Rummaging rummaging rummaging…he's found it! He knew it was in the master bedroom's closest!
Luxray carefully places an old, thick photo album on the blanket he brought along. Years ago, Valen used this blanket to cover a baby Shinx whenever said kitten fell asleep. The kitten photos in this black-colored album are different from the ones in the gray-colored album. The latter is off-limits to all but a select few, the former is not.
He's definitely not a cute kitten, he's a proud and edgy feline. There's plenty of photos of him as a kitten in this album, but there's someone else in every single picture. Someone so important to him that he's willing to toss his pride aside.
Luxray flips open the imposing album, and the layout is exactly as he remembers. The first photo is of him as a baby Shinx, snuggling up to baby Valen in his crib. There's Valen giving him belly rubs while wearing a Salamence costume, Valen feeding him with a milk bottle, and the routine fetch competition he had with Boltund. One page flip later and there's the blanket when it was brand new.
Photos of him with his teammates are in here too. There's the shy Ralts who became a cocky Gardevoir, and there's Bagon wearing the Salamence costume. Bagon thought if he wore the Salamence costume, he'd be able to fly. He ignored everybody who said it was too big for him. Golisopod, who joined the team in Alola, was cracking up upon seeing this for the first time. Salamence tried to hide behind Valen, only to remember that he had evolved and was now too big.
Gengar materializes from the floor, his eyes closed and his grin gaping. He laughs about the time he first attempted to sing opera—a photo of that and an unamused edgelord feline lies within this album.
Gengar's been around for a long time—he can still remember this area's overall emptiness before the houses were built. He took up residence here to play pranks, but what he really wanted was a friend to play with. Nowadays, he's got lots of friends. He's also got the best trainer he could've asked for.
Luxray and Gengar laugh at second photo of Bagon in the Salamence costume. The Poliwrath belonging to Valen's mother is frantically trying to keep Bagon from leaping onto the cool old car owned by Valen's father. The third and fourth pictures show Bagon in the same costume, but they also show Melanie's Dratini in a Dragonite costume that doesn't fit.
Valen's taking the team to Pokémon Square today, so Luxray wanted to look back in time. Pokémon Square's where they met Bagon. Sometime later, it was the sight of Quilava's evolution into Typhlosion. There are many other memories, battles and otherwise. The team's aware of his uncertainly regarding tournaments, but they fully trust him. Whatever he does is okay with them if it makes him happy. Their desire to see him happy is so strong that it led to Shelgon evolving into Salamence.
The teasing and laughter of the play fighting between Valen and Rosa is starting to leak down from the third floor. Hilda would be teaming up with Rosa but she had some business to deal with.
An orchestra of footsteps, conversation, roars, and cries greet everybody who Pokémon Square, which becomes a village during the day. The mighty skyline of downtown bears towers over main plaza and its connectors to the sidewalk. Leaves on the concrete stir to life by passing cyclists and their Pokémon, which range from Jolteon to Ninjask.
The plaza and connectors are encircled by lush and vibrant grassy terrain.. Trees, bushes, and other plants are scattered throughout and on the edges of the grass. There's plenty of benches to relax on, plus an ample amount of picnic tables. Fields for battling are present, but there are also fields for Pokémon who want to play with bouncy balls or frisbees.
It's not uncommon for music to blare around here, but Valen's Luxray hissing along to a rock instrumental is a different story…at least in public. He rolls his eyes at a pair of humans throwing "pspsps" his way. Does look like a baby Shinx? No, because he's not some cute and cuddly kitty. Muk that, and Melanie's Pyroar needs to stop his posh laughter.
He's proud feline no matter what they say, a battle with make them go away! Every pspsps they say to him takes him one step closer to max edge! His pride's about to break! He needs a little room to brood! Belly rubs will take him closer to max edge, his pride's about to break!
Valen's interacting with his fans, but he's been listening in on Luxray's antics. "Heh, he's such a silly kitty."
As expected, Luxray gives him a pass. It's not because of Umbreon's squealing-that smile Luxray reserves for him hasn't changed one bit. He's always gotten a pass from the little guy that evolved into an big edgelord. It's one of the perks from growing up together.
He signs a young boy's backpack and teenage girl's poster of him in a suit. He poses with female fans around his age for a series of photos. He won't abandon the following he's gained over the years. He's already informed them via social media, and the BW Agency mentioned it on their page. The responses been very supportive overall, with the top comments about how Rosa and him got people more into art.
Even if his tournament entries decrease over time, his contest entries won't. They may even increase—contests are a stupendous mixture of Pokémon training and the arts. His art knowledge adds fuel to the performances of his Pokémon.
"Ciao, cugino."
He turns his body to face Jacques and they exchange a fist bump. The fans he was just interacting with are also fans of his cousin. At least he managed to show up—four of em have other matters to attend to today. Even though a certain guy with long, red hair didn't say what's keeping him busy.
To his right, Rosa's showing the portrait to Lisia. She's rapidly looking up and down at it, her eyes glowing with joy. The Holbein-like aesthetic makes it feel like there's two of her present.
"You nailed my pose down perfectly!" Lisia places a hand on her hip. "You rock!" She angles her other hand sideways and sticks a pair of fingers out. "I love the microphone and ribbons on the table!"
"Ooooh, maybe you should come over!" Rosa closes her eyes and clasps her hands. "Tee-hee, we'd have so much fun!"
"Sounds like a great idea!"
"Soooooooooo, do you want the painting?"
"Keep it as a token of our friendship!" Lisia lifts a foot and raises a fist above her head. "Painting Idol Rosa and Contest Idol Lisia's in the houseeeeee!"
He chuckles over their string of high fives. Let them continue their lively chat, he doesn't need to chime in.
He's hung out with Lisia more, turns out third of her heritage lies the Vlaander region. No surprise that she's from Hoenn—an astronomical amount of people from Vlaander, Ziegler, and Galar settled in Hoenn between 1860 and 1930. He's also learned that her passion for dancing goes back to her childhood, much like art history for him and painting for Rosa.
Speaking of Rosa, she's brought along a sketchbook to show Lisia a series of drawings depicting everything from dense forests to contests. He was joking when he suggested to title it The Drawings of Rosa Da Vinti, but that's exactly what she did.
Rosa consults Old Masters paintings and the world around her for ideas to create works that carry remarkable verisimilitude. She's studied techniques and styles used by the Old Masters to hone her artistic bailiwick. Words can't describe how proud of her he is, but the spiritual link of love certainly can.
Same story with Hilda—her knack for making big projects and dreams a reality is stupendous. She's a short distance behind him, handing out business cards and free candy to everybody that passes her by.
Earlier this morning, Hilda challenged that Raihan guy to a selfie showdown on Smearglegram and Glaliebook. Guess she's playing fair-
"Tee-hee, Raihan thinks he can take both of us on!"
Oh no, Rosa and Hilda are far too powerful together. Somebody's guaranteed to take a hard L.
Melanie and Leaf wave at him and the others, their respective teams having already been let out. Rosa and Hilda have been encouraging everybody to get to know both Lisia and Leaf better. Heh, who wouldn't want to hang out with Team Skull's Valen? That's what the rays of sunshine have said in the-that's literally what she said times two. Add two more for Skyla and-what's up with Melanie's sudden burst of elation?
"I just hit upon a good trainer romance idea!" Melanie interlocks her fingers under her chin. "Another Roland and Justine AU fanfic!" She whips out a tablet from her purse. "One where they're battling in the finals of a conference!"
Leaf cocks a brow and crosses her arms. "You…carry a tablet around to write fanfiction?" After a few seconds of silence, smile returns and she holds her palms together. "Hee hee, I like your passion as much as I like your style!"
"I'm also an aspiring novelist." Melanie's prideful grin stretches across her face. "Can't touch this."
There's a twinkle in Lisia's eyes. "Send me some of your works!" She jumps to lean closer. "I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE it when people rock my socks off!"
"Can do!"
"Heh, she's been like this since we were kids." Valen shrugs, his voice cracking with amusement. "But I like that about her."
Melanie flicks his forehead. "You're one to talk, art boy."
Umbreon's squealing leads them to witness the glorious sight of Luxray trying to look cool for her. Like the badass Blaziken in his favorite animated movie, Luxray announces "Kage Bunshin No Jutsu" and copies via Double Team encircle both quadrupeds.
Umbreon jumps up and down with her eyes squeezed shut. Again! Again! She wants to see the cool presentation again! So coool!
…Wait...Luxray must require payment! But there's only one appropriate way for her to pay him! A pause leads to blushing, and she tucks in-between her front legs. With each step, her legs quake. If Luxray could pull this off, so can she. Hopefully...he's so handsome...why's he so handsome…how can any Pokémon be this handsome?
Luxray's body tingles from a cheek kiss. He plays off his own blushing by exaggerating a scowl and brooding in the other direction. He was going to do it again to begin with, but she's super cute so whatever. Ahahahahahaha, behold this proud feline's Kage Bunshin No Jutsu for a second time!
"Those two are something, aren't they?" Melanie loosely holds her hands behind her back. "It's the cutest thing ever."
Ha, the pouty facial expressions of Valen's Salamence and Rosa's Milotic have a "what about us" vibe to them. A thumbs up from her vanquishes the pouty faces, and Milotic snuggles up to Salamence.
"I ship both."
"Tee-hee, I do too!" Rosa's eyes glitter. "Our Pokémon are soooo cute when they interact with each other!"
A flash of inspiration causes Rosa's mouth to drop open, bur her smile quickly returns. The smiles may've returned for Milotic and Salamence too, but now's her chance! Time for her to strut her acting skills in front of all of these people.
Rosa's right palm faces the sky, her arm is extended, and her elbow is bent. "Woe is me!" She places her other arm on her forehead and perform on her best Sobble impression. "Has't thy queen fallen from grace?" She falls backward into Valen's arms. "How could I allow the travesty of vanishing smiles to occur?"
Woo-hoo, several people and Pokémon enjoyed her impromptu performance! Fans she interacted with earlier snapped photos! Another free smile giveaway completed! Leaf's offering to record her, rapid nodding gooooo!
Rosa jumps from side to side and extends her fists in and out. "Go, go go, go Rosa! You're the winner!" She grabs Valen and kisses his cheek, then makes him twirl with her. "We're gonna party cuz you're the winner!" She lets go of her mystified sweetie and extends her palms toward Lisia, as Hilda's returned to being busy.
Lisia's right hand's on her hip and her left fist is raised above her head. "You can find me in the club, having loads of fun!" she spins. "You can be a star if you believe in yourself, hun!"
Umbreon and Luxray contain their laughter over the silly humans, look at them high fiving each other. They try to emulate it, but Umbreon ends up stumbling into an accidental cheek kiss. But was it truly accidental?
Rosa's Eelektross finds the fact that Hilda's Umbreon hasn't asked Valen's Luxray out yet to be a real shocker. Umbreon and Luxray, plus Rosa's Serperior and Leaf's Pidgeot, glare at the eel-like Pokémon with flat-eyed expressions. Rosa's Serperior chastises her teammate over yet another Trubbish pun, but it doesn't affect Eelektross. Real jolt to hear her puns, isn't it?
As for Umbreon herself, she's envisioning Luxray asking her out on a date. He looks so handsome in her daydreams too! Shut up Eelektross, you're making Leaf's Venusaur and Pidgeot laugh at her! She already knows that Luxray's electrifying! He's super effective against her!
Greeting cries from Jacques's Sylveon, Leaf's Espeon, and Melanie's Absol snap Umbreon out of her flustered state. She's being invited to play what the humans call basketball. She'll happily accept, but why do they want to play a human sport?
Come to think of it, she's never understood that one human sport with the weirdly shaped brown ball. Why do the humans use Tackle on each other over it? Why do Emboar and Beartic argue over these humans and why does that "touchdown" thing excite them? Why is Luxray snickering when he should be in awe of her cuteness and beauty?
If Umbreon spent a few more seconds observing, she'd see what nearly sent him into hysterics. Hilda's Emboar and Beartic are flexing to impress Valen's Gardevoir and Jacques' Tsareena. As he predicted, cocky laughter is all they get. Leaf's Machamp's trying to show them how it's done, but the sassy ladies brush off his quadruple flex. Now's not the time for puns, Eelektross. Somebody tell Hilda's Starmie to stop poking Machamp.
Here comes Jacques' Greninja, he's looking all smug as he leans against a tree. His Charizard teammate bows in front of Gardevoir with a hand over his chest, and his teammate bows in return. Enough with the typing puns, Eelektross. You're less original than Valen's excuses for owning Hilda and Rosa merch.
Come on, you've got this! That's what Hilda's Garchomp, Rosa's Hydreigon, and Melanie's Dragonite cheer as Salamence stumbles towards Rosa's Milotic. Salamence's pushing a box containing a bouquet of roses towards her, and she's blushing immensely. That's got to be one reason Valen went shopping with Melanie and Leaf yesterday—Salamence has accidentally bitten more than one bouquet in the past.
First thing's first. He nuzzles Valen's midsection and receives pets. Satisfied, he runs to catch up with Gardevoir, Gengar, Typhlosion, and Golisopod. They root for their teammate, while Rosa's team roots for theirs.
Serperior and Eelektross are encouraging Milotic to make her own move on this gentleman dragon, with Aerodactyl and Volcarona suggesting the duo should watch Dragons Are Forever. They're biased due to their love for spy movie, but he likes spy movies too.
Success! Luxray and the squad and erupt with excitement as Milotic accepts the flowers and give Salamence a kiss. Hydreigon does his happy dance and Gengar gives an opera performance.
Rosa's been recording the entire time, will she be painting this? Can Salamence give Emboar, Beartic, and Machamp a few tips so they stop embarrassing the squad? Can Eelektross stop spewing Trubbish puns for five minutes?
Salamence's successful endeavor fires up Hilda's Umbreon, who's got a Luxray to dazzle. He can't deny how amazing she is at this human game called basketball. The score's tied and she's going to break it. It'll be eight to four once Espeon and her strut their stuff.
Espeon dribbles the ball with one paw, swerving to avoid Sylveon and Absol. Espeon throws the ball at Umbreon, who clutches it with her front legs. Umbreon narrowly avoids Absol snatching up the ball. She leaps onto her hind legs and dunks the ball into the bucket.
She snatches up the ball and runs away. Oh no, she almost lost the ball! She must impress her handsome crush! She jumps high above Absol and Sylveon and slams the ball into the bucket. She nearly tumbles upon landing but she could care less. They won, they won, they won with Luxray watching!
Espeon and Umbreon hop up and down, high fiving each other several times. Absol and Sylveon make it a quadruple high five. They then catch Valen's Typhlosion and Salamence demanding their daily pets, their eyes sparkling when their trainer obliges. Rosa's Hydreigon wants head pats on all three heads, while Milotic wants a massage. They've got the right idea, so they run towards the respective trainers to demand pets of their own. Absol saunters behind them, trying to be discreet that she's okay with more frequent petting.
Two familiar voices catches everybody's attention, but there's a commotion over a Suicune and Raikou in the area. Their respective trainers, Rui and Wes, couldn't be any more different in their reactions.
Rui folds her arms and scowls. "Why does everybody get shocked over my Suicune?!"
Wes groans and rolls his eyes. "Because it's a Suicune, dingbat."
"Because it's a Suicune, dingbat," Rui jabs back in a sarcastic, high-pitched tone. "I'm big bad Wes who doesn't care about people gawking at my Raikou!"
Wes shrugs half-heartedly. "Well done, you figured out the obvious." Why is the whole group staring at him like he's a Xurkitree? "She started it and I felt like coming."
"Hey, don't throw me under the bus!"
"I'll throw you into the space shuttle so the aliens can deal with your crazy ass."
A flashback of meeting them near the Outskirt Stand plays within Valen's mind. These two haven't changed a bit—they were snarking each other when he took a seat to eat lunch. They caught him containing his laughter over Wes trolling Rui about falling for his pranks.
They were dealt a bad hand that was tough to overcome. But he's confident that Wes will see the rays of a brighter future. Just like he did.
Gengar, Starmie, and the Eeveelutions happily welcomes Raikou into the squad. They introduce him to the others, while Gardevoir and the the dragons gesture for Suicune to get his butt over here.
Raikou has no idea what's going on, but at least he's not Suicune. That fool thought that mayonnaise is a instrument at one point.
Sitting at a table with a bunch of people that...have welcomed him with open arms. It's a weird feeling for Wes, but it might go away in time. Perhaps it's because he's just not accustomed to this?
He's sitting across from Hilda, observing the multiple bubbly conversations she's kicked off with everybody. Valen and Melanie decided to partake in a double battle together, which is occurring a short distance away. Luxray and Pyroar are the Pokémon they've chosen to go up against a Golduck and a Malamar. Luxray's storming in with Wild Charge, while Pyroar's launching a Flamethrower. They're doing well, only a matter of time before they win.
Lisia's interacting with a large crowd, but she'll be back shortly. It's not everyday that an idol of her caliber hangs out in public like this…or maybe he just isn't paying attention. Speaking of paying attention, his Umbreon should pay attention so he doesn't get teased by Hilda's Umbreon and Leaf's Espeon. His own Espeon's too busy laughing.
"Guess those words had a lasting impact, huh?"
Wes turns towards Hilda, who's giving him a sideways glance. Her grin's lighting up her face.
Wes takes a slow, deep breath. "Even though we barely know each other, you-"
"That's what friends are for, Wes." Hilda's gaze briefly slides towards Valen, who's taking a seat in-between Rosa and her. "Like I said before, I was afraid that I'd lost the love of my life." She slides her left hand under the table, resting her palm on his right hand. "But I didn't."
"Me too, but we managed to come back stronger." Rosa mimics Hilda's gesture with her right hand. "It'll take time, but everybody here will support you two every step of the way."
Wes exchanges a glance with Rui. "It's been just over half a year, but it feels like it's been five years."
"That happened to us too," Rosa admits. "Believe in yourself, believe in each other." She flips her hand to grip Valen's hand. "He waited even longer before asking me out."
"…Feh." He closes his eyes and smiles. "You were right about them, Rui." He re-opens his eyes and extends his hand toward Valen. "Well?"
Valen laughs under his breath as he accepts. By now, Wes should know that they never stopped being friends. "You've started to realize that people care about you," he tells Wes. "That's the first step." Melanie and Jacques are patting him on the back.
When taking into account all she knows, Rosa wants to give a free smile to Wes. She leans closer to Wes, her own smile gaining an aura of mischief. "Sooooooooooooooooo, I've heard Rui's kicked your butt in a Pokémon battle quite a few times."
Wes cocks a brow and snorts. "She didn't tell you about the times I've defeated her, has she?"
Rosa sneaks in a glance towards Leaf, who giggles and leans closer to Rui's right shoulder. Hilda wants in on this too.
"Hee hee, maybe it's even!"
"Hehe, this is fun!"
Rui bursts into boisterous laughter. "Yeah right, he's never going to defeat me again!" Her eyes widen and her face becomes pink. "Oh no, I slipped up!"
"She talks big but she can't always back it up." Wes' smirk carries a sense of triumph. "Bet she can't back up what Rosa asked me."
"Yes I can, just ask-"
"Kabu and Raihan, both of whom took you three tries to defeat."
"Stop bringing that up, you empty-headed grouch!"
Wes uses a finger to tap her forehead. "I think you'll find that the emptiness lies within here."
He's owned Rui yet again. The rest of the group, along with all of the Pokémon, are aiming mischievous glances at Rui. Except for Valen, that is. As Rui frantically looks from one end to the other, Valen shrugs and lets out an amused sigh.
"Y'all are stupid." Valen snickers, earning himself a forehead flick. "In a good way."
It sounds like the Pokémon are roasting Rui, so he'll cut her some slack for now.
"Don't forget to check in with Skyla."
Melanie to the rescue—he's gotta see her reply. He said that he'd take care of it, and it'd be fun to have her over again. Out comes his cell phone and…he forgot to hit send…he typed this text two hours ago. ….Oops…yeah he deserves the forehead flick and bops he's getting for this. Not exactly his brightest moment, but Skyla didn't even let him apologize before replying in all caps. The answer was going to be yes, but Skyla's been on a sightseeing binge.
He'd like it if Ragnar came over to his house again too. This time, he'll make sure that the text gets sent. He'd do it right now, but he's hunting for potential sleeper paintings with his grandpa. Ragnar loves the thrill of potentially uncovering a priceless piece of history, be it a portrait, a classic car, or ancient pottery.
Rosa nudges Valen's arm with her elbow. She points to an article recommended to her in the Glaliebook app. "Soooooo, how many times has this happened?"
How many times has what-another "lost" Leonardo Da Vinti painting? Really guys, really? Nearly all of his known paintings have period documentation, and have you people ever looked at a real Leonardo? The quality of this one's not bad, but it's nowhere near the ballpark. Y'all are stupid.
"Your expression is all I need to see." Rosa shakes her head. "Less than twenty Leonardo paintings have been fully authenticated."
"Saying that you've found a lost Leonardo is like saying you've chatted up both Necrozma and Rayquaza during an evening stroll."
Laughter indicates that the group's been alerted to their conversation. Nice, even Wes got a chuckle out of that one. Seriously though, the chances are infinitesimal.
Hilda swoops in to save the day—she's found an article that confirms that it's not an authentic Leonardo. It's not even by a follower of his, much less his workshop or the man himself. The author's none other than Wallace, the proud owner of Portrait of a Milotic.
By now, Hilda and Rosa already begun explaining about the odds and other aspects. He can still picture Rosa jumping around over seeing that Milotic painting at the Lilycove Museum.
The sudden sensation of Luxray rubbing his body against his right leg makes him chuckle. "What happened to the edgelord?"
He reaches down to pet the feline's back. A purr is his response, the tone slightly reminiscent of a baby Shinx. That Shinx got sad over the thought of him leaving, hence why the little guy learned how to battle. Once a kitty, always a kitty? Maybe...likely...yes.
The puppies, Typhlosion and Salamence, join Luxray. Typhlosion nuzzles her face into his right side, while Salamence lowers his head for pets. Both try outdo the other in the volume of their affectionate roars.
"I'm glad Milotic liked the flowers."
Salamence closes his eyes and his grinning mouth drops open. Typhlosion and Luxray nudge the flying puppy with mischievous smiles, but Valen knows that they're also proud.
"It's your turn, Luxray."
Luxray steps back and his eyes widen. Salamence and Typhlosion begin to egg him on, which makes him tuck his head in-between his legs. Valen can't help but wonder if this is also a bouncy ball battle, for the two puppies also go crazy over the ball.
Rosa's Milotic, Hilda's Garchomp, Melanie's Swampert, and Leaf's Ninetales have also requested pets. Rui's Glaceon and Wes' Espeon follow suit, the former standing on her hind legs and the latter jumping onto Wes's lap for a nap. Rosa, Hilda, and Leaf also give their Pokémon a kiss to the head. Melanie's Swampert strongly prefers belly rubs to kisses, so that's what he's getting. Rui's play fighting with her Glaceon, her hands tapping against the quadruped's paws in rapid succession. Wes won't be getting up anytime soon, but he seems chill with it.
Jacques' Sylveon is running towards them, having hears the happy cries and roars of her friends. Jacques cradles her into his arms and places her onto his lap. The pets are met with licks to Jacques' hand but Sylveon's drumming her paws on Valen's left arm. Her adorable grin grows wider as he pats her head and back and she tries to lick both of their hands at once.
Oh cool, Lisia's headed this way with her Altaria. She's been a blast to hang out with and it's easy to see why Hilda and her make a good team to tackle such a big project. Even if the future of said project is uncertain, that friendship will last forever. He'd like a friendship with Lisia that lasts forever too.
Valen's spending the late afternoon chilling at home with the crazy wholesome minds. Luxray's snuggling up to Valen, his purring's a melody for his ears. Hilda and Rosa are facing each other in a fighting game. Umbreon and Serperior rooting for their respective trainer.
Hilda's gaming and action figure room is also her planning room, hence the giant stack of folders containing event ideas. Said action figures are organized within seven large shelves, and her board games occupy three smaller shelves more. The figures range from mass market to rare convention exclusives.
An eight large shelf houses her video games, the cases placed like the books in the master bedroom's library. There would be a bunch of comics and manga volumes present too, but they've recently gotten another bookshelf for the master bedroom. Instead, that shelf is now filled with replicas of Ancient Unovan ceramics. More will be added in due time.
Hilda and Rosa have paused the game just to give him stares filled with unconditional love. No words, no hand gestures, just eyes shining with affection that conjure a endothermic sensation. They wanted him to read in the gaming room while they played PokéJustice: The Power of One. He was already planning to sit here, but they pressed fast-forward.
They wink and Hilda exits the game's pause menu, while Rosa blows a kiss in his direction. He returns the wink and clicks a tooth. Back to reading his lavishly illustrated Caravaggio monograph. Near his right leg is his a monograph on Gabriel de La Tour and a book on lesser known museums.
Tomes like this offer the chance to get as close as possible to stupendous art pieces, and this large color photograph of The Reunion at Supper is proof of that. This is Caravaggio's legendary depiction of an iconic moment in classical literature. Specifically, it's the moment from The Pilgrimage where Machamp, Hydreigon, and Glaceon realize that the wandering human they invited into the house is Orpheus. The Jirachi they assisted and invited to live with them has gifted them their deepest desire.
The close-quarter scene's dramatically lit up against a completely darkened background. In the bottom left portion is the wide-eyed Machamp. He's rocketing up from a wooden chair, his lower hands gripping it and his upper hands flailing like a pair of Feebas. The Hydreigon takes up a large portion of the area right of her trainer. The dragon's about to fall onto the ground, and one can envision gasps from her main mouth. Her three heads are jerking upwards, the left one shoved into the viewer's face Glaceon's standing on all fours atop the white table cloth, and the ripe peach she was eating has landed in-between her front paws. Her halfway closed eyes are overloaded with moisture and her mouth indicates a whimper.
Orpheus himself is located at the midpoint, and he's just removed his full-face helmet. His eyes are closed, a gentle smile's beginning to appear, and he's calmly reaching into the bowl of fruit. Jirachi's peeping out from behind his armor, and it's sporting a serene and satisfied expression.
The raw emotions of heightened drama, the intimidating glares of powerful Pokémon, and the stupendous chiaroscuro found in Caravaggio's oeuvre inspired Rosa to venture into the world of theatre and film. They better brace themselves for her unstoppable ascension into the box office.
Rosa will be the number one pick for most talented, cutest and prettiest actress in no time. Day one, bet. Nobody can change his mind about that, nor about Hilda being the most skilled, cutest and prettiest talent agent ever. Fittingly, Hilda's turned to Titian, Caravaggio, Rubens, Poussin, La Tour and other famous painters for event ideas. Great composers inspired her big break, the modern Pokémon Musical.
Art truly knows no borders and it absolutely transcends time. Makes it kinda ironic that Dialga appears frequently in Renaissance art, doesn't it?
Wait a sec, weren't Rosa and Hilda playing video games just now? When did they slide into the sofa and how did they avoid detection? What plan did they concoct this time?
Hilda use her fingers to stroke his left arm in a slow, lingering manner. "You know how you consider us living masterpieces?" Her eyelashes flutter and her smile's coy. "What if we told you that you're the most handsome art historian ever?" She tugs the collar of his black, long-sleeved T-shirt. "Hehe, somebody's not blushing."
"Don't make me dethrone you." A husky tone sprinkles his voice. "I can take both of you down with ease."
Rosa's sultry gaze darts from the top of his slightly messy black hair to his gray Team Skull sneakers. "You're still the hottest boooooy who's ever flirted with me." A fingertip sits on her lower lip. "What if we consider you a living Renaissance masterpiece too, hmmmmmm?"
"Look at yourselves in the mirror already."
Huh, why did their smiles become…a tad…devious? Are they going to give him merciless hugs or something?
"Heeeey, I just remembered that he has all our trading cards!" Hilda slightly tilts her head with a hand over her grin. "Even the super limited edition ones!"
Valen's eyes widen and his mouth drops open. "Uh...err...ah-"
"We've also got pictures of you in a Salamence costume!" Hilda hops up and down with her hands clasped. "Cutie cutie cutieeee!"
Rosa tilts her head back. "Kyaaaaaaaa!" Her eyes sparkle and her palms are under her chin. "I can't enough of those photos—you were soooooo CUTEEEEE as a kid!"
He shields his reddening face with his book. "I…uh…d-don't know what you're t-talking a-about….um…you two are the cute ones."
"I knooooow, right?" Rosa fakes a shocked expression. "It's like I love having adorable and silly Rosa taking over." Her elbows are bent and her arms extend in opposite directions. "It's sooooooo weird."
"We have a lot of proof that you're a cutie too." Hilda titters and spins to face Rosa. "Do you remember why he learned to sing?"
"H-Hey, h-hold on!" He begins to sweat as he tugs at his collar. "It's n-no-not-"
"It's because he had a giant crush on meeeee!" Rosa twirls twice, painting her voice with a singsong tone. "Everybody knoooows it!~"
"Hehe, he also sung for me when he asked me out!"
Valen nearly tumbles off the sofa and the ensuing yelp is loud and squeaky. Rosa and Hilda's laughter fills up the living room while he sighs over his latest dorky moment. What he understands the least is why he gets flustered over the singing when it actually worked.
At least the Pokémon are cutting him some slack this time. Mostly because Luxray hopped onto the bed to try and smooth talk Umbreon. At least, that's what it looks like to him. Why else would Umbreon be swooning so much?
For a few moments, Rosa and Hilda wrap their arms around his neck and midsection respectively. He might be a ding dong, but he's their ding dong. He can live with that. Their eyes tend to carry a gentle vibe when they're facing his direction, and it's soothing for the mind and soul.
"Nooooooow-" Rosa narrow her eyes and points toward Hilda. "I, the beautiful and cute Roooosa, challenge Hilda to PvP in Masters of the Renaissance!"
"Hehe, I'll yank the best artists and trainers away from your noble family!"
"Unlike Expert Noob Hilda, Gaming Queen Rosa's been playing the Baroque Expansion Pack!"
Hilda forms a V with her hands. "Cower before the Imperial Hilda Empire!"
"Grrr, feel Rosa's power!" She pumps up her fists. "Wham bam pow!"
They trot back towards the controllers, only for Hilda to realize that she actually has to put the right game in first. Her face flushes, but embarrassment quickly gives way to amusement.
The laughter of the trio and the Pokémon exits the room and makes it way down the hallway. Gengar materializes from the floor and decides to join them for a good time.
Thoughts on this chapter? Did you like the Pokemon moments? How about Lisia's addition to the major cast?
There are paintings that were not by Da Vinci's hand, but the design/drawings were his work. The odds of finding one fully by his hand really is infinitesimal. IRL, the number of authenticated works is under twenty. His output was very low compared to other Old Masters.