I won't lie, I pampered myself and my team the next morning. While quite a bit of my worldview had been turned on its tail, I had my team and my Badge, so I could think about everything at my leisure now.
"We're going to relax today, everyone," I told them as we packed up. "You can play a little after breakfast, then we'll visit the department store. I heard that they opened a Pokemon-friendly restaurant at the top with a view of the whole city. How would you like to get lunch there?"
Vola had no strong feelings on the matter, and Spin pretended to have no strong feelings on the matter. I looked to Dart.
"It's open-air, too, but remember; if you fly off to explore everything, Vola will probably steal your lunch." Vola looked appropriately appalled by the accusation, so I knew she'd be extra-sure to watch for any openings.
I saw a few of the previous day's challengers when we finally made it to breakfast. Chansey had already put a few things away, but we all made do, secure in the knowledge that we'd be going out for lunch. Afterwards, as promised, they got to play in the yard out back, where Spin found a nice patch of sun to lie in. He then spent the rest of the time trying to keep Dart from landing on him, or make Vola find somewhere else to stretch her tails. At one point, he was chasing off Vola, only to find Dart had taken his spot when he returned, which turned into a whole thing.
I had just sat down again after sorting that out, cradling the egg, when Chansey waddled outside. She was holding a box.
"What's this?" I asked her as she made a Beedrilline for us.
She handed the box to me, then waved her arms happily. "Chan-sey!" she said, then waddled back inside. I wasn't sure about opening strange, unmarked boxes, even hand-delivered by a Chansey. The egg Pokemon were known to be lucky, but they were also often too friendly for their own good. Anyone could hand them anything not immediately dangerous and ask them to deliver it, and they would, just to make someone happy. It was in their nature.
But I'd also seen the boy with the Mankey and the wandering eyes at breakfast, and I was sure *shudder* he'd seen me, too. I didn't know if he'd try anything, but I didn't know he wouldn't, either. I'd ask Nurse Joy about it before we left.
Eventually Spin solved his problem by coming over to me and reaching for the egg, which I passed to him. He went back to his sunbeam and curled around it protectively, figuring- correctly, it turned out- that Vola wouldn't block light for the egg, and he left a spot open on it for Dart to perch on, leaving him unmolested. Vola didn't like being outmaneuvered, but she respected cleverness, so trotted over to me for petting now that my hands were free. Win-win.
It was still a couple hours until lunch, but Vola and Dart started to get fidgety. Figuring they were adequately leisured, I called everyone back, packed the egg into its protective place in my duffel, and walked back through the Pokemon Center to talk to Nurse Joy.
She was talking to the sister of the siblings who'd approached me yesterday, so I waited until they were done. When she turned and saw me waiting behind her, she squeaked and nearly jumped in surprise, then darted away. I hadn't been that harsh with them, had I? Thinking back over yesterday's events, it was absolutely possible I had.
Regardless, I approached Nurse Joy at her desk.
"Hello there, Katie," she said. "Ah, Chansey found you. Wonderful!"
"Um, yeah," I said, putting my bag down and using my new free arm to help support the box as I placed it on the counter. "I actually wanted to ask you about it. Do you know who it's from?"
"Hmm? It's from Erika. Weren't you expecting it? She stopped by on her way in to leave it for you."
Erika? What was I expecting from Erika? I borrowed a pair of scissors from the desk and cut the tape.
Inside was a folded piece of paper, a familiar wire brush, an unopened box of dry Pokemon wipes, and a small bag. I unfolded the note. In loopy, perfect calligraphy, it read,
"Katie,
You left before I could give you these. If you need more wipes, they were originally designed with help from Blaine of Cinnabar. The shop that makes them mostly does mail-order, but I believe they still have a location there if you need more.
Best of luck, and remember what the important things are.
-Erika"
How could I forget? Erika was a perfect being among us mortals. Of course she hadn't ignored my question. She'd simply waited to respond until it would have the maximum impact.
Despite my grousing, though, I had to school my features to keep the stupid grin off my face as I packed the gifts into a side pocket of my bag.
I'd been to Celadon's world-famous department store a few times before. Dad had taken me once to pick out a birthday present for Mom. She'd brought me to get my supplies for my journey when I got my certification, before everything had gotten in the way. But I'd never been on my own before, and I'd always been there for something specific.
I'd also had money before.
Still, we had fun window shopping. Dart explored everything, though she behaved and didn't touch anything. Spin had fun with the moving walkways and ramps, rolling for solid minutes until another person or Pokemon came by to use it. Vola used her new attack to freeze some water coming out of one of the fountains but it just splashed down and made a mess, so I grabbed her, hastily apologized to the nearby security guard, and ran for it.
"Just for that," I told her, panting, as we reached the bank of elevators, "we're skipping the evolution stones today. Not that I could afford one if they had one, but I shudder to think about what you'd do there."
Vola gave me a doe-eyed, 'who, me?' look, which I met with an unimpressed stare.
"Yes, you," I told her. "I'd like to be able to come back here someday when we can afford one, not to mention the other stuff we can get here. And I don't think Spin will forgive you if we get kicked out before lunch."
She didn't behave, exactly, after that, but at the very least I didn't catch her doing anything, so I called it a win. There was a 'wet floor' sign there, and that kid shouldn't have been running inside, anyway. I'd been holding Vola the whole time, and I didn't think she'd gotten to the point that she could cause chaos that close to under my nose, so I gave her the benefit of the doubt.
Lunch was a riotous affair. I'd never been to a restaurant that was Pokemon-friendly, before, and I could quickly see why more didn't follow the trend. The menu was huge. Literally. Each table had a big digital readout board with pictures. There were different styles of food I could select, like meat- or plant-based, for plants, etc., and each section had pictures of dishes that Pokemon could touch to get a scented spray that could help them choose. The food seemed amazing, and the whole setup looked crazy expensive, and I hoped I'd have enough to cover the bill.
The food was, indeed, amazing. Even Spin savored his food rather than just gobbling it down, and Dart was too busy with her food, which seemed to require an unnecessary amount of effort with the shells and things, to cause any trouble. As always, Vola ate slowly and methodically, but she did clean her dish; a clear testament to the quality of the food. When my bill came up on the menu screen, it had a field that asked for my trainer ID, if applicable. It was, so I tapped it in.
And I was happy I did. A message came back, saying, "Congratulations, KATIE CASTLE, on winning your RAINBOW Badge within the last week. The Rooftop Cafe is proud to support up-and-coming trainers like you, and is pleased to be able to help a winning team grow. Good luck with your SECOND Badge, and know that the team here at the Rooftop Cafe is behind you all the way!"
Huh. Apparently it was some kind of promotion? Pride about standing on my own, separate from my parents, was one thing, but I wasn't going to turn down corporate generosity. Especially when it saved me a majority of the cash I had left.
"Well, let's go, then," I told everyone. "It looks like we may be able to do this again sometime."
As we made our way through the lobby to leave, a man at a kiosk called us over.
"An enterprising young trainer like you simply can't turn down a deal like this!" he said, completely failing to inform me of what the deal was. "All we need is your name, trainer ID, and a Pokemon box number we can deposit to!"
Sketchy. I continued past.
"Wait!" he called, "It's free! It doesn't even need to be an active box! If you like, we can hold your prize until you can come pick it up."
"Prize?" I asked, pausing. Free?
Seeing that I was biting, he continued, "Yes! First prize is a brand-new Key Stone bracelet, but there are a few other prizes, as well. Key Stones are required for-" I remembered what a Key Stone was. And these people were just going to give one away? I studied the kiosk more closely.
"PokElite International" seemed to be advertising concepts like winning a League tournament, walking on the beach with your Pokemon, and cuddling up with them.
"-receive one of these hats for free just for entering!" he finished as I zoned back in to what he was saying.
"I mean, I guess so?" I said, not really seeing the catch. So I asked, "What's the catch?"
He gave me a toothy grin. "No catch!" he assured me. "All we ask is that when you win, you let people know where they can get their own."
I could do that, so I filled out the form. He looked relieved when I did, and I got the impression from the other shoppers hurrying by and averting their eyes that he hadn't had much luck so far. Which was worrying, but good for my odds.
I finally left the store, hopped on my bike, and made my way back out of Celadon.