LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 37 - Birthday Girl
Chapter 37 – Birthday Girl
“See Halo? These are all fire type Pokémon just like you.”
“Vess.”
As we were walking through the gym’s hallway on our way to the caldera, I couldn’t help showing off some of the interesting sights most challengers don’t get to see when visiting the gym. The gym had everything. From personal use hot springs gym trainers sometimes used to dehumidifying heat pipes. Some of the fire type Pokémon living here are more comfortable living in dry heat as were their trainers.
The more even-tempered Pokémon had free reign to use the gym’s facilities as they saw fit. It wasn’t all that strange bumping into a magmar just done bathing inside one of the gym’s more hazardous spa treatment options only available to volcano dwelling Pokémon. Naturally they had to make sure after they were done bathing in magma that there weren’t any loose globs of it sticking to their bodies. Dripping spots were still visible from all the times some of the fire type Pokémon forgot to clean themselves off properly.
“Ah! Here we are, this is the deepest part of the gym connecting to one of the smaller volcanoes adjacent to Mt. Chimney. We are kind of late but seeing as today is your birthday I bet Mr. Moore won’t mind.”
At this distance we could already see Mr. Moore waiting for us. He didn’t look all that happy, but a quick explanation should straighten things out.
“Mr. Moore! My egg hatched! This little one decided to join up with me and the team. Isn’t she the cutest?”
“Ves!”
“A Larvesta… and a female one at that. Victini was one thing but now you also have a Pokémon widely recognized as one of the strongest fire types around? Did you manage to make a wish upon a passing Jirachi by chance?”
“Well, no… I just have a sixth sense for finding interesting Pokémon I guess.”
“Never mind then. I don’t expect you to tell me all your secrets. In any case since today is such a special day I guess I can let you off for being late. Leave your Larvesta at the stands. It will be good for the little lady to observe our training. That way she will be mentally prepared to face the same rigors as Victini does.”
With that I released Victini from her ball. The little rabbit seemed to have gotten a taste for battle lately since she loved having sparring matches with Mr. Moore’s Magmar. The kindly spitfire Pokémon was exhausted after every bout the two had while Victini was still full of energy.
“Vi Vi!” “Bring it!”
“Ves!?”
“Oh, hmm indeed. Halo you haven’t gotten the chance to meet Victini yet. She is also one of my partner Pokémon. You just haven’t met her yet since Victini was busy cheering up Flannery last night. Go say hello.”
I put Halo down on the ground, the heat from the arena didn’t faze her at all as she crawled up to Victini to make her acquaintance.
“Vi Vi?”
“Ves!”
“Vi!”
My rabbit Pokémon moved in enthusiastically giving the larva Pokémon a hug.
“Ves?!”
“Victini here is over a hundred years old and she’s really smart. If you ever need someone to give you a byplay of what’s happening at any given moment you can rely on her.”
“Ves!”
“Vi?!” “You want me to be your court scholar?!”
“Ves!”
“Vi…” “I don’t know, Egon knows a lot more about this world than I do…”
This was the moment I decided to butt into their conversation.
“That’s a great idea! You can teach Halo all sorts of stuff. Also, Tini you can just take a peek through my mind whenever you need to look up some piece of trivia or the like.”
I was starting to feel more positive towards all these “court positions” Halo was giving to my team. She must have picked up a thing or two from those claydolls and her mother even while in the egg. We just had to make sure she regarded her “court” more akin to a family as opposed to Pokémon or people subordinate to her.
“Make sure to teach Halo all the important stuff; Like how to use her adorableness to score discount berries at vendors or the ability to read a map.”
“Vi Vi!” “I don’t know how to do any of those!”
“Well, you better start learning. The haggling for berries part you can practice on my grandma during closing hours.”
With that I released the rest of my team to start practicing with their respective mentors. Tranquill seemed eager to leave the caldera arena. Not being a fire type meant she wasn’t as immune to the heat as the rest of my team. I didn’t know where she flew off to during our training hours but I bet she had a lot of exploring to do being in a unfamiliar region and all of that.
“Make sure not to pick fights with any tailow! Those little guys don’t give up on a battle until they are grievously injured even against superior opponents.”
“Quill!”
“Glove, your job is to look after Halo for the day. If at any point she grows bored of watching our drills she is free to wander the gym. Go help her make some new friends and bring Orin along if you can.”
“Dar!”
“The rest of you know where to find your mentors. So, let’s make this a fruitful day!”
A few hours later*
“Ugh… my everything hurts.”
“Vi Vi!” “You didn’t get hit this time!”
“That felt more like Magcargo was just having a slow day than me being faster.”
Mr. Moore now finished with tortu… ehem I mean training me. Came down from the stands himself. He liked drinking iced tea while watching me make a fool of myself. Mr. Moore wasn’t the type of drill sergeant who intermingled with his cadets all that much during training time.
“You have finished this day’s training, come with me to my office. I have a private matter to discuss with you.”
“Sure, but ehm… Could you give me a moment to round up all my team members? It’ll take a while to find them all.”
Halo scampered off at some point having grown bored from watching me run around. I didn’t mind as much since today was her birthday after all. Orin and Glove went with her so there wasn’t a need for me to worry about her safety.
“This won’t take long.”
“Yes Mr. Moore sir.”
Deciding not to argue with the man I followed him into his personal quarters. The moment my feet crossed the threshold into his office his stern attitude was dropped. Replaced with something more akin to the attitude of a chiding senior at work after you have made a mistake.
“Egon, how long have you been working with us at the gym?”
“Around three years give or take a few months.”
“After all that time would you consider Flannery and the rest of the gym’s staff as a second family?”
‘This type of talk usually ends up with the person revealing he’s some kind of criminal mastermind. I am sorry Tini from now on Boss Moore will lead us through the dark underbelly of society.’
“Viii!” “Nooo!”
“What is happening with Victini? Will she be a problem Egon?”
“Not at all Boss Moore! We will follow your orders faithfully!”
“Vi Vi!” “There’s no problems boss!”
“Boss? Well yes, I guess you could call me that since you are on the gym’s payroll after all. Regardless, there is a matter that needs to be dealt with.”
“Dealt with? Has someone been missing out on their payments boss Moore? No problem! You can send us to scare ‘em straight. We can be pretty menacing when we need to be.”
“Vi!” “Rawr!”
“Stop acting the fool, Egon! This isn’t some two-bit mafia tv show. This is about the implications of you being that Larvesta’s trainer.”
“What implications? I know her species is pretty rare, but I know of at least two other trainers who have one.”
“For one this might land the gym in trouble if Larvesta ever decides to mate and rear offspring. Egon… having Unovan nationality protects you personally but if their league association ever started to suspect my gym is aiming to start up a breeding program the Hoenn league association and myself would have a diplomatic issue on our hands.”
“It’s fine she is a couple of years away from maturing. By the time it happens we’ll have figured something out. One of their higher ups was really excited to help me hatch Halo’s egg. Which reminds me… I still have to send her the video recording.”
“There is another reason why I called you to my office… If your Larvesta ever does decide to have progeny of her own, could you let my Flannery have a chance at obtaining one of those eggs?”
‘This old man…! First, he warns me that I might make the gym look bad by having Halo with me and now he wants a Larvesta egg for his daughter.’
“My head hurts…”
“The first time I watched one of Champion Alder’s matches, I was enchanted by the beauty and strength of his partner Pokémon Volcarona. Since then, I’ve always wanted the opportunity to train one of their line for my own team. Age caught up to me and now I am no longer in any position to do so. I want to give my granddaughter that same chance which I missed out on.”
“Mr. Moore… I am not in any position to decide who will or will not receive any hypothetical eggs. I firmly believe Halo should decide such things. If Flannery manages to charm her in the future… Well, she has my blessing to give it a try.”
“That is all I can realistically ask for. Now then you are free to spend the rest of your day however you wish.”
“Great! There is someone in Lavaridge who I haven’t seen in a long while and since I am finally presentable, I’ll be sure to pay them a visit.”
With that said we left to go gather up the rest of my team.
“Tini, do you know where the others are?”
“I think so...? Glove is up in Flannery’s room so the other two should be there as well. Our remaining members are at their usual spots.”
“Ugh… you know my aversion to barging into a growing girl’s room. How about you pick up those three and I’ll go get Numsy and Rena?”
“Sure thing!”
With that Victini seemingly flickered out of existence completely disappearing without a trace. Ever since she mastered the use of teleportation Victini started using the move as an easy shortcut for even the smallest of distances. At first, I was thrilled that she put so much effort into mastering the move I picked out for her, but now I couldn’t help but feel that she started to neglect the development of her bodily attributes.
‘Well, it’s not like she ever walks to places like a regular Pokémon. Levitation also can’t be that good for muscle development.’
“Hey!!”
‘What? It’s true.’
As I was engaging in a mental battle of wits with Victini I got closer to the target of my first round up. My Vulpix tended to keep hanging out with Mr. Moore’s Ninetales even after finishing their training session. Ninetales being the personal Pokémon of the gym leader could spend as much of Mr. Moore’s money as she liked which meant the two of them could often be found getting spoiled by a call in Pokémon groomer and her skittish assistant. This caused me to worry that Rena would slightly resent me for pulling her out of the lap of luxury after she and I went back to competing in the circuit again.
“Vuuul!”
“Hello there Egon, we were just about to finish up as usual. How have you been?”
The professional Pokémon groomer who just greeted me was quite the charmer. I figured being part of the grooming business required a certain amount of social grace to keep making your customers call you back. The number of times she has been called in to spoil Mr. Moore’s Ninetales alone must have set the gym back a pretty penny.
Rena was attended to by her assistant in training. The assistant being only slightly older than myself was running after my overly excitable little fox Pokémon. The girl had that type of face where you felt the urge to bully her just to gauge her reactions. My Pokémon was currently in the midst of hazing the newcomer just like a high school diva would. Naturally I had to tell her off for being a menace.
“Bad Rena! Bad!”
“Pix?!”
“If you start acting like a child, I am going to treat you as one. Keep doing what you are doing and it’s a boop on the nose for you. Do you see Ninetales here running around giving her groomer a hard time?”
“Aww it’s okay Egon. We asked This darling Vulpix here to simulate what it would be like handling a loath customer. It’s important for Pokémon groomers to be able to handle all types of clienteles.”
Rena was looking at me like she was expecting an apology. Which I did, I was never one to shy away from admitting fault especially since Rena was just being helpful.
“Sorry Rena, my bad…”
“Vuuul!”
“Did you at least have a good time with your senpai?”
“Pix!”
“Thank you for looking after her. I know that she can be a handful and we really appreciate the time you spent tutoring her.”
“Nineeee.”
There was a good chance Mr. Moore’s Ninetales and my vulpix were related to each other in some way. If not siblings than maybe as an aunt and her niece or cousins. The species was known to live up to a thousand years and their fertility wasn’t the greatest.
Breeding Ninetales in captivity almost never seemed to work out so there were very little of their number living at the gym. Something about bad feng shui or the like. Ninetales only become fertile when they lived in spiritual places like shrines, old ruins, and graveyards. Which was probably for the best due their species’ longevity. If Ninetales could produce eggs as easily as other Pokémon we would be swarming with them.
“Let’s go, we still need to pick up Numsy at the numel enclosure. Tini will meet up with the three of us with the rest of the gang at the gate”
We eventually made it out of the gym. We caught Numsy as he was busy trying to impress the smaller Numel with a few of his learned moves. His mentor managed to doze off while looking after him which didn’t inspire much confidence in me that he learned anything new while out of my care. I wasn’t one to nag him about the details of his training, so I just recalled him inside his poké ball and left to meet back up with the others.
“Egoooon!”
Flannery accompanied by my Pokémon met up with me just as I was idling around the entrance. Halo, not being as mobile as some of my other Pokémon, was hitching a ride on Glove’s back while Orin seemed content riding on Flannery’s shoulder.
“What’s up Flanny?”
“I’ve decided I’ll make Larvesta like me no matter what!”
“That’s great and you’ll have plenty of chances to do so while we are traveling together.”
Somehow Halo ended up in Flannery’s room of all places. It was a good thing Glove was there to somehow keep things from escalating while Flannery wisely decided to limit her playful banter to Orin alone. I clapped Glove on the back showing my appreciation for his efforts.
“You must have worked hard… I know the perfect place to get all that stress out of you.”
“Dar…?”
“You see, my old master works at a nearby Inn’s sand baths. He'll give us the VIP treatment.”
“They offer special deals to trainers traveling with a full team. He’ll get all those stress knots right out of your body. Being petrified for thousands of years must have been tough on your back.”
“Dar.”
“If I ask him, he’ll keep quiet about Victini, So we can all enjoy an afternoon at the spa!”
“Vi Vi!” “I want to play ping pong!”
“Yes, they have that too.”
Just like that we set off to our next destination. I recalled most of my team except for Halo, the birthday girl obviously deserving deferential treatment having to wait for all of us to finish training.
“Hello, did you enjoy your time in Flannery’s room?”
“Ves Ves…”
“The girl tried touching her again.”
“Hmm I feel you, but it’s important to give people and Pokémon second chances. Not everyone can make good first impressions. Flannery just wants to be your friend. How about you give her a temporary court position and see how things work out. Something simple… How about a food taster or musician? I know for a fact that she has a pretty good singing voice.”
“Ves! Ves!”
“Only very special humans get court positions!”
“Wait… I am not special?”
That response got Halo to quiet down by a lot. She wiggled around some in my arms until finally giving me a muffled response.
“Larr… Vess…”
“You are my adopted father, it'd be weird…”
just hearing that response got my heart to grow bigger by three sizes. I rotated Halo in my arms so she could see my elated expression.
“Aww! I’ll be the best dad ever I promise!”
‘Thank you, Tini for translating. I’ll set aside extra lava cookies for you tonight.’
“And a custap berry!”
Our conversation finished just as we entered the Wooper Inn. It was a small-time business inherited by this nice young lady after her grandparents passed away. She finished her own circuit run to come and run this place. I didn’t have much of a relationship with her but there was another esteemed personage helping her run this inn.
“Master! I have returned!”
“You again?! Shoo! Shoo! My Quagsire is not some mystical sage giving up worldly secrets to starry eyed brats like yourself.”
“I am sorry! It has been a long while since I have met with the master. I have run in some good fortune during my travels, and I’d like to catch up with him!”
“If you want to waste his time, you’ll have to book for a timeslot at the sand baths just like everyone else.”
“Of course! I wouldn’t ever dare dream about taking advantage of my master’s kindness! I’d like a booking for myself and the six Pokémon on my team.”
“It’ll be tight but I guess we could fit you in… That’ll be a thousand pokédollars. I am assuming you want to take our special offer?”
“Indeed! Thank you for taking us on! As the trainer who raised such a stellar example of a Quagsire we’ll make sure not to disappoint you during our stay!”
“Quiet down, will you?! You’ll disturb the other guests. Just go to the changing room, you know the way.”
After changing*
“Halo you’ll be able to learn a lot from my old master. He has much wisdom to share.”
“Ves…?”
“Really?”
“No this isn’t some long con to poke fun at the sand bath lady!”
“Vi…?” “She didn’t say that…?”
“Uhm well anyways let’s get in. You’ll feel like a completely new Pokémon after resting under the hot sand for a while.”
I opened up the sliding door leading to the sand baths just like I expected my master was already waiting for us outside.
“Master Quagsire! your disciple has returned!”
“Quaaaaag…!”
Unlike with some of my newer Pokémon I didn’t need any help understanding what Quagsire was saying.
“We’ve missed you too! Let me introduce you to some of my new friends. We also ordered the special so there shouldn’t be any complaints coming from Loren at the front desk.”
“Quaag.”
“Perfect, Come on out everybody!”
My team materialized sans Halo who was already out of her ball lounging on my shoulders and Tranquill who volunteered to taste test a new experimental batch of cookies for my grandparents for the day. The first thing Numsy did after recognizing where we were was to give out proper respects to his old master.
“Rupt!”
“Quaaaaag.”
Their difference in stature didn’t affect the respect in my first partner’s voice. He was still the same old Numsy after evolving. His student teacher relationship with Quagsire being unassailable with deference.
“Master, we've earned two badges while on our journey. Let me introduce you to some of my new partners. This is Glove, the stalwart protector of our group.”
“Dar.”
“Sire.”
“Due to reasons outside of his control he was petrified thousands of years ago. Naturally this was hell on his ligaments. Could you give him the extra special treatment?”
“Quaaag!”
Quagsire pulled my Darmanitan along motioning for the Pokémon to lie down on a nearby massage table. I was planning to introduce the rest of my team first, but my old master tended to focus on the here and now and wasn’t easily distractible once he got going.
“Daaaaaaarr…”
“Yep, it seems like they’ll be busy for a while. How about me and Numsy help bury the rest of you in the sand? They even have these fun little resting bags for Pokémon in case you don’t want to get your fur dirty with sand.”
“Vi Vi!”
“Vuuuul!”
“Ves!”
“Lit…?”
“Oh yeah as a ghost type you don’t really benefit from all of this. How about the two of us play some games instead? I am pretty sure they have a wide selection to choose from.”
Numsy helped the others bury themselves in the sand while blocking Victini from view with his body. This was a personal sand bath but at any point the proprietress could walk in and accidentally spot Victini sand bathing. During this time, I decided to teach Orin how to play solitaire with a single deck of cards I found in a cubby. Halfway through our hour the proprietress decided to walk in and check on Quagsire.
“I am sorry Egon; you know that I love to have you around. It's just that running an Inn is stressful especially during the circuit.”
“It’s alright Miss Ami, running the inn by yourself must be a lot of work.”
She came close enough to get a good view of all my Pokémon and Quagsire who was still beating the stress out of Glove.
“I see you have made some new friends while off on your journey; would you care to introduce me?”
“Well, this is Orin. A Litwick he’s also part ghost type, Glove is a Darmanitan I encountered in this dust bowl the Unovans call the desert resort, Halo is my newly hatched Larvesta who was just came out of the egg last night …oh! And she’s a bug and fire type.”
“Really? a bug and fire type. She does look a bit like a wurmple. Which reminds me I still have to order a new batch of silk masks.”
“The inn’s face masks are made out of wurmple silk?”
“Yes, silk is really the best material for face masks. Some people are allergic to mareep wool or cotton or just have really sensitive skin. The only bad quality of wurmple silk is that the masks tend to fray apart after a year’s use since they can’t stand long exposures to heated steam from the hot springs.”
Something went off in my brain giving me an idea.
“How about you give Halo’s silk a try? She’s also a fire type so her strings should resist higher temperatures. It would save the Inn some money in the long run.”
“Would you do that for me really!?”
“Sure, she’s never performed the move before though so it might take a while. Also, I don’t know how to knit masks out of silk string.”
“That’s alright I can send the silk she produces to the company I usually buy masks from. I am sure they can handle the manufacturing process.”
Halo was still sleeping inside her baggy while covered in sand so even though I was eager to try out my idea I was wise enough to let her keep enjoying her birthday before talking about business opportunities with her.
We made use of the full two hours and by the end of it Glove was like puddy on the massage table. The accumulation of stress locked up in that stone form for thousands of years got to him more than I initially figured. My old master was really the best masseuse in all of Lavaridge. Miss Ami was content to let us languish for a while and went back to managing the Inn after I assured her that I was going to meet up with her later.
“Did you guys enjoy the sand baths?”
“Pix!”
“Ves!”
“Vi Vi!” “Yes, but it could have been hotter.”
‘Well, you guys are all fire types after all, the heat might not seem as impressive to you.’
“Hey Halo, I was wondering can you use the move string shot?”
“Ves?”
“Like shoot out silk strings to slow down and constrict opponents.”
“Ves!”
“You can? That’s great! So, I was wondering if you could produce a spool of silk for me. This Inn has been having trouble relying on wurmple silk masks and I thought it would be nice to help them out. The silk that you produce should be of a way better quality.”
In response to my inquiry Halo started blasting in my direction with a sticky white thread that loops around my figure and binds my arms and knees together. I tried breaking free but was unable to do so on the first three tries.
“Argh! This is amazing Halo! You got it down perfectly on your first try. You’ll make for a fearsome battler for sure! Now let’s get this stuff off me and onto a stick of some sort.”
“Laar!”