"Nope, that's not going to cut it," I muttered to myself, once again deleting everything to start anew.
Despite being our first 'official' day off, I spent nearly the entire morning working on my phone. It had completely slipped my mind amidst preparations for the bakery. I knew I was neglecting marketing, but with how well-known the bakery used to be, I mostly thought that problem would solve itself in the first weeks. But the issue was social media; I had completely forgotten about it.
Say what you want about social, I'm fully aware of its pros and cons in our lives, but you can't deny the fact that it's a paramount tool for businesses, even more so for the small ones.
While it sounds pretty straightforward, there are so many little details to consider when trying to make a decent site that it took a lot more effort than I initially planned to put in on my day off.
"Now it's asking for a cover photo? I hate my life," I complained as I scrolled through all the things that needed completion. It didn't help that there were hardly any photos of me and Chansey. Most of the ones I had were from the bakery or the products we sold. That's on me for not thinking ahead; now we just had to improvise until I could get decent pictures during the next week.
Begrudgingly, I scrolled through the available photos and uploaded the one I thought was the most fitting.
"Alright, a cover photo of the bakery, that should do it. Looks good to me." At that very moment, Chansey walked behind me, on her way to the kitchen. "Good timing, Chansey, what do you think of this one, looks good?" I ask her while pointing at my phone.
Chansey took a quick look at the screen and responded with what I assume was a double thumbs up. Works for me.
"This will do then, but I'll keep editing it as time goes by, we might hire a professional later, who knows? I don't trust myself with this stuff to be honest with you."
Chansey gave a quick nod and went on her way. I'm not sure what was keeping her so busy.
Back on topic, it also didn't help that I didn't have a proper, functioning computer, to do this. All I had was an old laptop that took at least 10 minutes to boot up, which is why I'm now using my phone. Now, like any other young adult, I know my way around a smartphone — thank God the ones here are not too different from Earth — but I have to admit that I lack the expertise to do everything on it. Creating social media profiles is one of them.
Knowing that I wouldn't be able to do much in one day, I decided to stick to only two social media platforms, whose names I was awfully familiar with. Given all the parallels I've seen so far in this world, I shouldn't be surprised.
For instance, there was a platform named 'Chatter,' and despite the name suggesting a chat-only app, it was essentially a reskinned version of Twitter, featuring a Chatot as its mascot. The other platform I decided to use was called 'PokeSnap'. Again, the name was very familiar to a parallel on Earth, except this one was a bit too on the nose.
'What's up with people adding the 'Poke' prefix to everything?'
I created accounts on both platforms, not expecting that it would take me that long to edit them. Maybe it wasn't supposed to be that way, I'm just plain bad at it. After adding some pictures and basic information on the bakery, I added the business information to the most used map app available, which took half an hour because I couldn't verify my location.
"We could use a logo later at some point as well," I said out loud, before putting my phone away and resting my head on the couch. It's just another thing I'll add to what we need in the future.
While creating a social media profile is not exactly an enjoyable experience for me, it's not that bad in the end. I mean sure, it takes a couple of hours and a headache for the inexperienced but that's rarely an obstacle for any entrepreneur.
Starting a business is a tremendous undertaking, I'm very much aware of it. The market research, time, and risk management to name a few. All of them are key obstacles present in almost every scenario. However, due to many factors —which mostly include Monty paying for our expenses—we had it easier than most. Although I'm expecting the following months to get complicated, very much so.
He won't be helping us forever after all. He said so himself.
"I should probably give him a call later today, I still have some questions."
Something else I need to address too, and this one I've been avoiding on purpose, is to think about the future, and by that, I don't mean tomorrow, the next week, or month, but long-term.
In the beginning, I was hesitant about taking this path (if you can call it that) but the reasons were different at the time. I had just arrived here, and I felt lost and confused without a place or anything to call my own aside from the tattered clothes on my back, I needed stability. Perhaps I wasn't fully aware back then, but I went with the flow, I felt like giving myself a goal and objectives would provide me with a sense of belonging.
Now that I've been here for some time, and with the bakery officially opened for a week. I can finally feel things going smoothly for us. However, that brought some questions I had placed in the back of my mind for a while, and not the easy-to-answer kind.
It boils down to what I want to do with my life from here on out. Monty told me I was free to do whatever I wanted and that I shouldn't feel attached to the bakery just because. I can see where he is coming from, but even with all its hardships, I enjoy working there.
Even if I decided to leave, what exactly is there to do? Now that I have an ID, I can find a job somewhere else or even travel if I want to.
Even then, where would I go? Should I return to college, or try something else? Try to become a trainer, like the protagonists in the games?
Oh, and I would also need to take care of Chansey. And what about the stray sylveon in the back alley? Should I alert the police about him?
I shook my head. 'No, stressing myself about won't help.'
Perhaps I'll find an answer to it in time. Right now I'm in a good position, I like what I do and have financial stability for me and Chansey. If my choices change in the future, I'm sure there will be a way to make things work. The Pokemon world seems pretty good so far after all.
That being said…
"Traveling would be nice."
The clinking sound of plates and a metal jingle took me off my train of thought. Curious, I rose from my lying position to look at the source.
Chansey was coming from the kitchen with an apron on, and a tray in her hands. On it, she was carrying a jug filled with golden yellow liquid, two glasses, a couple of bowls whose contents I couldn't see from my position, and a pair of spoons. I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
'I knew she was preparing something back there!'
Happy as ever, she laid the tray on the old coffee table in front of me, careful not to knock down the only flower pot we had in the apartment. The contents of the bowls seemed to be some sort of brown yogurt—or maybe not. It looked way too fluffy to be yogurt, and the color didn't add up. Not to mention, I didn't remember buying that.
"Chansey, what's this?"
She didn't bother to reply immediately. Instead, she handed me one of the spoons, grabbed the other, and sat beside me.
Eagerly, she pointed at the jug, which I assumed contained some sort of juice, and then took a berry from a pocket in her apron.
"Where did you get that?" I asked but then my brain decided to answer my question. "Wait, is that the one we got from that lady a couple of days ago?" I had almost forgotten.
She nodded and pointed at the jug again, the berry still in hand.
"Ohhh, I get it now. You made juice with the berries. Now that makes more sense. You're feeling creative today, aren't you?" I said, patting her head. I glanced at the berry in her hand. "But wait, don't tell me, the name of this berry was… Pinap, right?"
"Chansey chan," she replied with a shrug. Okay, well, I can't blame her for not knowing. I mess up most of the time as well.
I took the berry from her hand and examined it. The main reason I remembered the name was because it looked like a pineapple. I only had to put two and two together; there wasn't much thinking to be done there. However, I find it odd (and somewhat lazy) that many fruits from Earth are represented here as berries, most of which have a similar name, shape, and size. What makes it fun is that those fruits exist here as well— so you end up getting a fruit and its berry version. Who came up with that?
"Did you use all of them?" I asked as I lazily kept inspecting the berry.
"Chan," she shook her head, before taking a spoonful of the yogurt-like food.
"Makes sense. I remember we were given lots of them. It'll give me a chance to try preparing Pineapple Fried Rice, or is it Pinap Fried Rice? Well, potato, potahto—doubt it matters."
That aside, there was only one right course of action for now.
I grabbed the glass of juice, it was cold to the touch, with a couple of half-melted ice cubes on top, and took a long sip of it.
As I took the first sip, the pineapple taste flooded my senses. It was sweet, but not too sweet to be overwhelming, with a hint of tanginess that made it refreshing. Not to mention the coolness of the drink only made it better.
"Hey, this is pretty good. I didn't know you were a natural at this." I jokingly pointed out after my first taste, glass still in hand.
Chansey didn't say anything; she just gave me a bigger smile than usual. She seemed more focused on the bowl in front of her. One of her hands grabbed a nearby spoon while the other held the bowl of what I assumed was some sort of dessert. Then, without any finesse, she brought a spoonful to her mouth, barely chewed, and swallowed its contents.
I placed my drink aside and grabbed my portion. It had a faint sweet fragrance to it and presentation-wise it looked alright, neat but nothing too impressive.
After taking another look at Chansey, I could tell she was trying to pace herself with it, but she was almost done after 4 or 5 spoonfuls. I guess Pokemon anatomy helps her from getting indigestion.
I mimicked her, taking a spoonful myself. Just like the smell, the sweetness wasn't too strong, neither was the taste of the berry used on it and the tint of chocolate. Perhaps it was a bit too mild in flavor, but it made up for it with its texture—smooth, light, and creamy. It slid down my throat with ease, leaving a refreshing sensation behind.
"What the hell, this is amazing too. Maybe we should consider opening up a cafe instead," I joked, although Chansey didn't seem to get it at first, waving her arms from side to side.
After such a good treat, getting back to work felt like a pain, but lazing around didn't work for me either, I need some degree of discipline. Maybe we can find a middle ground.
I stared at the ceiling for a moment, Chansey had already picked up everything and made way to the kitchen, as diligent as ever.
'I suppose I need to do a few things in town, and we can do a little outing while we're at it. There are some places I want to check out. Plus, I can't be healthy to be stuck here all day.'
The work with the social media profile was mostly done, all the tiresome parts had already been completed, but there was still room to add pictures and other minor details, nothing too important that couldn't be done later.
Okay, let's see... Supplies for the bakery, a few shirts for myself, and maybe a quick stop at the furniture store. The walls of the bakery feel a little barren—some new decorations might help liven it up. Oh, and Chansey wanted a cookie mold. I'll have to check if the kitchenware store still has any of those.
There's also lunch, we might as well take advantage of the situation. That Paldean Café near the mall might be worth a try. It didn't look too expensive when I walked by last week. Maybe I'll even splurge on dessert if our expenses don't go overboard.
This should be easy enough. Just an afternoon of errands—nothing too exciting, nothing to worry about. Good enough for a day off, dare I say.
"Chansey! We're leaving in ten, there's a couple of things we've to take care of."
By now, I knew my way around town—or at least this part of it—fairly well. Even so, there were always nooks and crannies I didn't remember seeing the last time. I suppose that's only natural; I haven't been here for more than a couple of months, and most of my visits have been quick errands that didn't leave much time for exploring. Leisurely walks have been few and far between.
The city of Hulbury can be divided into two. The old town, which now composes less than a third of the city, and the modern district, which as far as I'm aware, had an explosive population growth in the last twenty or so years.
According to Monty, there were two main reasons for this growth.
First was the inclusion of the gym circuit. I didn't fully grasp the details, but from what I gathered, the circuit began gaining traction, and a nearby city to the west originally had the main stadium before it was moved here.
The second reason was a flood that occurred a couple of decades ago. The flood caused significant damage to the town, destroying its northern section. When the rebuilding began, the town expanded northward into areas that were easier to protect from natural disasters. By that point, the new buildings followed more modern architectural styles, creating a noticeable contrast with the older houses in the southern part of town.
However, the mayor back then, noticing the change, decided to have their first official stadium built in the middle of both, near the coast. To commemorate that no matter how much Hulbury changes in the future, they will not forget their past.
Or something like that.
Nice detail on his part. The stadium remains there, even after constant remodelings.
Sadly, we don't really get to see it much. While the bakery is located in the Old Town, we're not too close to the shore, and our walks to the commercial district take us north or west so we rarely get to see it.
"I believe it was this way Chansey," I indicated to Chansey as we crossed the street.
Honestly, I really prefer the Old Town's atmosphere. It's not just about the architecture or history; the connection between Pokémon and people feels livelier here than in any other part of Hulbury. If I had to put it into words, I'd say it feels cozier, in a way.
However, being fairly new here, my perspective may change over time.
"That's the one Chansey," I pointed toward a three-story building near the block's end. "That's the place we're looking for."
The place in question was a large store, with a big, hard-to-miss sign in front of it with two slightly cartoonish Pokemon on it. It read "Floette and Cleffa Grocery Shop" with each of the mentioned Pokemon on each side.
We received a delivery during our training stage and haven't needed resupplies until now. Monty is familiar with the owner, and that's enough reason for me to keep business with them.
Chansey went ahead, she seemed to remember the name of the place too, although I'm not sure why the excitement.
"Wait up, we need to go in together." My words fell on deaf ears. By the time I had reached the entrance, I already lost sight of Chansey. I'm just hoping she'll behave.
'How is she so fast?'
Given that it was a Sunday morning, the place had a fair amount of people. It wasn't packed though, at least not yet, maybe it was too early for it.
It was my first time going into the store, I'd seen it many times while walking by, and we ordered supplies from it before, but never had I actually gone in.
The interior felt surprisingly homely. While it was still a store—or perhaps a small mall—it had a familiar and comforting atmosphere. The wooden floors, white shelves, and teal-colored walls added to the warmth of the space. Soft instrumental music played in the background, an unrecognizable tune but soothing all the same. A few employees moved around in teal aprons, which suited them well—especially the Pokemon staff. Yeah, that raboot looked adorable.
Since Chansey was nowhere in sight, I decided to just go on with my business here, I'll meet her later. I just hope she doesn't get into any trouble.
I pulled out the list I'd written before coming here. Most of it consisted of supplies we were running low on, plus a few other things unrelated to the bakery that weren't as urgent, but if I could get it all today, then even better.
Right, so who do I need to talk to about this?
"Oh hey, it's the baker guy."
I turned around to spot a familiar face. "Ah, Kelly, hello there." Almost forgot her name there.
"Haven't seen you in a hot minute, how are you doing? I heard from Mom that the bakery opened last week, she also said it was packed. The bread was pretty good though." She seemed to be in a good mood like last time, her hair was a bit messy though.
"Not going to lie, things have been hectic. I'm glad to know she liked it— wait, she was at the bakery?!"
Apparently, my surprised expression amused her, judging by the grin on her face. "Oh yeah, on opening day. She wanted to get her hands on some Bliss bread, which she did. I assume those ran out pretty quickly, huh?"
"I hope she had a good impression of us." I cocked an eyebrow. "Wait, Bliss bread? I don't think we sell that kind of bread, is that like a regional name or something?"
She chuckled, "That's what they call the bread made from chansey or blissey eggs, I didn't know about it either till she mentioned it."
'How come I didn't know that!?'
"Huh, well, that's good to know. Anyway, I'm here for some supplies. I pulled the list out of my pocket, "Hopefully it's not much of a problem. I was thinking of a delivery; maybe tomorrow or Tuesday is possible."
Kelly took the list off my hand and sifted through it. It wasn't a big one, but half the page was full, with proper measurements and all that crap. I made sure not to overdo it, or the opposite.
"That should be enough for two weeks, I think."
"Not a problem, but we're already lined up with deliveries, best we can do for yours might be Wednesday at best. Should've told us sooner."
"I didn't think about it." I did, but didn't expect them to be that busy, because I did have their number. "I'll be sure to call in advance next time."
"A call is fine, but an email would be better, especially if it's a list." He dug his hand into her left pocket and pulled a business card out. "Here, use the email. I manage it for the most part. We're trying to move away from calls anyway."
I took the card from her, it was white with blue and orange fonts, a simple but good design. "Sure, I'll keep it in mind."
"By the way, is Chansey with you, or is she taking care of the bakery today?"
"No, we're not open on Sunday and Chansey is with me today, she just… I lost track of her when she ran into the store, she's probably getting herself a treat, would be the first time."
"A devious she is, huh? Fair enough, we got our fair bit of troublemakers on our side too. I totally get it." She chuckled, then her eyes quickly wandered to the side, where I spotted a machoke waving at her.
She clicked her tongue. "Looks like I'm needed elsewhere. It was nice catching, I'll be dropping by the store later next week, be seeing ya." She said before leaving in a hurry.
Well, at least that's been taken care of.
Although… working on a Sunday. Can't say I envy her, or maybe I'm in the wrong for taking a break? No, screw that. The bakery already demands that I wake way too early for my liking, I rightfully deserve a day off.
I felt a tug in my pants, only to encounter Chansey, carrying a bottle of moomoo milk and a bag of ursarine-shaped gummies.
I sighed. "Okay, fine. But you only get to pick one."
She made a small frown but was quick to raise the gummies in her hand.
"Okay, but don't forget to return the milk." She nodded and, with a quick step, disappeared exactly where she came from.
Where does she get all that energy?
Well, with the supplies taken care of, we can focus on the rest. None of it is urgent, but I'd rather get it done now than put it off for later. If it also serves as an excuse to explore the city on a day off, even better—there are plenty of places I wanted to visit but never had the time.
"So… what's next?" I pulled out my phone and checked the shopping list I'd made on the way here.
Something to decorate the bakery walls—mostly paintings or something similar. That might take a while, so I'll do it after lunch since we're close.
Next, a couple of work shirts. Just plain white ones should do.
Chansey's cookie mold. Definitely can't forget that. Not like she'd let me forget anyway.
Finally, a stop at the Poké Mart. I don't really need anything… I just like the place.
"It shouldn't take long. Hopefully, It'll leave us enough time to get home before sun sets."
As soon as Chansey returned, I paid for her treat and we were on our merry way. The gummies in her hands didn't last more than a minute, and here I was thinking about trying one.. Maybe another time.
The rest of the day went pretty much as planned.
With a few bumps along the way of course.
I managed to get the shirts at a nearby store, so that task was easily completed. Although we did see they also had a section for custom-made clothes, especially uniforms. That was something that had popped into my mind a couple of times for the bakery. It wouldn't be anything fancy—just an apron and maybe a hat. I still needed to think about it, but I took note of the place anyway.
A kitchenware store was not easy to find, we ended up walking for a while until we found one. The place seemed empty at first until a Leavanny and Maractus came to 'help' us out.
Chansey was able to get her cookie mold, but also a pair of mittens and a cookie cutter, which were obviously not planned. My conclusion? That Leavanny really knows how to upsell.
By that time, it was already past lunch time, so I looked up a not-so-expensive place nearby. I remember the Paldean restaurant I wrote down, but it wasn't too close, and we had already been walking for a while. In the end, I decided to go for pasta, can't go wrong with it.
The place was charming, although I wasn't expecting the ocean-theme decoration for a pasta restaurant, but whatever, the food was okay.
One thing I noticed was the sign at the entrance: "Pokémon Admittance Based on Size." I'd seen that in a couple of stores before, but the opposite was also true. Makes sense considering the size of some of them.
I liked the height chart by the door—it used different Pokémon to show the maximum height and width allowed for service.
The time spent at the restaurant was a bit longer than expected, though I didn't notice at the time. I guess a bit too entertained with the open kitchen and the grapploct cooking in it.
We left a little before four in the afternoon, there was still time to go check some paintings or furniture for the bakery, but the full stomach was telling no.
"Maybe we can just call it a day here. We already had our little outing."
"Chan," Chansey replied, pointing at something a few meters ahead before hurrying over with a short run.
"Oh, didn't know they had one of these."
Chansey was pointing at a bulletin board, I didn't know they had those around. It would've been good to know before the bakery opening.
The bulletin board was packed with neatly arranged flyers, each section dedicated to different topics. One side had job postings and tutoring ads, while another featured community events and local businesses. A missing meowth flyer had been carefully pinned near a bright orange notice about a Poké Mart sale from a week ago.
There were plenty of small and interesting details in it, like an announcement for a local battle tournament, a daycare advertisement, or a faded flyer for a Pokemon Contest barely hanging in the corner, etc.
"There's a lot more going on around here than I expected, huh?" I muttered, scanning the board. "Though some of these look a little outdated… guess it doesn't see much action."
Chansey didn't pay much attention to my words, and was looking at the flyers with mild interest.
When we first started working on the bakery, I assumed Chansey didn't know how to read, but she can recognize a good chunk of words easily, so her reading the flyers is not something to be surprised about.
"You know, maybe it's not too late to advertise the bakery here. Think we need to ask for per—"
I was interrupted by Chansey pulling me closer, making me stare at the poster right in front of her.
"What's this now?"
A vibrant poster in reds and golds announced Hatterene & Co.'s Traveling Show! Bold letters promised thrills, tricks, and dazzling performances! Illustrations of a Mr. Rime juggling, a Cinderace balancing on a barrel, and a Galarian Rapidash rearing up under the spotlight lined the edges. At the bottom, a note read: "Pokémon and Trainers welcome—come one, come all!"
"Some sort of circus?"
Chansey nodded furiously.
"God, I don't think I've been to one in forever." There was a reason for that—I just never cared for them much.
However, Chansey looked interested in it, and considering how hard she worked during the week, she deserves a little reward.
She turned to me, eyes expectant.
I sighed. "We can go, but we need to go check an interior shop and then return home before going."
The poster said it was open till 9 pm today, so we have time.
As it was expected, Chansey beamed at me.
"Before we go, let me take some pictures of these," I added, pulling out my phone. "Some of these flyers are really well-made. Might be good to get some ideas for one, just in case."
The location for the circus was in the outskirts of the city, so there was no way we were going to walk all the way there. We took a cab instead, and even there it took a solid twenty minutes due to traffic.
As soon as I got there, I let Chansey out of her poke ball. However, before departing, I gave her clear instructions to not run away anywhere without me, or for her to remain in my sight at all times. I don't enjoy treating her like a child, but this habit can't occur where the traffic of people has exponentially increased.
"We got a couple of hours. Remember we still need to do some dough prep, and then right away to bed. Gotta wake up early." I groaned after saying that. Still not a fan of early mornings.
Chansey gave me a salute, and didn't waste time checking nearby booths to see what was going on.
Now, the flyer said it was a circus, but it looked more like a festival of sorts. The circus tent I was expecting was present, but the shows for today were already fully booked, so we figured we could still hang out around the place and see what we could find.
The place looked pretty lively, in fact, there were plenty of 'game' stands and food ones too. There was also some sort of playground with huge inflatable games for kids to play, which was absolutely packed. Finally there was some sort of outdoor petting zoo, but mostly with eevee, I think, I don't know, there were a lot of people around it.
Personally, I wasn't too much into festival games or whatever those were, if anything I'd rather go get something to eat, just for the sake of trying something new or maybe… pet the eevee, they look fluffy.
"So, what do you want to do first?"
Chansey didn't reply, only pulled towards the first game booth she found appealing.
'Of course.'
The booth Chansey pulled me too didn't have many people on it luckily, so there was little waiting time. The stand was managed by a guy in his late thirties and his Flapple, which seemed to be asleep or too still. As for the game itself, it seemed to be a carbon copy of Whack-a-Mole but instead it was called Whack-a-Diglett. Clever, I'll give them that.
"Feeling like trying your luck sir?" He directed the question to me, "See how many digglet you can hit in less than sixty seconds!"
Ugh. Never have been one for this type of thing.
"Oh no, it's not for me, it's for her." I pointed towards Chansey who was basically glowing at this point.
"For your Pokemon fella? Got it, Let me calibrate it a little then."
He then disappeared under the booth for a couple of seconds. I suppose it makes sense to adjust it given how pokemon are naturally stronger than humans. At least that's my take.
Eventually the owner returned, coming from below. "There. Here you go miss, hit as many as you can." He handed Chansey a cartoonish plastic mallet. "Wait for the bell to ring and you can start."
Chansey nodded, not taking her eyes away from the game.
After a brief catchy tune, which sounded oddly familiar, the game started.
Chansey went into the offensive right away, not wasting a single second. The first diglett didn't stand a single chance and was bonked into non-existence, same for the second, the third and the fourth. However the pace started to add up, same for the music, and with it came the first 'miss'. She didn't mind and kept hitting the ones in reach. A combination of hits and misses followed.
I tried to follow as much as I could, trying to predict where the next diglett would show up, but it was near impossible for me. Although for a second I thought I saw a white one. Maybe it was my imagination.
I had never seen Chansey so focused before, not even at the bakery. Looks like we need to reexamine our priorities here.
Sweat dripped through her forehead, as she tried to keep the pace of the game. I don't blame her, I could barely do so myself, it looked unusually fast. I guess the owner also tweaked the speed for pokemon.
After 60 or so seconds, the catchy music ended abruptly and so did the game.
I could hear Chansey's somewhat agitated breathing, her facial expression being a combination of happiness, reluctance and satisfaction all bundled up. I guess she has a competitive side to her.
"Not bad, not bad!" The game owner declared. "We love to see that energy, makes the game fun for both players and audience," he let out a hearty laugh at the end.
Chansey seemed to take that as a compliment as she smiled back.
"Now, based on the score you got there you won…." There was a moment of silence until Fapple appeared, holding an object in its 'beak'.
Flapple flew towards Chansey and dropped the mystery object in her hands. It looked like…
"A commemorative keychain from the circus. Lucky you miss."
I was about to comment something, but in the end I decided not to. I shouldn't really expect much from this type of game. They're not made for people to easily win, let alone get big prizes from them. In fact I should be surprised we actually got something out of it.
Also, as cheesy as it might sound, we came here to have fun and relax, and Chansey seemed pretty happy with it anyway.
She held the keychain up high, it seemed to be a Hatterene wearing a magician hat. A couple of details seemed off, but it wasn't bad looking for a cheap keychain.
All things considered, I guess it wasn't bad.
I thanked the man and pokemon for the game, he didn't pay much attention to me as another pair of victims, I meant participants, just arrived at the booth. I gave Chansey a gentle pat on the back, and pointed her towards another booth.
The next hour or two continued in a similar pattern. We stopped at a game booth, Chansey gave it a try and in most cases she got the minimal reward or no reward at all.
Again, most of the games here weren't designed for customers to win, so if you managed to get a big prize, that's either because they were feeling nice, you got lucky, or the game didn't work as intended.
Or perhaps I'm overrating with pessimism. Hard to tell.
Rewards aside, most of the games were entertaining to say the least, and with minimal participation cost which was greatly appreciated.
There was plenty of variety, some games exactly what you'd expect at a festival, others with a more Pokémon-themed twist. A balloon-popping game had drifloon-shaped targets floating in place, a knock-down challenge featured stacked voltorbs daring players to send them rolling, and a fishing game swapped real rods for scooping up rubber arrokuda. The classic Poké Ball toss came with both grounded and airborne targets—probably to keep things interesting.
Chansey was the one truly invested in trying them out, hopping excitedly between booths. I mostly just stood back and watched, though some games didn't have a Pokémon-friendly version for her to try, which was understandable.
However, she did force me to play a few myself. Like the Test of Strength for example.
It was a funny thing really, even though my participation was rather poor to say the least, strength was never my forte, it was at least entertaining.
The Test of Strength machine consisted of a thin tower-like structure, with a bell at the top and a fake geodude behind it. The bright red and yellow colors of the machine contrasted heavily with the geodude. The geodude was actually more like part of the bell, depending on your performance, the geodude reaction could range from mocking to celebrating. At least that's what I managed to see.
Of course in my case it was mostly something like 'you'll do better next time kid.'
And apparently there's no price for my performance level.
"Chan!" Chansey handed me something, given to her by the lady in charge of the game.
Oh no wait, there is. Apparently I won… some gummies.
"You can have them."
She didn't need to be told twice.
Our last hour consisted of the same routine, with a small visit to a food stall where we got nachos and cheese, and a couple of drinks. Thank God these are a thing here, I've had the misfortune of some foods from Earth being MIA here.
We also paid a visit to the petting zoo, although that was mostly my request, I wanted to pet the eevee, they looked so fluffy. However, it wasn't mostly eevee as I thought, but many small pokemon like skittys, poochyena, shinx, litleo and even a fennekin.
It was nice.
I wonder if the Sylveon living behind the bakery would let me pet him. Probably not.
"Okay, I think I can die happy now." I said after exiting the petting zoo, after which Chansey stopped dead in her tracks. "It's a joke Chansey, please." I let out a chuckle.
This brought her back to life. How quick.
"I think we've seen it all now, ready to go home?"
It was almost nine and we had an early morning tomorrow, not to mention we still had to do some prep, God even thinking about it was a drag.
"Chan—Chansey!" She pointed at something on the opposite side of the petting zoo, it seemed to be another game booth, one we had yet to visit, but it had no people on it. It was getting late after all.
I let out a sigh. "Okay, we can try one more but then it's time to go, remember what I said earlier."
Chansey gave me a nod, before running to it, with me in tow.
"Step right up, folks! Test your luck at the finest ring toss in town! We got rare prizes for all sizes!" A man no older, but much livelier, than Monty announced to the nearby bystanders.
He had an aipom with him, bouncing forward, twirling a ring in its nimble hands while letting out a cheerful, high-pitched chatter. "Aipom, aipom!"
"That's right—my trusty Aipom here knows a champion when he sees one! Who's brave enough to try their aim today?" He continued, still no one was approaching. That's until he saw us.
Ah, we made eye contact. Well screw it, we were on our way anyway.
A smile grew wide in the man's face. "Aha, a challenger! Come on, don't be shy! Give it a toss and see if fortune smiles on you. Win big, and you might just walk away with a prize that'll make all your friends green with envy!"
The aipom nodded vigorously and mimicked tossing a ring, as if to say, 'I dare you!'
I had to give to the man and pokemon, despite being this late into a Sunday night, they were still brimming with energy. I doubt I could ever.
The game setup was fairly simple, or at least it looked that way. Plenty of bottles packed together tightly, and you needed to land rings on top to win stuff. I'm assuming the color of the bottles also signifies the type of points you get. Seems simple enough.
I've heard about this type of game being rigged. The ring being too small for example.
Whatever, we'll try it out anyway.
"Give me one try," I said.
"Right on sir!"
The man happily handed me a small bucket of red rings, between ten to fifteen if I had to guess. I grabbed one and carefully explained it, at glance it seemed to be big enough to fit in a bottle. The material was light, so that might be a problem when throwing them.
'Of course they won't make it easy.'
"Here you go Chansey, give it your best shot." I handed the small bucket to Chansey, who eagerly took them with her.
My eyes landed again on the setup of the game, the many bottles were as close to each other as they could physically be. The colors were, from most to least common; red, blue, purple and a single white one in the middle.
Without a single warning, Chansey threw the entire bucket worth of rings into the bottles, not passing the small barrier separating us from the game.
The small plastic rings crashed against the bottles, creating a cascade of 'ting' sounds from almost every possible angle.
However, after the sounds were no more, you could see that not a single ring had landed.
"Ah shame, it seems you were unlucky today!" The booth owner gave us a slimy smile. "That's okay, there's always next time."
"Ai—Ai!" the aipom echoed.
I don't know why, but the way he said it, plus his face… that triggered within me.
'You bet.'
"Give me another one."
The smile on his face grew even further, from ear to ear. Probably thinking he caught a prey.
"But of course!" He handed Chansey another small bucket of red rings.
Chansey took it from his hands, this time less eager than before, still a little disappointed from the first try I assume.
I kneeled next to her. "Chansey, this time don't throw them all at once, try one by one." She nodded, with a serious face, kind of unexpected. "Imagining you're throwing a frisbee, use that kind of motion." However, I'm sure she never threw a frisbee in her life.
With my recommendations in mind, Chansey went for it one more time.
And she failed every single time.
I could hear a sigh coming from her after the last ring fail to land on any bottle.
"Ohhh, I could almost feel that last one, you almost had it," the man at the booth pointed out.
I see what he's doing, trying to rile up customers is his strategy. Smart, because I can feel it working very fucking well.
"Another one." I almost ordered.
He let out a somewhat girly giggle, which was disturbing to hear. "They said the third try is a charm, right?"
He handed the ring bucket to Chansey again, except this time it wouldn't go that way.
"Let me try Chansey."
For some reason she shot at a smile.
"Get ready Ai, they're bringing up the big guns." The long tail pokemon responded with what seemed like a mocking laugh.
Normally in this scenario I would try not to let their actions get to me, but it was already too late for that. I was annoyed, I was tired and the little relaxation I had obtained from petting a shinx might as well be twenty meters underground so I was going to go all out.
But I failed.
Failed massively, if that's even possible, some of the rings didn't even hit the bottles.
But no, the only thing I needed was a single look from the booth owner's face to get all the motivation I needed. I'll erase that smile off his face even if it takes all the money I have.
By the time I reached the seventeenth try, we had accumulated quite the crowd. I'm not sure exactly what brought them in, because aside from me tryharding this game, there was nothing going on.
The booth owner stopped with these snarky remarks some time ago, but the smile didn't fade.
Chansey seemed okay at first but now looked worried. Which is understandable, I don't believe I ever showed her a competitive side.
'If only she knew.'
A new bucket of rings landed in my hands.
Okay, strategy time. Throwing it straight to the bottle doesn't work for obvious reasons, so I need to keep the higharc technique I started the last four tries, I get the feeling I was pretty close last time. A soft, controlled toss reduces the chance of the ring bouncing off after all.
But what else? Is there anything else I can try?
I know I said I was willing to tryhard but doing the same thing over and over again expecting it to work is insane.
I considered targeting the bottles at the edge, but no, I wanted to land it in the middle, it has to be one of those, I don't even care for the color. I'm sending a message here.
"Okay, here we go."
The man gave me a thumbs up. Clearly mocking me because the Aipom did the same thing.
First eleven rings failed, pretty much like the rest. I even tried switching hands and positions and it didn't matter, the outcome was the same.
"Try adding a spin to it." I could hear a voice in the back suggest, probably someone from the small crowd.
Adding a spin to the ring? Haven't tried that one before, but I don't see it being too effective.
I tried to figure out how to do it. I assume it's a finger position where you make it spin an prior to throwing it, but that didn't work and the ring bounced.
Okay, then you make it spin after throwing it, kind of like a… frisbee.
Another failed, too fast. Two left.
I tried it with less force the next time, and it looked like it was almost going to land, only to bounce again.
Great, I let the guy have his fun and my money, just great.
With only one ring left, and a lot of pent up frustration from the last ten minutes, I used every ounce of force in my arm and threw it as hard as I could muster. The ring hit the nearest bottle with a strong 'clank' sound, bounced in the tent's fabric canopy and then smoothly landed in a purple bottle.
"Huh?"
I was tackled to the ground by a pink object the nanosecond after I had processed what had happened.
Between that and the crowd behind us going wild from an unexpected ending from a ring toss game, I found it hard to calm myself down. The emotion was contagious, and rightfully so, I did it, and right in his face!
"Chansey! Chansey!" She was sure to let me know I had landed that one ring, even if it was only by pure luck fueled by my competitive vitriol.
"Okay Chansey, I got it, I got it, you can put me down now." Another reminder of how strong she is.
As soon as I set foot on the ground, I wasted no time flashing the smuggest look I had in my repertoire at the man who started it all. Yet… he was smiling too?
"Well, would you look at that? Seems perseverance does pay off," he said, turning to his aipom, who clapped in celebration. "Maybe I could've had a shot as a trainer, huh?" He chuckled at his own joke.
"Anyway, a win is a win. And I'll tell you what, son—I don't see people get fired up over this game too often, so thanks for that. Now, for the prize…"
Oh, right. There was a prize.
"Tell you what, since I'm feeling nice, I'll let you pick between two." The man pulled a box from somewhere behind the booth. "You can take one of these plushies," he gestured to the many Pokémon plushies behind him, "maybe give it to your girlfriend if you're not into that sort of thing. Or… you can have this box right here."
Another trick? Even at the prize stage? So not only did I not get the satisfaction of wiping that grin off his face, but now I also had a chance to walk away with a crappy reward?
Just great.
"Chansey, what do you think?"
She gave me what I could only interpret as a shrug.
Alright, let's be objective. I don't want a plushie, and unless this box contains a literal sack of poop, it can't be that bad. Hell, I'd even take a keychain.
"Give me the box."
"You sure?"
You're not pulling that trick on me. "Yes."
He handed it over quickly. It wasn't too heavy, given its size.
I set it down on the ground and carefully opened it. Foam peanuts spilled out, making it impossible to see inside at first. I stuck both hands in deep, sifting through them until I felt something—somewhat oval.
I pulled it from the box.
"An egg?" I turned it over in my hands. Wait a moment. Smooth shell, warm to the touch…Was this a Pokémon Egg?
This took longer than expected and I apologize for that. Truth is, I was a little bit lost as to where to take the story after the bakery opened, I thought I did but not quite. Anyway that problem is solved so we can keep moving on.
Btw, that pokemon egg is not from Aipom.