I'd eat it right in front of them! I have my pride as a gourmet."'Fine, but you'll have to make sure that Lisia doesn't take any pictures. Her telling tall tales about a cool looking Pokémon is one thing, picture evidence is another.'Lisia's mom was about to retreat back into her kitchen to start working on lunch when I called out to her."Actually seven…but one doesn't need to eat.""Young man… you do know that exceeding the carry limit could result in you having your trainer's license revoked?""It's okay! Captain Drake knows. He gave us permission in consideration of our special circumstances.""Oh, okay then. That'll be an interesting story to hear no doubt. Save that one for the dining table."It was at this moment that I got dragged away by Lisia who was eager to meet my entire team, not just Ninetales. The little family of two had a garden large enough to host a good variety of berry trees. They had a few plants of a more common denomination like Pecha and Orans but also quite a few of the rarer ones like Sitrus and Wiki berries. It made sense that a pokéblock store would attempt to cultivate their own berries but for one whose target clientele are upper crust competitors the standard berries obviously aren't going to be sufficient for use as ingredients."Be amazed and excited! This is my mommy's special garden!""It is indeed impressive. Not many botanists are able to grow berries right in the middle of a big city like Lilycove. But now it's your turn to be amazed! Behold! I call this Chapter: A Fiery Encounter! Kindling Friendship Special!"'Hey that's mine…!'In one move I activated the release mechanism on all my poké balls my team materialized in a circle around me. Some of them snoozing others active and intrigued by the scent of berries permeating through the garden. Lisia had the same reaction I would expect a child raised in a trainer family to have. She observed each of my Pokémon closely before eagerly stepping up to interact with each and every one of them completely forgetting that I poked fun at her just a second ago."You are the shy bookish boy who is ready to show the audience the beauty that's hidden deep inside!""Lit…!?""And you!""Nitan?!""You have a tough exterior that hides away your inner passion!"Just like that she gave each of my Pokémon a personal evaluation. By what criteria or with which end goal in mind I didn't know. In the end she saved Halo for her final Pokémon assessment.She tried her best to not show it, but I knew the little bug type was very sensitive to other's opinions of her. In her mind a Pokémon of her status should strive towards being admired and be known by all the commoners."Vess…?""Hmmm?""Laaar?""Umu! The sheltered princess type, naïve but waiting to blossom into a true stage queen!"'That guess is more accurate than she realizes. Maybe she does have a bright future working as one of those panel judges or studying as a sommelier in Unova. At least Halo seems to be content with the girl's evaluation.'"Vess! Vess!"The little bug type had an aura of smug satisfaction at being recognized for being royalty despite Lisia having a completely different kind of "royalty" in mind while analyzing her. Halo was so pleased that she crawled up against the eight-year-old's leg to grace her with the favor of rubbing her fuzzy mane."Awww cute! Don't you worry! My mommy always tells me all I need to do to grow up healthy and strong is to drink a glass of moomoo milk every day.""Vesta!""I still have another Pokémon who is traveling with me. Although I want you to promise me to not flip out or take pictures of her. She's very sensitive to that sort of thing.""Great! A new questionnaire for the viewers watching back home! Who is this mysterious Pokémon?"Lisia seemed to be still in the middle of her spiel. So, it was hard to determine if she was being serious or not, but I felt the need to have Victini stay visible while we were inside the garden. It wouldn't do to have her run off with every single one of the family's ripened berries."Hey! I am not that bad!"'I saw you pick those berries at the Lilycove gym! When we go back there tomorrow, they will know it was one of us that took them. I just know it! Just… get behind me I want to try something.'I felt the familiar pressure of Victini landing on top of my outstretched hands which I was hiding behind my back. After which I dragged her overhead presenting my rabbit friend to the little girl."This here's my other partner Victini, would you like to be her friend? Hello? Lissia…? What's wrong?!"The girl was trembling like crazy whirring about like a wurmple caught inside a dragonite's Hurricane. When I was about to call her mother to have her be brought to a hospital Lisia finally whispered her response."Superstar…""What did you say? We can't hear you.""Please study under me! Together we'll become Hoenn's no… the World's most famous idols!""Vi…?!" "Ehhh?!""Yes! I see it now! The contest scene's newest chapter: A Star Is Born! Cuteness Is Justice!"Lisia's next chain of outbursts seemed to be strong enough to even start affecting my coolheaded psychic partner."Those large blue eyes that are filled with spirit!""Vi Vi…" "It's flattering but I mean…""That cute overbite which conveys a mischievous temperament.""Vi Vi." "Well, I do try my best.""Those little angelic wings like a togetic sharing succor to the less fortunate!""Vi!" "Thank you!""One look at you on stage and Uncle Wallace will have to hand over every ribbon Milotic has ever earned in defeat!""Vi Vi!" "Let's go steal those ribbons they're mine!"'Wait, when did Victini leave my hands and enter Lisia's embrace? You forced me to do this!'It was at this point that I knew that I had to put a stop to this before Lisia's fanaticism boosted Victini's kleptomania to new heights. There was only one way to get Victini's energy levels down after they'd reached this level of intensity. Loath as I was to show off my secret technique in front of a third party.The distinct sound of crumbling was heard throughout the garden."Vi?!""If you don't behave, I'll ruin more of these lava cookies! Bad Victini! We just had a talk about property rights! Bad!""Vi Vi!" "Please don't, I surrender. Crumbled up cookies are only half as good!""That's right! And you young lady stop trying to corrupt Victini! She's very impressionable." Later during lunch* "My my, so you've already met my brother?""Yes, ma'am I was visiting Winona's place to talk about her gym adopting one of my Pokémon. We came across Tranquill while journeying through Unova. She was interested and one thing led to another."We were currently enjoying the expertly crafted lunch Lisia's mom Cari had made for us. The woman appeared to have long since perfected her homemaking skills during the many years of being Lisia's mother. Cari ran her own business and seemed to have done a fantastic job raising Lisia judging by the girl's vibrant and confident attitude. Naturally I was curious as to what happened to the father, but I wasn't about to offend the mother and daughter duo just for the sake of satisfying my curiosity. The mother holding bowls filled with pokéchow eventually came upon the sight of her daughter completely exhausted dozing off while still holding onto Victini using the rabbit Pokémon as some sort of hugging pillow.She didn't need me to explain anything. One look at the state of the garden had already been sufficient to infer as to what had happened. When it became clear that there was no containing the girl's enthusiasm. I charged Victini to keep her busy for a while so I could shift my attention towards my other Pokémon, this had only exacerbated the original problem."You have a bunch of cute Pokémon. I wouldn't mind making pokéblock for one additional team.""I am not really invested in the coordinator scene right now, maybe next year? Ninetales has expressed some interest in trying her paw at it.""Pokéblock aren't just good for contests, you know? Studies have shown that sponsors are more likely to give partnership offers to trainers whose Pokémon look more marketable. Have you ever considered trying your hand at making your own pokéblock Egon?""I did make a batch that one time back at the celestial tower. It seems to be a skill you actually have to put time and effort into to become any good at doing it."It was at this point in the conversation that Lisia stepped in to give her own opinion of using pokéblock outside the contest scene."You should totally try it, Egon! Pokéblock aren't just made with berries but also with love! On the other hand flimsily made lightweight blenders that they build for trainers on the go aren't quite there yet. You should totally come here every morning to buy freshly made Pokéblock for Tini, she deserves it."The Pokémon in question was looking at me like what the girl was saying made total sense. I was quite sure we didn't have enough money to go spend it all on pokéblock and having Mr. Moore foot the bill seems like a hopeless endeavor.'Just nod and wave. Just nod and wave.'With Arceus' help I managed to somehow divert myself from the current topic. By starting to talk about Lisia's future Pokémon career."Lisia sure is talented. I am betting she'd be both an excellent battler and coordinator just like her uncle Wallace.""Of course, I'd be! But mom won't let me have my first Pokémon yet. She thinks that If I get one, I'll run off and not finish trainer's school.""Are you?""No…""Hmm, what Pokémon are you looking to start with.""Swablu! Their wings are like fluffy clouds! And I've already got a name picked out! Uncle says he's going to catch one for me as soon as mom gives us her permission.""That's nice, I have a little sister your age. I caught her a Horsea just a couple of months ago."This caught her attention. The little girl was now staring at her mother with accusing eyes. As if me catching my sister her first Pokémon should validate her receiving one as well. Naturally I tried to immediately diffuse the situation."Zinnia is really responsible, and she has experience taking care of Pokémon. Before we set off on our journey it was her job to take care of Ninetales' grooming. She more than proved herself capable of having her own to look after. Isn't that right you guys?""Rupt! Nine!"The two senior members of my team who were there with us during our childhood assented to my declaration. They both loved Zinnia and in turn were spoiled rotten by her. Somehow or another the assessment of my little sister's Pokémon raising skills gave Lisia another shot at renegotiating with her mother."See! Egon's sister can do it so why can't I?""It's against the law! Eight year olds can't register a Pokémon in their own name. That Horsea belongs to Egon. If Egon gets audited, he'll be in a lot of trouble if he can't account for the whereabouts of his Pokémon.""Uhh... Actually, our family's nurse Joy took care of it. Horsea's officially registered as a family pet until Zinnia's old enough to go on her own journey. At that point she can file the proper paperwork to register him as her own starter Pokémon.""Zzzzzzzz…""If you think that's going to work…""ZZZZZzz…""Alright! Alright! Fine, I'll talk with your uncle about it. You better be on your best behavior until then! Straight A's little lady, if I hear a single complaint from your teachers you will have to wait just like everyone else!""Yaaaay! I love you mommy!"As the one who was the catalyst to making this all happen, I tried to subconsciously make myself smaller to avoid the older woman's gaze. Luckily the older woman seemed to be content to just watch Lisia celebrating together with Victini who had somehow gotten her hands onto a pair of pompons exactly made to size. The little girl left lots of stage props scattered all over the garden so it must have been one of those the little rabbit got her hands on."Victini, you'll come watch my first contest show right?""Vi!" "Yes, I'll cheer you on!"Victini and Lisia slipped away, the girl planned on showing Victini her room. Leaving me alone to have a semi-serious conversation with her mother."Don't worry, I am not angry with you. Even if you hadn't pushed the issue, I would have eventually caved in.""Still, that's one special Pokémon you managed to catch.""Yeah, she's drawing the attention of the wrong sort of people. I've been given the advice to avoid traveling the routes in fear for her safety. After encountering a stalker down on route 121.""Not that special surely?""Back in Unova, her home region, the regional professor had his daughter scour ancient documents just for a single mention of Victini's name.""I see… then you have your work cut out for you. My daughter has been completely enamored by little Victini. To be honest, I was initially hoping to have Wallace go and catch one of her species as a present for Lisia when she graduates trainer's school. Say if she ever lays an egg, we'll be first in line to adopt.""What?"'It's nothing, just go back to what you were doing.'"During the time I've spent with her she has shown no inclination in wanting to propagate. My working theory is that her reproductive cycle cannot be measured in months or even years."'If Pokémon of similar status had more active reproductive cycles than we'd be swarming in them.'"What are you thinking about?!"'Just an assumption I have you'll come to understand once you've grown older.'I wasn't that worried about sharing insights into our situation with Wallace's older sister. Say what you will about his strange tastes in apparel but the man himself was a good person and the brief interactions that I've had so far with his family reassured me that they were the sorts of people you could trust with a secret.Seeing as it would take a while before Lisia was done playing with Victini the older lady offered me a beginner's crash course on how to properly make pokéblock. She was due to start with tomorrow's batch and I was eager to learn from a professional like her. Lilycove Department Store* After concluding our visit, I asked Cari for directions to the Lilycove department store which she had happily shared. The department store was one of the larger buildings inside the city matching the contest hall in size, so it was hard to miss. Most of my Pokémon were back inside their balls resting. Even Victini had all her play energy drained by Lisia who had spent the majority of our time there making Victini participate in all sorts of childlike antics.Eventually I was greeted by the sight of the giant mall's front entrance. Hordes of people were simultaneously entering and exiting the building. It was quite unlike anything I've ever seen in these almost eleven years of life.'Come to think of it… I'll turn eleven next week. The first time I'll be spending my birthday without Zinnia.'"We should totally celebrate! I can get us back to Lavaridge to visit your grandparents.""Ehm birthdays are for hanging out with family, true enough, but it just won't be the same without Zinnia there. Still… I can't have my grandma and grandpa worry needlessly so I guess we have to go. By the way, if you or any of the other team members want to celebrate your hatching days, I'd be all for it."I knew Pokémon didn't really consider their hatching days as something to be celebrated. Much of Pokémon culture is influenced by their needs while living in the wilderness. Strength was something to be admired with resourcefulness being a close second. Although I have heard tales of hidden Pokémon villages that do celebrate the passing of the seasons. Which was understandable, the passing of the dry season in tropical climates usually meant food would become less scarce as does the passing of winter.As we walked inside the building, I was immediately stunned by the large number of shops. By my estimation there would be at a minimum seventy-five different stores inhabiting this complex. With most of them dedicated to offering services and products related to the training and care of Pokémon. Luckily, I could immediately spot the you-are-here map depicting my location and all the stores inside the complex who sold Pokémon hygiene products. Not being much of a picky buyer, I immediately walked off to the one closest to my position. The store I entered was one of those catering to the younger female trainer demographic. The décor was watermelon pink with golden trims lining the furniture and checkout stations. The clientele and service staff being all female made me feel like I entered another universe where men didn't belong.'Just one grooming kit for a medium sized long matted fire type and I am out of here.'One of the service staff walked up to me. The woman was wearing a skitty themed outfit complete with fake feline ears."Excuse me dear customer, how can we at Skitty & Muse help you out today?""Uhmm… yeah, I was looking to buy a grooming kit for one of my Pokémon that has recently evolved. Just hold on a second…"I grabbed Rena's ball and activated the release mechanism and in a flash of light the fox Pokémon materialized in front of the store's awkwardly dressed employee."Nine…?""How wonderful! Yes of course, our store has many options for exotic beauties like this one. If you two would please follow me?"I exchanged glances with Rena, and I could immediately tell she was also slightly uncomfortable with how gaudily this storefront was decorated and how ridiculous their employees looked. The reassurance that I wasn't the only one suddenly finding himself inside a bizzarro world eased a lot of my worries."Dear customer, would you please have a look at these products. The kits on this shelf are all outfitted with heat resistant tools perfect for grooming fire types. They are also wear and tear resistant specially made for Pokémon with an extra thick coat like flareon, arcanine or in your case Ninetales. Although out of these I would highly recommend this kit it is our most popular product of this category."The fancy box she offered for me to have a look at had all of its contents displayed on the label. At first glance nothing seemed out of the ordinary. That is until I had the time to take an even closer look."Seviper leather made nail trimmer…?""Worry not dear customer the leather has been humanely harvested from wild Seviper who have already expired. Trainers who are assigned to clean up after Seviper/Zangoose turf wars sell their expired remains to the company who manufacture these kits.""One diamond tipped comb, A gilded slicker brush."Me listing off these overly luxurious stylist tools got the attention of another Pokémon whose poké ball was hanging off my belt. Halo's ball opened up materializing the overly eager bug type right on top of one of the stools set aside for husbands and boyfriends whose only reason for entering a store like this was to haul shopping bags like overworked mudbray."Vess!""No, this is for Rena, her old grooming kit won't cut it with all that extra surface area.""Nine!!""No, I am not saying you've grown fat. You're at a completely respectable size.""What a wonderful looking Pokémon! We have a wide selection of products made specially for bug types."The situation was getting too chaotic for my liking. I couldn't give my Pokémon the attention they deserved while at the same time keeping the conversation going with the saleswoman. Multitasking was never my strong suit, something that I probably had to work on before trying a gander at double battles. For now, though, I had to get this woman out of my face."Lady, could we please have a moment of privacy to discuss all the available options?""But of course I'll be over at the front desk if you need any further assistance."The lady didn't need further prompting and left the three of us alone. She must have accurately guessed that continuing to press the issue would hinder her goal of making a successful sale."Okay then, first off: Ninetales you have a wonderful figure, any Pokémon that says otherwise is a blind idiot.""Ninee!""Secondly, Halo… bug types like yourself don't typically need grooming. I do what I can to keep your mane in good condition keeping it free from tangles and give it the occasional brushing but ultimately your body doesn't require as much upkeep as Ninetales' does.""Vess…?""Aww! Come here you! How about we get you some quality conditioner to keep that mane all nice and soft?""Vess!"I knew that I was overindulging her, but it was hard for me to say no to the team's baby. It was a weakness the rest of my Pokémon also shared. We all did our part in taking care of her egg and teaching her right from wrong after her hatching.'Perhaps it would be a good idea to have her go on playdates? Having Halo make some friends in her own age range could be a boon to her social skills. Orin's close to being age mates with her but the maturity that comes from having lived a previous life stops him from fully connecting with others in that way.'Now that our immediate issues were settled it was time to pick one of these kits. Hopefully for a reasonable price. Scanning the shelf, I found multiple brands whose quality spoke for itself. Not that I could afford most of them. My prize winnings earned at the Fortree city gym couldn't even pay for half the kits displayed on this shelf."These prices… Could you help me look for one that's not completely ridiculous? I doubt that there's a notable difference between cherry wood combs and one that's made from…sterling silver."Just like that the three of us went over all of the kits until we found one that was completely serviceable without all of the bells and whistles. It was still majorly expensive eating up our entire budget if added up with the bug type conditioner we also picked up on the way back to the checkout counter.'At this rate I'll never be able to afford buying a dusk stone for Orin…'"Can't we get a job?""There is freelance work trainers can do while on the circuit. Helping berry farmers pick their crops, babysitting and the like. It doesn't pay much and not a single one of the sponsored trainers that I know will waste their training time on menial jobs like that.""Anything else…?""Selling information on some of the legendaries that I know of.""No! I want to be the one that meets them first!""Hmmm… you reckon the mega evolution guru would pay to have some of the stones that we collected? He'd be the only one at this point that would know the true value of what we carry with us.""That could work! We don't need any of those right?""We could get more for them in a year or two if everything works out as I've predicted. Well… it's not like we're in a hurry, it'll be some time before Orin is ready to evolve."Getting a keystone for our own use would be quite a difficult endeavor seeing as the only ones that I know of inside Hoenn are being hoarded by the Draconid tribe. Contacting Gurkinn might also be a difficult proposition hidden masters like him aren't known to hold cellular devices."Tomorrow after we win our fourth badge, I'll buy us a ferry ticket to Mossdeep. We make an appointment for a battle at their gym and then go looking for a gym trainer willing to take on Wynaut."