Chapter Fourteen: The Lapras Man

The next day, Jackson had brought the egg to work with him so he could check on it as often as possible. Since he needed to keep his attention on customers when he wasn't on break, he left it in the employee's lounge with is Pokemon and instructed them to inform him if it showed any signs of hatching.

He hadn't bothered to read the newspaper or watch the morning news, his mind filled with thoughts of Valerie. His mind had been so occupied, that he almost left the lounge with the body suit of the Spinda costume backwards.

The first customers of the day was a small family-a woman in her late twenties with long, curled violet hair and pale skin and deep blue eyes. She was carrying a young boy in her arms with short cropped black hair and an older daughter with similar colored hair, but long and braided, at her side. The mother didn't care to be here, but her two children were thrilled. As she made her way deeper into the building, it was revealed that she was carrying a third child-a baby boy in a specifically designed back pack. The baby appeared to be sleeping.

Wavering on his feet to mimic Spinda's mannerisms, Jackson staggered over to the family. Another family entered the establishment, a single father donning a simple shirt and jeans and his similarly dressed son, who was bouncing up and down in excitement. As Jackson turned to his attention to them, he froze as his eyes focused on the newspaper in the father's hand. His eyes widened even more as they scanned the large print on the front page: Gym Leader Valerie Finds Love With Lapras Man.

Unbeknownst to him, a few people had uploaded their recorded videos of himself and Valerie interacting with the Lapras. One video that primarily focused on him and the Pokemon went viral, earning him the title as the Lapras Man. He bit his lower lip as his stomach knotted up, wondering if Valerie had seen the newspaper yet…

Valerie was clutching the edges of the newspaper tightly, her eyes darting back and forth as she skimmed the article on the front page. Her Gym was closed for the day and was not accepting any challengers as she didn't want to have to deal with any inquirers or what they had read in the newspaper or tabloids. She knew what would happen and had preemptively took measures.

A blonde furisode girl, burning with curiosity, had collected a copy of one of the tabloids. As she finished reading the article that garnered her interest, she turned a smirk to Valerie.

"Is any of this even true?"

Valerie sighed heavily and set the newspaper aside on the table she was sitting at. Even though she didn't have to deal with any outside trainers, her Gym trainers were another matter entirely.

"… Yes, and no. Yes, in that I spent the day with him. No, in that I don't feel THAT way about him."

"So… you two are just friends," the girl ventured.

The Gym Leader nodded in confirmation.

"I've only been on two dates with him."

"Hm." The girl's eyes traveled to the secondary article with partial interest and decided to change the subject. "Looking forward to FairyCon?"

Valerie smiled, grateful for the change.

"I have been looking forward to it for some time," she answered. "I wonder if Jackson might be interested in going."

"He didn't really strike me as the type who goes to cons, but you know him better than I do." The girl arched her brow as she flipped the page to an article about a woman who had given birth to some sort of angel Pokemon. "You could ask him."

A light blush tinged Valerie's cheeks.

"I had been considering telling him about DragonCon. It's supposed to be a month further out from FairyCon."

"Well, like I said, you can ask him." She shook her head with a skeptical expression as she absorbed the story. Even now, she still found it hard to believe there were people gullible enough to believe the ridiculous stories printed in tabloids. "What does he do, anyway?"

"He works over at that one family restaurant. The one with the Spinda as the mascot," the older woman replied.

"Let me guess, he's the mascot?" the furisode girl jokingly inquired with a playful half-smirk.

Valerie nodded.

"The one in the costume, yes."

The furisode girl immediately tore her attention from the page and stared at Valerie incredulously. She was silent for a couple of moments as her brain processed the fact that she had inadvertently guessed the man's occupation.

"… Isn't that… embarrassing for a guy like him?"

"It is. Which is why I don't tease him about it."

"Why don't he just get another job then?" she queried, folding up the tabloid.

Valerie's smile faltered slightly.

"Because he likes what he does. The children absolutely love him, and even the Pokemon like it."

"Seems kind of silly for someone to embarrass themselves for the amusement of others." The furisode girl lounged back in her chair. "He must love seeing kids and Pokemon happy."

"He does. He has this… way with Pokemon. I don't know how he does it, but he understands Pokemon on a deep, fundamental level most of us don't."

"Like a… Pokemon whisperer?" the furisode girl ventured.

Valerie gave an affirmative nod.

"You could say that, yes." Her smile widened slightly as she reminisced on yesterday's events. "He was able to communicate with the Lapras yesterday."

The girl's playful smirk returned.

"You better be careful. With those videos going viral, the ladies might start flocking a guy like him."

Valerie stared at her, looking almost scandalous at first, having misheard what she said, but realized she said something entirely different.

"He'll have a hard time with that. He's… shy. Adorably so."

"This'll be interesting to see, if he does get more attention." She let out a chuckle. "Imagine him running from a swarm of girls."

The black- haired woman frowned at the mental image.

"I don't think that would be particularly amusing."

Pulling out her phone, she looked over the photo that made up the background. Juliana had used it to snap a picture of her and Jackson, and had liked it enough to save it as a background image.

"Oh, I see. You would get jealous," the girl assumed. "I understand."

"No!" Valerie responded a little too forcefully, before calming her intonation. "I just… don't see the humor in anything of the sort."

The furisode girl crossed her arms with a knowing smirk.

"Come on, Valerie. You can't tell me you wouldn't be jealous if other girls were flirting with a man you're dating."

The Fairy-type Gym Leader released a resigned sigh.

"I suppose I would be more than a little envious…"

"Hm… I'm feeling a little hungry…" The girl's eyes lit up as an idea was brought forth to her. "Why don't we go to that Dizzy's place?"

Valerie perked up at this suggestion, her eyes practically brightening up her visage.

"Why not?"

Jackson was currently located in the ball pit with a small group of four children. Picking up two of the plastic spheres in his costumed hands, he held them up over his eyes, causing them to giggle in amusement. As Valerie and the furisode girl walked in, the former smiled into the direction of "Dizzy", releasing s short chuckle as she watched him play with the children. Dropping the balls the instant he saw Valerie, he just stared at her in awe. A couple of the children were perplexed, one even poking him and inquiring him what was wrong, but his full attention was on the Gym Leader.

Valerie and her friend took their seats at the table closest to the ball pit with a sweet smile and a quick wink directed at him. The man blushed underneath his costume. As a waiter tended to the women, his attention went back to the children, occasionally stealing glances at Valerie.

"That's him, huh?" the furisode girl asked, observing.

Valerie's eyes never left him, giggling softly as two of the children threw themselves on him to hug him, causing him to fall back and sink into the depths of the ball pit.

"Yes. That's him, all right."

The furisode girl barked out a laugh at the sight of Jackson floundering about in the ball pit in an attempt to position himself upright.

"Charming, I guess."

Valerie nodded, the corners of her lips drawing back into a wider, amused smirk.

"Hmm. He's very good with children." She sighed fondly. "He would make a good father someday."

"Thinking about having kids with him already, huh?" the furisode girl teased, averting her gaze as the waiter returned with two glasses of water and an extra pitcher of the liquid.

"Well, no. I was just saying."

"He seems like a nice guy."

Nodding in agreement, Valerie quickly thanked the waiter and brought the ice-cold beverage to her parched lips, her eyes still glued to the young man in costume. Once again, he turned to her, and in response, she threw him yet another smile.