NOVEL WEB Chapter 61 – Lilycove Superstar
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.”