Chapter 72

Vermillion City, also known as the City of Lights, situated near the sea inlet in the south, was the second most populous city in the region of Kanto. It was famous for its Vermillion Port, which was the biggest Port in the region, and one of the biggest in the world. Other than that, it had the region's biggest PokeMart as well.

The hustle and bustle of the city was something they had not experienced for a while. There were so many sites of attraction, and their eyes wandered all over the place as they walked towards the Vermilion City Pokemon Center.

Anira and Misty were already making plans for a shopping spree after their lunch. And Leaf seemed excited too.

However, their excitement doubled when they saw the glass tower of the Vermilion City PokeMart, more specifically, the advert that was displayed on the large screen.

There were limited edition Luxury Balls available in eleven different colour schemes. Leaf was already looking forward to having different coloured Pokeballs for her Pokemon after she saw the Pokeball of Diancie, and now she was burning with impatience to hurry up and grab a few.

"Please..." Leaf and Anira looked at Aizen with puppy eyes.

"We can still come here after checking in the Pokemon Center." He pointed at the Pokemon Center that was right next to the PokeMart.

"But they are limited in numbers! What if someone buys them all when we are not here?" Leaf argued, to which Aizen laughed. He wanted to point out that it was highly unlikely for someone to buy them all since Luxury Balls were called Luxury Balls for a reason. They were highly expensive.

However, seeing that the girls were intent on delaying their lunch, he relented.

"Alright, you girls go ahead." He nodded to them.

As soon as he said that, the Silver fox that had been sleeping on his shoulder woke up and jumped right next to Anira, stretching its limbs, ready to join them in their shopping.

Rinko didn't like shopping, but he always accompanied Anira to protect her.

"I will get you some really cool Pokeballs!" Anira promised him before grabbing Leaf's hand and running to the entrance of the PokeMart. Misty followed right after them, and to his surprise, Sabrina started walking towards the Mart as well.

"You want to buy some Pokeballs as well?" He curiously asked.

"Diana likes to shop, and PokeMart is a safe place to let her out and have fun." She turned around and answered before approaching the guards and showing her credentials to enter the building.

Aizen booked them their suite at the Center and then checked out the schedule of Vermilion Gym before booking his and Leaf's spots for tomorrow morning.

Luckily for him, March Clematis, the Vermilion City Guardian, who was famously known by his alias, Lt. Surge, liked to start his day early in the morning. The Orayen Prince booked his Gym Match at 7 am, and Leaf had hers right after his.

He had a simple lunch, not waiting for the girls, as he knew they would most likely dine in a restaurant. And then the Orayen Prince decided to check the Vermilion Port and the Commercial District next to it.

He returned to the Pokemon Center at around 9 pm, an hour past the Dinnertime. And the girls were waiting for him in the lounge of their suite.

"Good Evening!" He greeted them, and the little Egg Fairy jumped out of Anira's arms and clumsily approached him before jumping into his embrace.

"Togepreee!"

"I see you had fun." He gently scratched its head and smiled before looking around the lounge.

Diancie was busy playing around with Rinko, Pichu, and Fiona. Sabrina was sitting on the couch reading something, and Misty was sitting adjacent to her holding the same thing Sabrina was reading.

"We did!" Leaf, who approached him together with Anira, enthusiastically started narrating how their day went. And then she pouted at him. "We wanted to have dinner with you, but you were not in the suite. Did you have your dinner?"

"I had some business to attend to, and yes, I have already eaten." He simply said and sat right next to Sabrina, glancing over at the pamphlet she was reading.

Misty frowned when she saw him sitting next to the raven-haired girl. For some reason, it bothered her, and she got up from her place and sat on the empty spot on his other side.

"Do you know, St. Anne is coming to Vermillion Port two days later?!" She excitedly informed him and showed him the same pamphlet Sabrina had in her hands.

"Is it?" He lightly smiled at her excitement.

"Yes!" She pouted. "It is the world's biggest and most luxurious Cruise Liner, and it only comes to the Vermilion Port once every 18 months! Every time it docks at the Port, it allows a specific number of Trainers to board it for a day and a half's journey to the Cinnabar Island. Unfortunately, we are late to book our seats on it." She sadly sighed.

"And we are heading next to Saffron City so that Sabrina can check on her adoptive family." He pointed out, intending to tease her a little.

Sure enough, the reminder made her frown and she turned quiet. He was about to say something to lighten her mood when Sabrina spoke.

"We can head to Cinnabar Island first. There is a Pokemon that I need to catch." Sabrina closed the pamphlet and put it on the table.

"Are you sure?" Aizen looked at her and asked, to which the raven-haired girl nodded her head.

"Really?!" Leaf, who was looking forward to travelling on St. Anne one day, was suddenly excited at hearing their conversation.

"But the seats are all booked." Misty reminded them, and the Hazel-eyed girl's excitement deflated.

Anira giggled at the reaction of her friend and stuck her tongue at her brother. She knew that the moment Sabrina had given the green light to skip Saffron City for Cinnabar Island that they were destined to head there.

"That is not a problem for us." Sabrina looked at Misty and said.

"Why?" The orange-haired girl narrowed her eyes at her.

"He owns St. Anne." The raven-haired girl simply pointed at Aizen and said.

"What?!" Misty asked in disbelief, and her heart really felt uncomfortable when Aizen didn't deny Sabrina's words. The raven-haired girl knew something about him that she did not know, and it irked her.

"I see you have looked into my Family." Aizen lightly smiled and looked Sabrina in the eyes.

"I asked Juniper for information on you and your family." She nodded her head.

"Why?" Misty accusingly asked.

"If we are going to marry, I need to know how well his family is doing and what businesses they own. And Orayen's owning St. Anne is not a secret."

Her words only helped in ringing the bells of crisis in Misty's head. The youngest Waterflower sister could see that Sabrina was very serious about marrying Aizen.

The idea of Aizen having multiple wives did not bother her. She already knew about it and was fine with it. What bothered her was that she felt Aizen closer to the girl he met for less than a month, compared to her, who had been with him for months. Sabrina being enchantingly beautiful and more developed only helped in making her feel more insecure, and that was why she found it really hard to accept her presence in their group.

Aizen sensed her distress and grabbed her hand before lightly squeezing it.

"So, are you up for the journey?" He softly asked.

Misty blushed under his intent gaze and nodded her head, forgetting all the discomfort that had been eating her heart a moment ago.

"Are we really going to Cinnabar Island on St. Anne?!" Leaf excitedly asked.

"Yes." Aizen chuckled and nodded to her. "I will go make a call." He excused himself and left for his room to contact his family's Cruise Line.

The manager at the Vermilion City branch was more than happy to know that he would, after all, be coming on board St. Anne. Aizen had spent the day in his office, checking on how his family business was doing. He had already been invited to this year's event on St. Anne, but he had refused to attend it since their next destination was Saffron City, which was a week's journey away from Vermilion City.

When he returned to the lounge, the girls showed him the different Luxury Balls they had bought.

Misty had chosen a set of balls with a deep sea-blue colour scheme. Leaf did not go for a set and bought a variety of balls, and she happily showed him the fairy pink colour scheme of Flabebe's new Pokeball.

"Diana chose this one for Fiona, and she loves it!" She informed him, and he admitted that it was very pretty.

Anira brought him a set of twenty Luxury Balls with platinum and purple colour schemes. She knew what he liked, and he happily kissed her on the forehead and thanked her for the gift.

It took him a few minutes to register the new set of Pokeballs on his Pokedex, and then he left the lounge together with Sabrina for their nightly training session.

Anira and Misty stayed with Leaf, helping her finish the Research that was her homework for the night.

By midnight, everyone was asleep, except for Sabrina, who stayed up the entire night, meditating in her room with her Mega Alakazam and Delphox.