Poffins and Promises

Salandit wouldn't need to sleep in her pokeball, no matter what she said but the threat did help in the end. 

Not a single comment came from her. She didn't try to touch me inappropriately while we slept either. Just consensual, age-appropriate cuddling.

But sleep was still awkward with Dawn right next to me in the confined space of my tent. Back in the wilderness we had the excuse of it being forced upon us and at least my nerves were too frayed to stay awake.

But we didn't have any excuses last night.

I wrapped my hand around Dawn's waist but ever since we became a couple, things hadn't been the same.

I wanted to touch her more.

And so after I woke up with way too little sleep, I put my arm around her again and pretended to be still asleep.

That was like an hour ago and I'm starting to feel like we are wasting way too much time.

But it feels so nice!

~"Hey." Buneary whispers to me. ~"I know you are both awake. I want to train more. Get up."

... 'Both'?

I remove my arm from Dawn's waist and turn away from her. Her hair is no longer in my face. Despite not having washed herself in days, her hair smelled rather pleasant.

"Yaaawn." I make a pretty convincing fake yawn. "Psst. Dawn. Are you awake yet?"

"Yaaawn." That was the most obvious fake-yawn I have ever heard. "Yeah. Want to start heading to Floaroma?"

"Yes. Let's do that. Who knows how long it will take to reach the town."

"Right."

~"Jusst mate already!"

I ignore my pokemon and start making a small breakfast with Dawn before dawn ends and pack everything up.

Then we walk over the hill again-- for the first time, "Wow! It's Floaroma Town! Look! We made it!"

Bla bla bla stadium. Bla bla pokemon center and pokemart. Bla bla the gardens are almost as large as my family's property.

We headed into the center of the town where the pokemon center is located, did a quick checkup on our pokemon, restocked in the pokemart in the neighboring building and then looked for a hostel to stay there until we move on to Alamos Town.

While most of our pokemon only needed a surface-level checkup, Riolu needed a more thorough examination. To make sure her body is growing healthily and to collect a few base-line values. Burmy received a full physical by Dawn too.

As we walked towards the hostel, I started to really notice just how much this town is themed around flowers.

Blossoming ivy and other creeping flora grow everywhere. Not a single house-wall is left untouched by the plants, except for the pokemon center and pokemart.

I take a closer look and see that they aren't just growing randomly. All the plants grow along patterned fences that cover the houses. Various pokemon and some women are out and about, taking care of the many plants.

A little girl was out in their garden, helping her mother out. She holds up a Sewaddle and the pokemon then eats the parts of the plants that are growing out of place.

The hostel itself comes into view. I know from Nurse Joy that it is a 2 story building with 4 rooms for 4 people each on the upper level and a living room, kitchen and bathroom on the lower.

It's gross to share a single bathroom with up to 15 other people. But beggars can't be choosers. The rooms are in a really affordable price-range compared to the other places in town.

Through the window at the ground floor, a TV can be seen showing some kind of interview.

Potted plants are placed on the windowsill and creeping vines grow on the frame of the window. Their flowers decorate the building beautifully. The view must be great from the inside.

The people and pokemon living in this town put a lot of attention to detail in their designs. One group of the little helpers can be seen across the street. 

Sewaddle and Leavanny seem to flourish in this town. A small horde of Sewaddle 'prunes' the plants in a nearby park. By pruning, I mean eating. And they are directed by a Leavanny, who is a bug type pokemon that looks like a bipedal praying mantis.

I wonder if they are wild pokemon? There is a high chance that this is just the mother of a gang of pokemon and they are just eating random stuff in the town. But the end results look good either way.

All in all, it's by far the most colorful town I have seen in my life.

This is what old-money can do. Impressive.

The inside of the hostel isn't any less impressive either. Houseplants galore, bonsai and wooden, antique furniture gives the hostel a really nice atmosphere. Almost like a witch's hut but the modern TV clashes with the style.

The staircase to the upper floor is located adjacent to the living room but then the offensive view and idiotic noise of the TV manages to catch my attention.

"I call it the cheese block theory." The 'Science Channel' is running. A crackpot TV sender. With their ancient alien-pokemon who built the Sky Pillar in Hoenn.

"You see, the universe is a multidimensional object. It's impossible to imagine, but if space is a cube, then the universe is an infinite amount of cubes inside of each other. What we experience as time is all of these cubes in sequence."

School taught me enough about physics to know what he means. The 3 dimensions are up, down and ... depth? And the 4th dimension is time. 

But this is how these conspiracy theorists get you. They spout nonsense that is just true enough to believe before jumping off the deep end.

"But that's not enough to understand what's going on with the world right now. As Feynman stated in his paper 'The Theory of Positrons', particles can just as easily move backwards in time as they can do it forwards."

... Yeah... That's the usual science channel bullshit I expected to hear.

"And together with quantum theory, we can conclude that the universe does not only encompass time, it also contains all possibilities too! Now what happens when there are holes in this 5-dimensional structure and these holes become larger, and larger until they collapse?"

... Different points in time, space and even timelines could suddenly come together...

"That's what's causing all these events! There are holes in the universe and they are collapsing!"

The interviewer behind the camera asks a question. "But what's causing these holes? And holes don't collapse inside of a block of cheese."

"Oh... Right. Maybe the name needs some work. And I have no idea what's causing the holes."

... "Fucking science channel. Only weirdos watch that shit."

A man who had been hidden behind the couch sits up and looks around after he hears me speak.

"That voice, oh yes, that cruel, scathing voice so clear, in my mind, it does reappear. Memories sharp, they do not fail, you're the trainer from my Bewilder Forest's tale."

Oh no.

Not him again!

"Nando!" Dawn shouts out. "It's so nice to see you again!"

Maybe we should look for a different hostel.

"Likewise, dear friends. Dawn and Sole, if I recall."

"It's Swole."

"Noted. Are you here to sign up for the contest? Rumors say, it is a dual performance and a partner is required this year."

"Required?! Not optional!?" Dawn panics.

"Indeed. I was rejected at the stadium and told to register with a partner." Then it's not a rumor! And he's just a poetic prick. "Will you be my partner for the competition?" 

HIS partner!?

Oi! What the hell! That's my girlfriend! If anything, I'm going to be her partner!

"Su--"

"Hey, Dawn. Didn't you say back then that you wanted to partner up with me and Buneary for dual performances?"

"Huh? When did I ask that?"

"When I came back from the wilderness with Buneary. And before your mom drove us to Jubilife City."

"Oh! You're right! Sorry, Nando. I already have a partner."

I wrap my free arm around her shoulder and pull her closer to me. And then I kiss her on the cheek, just to make sure my territory is marked and my enemy knows his place.

... I think Buneary's behaviors are starting to rub off on me.

"That is alright. I will just wait here for another trainer to arrive. Have fun, you two and good luck."

He returns his attention to a notebook that's covered in music notes. I guess he uses the TV as white-noise while he works.

A glare finds its way to the back of his head. "... Let's head up and check into our rooms." I say and lead the way.

"Why are we always going to our rooms first when we enter a new town, if we just take everything with us anyway?"

Dawn asks a very redundant question. "So we can reserve the beds in case other people come and try to steal our beds."

"Yeah, but we don't leave anything here. How are people going to know if our beds are reserved or not? Ursula stole your bed because you didn't mark it before."

... "I gave her the bed. But a good point. Let's leave a towel this time."

She rolls her eyes at me for some reason.

---

With a place to sleep and wash ourselves secured, we head back out into the town.

First step is to register ourselves at the stadium for the contest. "When is the contest?"

"Friday."

On Friday. That's in 2 days.

Which means I keep my eyes open for a public place that Dawn and I could use for training later. The park next to the hostel was too busy. Worst case, we just head out of town and train on the flower fields again.

As I keep my eyes peeled for a spot, I manage to find some other interesting things: A winery working together with a Meowscarada, Tsareena and a bunch of Shuckle. Shuckle are famous for their berry juice and I can only imagine that wine from that juice must be incredibly expensive.

And you don't see Tsareena and Meowscarada that often either. Both pokemon prefer regions which are much more tropical than Sinnoh. Like Alola or Paldea. Whoever owns that winery must be loaded.

Then there is a flower shop with an advertisement for a course on 'Poffin' baking and a stall that sells pokemon eggs.

Wait. "Dawn, are you seeing that too?"

"Seeing what?"

"Want to check out what pokemon eggs they sell?"

A pokemon breeder has set up shop here in Floaroma Town. One of the highest paying professions in the industry and extremely difficult to get into. Red tape everywhere.

"It's not like we can afford any of them but sure, let's check it out."

On a first glance, the stall is fairly unremarkable. It's well decorated like everything else in the town but the items on display aren't very special. Pokemon toys, accessories, grooming supplies, milk bottles and similar equipment for extremely young pokemon.

Oh! And they sell acid here too. Citric acid. The price here is cheaper than at the pokemart and it's a solid that I could mix with water on demand, rather than the shitty, liquid, hydrochloric acid...

A few books on fur treatment and skincare as well as some metal-polish for Riolu end up in my shopping basket. I also grab some grooming supplies for her and let her pick out scented oils and bathing supplies.

Dawn also gets some... random supplies for her pokemon. She got a stack of random fabric for some reason and, "You're getting one of those thigh-bands for your pokeballs?"

Her face looks unsure. "Should I? I mean... sex sells, right?"

'Yes. Definitely. Buy it. It's so sexy.'... These thoughts float around in my head but then I remember that she is my girlfriend.

Other people shouldn't get to look up her skirt!

"I think your innocent and cute style suits you and would be better in the long run."

"Cute? Hmmm ... Alright." She says as she puts it back. "I really thought he would like it." I hear her mutter afterwards.

She's right.

Anyway, I take my loot and bring it to the cash register. A woman in a yellow sundress, burgundy-red hair and blue eyes was busy petting a Lycanroc behind the counter but she swapped her attention to me quickly once she noticed me.

Lycanroc, the wolf-like rock pokemon, whines about the end of the petting session before he heads off to a nearby, pet-sized bed to take a nap.

We chat a little while she checks out my items. I inform her of Riolu's unusual eating habits - she already eats solids just days after hatching - and she tells me that the general food rule applies even to hatchling pokemon. If Riolu wants solid food, she should have it.

But she also tells me that her diet should include Moomoo milk instead of water for drinks since her body is gaining a lot of strength over the course of the next few days and weeks and it needs the calories. Gogoat milk is a suitable substitute.

And as a general rule for baby pokemon, they need to be overfed. There are no risks associated with it because unlike humans, their bodies have a fixed number of fat-cells and they can't gain bad eating habits because their instincts are simply too strong.

They can become too fat but that's nothing that a change in diet and training can't fix.

While Dawn pays for her purchases, I check out this store's main attraction: A catalogue for pokemon eggs.

Each egg has a double page of information. First page shows the mother, who also determines the species of the egg, the second page shows the sire. In neat columns, their moves, achievements, behavioral evaluations and stats are listed. Near the bottom of the second page are pictures of the egg and a price next to it. And that's it.

The catalogue assumes that the buyer knows what they are doing.

Luckily, I do know what I am doing.

The first half of the catalogue are simply unsuitable for gym challenges because it needs parents with high levels of skill and battle-affine behavioral traits. Some risky eggs with unknown sire might match my needs, but it's too expensive for the risk.

The 3rd quarter has some traits that are beneficial for contests but the prices are already starting to become unreasonable.

In the final, 4th section are the pokemon that are bred for peak battle performance. Aggressive, large move pools, very high stats on both parents.

... And way too expensive.

I put the catalogue back before I get demotivated.

Buying pokemon eggs is for rich people and for people who are struggling to get their 8th gym badge. Or for gym leaders.

... It's lame too.

Yeah... I don't want these... It would ruin the experience of my pokemon journey... Yeah...

At some point, Dawn joined me. Her eyes drift to her wallet and her head slowly shakes in dejection.

The whole time, my pokemon had hushed conversations with each other and I can't help but feel a vague sense of dread when I imagine what they are talking about.

We finish our shopping tour and then stroll the rest of the way to the stadium.

Once again, the building is extravagantly designed. For some reason, the walls are painted green and giant leaves stick out of the wall. The top of the stadium features a weird crown of yellow triangles.

At the bottom are fields of sunflowers and Sunflora. If the Sunflora didn't move every once in a while, they'd be indistinguishable from the flowers-- The stadium is supposed to be a massive sunflower. I get it now.

The inside looks like any other stadium. A large lobby for people to wait in lines and 4 registers to receive customers or in our case, to register at. Only one is staffed right now.

Registration is fairly straightforward. Boring almost compared to the Canalave City gym.

We don't even need to register the pokemon we want to use. Just our trainer IDs and who we are partnering with for Friday.

"Hm." Dawn grunts in a cute way. "What do we do now? It's not even lunch time yet."

"Training?"

"Sigh. It's always training with y-- Oh no! You have no clue about contests! We need to train!"

"Pfft. I have some clue. We just need to look pretty and kick ass."

"... O. M. A. We're going to lose in the presentation stage. That's so embarrassing..."

---

With a rare moment of motivation for training, Dawn leads the way out of the pokemon contest stadium and out of the town back to yesterday's spot in the flower fields.

We didn't notice that a mysterious stranger had started following us, until we left the rather busy heart of the town behind and Buneary notifies me of steady sounds of footsteps that are following us.

~"We're being stalked." She says and Salandit flicks out her tongue while Riolu's feelers start to rise on their own.

~"Ssmells of perfume." 

A woman? Or Nando?

Riolu growls out a complaint. ~"Grrr, they are too far away."

I can't tell with my aura either.

Dawn and her pokemon don't seem to have noticed anything, so I grab her by her hand and pull her closer while we hike up the hill. If that person attacks us, I can move her out of the way quicker.

Once we are out of sight behind the hilltop, I motion for Dawn to stay hidden and quiet while I whisper the situation to her.

"We have a stalker. Female. Maybe Team Rocket?"

Dawn begins to tense up after hearing that.

We listen carefully for any more footsteps and we keep the crest of the hill in sight.

But after a few minutes of waiting, nothing happens.

"Did she give up?" Dawn asks and I look to my pokemon for answers.

They each give me a shrug in response.

Sounds could be blocked by the hill, smell by the flowers and Riolu's aura is weaker than mine right now and I can't feel a thing either.

I slowly sneak back to the top of the hill but there is nothing. As far as the eye can see, we are alone.

"She must have given up."

"You're being too serious again. We're not in the wilderness anymore."

"... I guess you're right."

"But I really do appreciate your concern for me." She gives me a kiss on my cheek. "With you around, I know I can travel the world without ever getting hurt."

She says but I know I don't have that power. She got abducted by Team Rocket while I was having fun with Salandit-- I mean, while I... uhhhh... gave her a reward. Which was not a rewarding experience for me. Not at all.

"Anyway, let's get started with training!" She shouts. "We have wasted enough time, show me what you can do, Swole Solo!"

Uhhhh... I'm blanking out in creativity.

"Buneary, go and do something cool?"

She jumps off from my shoulder and does a flip.

"..." Dawn says nothing.

"Pretty cool, huh?"

"..." Still nothing.

"I said, pretty cool, huh?"

"... I'm going to think of something. You just do what you normally do."

Buneary looks dejected so I whisper to her that she's the coolest and Dawn just doesn't have a clue.

We start our training.

Buneary trains her fairy type first, Salandit her poison and Riolu tries to get Aura Sphere to work again.

In the meantime, I work out and warm myself up for Buneary's and my brawling session.

At some point Dawn steals Salandit away with the excuse that she has a few ideas for her.

Buneary and I discuss the rules for our battle once more and I give her a few tips to improve herself.

~"What are you doing?" Riolu asks as she eyes our preparation critically.

She already saw us do this yesterday, so I'm not sure what she means.

~"I mean, does that do anything?"

"I'd say so. Buneary has problems with learning." My shin gets kicked. "Fffuck! I mean, she learns better by doing things. So we brawl against each other. That way, she can learn what to expect in a battle."

~"Huh... Can we try that later?"

"Your body is still too young. I don't want to hurt you."

~"... A human... Afraid of hurting me... How far have I fallen..."

She concentrates a little more on her Aura Sphere, the ball of energy looks slightly less wobbly this time.

Anyway, I get battle-ready.

Buneary squares her shoulders and lowers her body slightly to be able to run faster.

I get closer to the ground, crouching almost. One hand braced and ready to hold up my weight if I need to.

I give the signal to begin the extremely unfair fight. "Start!"

Her sprint begins with a speed that my eyes can just barely keep up with.

She's aiming for my left leg. I shift my left arm into position to catch her if she follows through but stay ready for a feint.

About a meter in front of me, her attention changes to my right leg and her direction shifts accordingly. 

I swap my stance. My weight shifts and I lean on my left arm. My right, raised in the air to grab her.

She should jump up and try to hit my back instead. Frontal attacks are too predictable.

A sudden burst of normal type energy bounces her into the air and I roll to the side to dodge the drop-kick.

Another kick follows right after. Double Kick. And I roll once more to increase the distance.

Fuck! I didn't get far enough!

Her second kick lands right in my ribs but she doesn't get away in time either. My right arm managed to grab a hold of her ears.

They are too sensitive for her to pull away from so I can successfully turn the match into a grapple while some of her punches land on my arms in a futile attempt to break free.

I maneuver her tiny body into a choke-hold and end the match.

"1 to 0." I pant into her ear between labored breaths.

Her body is pinned beneath mine and her head is held tightly by my arms.

The rush of adrenaline makes my blood boil and my emotions soar... It made my dick erect too. But luckily he doesn't touch her body.

~"You're too big." I hear her complain and my mind wanders to the wrong places for a few seconds.

I want to tell her that she's going to have larger opponents in the gym too, but my mind and mouth fail to communicate properly. As a result, I can only pant more heavy breaths into her ears.

She squirms some more and my body finally wakes up again. I let go of her and roll over onto my back to catch my breath.

A serious fight is simply too much of a workout for a mere human.

Buneary doesn't have that issue. Her stamina is seemingly endless and she gets right up and hops on my chest. ~"Again! Bet you won't catch me with your filthy fingers again!"

They aren't filthy.

She also bites my ear again when I don't get moving fast enough. It doesn't hurt as much as when she first did it. It's more tender and careful now.

"That is certainly one way to train." A voice startles me upright.

This voice... It isn't Dawn but... I know that voice. 

A voice that accompanied many of my wet dreams in the past.

I look around but I don't see the owner of the voice anywhere.

"Ara Ara." The mature voice of my dreams chuckles in delight.

Am I just imagining things? Why am I hearing Cynthia's voice?

"Up here."

I look up and see a deceptively young-looking woman. Her blonde hair, wrinkle-free skin and stylish looks distract from her true age.

She rides on the back of her Togekiss . 

"C-Cynthia?!"

She jumps off, falls a few meters to the ground but lands casually.

Her body oozes confidence.

"You are the pokemon trainer Swole Solo, am I correct?"

Dawn stares at the woman from the distance while Salandit and Riolu gather around me.

"Y-yes!" My voice cracks and I feel my face heating up in shame.

Her eyes travel briefly over my body, lingering on a certain incriminating body part before she rolls her eyes and continues. "How did you get my phone number."

She asks but her tone and the overwhelming sense of authority turns it into a demand for answers rather than a question.

"Your grandmother gave it to me."

"... Seriously?"

She feels dangerous. As if watching a wild animal on the prowl for fresh meat.

"Yes?"

"..."

"No?"

What does she want to hear?!

And then, in the next moment, the visage of a terrifying villain falls apart.

"Spiritomb return." A dark creature emerges from her shadow.

A ghost of swirling purple orbs and shadows, attached to a stone with a face pattern on it. It looks like it seals away a thousand evil souls that try to break free and escape into the world.

"Seriously, granny? A boy?" She complained to herself but wasn't quiet enough for me not to overhear her.

"I'm a man."

She eyes me again. Once again her eyes travel to a certain place but she easily keeps her composure.

"Sooo..." I start after the awkward pause. "What happened with the M.S. Anne?"

"Team Rocket managed to escape before my arrival and the security forces of Team Galactic were in charge of the ship again. Milotic and Togekiss didn't manage to find them on the sea either. And I also managed to piece together what happened on my own, despite my primary source of information not picking up his phone." She voices out accusingly.

"Who is your primary source of information? I can't believe anyone would ignore a phone call by the Sinnoh champion."

Her eyes tighten in anger. One hand is on her hip for emphasis. The other points at me. "You."

"Me?"

"Yes!"

I check my phone and-- "Oh."

And I disable 'do not disturb'-mode.

Lots of missed calls and unanswered messages.

"Sh... shucks. Woops?"

"Sigh. Just tell me what happened on the ship. Multiple people have pointed you out as the person who turned the situation around."

She looks so disappointed! Nooo! Fuck!

I'd better try to answer her question as best as I can. I... I don't want her to look at me like that.

Gulp. "Ahem. It started..." As the memories of that day pass through my mind again, I notice something. "Actually, it started when we boarded the ship. The captain was using a fake accent and he explicitly told us to sleep in separate rooms."

"Fake accent?"

"Yes. If a foreigner was using our language, he might stutter to think of a word in our language, right? He was only thinking of words before speaking them in his language. And he tried to say good morning before switching to 'moin'."

"... That is something the captain did..." She states with a frown forming on her face.

"And then I noticed through the windows of the lower class rooms that the passengers were treated like cattle. I simply dismissed it as a way to save money. Same with the missing staff."

"How did you notice the staff was missing?"

"Well, at first, I thought it was just because of money and hiring standards. There weren't any waiters walking around and just a..." I make quotation marks with my fingers in the air. "Group of women with very distinct, blonde, twin-drilled hair and purple eyes. Later, I found out that it was the same woman in different outfits. A member from Team Rocket who calls herself Domino. Her real name might be Laura."

"... Blonde. Twin-drill hair. Purple eyes. You mean violet?"

"Uhhh, I guess? Violet, purple, seems identical to me. Her other code names are 009 and The Black Tulip. The names of her disguises were bartending Beth, Maria the masseuse and... Uhm... Right. Wendy. Wendy, the waitress."

"Harriette the helmswoman... Okay. Continue with your description, please."

Cynthia doesn't seem so disappointed in me anymore. But she is really angry now instead.

"The dinner they served us was poisoned with something that was supposed to make everyone fall asleep. I didn't eat anything because--"

Because... why? "Actually, I can't remember why. But I didn't eat it. Dawn did and when she started falling asleep, I brought her to bed before going to my own in a different room. About an hour later, 'lock picking Laura' tried to enter my room but we captured her instead. Her accomplice told me where Dawn was and I staged a small rescue mission for her and a few other people before escaping with the group."

"They just told you where Dawn was?" Cynthia points at Dawn as she says this.

"Well... I..." I feel my throat clamp shut and my guilty conscience pains me like stinging nettles.

"I understand." Cynthia says.

She-- She understands?

Does she even know what I did? What I had to do!?

I had no choice! "I had to save her..."

I don't even know what I could have done differently.

Cynthia takes half a step closer to me. A motherly look looms over her features. A caring expression, an inviting and open body language.

She reminds me of my mother and I'm half a push away from hugging her.

The only thing stopping me is the abnormal level of power she holds. Like standing before a living legend. She is the closest thing there is to divinity.

"I understand. It's alright." Her voice feels like balm on my soul.

I can't think. 

Her demeanor is too disarming. She is too much like mom.

It's taking me everything not to break down into a sobbing mess in front of my idol. All the memories... They are just too painful.

All the death I have seen. All the destruction. The pure evil... And the evil I have done. I... I k-- sacrificed the original Riolu in an act of pure selfishness. I tortured a woman and I don't even know how far I would have gone...

I don't want to think of that anymore.

After what felt like way too much time, Cynthia finally breaks the silence. "You have my phone number. If you remember something else or need any help, you can call me again."

And with perfect timing, Togekiss flies by and Cynthia hops on his back in a smooth, cool motion.

I am left standing here. Trying to wrangle my emotional turmoil back under control.

Dawn approaches me while the flying pokemon trainer swiftly disappears over the western horizon.

"Wow. Cynthia is kind of scary." She says but I don't see it.

She was amazing and cool. Intimidating, but not scary.

I, on the other hand... I don't think I made a good impression. "Do you think I fumbled it?"

Confusion is written all over Dawn's face. "Fumbled what?"

This distraction is just what I needed right now. "Fumble my chance."

"Huh? I don't understand. What do you mean?"

"I'm sure, if I was a little more of a player, I could have gotten Cynthia into our harem. Or do you think we still have a chance?"

Her left eye twitches in barely concealed madness. "Are you fucking with me right now?"

I don't think Dawn likes to share as much as Zoey or Akari do. Heh. "What do you mean? Don't you want the world's greatest MILF in our harem?"

Another twitch of her eyelid and she inspects me closely in suspicion. "I honestly can't tell if you're serious or not."

"Why wouldn't I be serious?" I'm not. 3 girlfriends are enough... And 2 pokemon... 3 pokemon?

"Humpf." Dawn harrumphs and walks away.

"Wait! I'm sorry! I was joking!" I hurry after her and start grovelling.

"... Maybe I should change my partner to Nando?"

"Nooo! Don't do that! I will stop making those jokes!"

My pokemon are laughing at my expense and eventually a smile grows on Dawn's face too. "That's better. Now tell me that I'm better than Cynthia. And what is a MILF?"

"..."

"... I'm waiting."

"My mother raised me not to be a liar."

"Asshole!" Dawn starts hitting my arms over and over again as I begin laughing too.

---

The surprise visit of Cynthia had ruined the training session. I didn't manage to accrue another win against Buneary because my mind just wasn't in the game anymore.

That was the only reason.

Meanwhile Dawn commandeered Salandit so they could work together on looking prettier, I guess.

And I made another checkup on Riolu's stats, only to find out that her rapid growth hasn't slowed down at all. Only her physical attack power seems to be lacking, compared to the other insane growth rates. But her unbelievable special attack values more than make up for it.

We have also started to carefully train her moves with a supplement of lots of Moomoo milk. The focus is on her unnatural moves; Aura Sphere, Confusion and Ice Beam. None of them really work well, right now.

Aura Sphere is unstable and falls apart sometimes, Ice Beam is just extremely weak and Confusion struggles to lift even small rocks.

In the end training just meant that I had to console her over the loss of her strength. It had hit her pretty hard to be weaker now.

I would probably feel the same way if I lost an arm or something else.

Anyway, Dawn is in the bathroom right now and I'm scrolling through the notifications on my phone while my other hand strokes over the fur and skin of my gaggle of pokemon.

Barry wrote to me on Monday that he managed to win his battle. His newest pokemon managed to secure the victory. He caught a Heracross while training on the routes and he replaced his Staravia with him in the gym battle for a better type matchup.

He also informed me that Ash and Asshole have both won their battles too. Asshole is already going to Eterna City and he won on his first try. That extra time he had to 'waste' in school was probably spent with lots of extra training.

Mom received a heartfelt thank you for the necklace and I asked if she knows anything about it beyond it being a good-luck charm. Hopefully I can find out more about aura guardians to help Riolu train better.

Akari still hasn't written anything back... Probably still in the middle of nowhere. I wrote her an update on my travels and that we're in Floaroma, heading to Alamos Town as our last stop before Oreburgh City.

And I write her an update on the Dawn-situation.

If I understand my girls right: Dawn isn't a fan of the harem. Zoey wants it and Akari... The limiting factor for her is how much money I have. As long as I can be a provider, she is fine with it.

Which means, I need to ensure that my income grows. That means I need to be the champion. Nothing easier than that.

Until then, I need to win my gym battles and maybe I can win some contests too. But for all of that, I need to spend money for TMs. And for mega stones. Berries. And other equipable items...

I need to spend money to make money. Which means I need more money in the first place to invest.

If I can figure out aura, I might be able to publish some papers for extra income but that's going to take too much time. It's not the boost in money that I need right now.

I could... I could do some quests once we're in Oreburgh City! Surely they have some problems that need to be fixed by a capable trainer like me!

... Alright. Enough with the distractions.

I need to open the last, but most important, chat that I haven't checked yet.

Zoey's.

Why am I even so nervous? She should be the easiest girl in the world to deal with!

But she does travel with 3 other guys. What if she isn't satisfied with the long distance relationship? I basically ghosted her for... 10 days?

... It's been so long already?!

I open the chat while my heart beats out of my chest.

First thing she messaged me...

She... She found Lucas' pokemon?!

Apparently Ash and Brock rescued a Chimchar and Buizel from Teach Rocket, who she is 100% certain are Lucas' pokemon.

They seem to resent both herself and Barry for having been close friends with Lucas...

They tried to explain to them what happened to Lucas and that he never meant to leave them behind but they wouldn't listen...

A couple of days later she sent a picture.

Nice. I might need to beat my meat later. 

She sent another picture of herself in her underwear. This time in front of a mirror, wearing dark-red underwear. She's showing off the side of her body with one knee pulled up and her hand hiding her bra-covered chest. Her limbs manage to hide all the important parts but I think this just makes it hotter.

She's asking how the cruise ride was... I'm going to pretend I didn't see that message. 

And she wrote that the gym scaled back the difficulty for Ash's and Barry's rematch!

Nothing she wrote about is an indication that she is somehow dissatisfied with me.

But she did write that she was annoyed with Team Rocket. At some point she tried splitting off from the group for fun activities in the city while she waited for Barry and Ash to continue their journey, but no matter what she tried, Team Rocket always managed to include her in their antics somehow.

She went to the fossil museum: Team Rocket was there, trying to steal revived fossil pokemon.

At the coal mines as a tourist: Team Rocket accidentally collapsed a tunnel and they had to wait to be rescued. She was stuck with them but they somehow managed to sneak off right after Officer Jenny rescued her.

The last message was from yesterday.

An update that tells me that their group is heading towards Eterna City. But they agreed to swivel west, through Alamos Town, Floaroma Town and then through the Eterna Forest to pick up two more locations for pokemon contests.

Which means, we might see each other around Alamos Town!

I write her a long, singular message as a response. So I don't spam her with notifications.

Writing about the stuff that happened since we left Canalave City.

And I write her about Dawn--

She's calling now.

A nervous lump slowly travels down my throat but I accept the video call...

"Heyyy! How are you, Swole!? Long time no see!"

It's the first time in a while that I see her in her normal clothing. Jeans, purple, long-sleeve shirt and an orange vest.

"Hey, I'm doing great now that I see you again. Wink." She giggles cutely. "What are you doing? How come I caught you right now?"

"I was just about to write ya and the girls about today. Guess what?"

"What?"

"I caught a Burmy!" She holds a leaf-cloaked Burmy into the camera. His yellow eyes seem annoyed at the prospect of being moved so rudely.

"Isn't he cool?"

Her joy is infectious and I can't help but nod in agreement. "Did Dawn already tell you that she captured a Burmy too? A female."

"What? No way, she did? Why didn't she write me yet? Too busy training?"

"Maybe. She has been keeping up a lot recently. It's like she's a changed woman."

"I bet she's trying to impress you. Wink."

Is she? It works if she is. I really like that motivated side of her.

"You should just take the hint and finally bag her for the harem already!"

"Already did."

"No way! For real? ... Good job! You're a real Casanova, aren't ya?"

"Haha! And you're a pervert."

She giggles again. "Just a little. By the way, is this Riolu the one from your egg? Wasn't it laid just a few weeks ago?"

"Mhm..."

Riolu seems very interested in the phone. It's the first time she has seen me video-calling with it and she looks as if she's trying to figure out where the human inside the screen comes from. So cute.

"I read your message that you are on your way to Alamos Town. Dawn and I are probably going to arrive there at the same time."

"You are? Awesome!"

"Let's go on a date when that happens, alright?"

"Yes! Let's do that! I'm looking forward to it already! And..." She looks around her tent carefully, as if someone could be listening in on her. 

"And please, for the love of Arceus, take me with you. I can't stand Team Rocket anymore! They are sooo annoying! It would be comical if they weren't so dang persistent! Every Arceus-damn day! ... Actually, there wasn't anything today yet... Oh no..."

"What?"

"That means they plan to do some dumb junk at night!"

And Dawn calls me paranoid. "You should call them Team Rocket's extra special task force next time you see them."

"Hah! Good one! Will do! I'm betting 10₽ that they will think it's a compliment."

"No way. That's a sucker's bet. Let's bet on a kiss instead."

"I will come to collect it in Alamos Town."

"Why did you say it like that?"

"Like what?" She asks and a perplexed look crosses her face.

I thought for sure that I heard her say it weirdly.

Doesn't matter. "Uh, never mind. I'm looking forward to lose that bet--"

Boom!

A loud explosion cuts off my speech and Zoey's face instantly turns into one of pure annoyance and boredom.

"... Talk to you later..." Her head slumps in defeat. "Gotta deal with them extra specials... Bye..."

Music starts blaring in the background and a woman's voice rings out. "Prepare for trouble!"

Beep.

The call ends.

...

"Hey, Dawn! Let's go to that Poffin course tomorrow!"

She instantly opens the bathroom door and answers me. "Alright!"

---

Narrator-POV:

"You need to stir the dough thoroughly. And you need to measure out the sugar better."

Swole Solo, the cooking-hero, has hijacked the Poffin-baking course with his own secret intentions: Trying to hammer the basics of cooking into Dawn's head. 

He is walking a proverbial tightrope because he cannot tell her that her cooking is awful for obvious reasons.

"Just like when you cook any meal, the sugars, salts, fats, the protein and the consistency are of utmost importance. Take meat for example. You want to cook it slowly so the consistency becomes soft and you want to salt it heavily to counter the water inside the meat and to complement the fat."

Thus, he attempts to be as generic as he can be about his explanations.

"What does meat have to do with baking Poffins?"

Nothing. 

"Everything." He lies. "A Poffin is just like a plate of fried rice with shrimps and fish. If you don't add enough salt, it will taste weird."

Sometimes, he fails to be generic.

"So the Poffins need a lot of salt?"

"No. But a small amount of salt does improve their taste. See? Our pokemon love my Poffins. Their dough included a pinch of salt."

Dawn finally nods along as their pokemon munch on individualized treats. Some Poffins are brittle and sweet, others bitter and with some coffee flavor and a few are simply too spicy for human consumption.

They are relatively healthy treats for pokemon made from poke berries, mixed into cookie dough.

If the mix of ingredients is right, it is something that all pokemon enjoy; May they be pets or partners.

...

Unlike training and battling. It takes a special kind of pokemon to be interested in pokemon battles and to have the willpower to actively become stronger.

But it just so happens that all 3 of Swole's pokemon are exactly that breed of pokemon. More or less.

Later that day at the flower fields while training for their performance: ~"I don't ssee how thiss is a benefit."

Salandit complains to Dawn about the training she's doing.

The lazy lizard prefers to fight efficiently, without letting her enemies get close and without attracting too much attention. In her opinion, training should reflect that and be a quick, simple and direct affair.

The training she has been subjected to kills all of those goals at once.

She has to weaken her ember, reduce the move's velocity and range and then she even has to make the flames as bright as she can to create as much attention as possible.

Riolu looks up from her meditative exercise after being interrupted by Salandit once again.

~"It's a good exercise to increase your control." She lectures to Salandit's shame.

'A hatchling tries to lecture me on how to train...' This thought enters Salandit's mind before she resumes her training without any further complaints.

On the other side of the training area, Swole looks at Dawn in a questioning gaze. "Why can't I help in Salandit's training?"

'Because you have no idea about contests and would only ruin it.' Is what she wants to say but she settles for a more diplomatic approach instead. "Too many cooks ruin the soup."

Swole then thinks about this too much.

The phrase talks about adding too much salt. But if all the cooks are professionals, then they wouldn't just randomly add salt. So too many cooks do not actually ruin soups.

...

Much later that day, in the evening, the two trainers are in the bathroom, where they brush their teeth side by side and bump against each other around in good natured fun.

Dawn spits out the toothpaste and addresses her boyfriend. "Did you get your suit cleaned yet?"

Swole did not. "Uhhhh, yes?" But it did not get dirty since the date with Dawn in the aquarium.

"Good. I have already picked out the necktie you need to wear to match my dress tomorrow... I saw that roll of your eyes! You had been so much worse than me in your preparation for your gym battle!"

"Whaaat? Well, maybe. But I didn't even say anything!"

"You thought about it!" He did. "Anyway, you also need to make sure your pokemon are properly groomed and are you going to let Riolu fight yet?"

"Hmmm... I wanted to try out Buneary's new fighting style but if the opponent is a beginner trainer, I might let Riolu gain some experience... Yeah. I don't know. I will see tomorrow. Why are you even stressing so much? That's usually my job."

"Because I half-assed my debut and this time it's both of our reputations on the line. After seeing what you did in your gym battle, I just have to put in more effort to keep up. And it's the first dual performance of the season!"

"... So what?"

"That means everyone will be watching! And it's the first contest with new rules! And they hyped up a special guest-judge who is most likely going to be Cynthia!"

"Ohhh, that's why she's here right now. And here I thought she came specifically for me. But wasn't she the judge in Canalave City too? What's special now?"

"That time she was a surprise judge. Not a special judge. It's different. Keep up, Swole."

But he does not keep up. Instead he pinches Dawn's butt and runs out of the bathroom. "You keep up!"

"Get back here!" Dawn tosses her toothbrush into the sink before chasing after him but he has already fled behind the room's tiny table.

"No way!" As Dawn runs around the table, so does Swole to keep her on the other side. "What are you even going to do?"

This manages to give Dawn a pause. She remembers that he is now her boyfriend and pinching her butt is not as bad anymore. "... I will pinch you back!"

And thus the chase resumes.

Eventually the trainers from the neighboring rooms started to complain about the noise and they had to stop and go to sleep.