Satisfied with Cheren's rude awakening to the truth, Touko turned on her heel and rejoined the others. Rhys had engaged Titania in a bit of a short conversation since she immediately confronted Boyd on his incident with an innocent and curious human. Boyd had nothing more to do than to nod with her statement, offering very little to defend himself; experience dealt him a harsh blow with Titania's swift tackles and tail smacks until he finally learned to obey the older and, apparently, stronger female Eevee.
Yet, something still caught Rhys's sky-mirroring eyes. He turned his attention towards the chest, and his eyes almost automatically locked-on to the Quick Ball exuding some sort of vibrant air. He knew too well who waited so impatiently inside that ball that he took it upon himself to seize the Quick Ball before any rash excitement from the humans could release the devil within.
However, he didn't know the extent of Bel's enthusiasm.
He picked up the deactivated Quick Ball just as Cheren and Bel rejoined the group; however, Bel noticed his actions immediately. She sighed in content at the great care and respect the Audino blessed upon the small orb, and she drifted to some conclusions of her own. One of them was that the Audino had a strong fondness for whatever Pokémon rested inside that Quick Ball. And that was enough to set her off. "Rhys must want to release that Pokémon. Maybe he's closer to it than the rest." His ears twitched and his eyes slowly looked up to her, but his eyes were now filled with heavy precaution and even fear for whatever misfortune may befall the humans once that shining, glorious white light appears once again, but she was oblivious to this. She plucked the Quick Ball right from his balls and activated it—his face went pale at this point. The others snapped into attention, even the Pokémon were eager for the next arrival of one of their old companies; and yet, Titania held the same worry as Rhys. But none of the humans noticed this.
The seconds ticked on longer than they should have. Rhys's heart rate accelerated slightly, but in his frail body, it was enough to almost make him black out. He turned his pale face over to Titania, who visibly grimaced, along with Boyd, in choking anticipation of a certain companion's arrival, but the children, Mist and Rolf, were just the opposite—they were excited beyond all compare. And then there was a click and a pop. The blob of light exploded from its spherical confines, churned and morphed in the space above the company's head then swiveled quickly onto the table's flat surface. The light abruptly shattered into fine particles that faded out in seconds, leaving behind a smiling and extremely lively Whimsicott.
Upon the sight of it, Rhys lowered his ears out of caution and approached the Whimsicott—he knew her far too well to be relaxed. The Whimsicott smiled with a bubbly aura as she gazed around to each of the humans, but once her sight aimed for Rhys, a fit of energy inside her exploded. She tackled into Rhys, giddy with severe excitement, and easily knocked its poor victim right onto his back, but she in no way slowed down. Encouraged by the cheers and chirps of Mist and Rolf, the Whimsicott dashed quickly off the table and floated nonchalantly into the air of the stairwell while scattering tiny particles of spores wherever she went. These spores greedily latched onto whatever their fibers could reach—the walls, the carpet, the table, and, worst of all, the clothing of the humans. As they gasped and observed the slightly growing spores around them, the Whimsicott was long gone at the peak of the stairwell.
Before long, the humans clearly heard an item of considerable weight crash into the carpeted floor above. Immediately, Touko leapt right into action. As the others rushed upstairs to find the cause of the disturbance, Touko quickly scanned the manual for the name and any warnings then joined them. Once they reached the door blocking the room of the incident from their sights, they halted their progression as they witnessed a blob of pure white cotton-like spores congregating at the side of the door, right next to the doorknob. But Touko didn't notice this—she was far too busy trying to retain the bold warning of the manual: 'Under any and all circumstances, do not let Mia wander from your sight. She means well, but she may and will cause unintentional yet severe havoc upon the surroundings. And don't get her loose in the house! Your mother would hate that.'
"Touko, what was that Pokémon? I've never seen anything like it." Bel was amazed by the sheer cuteness of even that Whimsicott, but what caught her eye even more was the fact that it had such a bond with Rhys, or so she concluded. Bel, unlike the rest, didn't seem to mind the fluff clinging to every fabric of her hat. In fact, the spores felt as light as the clouds and as smooth as clean, ripple-free water, and they even pleased the nose with sense of dew-drenched grass. Touko hardly minded it either because she was mad with apprehension of the nature of this Whimsicott named Mia. If she was anything like Rhys, there was no cause for worry, but some doubt rose in Touko—her grandfather's warning was enough to make her wonder just what kind of threat Mia could really be.
"Just look at it this way, Bel," Touya spoke with irritation as he plucked the spores, glob by glob, from the fabric of his jacket and beloved hat. "If you were ever a Pokémon, you'd be whatever that was." Bel giggled girlishly at his struggle and frustration to rid all threads of cotton from his treasure, and she looked over at the stairwell just in time to see Rhys slowly climbing stair by stair to ensure that his pace wouldn't be too strenuous on his frail body. Titania joined him, but with her quick for feet, she reached the top first and raced over to the door and barked continuously, seemingly at the ever-growing glob of white now twitching as if it were a ball of pure energy. Suddenly, the blob popped out from the doorknob and into the form of the happy-go-lucky Whimsicott swirling and twirling above their heads; however, as the humans went to grab for her, she just as easily dodged them and quickly made her descent into the floor below with giddy giggles and a bright smile on her small face.
"That's a fast one, isn't it?" Touko's mother breathlessly said as she sped down into the dining room where Mia had passed on her delightful journey to the basement, inspired by the encouragement of Mist and Rolf.
"It's like a little ball of energy!" Bel giggled as she noticed the irritated look now on Cheren's face. "What kind of Pokémon was that, Touko?"
"The manual said it was a Whimsicott. Her name's Mia." Sounds of quick footsteps could be heard from below—Touko's mother raced around the basement, bumping into various items of furniture and spouting out all sorts of frustrations as she pursued the prankster.
"Did he say how we can catch her?" Touya, with his cleanly picked hat, opened the door to the room the Whimsicott inhabited, but he, along with the others, was quickly stricken into awe of the room's condition—spores, everywhere, and some knocked over books. It resembled mountains of snow after one furious blizzard after another and smelled like fresh flowers and a healthy forest. But none of them were amused in the slightest. "Or are we on our own?" Touko thought briefly of the room before her until she turned to Touya with eyes filled with hope.
"We need some sort of a net to, at least, capture her. The manual said that Whimsicott can escape even the narrowest of traps, but it's the most we have, right?"
"I have a butterfly net in the basement, but what then? I think we should put her back into her Pokeball. She caused enough trouble. I mean, look at our room!" Touya stormed off into the mountains of cotton and began ripping them apart, not that it even mattered much. The more he ripped, the more mountains he made and the more frustrated he became. Cheren and Bel both drifted into the room—Bel helping Touya remove the piles and piles of cotton while Cheren meticulously surveyed his surroundings. He observed the color of the cotton, the smell, the ability to stick as he rubbed it between his fingers and clothing, but he soon noticed something intriguing to his squinting eyes. As he rubbed the ball of white between his index finger and thumb, the fabric eventually deteriorated into dust and, later, became obsolete. He repeated his observation once more and arrived at the same result then muttered some incoherent notes to himself while the spores upon his clothes also deteriorated.
Touko quickly left the hallway for the basement but not without carrying Rhys and setting him on the floor since the Pokémon looked exhausted just from climbing the great incline of the stairs. She quickly fetched the butterfly net, as if it was on her non-existent radar, and located the source of commotion—Mia was nonchalantly floating above the mother's head, easily gliding just out of her reach and giggling as if everything was a game.
But Touko was as serious as her grandfather's death.
She gripped the shaft of the net with both hands and cautiously made her way over to the struggling mother. However, Mia immediately noticed her approached, so she skillfully swerved around the mother's arms and pounced off of her head and past Touko's reach. Mia quickly drifted towards the stairs leading to the foyer with such a speed that Touko would be unable to intercept her pathway, much to her frustration, but, suddenly, Mia halted in mid-air right before the first step.
At the very top of this staircase, there was Titania gazing, like a war-hero, upon the Whimsicott, but there was nothing but sternness in her eyes and voice as she barked some incomprehensible orders towards her subject. And Mia listened without a second of downcast. This was Touko's chance—her only true opening of capturing the little devil was staring her in the face, so she leapt at the first opportunity that arose. As Titania barked some more orders, Mia calmly remained in one position and listened, although half-heartedly, until that butterfly net quickly descended upon her and blocked her from her world. She didn't fight it, however; instead, with shock in her countenance, she looked around at the air in search of the culprit until she found Touko and that victorious smirk she wore. But Mia was delighted to have this human appear in front of her, and she squealed with such emotion, it even made the mother's frustrations curl into cotton balls and blow away like dust.
"I finally have you, you little devil." Touko carefully slipped her hand inside of the net to securely seize that pillow of cotton, but it was such a pleasure for her sense of touch to even graze upon the Whimsicott's body that she flinched in shock and gasped at the Pokémon's sheer softness. Mia, however, didn't seem to notice Touko softly stroking the large cotton ball, for she didn't seem to possess much care into it. In fact, she was brimming with eagerness to lay her eyes upon Rhys once more.
Despite being enthralled with the sheer texture of the silky cotton, Touko gently grabbed onto the plushy body of the Whimsicott with one hand then removed the net and held the Pokémon close to her chest, eliminating the chance to escape. But she felt as if she was holding a pillow crafted for a god in her arms. Mia took an interest in these peculiar human, especially in her smell—it was quite different from all the smells the wind brought before her on her worldly travels of causing pranks and light misfortunes befall all those whom she has met, until she met Alder and that fluffy hair of his that she couldn't resist to cling and burrow into.
"I'm glad that's over with." Touko's mother recovered from her exhaustion and frustration with the creature, but even she had to admit, it was a sheer thrill to chase that Whimsicott from point A to point B then back to point A. "Don't let her out of your sight, Touko. Or you'll be cleaning this cotton to the last speck." Touko visibly flinched at the mere thought of all that effort Touya exerted to rip the cotton fibers to shreds. Maybe putting Mia back into her Pokeball was the best way to avoid the problem. "Your grandfather sure had a handful just with this Pokémon. I hope this cotton will come out." Touko tried to ignore her mother for that relentless worry over housework tone once again had surfaced just to bug her into madness. But now she held Mia in her arms—plush, excited, delightful, and bubbly Mia who held her back with a content smile on her small face.
Touko returned with Mia in her arms and Titania, who led her up the stairs, just as Cheren explained his discovery to her mother—the same discovery that left Touya relieved from the burden of hard, meticulous work and Bel feeling fortunate that hard labor was avoided, probably because she couldn't wait to see the next Pokémon. "When I rubbed the material between my fingers, it turned into a sort of power." Cheren started his conclusion with a natural curiosity, especially when his observant eyes caught the vague, blurry sight of the Whimsicott as Touko entered the room. "And a few seconds later it disappeared completely. There's no way that I can explain how, but it sure is convenient. My best guess is to say that this Whimsicott—or Mia, whatever it's called—could freely control these spores. Or they're very short-lived."
"Well, isn't that wonderful?" Touko's mother sighed with a mixture of exhaustion and content, but her countenance was lagging due to the former. "I hated the thought of picking this house clean of these persistent particles."
"You don't say?" Touya had muttered underneath his breath, but his mother must have caught it because she sent such a glare towards him that he quickly zipped his mouth and pulled down the rim of his most beloved hat. Touko glanced down at the bubbly Whimsicott enthusiastically taking in every nook and cranny of the house with much wonder as she squealed in response to the chirps of Rolf and Mist. Eventually, Touko's stare had influenced Mia's field of view to drift upwards until their eyes connected and small smiles mirrored each other.
"I'm going to put you down now. Don't float off and cause mischief, or it's back into the Pokeball for you. And I'm Touko, by the way. I'm going to be your new Trainer." Mia squealed with welcome after a moment then nodded in agreement, much to Touko's shock—she was still introducing herself to the idea that Pokémon could understand humans perfectly. Once Mia was released, however, she immediately glided straight into Rhys and stuck to the Audino's fur like superglue, knocking the poor victim off of his balance.
"They seem to be very close." Bel remarked with some awe in her voice and eyes. "Do you see now, Cheren? It's not just about battling. Pokémon have feelings too—they're almost like people." Cheren merely retained his silence for a few moments as his eyes twinkled with contemplation. As he finally spoke, he placed his hands upon the table, folded quite scholarly with his usually solemn expression.
"We'll just see how useful Mia is. If she can move like that, she may be able to avoid every attack until the enemy wears itself out. That may be why Alder chose her in the first place." It finally reoccurred to him that he still possessed a deactivated Pokeball in his left palm. As he opened his fist, the shrunken Heavy Ball gently rolled onto the table and addressed him with a commanding aura. And the fire rose once more. "Let's continue on with this." He spoke and carefully plucked the Heavy Ball with his thumb and index finger; however, Touko found herself immediately consulting the manual. As Cheren activated the Heavy Ball, she swiftly lunged forth and swiped the device from his hand, ignoring his annoyed glare that she was sure he would shoot at her.
"Not yet, Cheren! My grandpop specifically stated to release the Heavy Ball outside. I think his Steelix is inside here." At the mention of the species' name, Touya instantly perked his head up from the table, but as a consequence, his hat concealed all of his face for a second then plopped onto the wood. He recalled that fierce battle they watched just last week and the sheer strength Greil the Steelix exuded upon the Hydriegon. However, Greil's defeat at the hands of a Bisharp shocked even the ambitious Trainer. "Let's save him for last. I'd like all of these Pokémon to stay in one place." Cheren maintained his silence and motioned with his hands for her to continue. She deactivated the Heavy Ball and set it neatly in the box then randomly plucked the Fast Ball from its nest. Yet, there was something quite off with this particular device. She could feel it building pressure and static electricity upon her fingertips, but she knew not the cause. Maybe it's just Cheren glaring at me again, she thought, I better let him have it. Suddenly, she plopped the Fast Ball into his open palm, making as little contact with his fingers as possible, but it was ultimately inevitable.