[PKMN FULL] Hoenn: Square One [IC]

Ed stops to catch his breath, leaning against the nearest wall. Sunny is faster than him, and he'd allowed her a head start. Worst of all, he couldn't even call her or navigate with his map. All because of his stubborn pride and need to...

She'd called him "Ed".

He pushes himself off the wall, continuing along the main street. He needs to find the Pokémon Center. It's the easiest spot in town to find, and she'd probably go there first.

He can't stop replaying the scene in his head. What had gone wrong? He hadn't planned to capture Slowpoke, and Sunny certainly hadn't wanted it, but she was furious that he gave it away. It couldn't be about Slowpoke, then...

The Pokémon Center comes into view, so he tables the topic for now. Hopefully she's here, but if she's not, he'll need to ask the staff. They probably won't just tell him if she's rented a room or not, that's not the kind of information you just hand out to strangers. He'll have to think of a plan.

Upon entering, he quickly scans the room. It's actually rather quiet at the moment, with only the receptionist at the desk, filling out paperwork. She looks up as he enters, smiling warmly. "Good day to you, sir! Is there anything I can help you with?"

Ed pauses, quickly thinking up a lie. "Yes, actually. I'm looking for a girl." He notices her mouth twitch slightly, realizing too late how that sounds. "I broke my phone, and my friend Sunny told me to meet up with her when I could. I figured she might wait for me here, but I guess not. Have you seen her? She's about yea high, green eyes, red hair, blonde tips?"

"You know, that sounds familiar. I've seen her, but she left already. Sorry I can't be more help."

Ed waves her concerns away, grabbing a local map from the help desk. "I appreciate it. You've been lovely, thank you for the help." He bows his head slightly, then heads to the Cafe section to spread the map over a table.

Various shops, residential area, the Pokémon Center... there's only so many places Sunny would go. The Enomoto Pokémon Conservatory looks interesting... but that's more his idea of fun, not Sunny's. No, she's more likely to go North, to the local Gym.

With a new destination set, he leaves the Center, following the road north. He picks up his train of thought were he'd left off...

Perhaps it was the Lure Ball? She'd given him one, and one to Miss Tsu, keeping the other for herself. But she'd professed no desire for a Water type, and was happy to give them out, so it couldn't be that... is her anger because he gave away the Ball that she'd gifted to him? No... she's not that big into gifts, she wouldn't be bothered by a simple regift.

Of course, there's the common denominator... Marie. Sunny had become more standoffish when Marie arrived. And she'd refused to give Marie a Lure Ball. His hypothesis? Sunny doesn't like Marie, and got mad when Ed gave her a Pokémon inside a specialty Ball that Sunny specifically avoided giving her.

It seems strange to Ed, but then, Sunny is a strange girl. He makes his way up to the Gym, heading on inside. It's a simple building, nothing too extravagant, and mostly empty at the moment. There's a man at the desk up front, and another watching a Zigzagoon run laps around an obstacle course.

"Excuse me, can I ask you some questions?" Ed approaches the desk, and the receptionist quickly puts down the book he'd been reading.

"Certainly, what can I help you with?"

"I'm looking for a friend of mine. She's a Pokémon Trainer, so I figured she might have come to challenge the Gym Leader. Have you seen her?" Ed describes Sunny to the man.

"Y'know, you actually just missed her. She left after we informed her of the schedule around here. Y'see, Leader Norman only accepts challenges in the mornings, and only on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays."

"Oh. That's... good to know..." Ed strokes his chin in thought. This behavior isn't too outside the norm for Sunny. From that, he can infer that she's not angry anymore, so what would be her next stop?

"Anything else I can help you with?" The receptionist waves a hand to get Ed's attention.

"Hm? ...oh. No, but thank you. I'll be going now." The man shrugs and returns to his book as Ed leaves.

"Right. Where was I?" Ed looks around the area. He could go back to the Pokémon Center and wait for her, or he could keep looking around. He could also just give up and do something else for a while, but that doesn't sit well with him after how they'd parted. He needs to find her and set things right.

As he walks back toward the Pokémon Center, he notices a little café off to the side. The setting sun is in his eyes, but he sees a few people seated at the outdoor tables. And one of them, despite having her back to him, looks very familiar.



Ed approaches, stopping just behind her chair. "You know... you can be very hard to find if you want to be."

Sunny glances up at him, then returns to her drink. "Oh, hey Eddie."

It's odd... he suddenly feels lighter, as I a burden was lifted from his shoulders. "Listen, about The Point..."

"Yeah, that was a pretty lousy thing you did." Sunny shrugs, watching a Dustox fly by. How bizarre, I didn't think Dustox would come this close to the city...

"Luckily, I forgive you." Sunny's words catch Ed's attention again. "And I probably overreacted, storming off all dramatic like that, so... sorry."

"You don't have to apologize." Ed responds almost instantly. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"Why wouldn't I be?" Sunny looks up in confusion.

"Well... I mean... when you left you seemed pretty angry... I just thought... you know..." Ed stammers. Had he been concerned over nothing?

"What, you thought my temper would make me do something stupid?" Sunny laughs, and Ed feels his face flush. Now he knows his worry wasn't warranted, and he hates being wrong in public like this.

"Eddie, I was over the anger by the time I got to town. You know me, I run hot, but I get over it. I checked in at the Center, stopped by the Gym, signed us up to battle the Leader in the morning, then decided I wanted a smoothie."

Ed shakes his head, still recovering from his embarrassment. "Right, I figured. I sort of... wait, what did you say?"

"I wanted a smoothie? Do you want one too?"

"No! Well, yes, but... you signed us up to battle the Leader?!"

"Uh, yeah. Duh. Why else would I go to the Gym?" She loudly sips at her now empty cup.

"You can't just... this is the second... don't I get a say in this?!"

"Come on, Eddie." Sunny reaches up to poke him in the chest. "You know that you don't."

He sputters in protest before just throwing his hands up in defeat. "You are just insufferable some times, you know that?"

That gets a laugh out of her. "You know you love me!" She teases him.

Ed just sighs, taking the seat across from her. "I haven't trained at all since I fought Brawly. That was this morning, remember?'

"You'll be fine! It's a Normal type Gym, how hard could it be?"

Ed thinks back to his fight with Brawly, and Addie's performance at the end. "I know better than to underestimate any Pokémon, regardless of type."

Sunny thinks about that, then shrugs in acquiescence. "Fair point. Guess we'll just have to train tonight." She stands up, tossing her empty cup into the trash. "Wanna go check out the forest?"

"Sunny, the sun's going down! We can't just wander into the woods at night." Ed gestures to the setting sun for emphasis.

Sunny huffs in annoyance, crossing her arms. "Fine, then what do you suggest?"

"We reschedule the match." Ed crosses his arms as well.

"Ehht!" Sunny makes a noise like a buzzer. "Not happening, try again!"

Ed groans, pinching the bridge of his nose. "...local Pokémon." He looks back up, pointing to Sunny's wrist. "We scan the area for local Pokémon, and we battle them. They have home field advantage, they don't want to be seen, and they'll probably try to flee. It'll be like hide and seek, but with a battle at the end."

"I think that's just cops and robbers..." Sunny gets distracted by the metaphor, idly twirling her hair around her finger. "But I like it! I'll bet we encounter some kind of Pokémon thieves, scrounging through people's trash looking for scraps! It's up to us to find these criminals and put a stop to them!"

She holds out her hand to Ed, grinning excitedly. He doesn't think it'll be so dramatic, but Sunny's energy is infectious. He grins as he grabs her hand and she pulls him from the chair.

"With our skills and training, those thieves won't know what hit them."

Sunny drops her voice, mimicking that movie trailer guy. "He's a by-the-book detective who always gets his man!"

Ed rolls his eyes, but does the same. "And she's a loose cannon who doesn't play by the rules!"

The two stand back to back, Sunny looking at her Holotch. "They've been partnered up for their toughest case yet."

Ed pulls Neo's ball from his belt. "Tracking down criminals in this quiet suburban town. They are..."

"Dey and Knight!" Sunny proudly exclaims, to Ed's confusion. "Coming to theaters this summer!"

"...so am I Knight?" Ed points to himself.

"Well, you kinda put me on the spot, and I couldn't think of a good pun." Sunny rubs the back of her head sheepishly.

"We'll work on it."

"Yeah." Sunny pulls up the Ranger database for Petalburg, looking for the SCAN. "This is normally your job."

Ed holds up his hands, his wrists clear of any device. "Guess you're the by the book one. I get to be bad cop this time."

Sunny pouts as her device processes. "But I like being bad cop."

"Sorry, sister." Ed growls, doing his best "dirty cop" voice. "But this good cop's gone rogue."

"Hey. Hey hey hey, look at this!" Sunny smacks Ed's arm to get his attention. "You were right, look at all the places Zigzagoon show up. Come on, let's go!"

He winces from the hit, but when Sunny takes off running, he's right at her heels.

Name: Kira Wolf || Day: Tuesday, September 22 || Time: Evening
Location: Dewford Town

Here, on the flat and windy seaside road, trainers are presented with choices.

Straight east, past the strange mansion known as Trick House, lies the land bridge of Trainer Route #110. A few hours' walk south of Trainer Route #103's eastern terminus lies the Mauport Bridge Gate. Buses from the gate will bring travelers to Slateport's northern Pokémon Center for a small fare.

What choices will trainers make for themselves?


AREAS
Route 110, Mauport Bridge

POKEMON
Applin, Bulbasaur, Chatot, Combee, Cutiefly, Froakie, Golett, Grimer, Gulpin, Impidimp, Joltik, Klink, Litten, Mime Jr, Minun, Mudkip, Onix, Petilil, Phantump, Pikipek, Plusle, Rotom, Spinarak, Spoink, Taillow, Trubbish, Voltorb, Wingull

Trainer Route #110 is effectively split into two distinct parts. The southern section is open to the public and traffic from around Slateport and is often populated by denizens of the city taking nice walks on the outskirts. The northern section, though, is gated by the Rangers to encourage preservation of the natural environment of the land bridge. Humans are allowed access, but in limited quantities and with restrictions placed on the activities they can participate in. Details are explained upon check-in at either ranger station on the route.

Trick House
A six-story mansion sits at the mouth of Trainer Route #103. The exterior, though nice, is not nearly as interesting as the interior. Rooms filled with tricks, traps, and puzzles befuddle visitors of this strange attraction, but rumor has it that there is a handsome reward for anyone who can wrap their heads around the challenges...

PROMPT: a-maze-ing


The Land Bridge
The majority of Trainer Route #110 is the meandering land bridge, bracketed by two ranger stations on either side. Battles are not allowed here due to the delicately balanced ecosystem, but the Rangers will not prevent journeying trainers who walk the length of the entire land bridge from taking up to two legal Pokémon that they form a bond with. You'll also find some neat things that people have dropped off the bridge. And you can investigate the ruins of New Mauville, as much as you dare. If you choose to walk straight through, it will likely take you two days to do so. But why wouldn't you explore while you're down there?



Ranger Station (South)
The southern Ranger Station is a small building that sits just before the beginning of the land bridge. At least one ranger is always on desk duty, because access to the land bridge needs to be monitored.

Trainers will register their ID at the check-in station. All Pokémon but two must be turned over to the Rangers. Those two must be appraised by the ranger to be of a reasonable size, as they will be walking the whole route with their trainers- their PokéBalls will be left with the rangers, as not to startle wild Pokémon as they disappear and reappear at the trainer's will. All other PokéBalls, filled or empty, will also be left with the rangers. Captures are not allowed on the land bridge. All items turned over to the rangers will be held until check-out at either station.

PROMPT: cleanup crew


Ranger Station (North)
The northern Ranger Station is much the same as the southern, just situated at the northern access to the land bridge. Again, at least one ranger is always on desk duty.

Upon checkout, all PokéBalls will be transferred to the station and returned to their trainers. Trainers now have the option to officially capture up to two Pokémon that have chosen to journey with them- under a ranger's watchful eye, so they may confirm the legality of the capture and make a note of the change in population.

Checkpoint roles are swapped for those entering from the north.

New Mauville
Accessible from the northeastern corner of the land bridge, a strange and decrepit building sits surrounded by trees. It is the remains of an ambitious project from days long past- New Mauville, meant to be a utopian underground city to curb the expansion of the settlement it was named for. Nobody is entirely sure at what point development was abandoned or why, but the point remains that it is now largely inhabited by wild Pokémon- and primarily nocturnal ones at that. Like an artificial cave of sorts, filled with old machinery and decades of grime.

Trainers are instructed to avoid this place.

However, those that set foot inside will find a few surprisingly tidy pathways. Perhaps Pokémon keep their spaces fairly clean, or perhaps the ghosts of caretakers past continue their missions in death…

Who can say?

Watch out for the disintegrating structures, though.

PROMPT: foolishly brave

The Mauport Bridge, this marvel of engineering that proves the ambition of the Hoyo Bridge could be possible, is many things. A truck route, a cycling road, a hangout spot, an entire village- really, the question is: what isn't it?

Well, it's not a great place for catching Pokémon. Unless you're really into Wingull. But other than that, it's pretty incredible.

Even from the ground, it's easy to see that the eastern two lanes aren't nearly so jam-packed with traffic as the residents of Cottage Grove claim- in fact, there's hardly traffic at all. A big poster claims that a maglev train will be replacing the vehicular lanes in the next few years.

At the gate, trainers will be directed to the western side of the bridge. If the eastern side is two lanes, the western must be six- but it's difficult to tell; they're not divided in the way that roads usually are. This is, essentially, an elevated and extremely stretched-out town. One- and two-story buildings back up onto the sides of the bridge in one-by-six blocks, with the general rule of residential bordering the west and commercial bordering the east. In between, cycling lanes and social spaces abound, making travel on foot an enjoyable experience. Even if it takes two days to bike or walk the entire length. And that's if you're really powering through, stopping for nothing but rest.

It doesn't help that this is a hugely popular venue for battles, either- the locals are particularly fascinated with Sky Battles, a format where a Pokémon loses the match if it touches down anywhere. Even more challenging, wild bird Pokémon like Wingull and Swellow will often randomly join the battle for no reason, going after whichever party they feel like in the moment. The locals see this as a fun modifier, but trainers from elsewhere tend to be grumpy about the matter.

Primarily, though, this is an artistic community. The majority of the goods for sale are handmade arts and crafts. Demonstrations abound; artists will create work in front of you on the street or in their workshops. Theater and street performances are everywhere, music drifts through the air from all directions, and murals cover the buildings and even the bridge itself. It's an experience that the travelling trainer would be loath to miss out on.

One will not find a Pokémon Center on the bridge, but Mauport Bed&Breakfast owns several quaint buildings and offers discounts to journeying trainers. Medicinal items and berries are available at many a shop along the way.



Rydel's Cycles
The first shop one sees when getting onto Mauport Bridge at either end is a location under the famous name of Rydel's Cycles. Here, trainers may rent a standard, neon green bicycle to use during their time on the bridge. Currently, the business is doing a promotion- every time someone rents a bicycle at one end and rides it to the other, they are entered into a raffle to win a foldable bike of their very own- with a custom paint job to boot! It costs $1000 to rent, but the value of the prize is a hundred times that.
OOC: Any player character that rents a bike by the time Chapter 8 is released will be assigned a number. One winner will be randomized. If you don't win but you really want a bike, you'll have to scrape together $85,000 and visit a Rydel's location. And another $15,000 for a custom paint job, if you want that.

Mauport Bed&Breakfast
Since Mauport Bed&Breakfast locations are individually operated, their structure and amenities vary. For the most part, they are houses with four to eight rooms, one of which belongs to the hosts, and they serve a home-cooked meal in their dining room sometime between 6am and 10am. Decor and other amenities vary wildly, but all locations offer discounts to journeying trainers. Have a nice night!

Trick House Overlook (Fishing Spot)
IC: A bump-out plaza some ways along the bridge features a small fountain, a few benches, nice raised garden beds, and a lovely view of the mansion known as Trick House. There's a woman hanging out near the guardrail that seems to be trying to fish off the side of the bridge. She'll probably let you borrow her fishing pole for a few casts!
OOC: Roll once. 60% chance of treasure, 25% chance of Luvdisc, 10% chance of Popplio, 5% chance of Feebas. You may catch what you pull regardless of if you've caught other Pokémon on Mauport Bridge. You may not SCAN here but you may use your guarantee.

The Pokémon Fanclub Center for Visual Arts
About halfway along the bridge, a nice community building funded by the Pokémon Fanclub offers trainers the opportunity to take an art class to bond with their Pokémon. Painting, sculpting, pottery, leatherworking, sewing, metalworking, glassblowing- anything you can think of is free for members of the Pokémon Fanclub. Non-members may sign up for a membership at this location and immediately gain access to all amenities. The monthly fee is $3000, but you will save money over time if you cough up the $30,000 annual fee all at once. Either way, you will be issued a membership card and offered the complimentary gift from this location- a choice between some Light Clay, Bright Powder, or Silver Powder to infuse into a craft.

Mauport Amphitheatre
Closer to the northern terminus, a large westerly overlook features stepped audience seating looking out into the cove and down to a small but roomy stage. This is Mauport's Amphitheatre, home to many improv shows, small-cast dramas, and contests! However, only four contests per week are officially judged and may earn trainers a ribbon. The rest are practises, though taken seriously and done in the same format as official ones- mostly between locals, who tend to focus on flying types and weather effects to take advantage of the outdoor setting.

Sign up for official contests at the Amphitheatre Box Office, located across the street. The only rank available is D. Singles competitions are held at dawn on Saturdays and dusk on Sundays, while doubles are reversed- dusk on Saturdays and dawn on Sundays.

Everything Else
...is up to you. :)

spend your time wisely :)

Pokémon / Inventory:

HIKARU'S TEAM:
⚡ Rei (Tynamo), ♂ lv. 22
Levitate
Spark, Charge Beam, Tackle, Thunder Wave
⚡ Hoshi (Staryu), lv. 22 ↑
Illuminate
Psywave, Rapid Spin, Water Gun, Camouflage, Confuse Ray, Harden
⚡ Aruku (Clobbopus), ♀ lv. 22 ↑
Technician
Rock Smash, Leer, Feint, Detect, Bind, Brick Break
⚡ Tsuga (Treecko), ♀ lv. 21 ↑
Overgrow
Mega Drain, Pursuit, Pound, Quick Attack, Quick Guard, Detect

HIKARU'S BADGES:
🥊

You're delaying the inevitable, Benji. I don't care how many trainers are already in line, waiting to challenge you: I will train here until I can have my time in the spotlight, and I'll beat you fair and square. I have a whole week of time to do this, sure, but I'll need no more than a single day. And no, I don't care if I'm still bound to a wheelchair and with stitches in my leg.

Case in point, your little fanboy who goes by Orion was quite easy to beat. He kept using Dig with his Trapinch even in front of a Staryu, who could just lay on top of the other end of the burrow and shoot Water Gun inside it… and when he finally decided to use the much more effective Bite, I had already ordered Hoshi to use Harden and Minimize to lower the damage.

At the same time, Aruku was pummeling either the ground (making it harder for Trapinch to hide) or Klink with remarkable strength, occasionally dodging attacks with Detect or using Bind to make it even harder for the Klink to fight back. Funny how such an aloof-looking Pokémon can be so strong, uh?

Now, Klink wasn't completely useless. Its Charge Beam and Gear Grind were definitely the attacks to look out for, but its mobility was maybe even more interesting. Two gears spinning in the air, but also separating when needed? That… did leave me impressed. So much so that I often let my Pokémon attack on their own, without giving them too many orders and just swapping those out with some snarky comments for Orion. He didn't seem to enjoy them though…

But yeah, that was the first fight of the morning in a nutshell.

The second one was still not Benji. It was Cass, a girl who also worked in the Gym, helping out with the turns and with healing Pokémon. Orion went looking for her right away, as soon as our battle ended, and dragged her outside in a clash of his complaints with her bursts of laughter. Understandable.

I shake my head at her offer to heal my Pokémon, and so she immediately sends out her… Aquarius and Klaria. I thought Leo and Libra sounded somewhat exotic, but this is taking it even further! Oh, by the way, Aquarius is a Bronzor and Klaria is a Dwebble. Okkkkkkkk….

This battle was already quite harder. All I really had going for me was Hoshi being still in relatively good health and with many Hardens under its "belt", but I had to be very careful of those two Pokémon's moves - it didn't take too long to understand that Hoshi wasn't appreciating them at all. My Clobbopus was therefore given this role, as I made her use Detect and Bind (mostly on Dwebble) a few times more.

Staryu's strategy this time was mostly dodging, zipping around the battlefield with Rapid Spin and never truly stopping, if not for firing off some Psywave or Water Gun attacks. This worked wonders for Dwebble, who went down eventually, but not necessarily for Bronzor, who was taking all of my attacks with ease and retaliating with the ever so annoying Confuse Ray. In fact, it was that move that eventually led to Aruku's demise… once she could not use Detect to dodge attacks anymore, she was knocked out rather quickly with a swift Extrasensory.

The battle didn't end until Orion stepped in and let us know that my turn to battle Benji had come at last - if not for him, I believe that Cass and I would've just kept trading not-very-effective attacks the whole morning. I braced myself, engaging some small talk with the two boys as they healed up my Pokémon and mostly building up all of my desire for revenge and redemption after last time. That was, obviously, made even easier by how much they were praising their Gym Leader - but I tried to remain collected in their presence, only to snap out in front of the real deal.

How did that go, then?

11:00 am, Thursday, and finally my time slot had come. I pushed myself forward, grinning at the audience from below, and then pulled out my two Dewford catches - with all the adventures I had to go through in that town, this should've been easy, even if the battle against Cass wasn't really that one sided. Aruku! was not to be underestimated - she hit enemy Pokémon just as if they were skateboards that flew onto her, and Tsuga… well, it was my first time using her in a proper battle, but I was certain that I could count on her agility and interesting moves.

In front of those two valiant heroes stood a small Alolan Diglett and a Wormadam - I still had to go by Benji's own words to know the name of that one, it was a very quirky looking Pokémon that I had no experience with - who immediately started to execute their own strategy. And this time, it was Sandstorm.

It was getting harder for me to see in that sort of weather, let alone for my Pokémon - but they still put up somewhat of a fight, from what I could tell. Clobbopus was once again clobbering the ground, drawing out Diglett anytime it tried to use Dig, but of course it would've been too easy if that was all that the small Ground type could offer. Instead, it went for Bulldoze many times, successfully Protected itself from most of Aruku's attacks, and slowed down Tsuga a lot. And at that point…

Wormadam just needed to hide in the shadows, Quiver Dance a few times, and swoop down for the kill. Signal Beam a couple times, and that was the end of it.

Cass healed my Pokémon again, and accepted my reservation for one more battle slot on the following day. I was determined to win my badge even more after that terrible display. But then, as I left the building for good, it hit me.

How was I gonna do that, exactly?

Name: Kira Wolf || Day: Wendsday, September 23 || Time: Afternoon
Location: The Great Blue Sea

Lvl 15. - Steelworker - Gyro Ball / Growth / Astonish / Wrap / Mega Drain / Iron Defense​

With no Fan Club buildings in Petalburg, Tsu has to stay at the Pokémon Center tonight. She doesn't mind, but there isn't much to do there but wait, and she can't even distract herself with the odd jobs board. So to distract herself from the afternoon's events, she's sitting in what can only be called a 50's-themed malt shop. They have a promotion going on where if you buy a sundae, you get a free single scoop cup. Tsu heads back to the counter for her third sundae. "Can I get another chocolate and caramel sundae, please? And a scoop of the mint, with sprinkles!"

The boy behind the counter, who looks about her age, hesitates to put in the order. "I'm not really supposed to give you the free scoop after your first order. Kind of a one per customer thing, you know? Besides, haven't you had enough?"

"Oh, come on, please?" She leans in closer to read the tag on his tiny paper hat. "...Joe? I'm just passing through town, I'm kind of in debt and too embarrassed about that to ask for help, I don't know what to do next, and I screwed up my first kiss! I got all flustered when she called me pretty, and I missed, and then I didn't know what to say so I called her pretty too... I mean, she didn't complain, but I still thought it was bad, you know?"

Joe takes a second to process that. "Whoa. That's hot... I mean, uh, I wouldn't know! I've never k... you know what? Free scoop, sure thing. I'll have that ready for you in just a moment!"

"Aw, thank you!" Tsu smiles, taking a seat at the booth. She should feel bad for that, but hey. Free ice cream.

What she should do is figure out a plan. She could just leave town tomorrow, but she just got here! Her adventure won't be very fun if she just sprints for the goal. So instead, she pulls out the brochure she'd grabbed at the Center, seeing what there is to do in town. There's a Gym, but she doesn't really feel like battling right now. But there's also a Contest Hall, maybe she could check that out?

"Here you go, chocolate sundae and a side scoop of mint! With extra sprinkles." Joe delivers her ice cream personally, smiling brightly.

"Oh, thank you." Tsu returns the smile before going back to the map. She might join another Contest, but what to do about...

"You know, if you're new in town, you probably don't know what Petalburg has to offer." Joe didn't leave, and is awkwardly shifting his weight back and forth. "I'm off tomorrow, I could show you around if you're interested?"

"Oh, uh..." Is he asking me out? Why? I said I was just passing through! Tsu looks away uncomfortably. "I'm not. Interested, I mean. I'm not staying long. Plus, I travel a lot." Why can't he take a hint? Maybe if I embellish a little... "Because I'm a Pokémon Coordinator. And I really need to prepare for my next Contest."

If anything, that just makes him more interested. "Oh, really? I love Contests! Which one are you in?"

"Uh..." She pulls out her phone, quickly looking up the Contest schedule. The next D-Rank Contest is... "Thursday! Yep, I'm in Thursday's Doubles round!"

"That's really cool! Hey, I'm not working then, can I come watch you?"

How did this backfire on me?! "Well, it's open to the public, so I guess you can! Maybe I'll see you, too!" She laughs, a little too loudly, perhaps.

Joe just grins, apparently not picking up on her nervous energy. "It's a date. I bet you're awesome!"

"Ha ha... sure am! I'm gonna go... rehearse, now... bye!" She takes her ice cream and stiffly backs away, hurrying off once the door shuts.

She sits down at a bus stop bench, suddenly feeling too nauseous to eat ice cream. "Why can't I keep my mouth shut? I'm not ready for another Contest!" She looks at her phone, still open to the Contest page. "Although, this one does look kinda fun..."

But she won't have a costume or anything! Not unless she can find one cheap or convince Lucy to make her another one. But that doesn't seem likely.

...or is it?

She makes a call, anxiously tapping her foot until her friend picks up. "Hello, Natsuko dear! So good to hear from you!"

"Hi, Lucy! Hey, can we make this a video call? I want to show you something."

"Hmm, very well. One moment, please." Tsu hears a bit of shuffling before the video request is accepted. Lucy is seated in her bedroom, wearing a white bathrobe and her hair up in a towel. "What did you want to show me?"

"Well, it's more that I had a favor to ask, too." Tsu sends out Cyrano, switching the camera to get the Nosepass in the shot. "I want to enter another Contest, and I was hoping you could make me some costumes? Just something small, I promise!"

Lucy sighs, one hand to her head. "Natsuko, I'm still recovering from the last time I made you a costume."

"I know, Lucy, I really do, but I can pay you this time!"

"With what, darling? I thought you already sent me what money you'd collected."

"With this." Tsu pulls the Nugget from her pocket, flipping the camera back so Lucy can see both it and her face.

Lucy's eyes widen. "Is that gold? Wherever did you find that?"

"I... traded for it. I'll tell you the story later. How about it, can I hire you?"

Lucy thinks about it, looking at the Nugget and at her friend's face. "Oh, alright. What did you have in mind?"

"Thanks, Lucy! You're the best!" Tsu grins, flipping the camera back to Cyrano. "The theme is Medieval, so I was thinking we could dress him up as a knight? Even just a helmet? And Shiny can be his noble steed!"

Lucy puts on her glasses, grabbing her sketch pad. "Where you get your ideas, I'll never know. I'll see what I can do. I presume your Contest is tomorrow?"

"It's on Thursday, actually. At 3 PM."

A coy smile graces Lucy's lips as she draws. "My, you're giving me a whole extra day for this? Such generosity from you, darling, I'm flattered!"

"Yeah, I'm learning..." Tsu blushes slightly as she laughs. "So, how do I get this to you?"

"I'll borrow my friend's Noctowl again, don't worry. He'll drop off your package, and you can send him back with the gold. Where are you?"

"I'm in Petalburg, and I'll be at the Pokémon Center."

"Thank you, darling. And don't forget to send me his measurements. I need them to make sure his costume fits, even if it's just a hat."

"I will. Thanks again, Lucy!" Tsu hangs up, tucking the Nugget away for now. She looks at Cyrano, who is sniffing at her ice creams. "Now I just need to come up with a routine..."