Luvia kept the egg in her wardrobe, safely tucked in a nest of clothes she hadn’t used in ages. The list of secrets was steadily growing, first about Glacia, then the Gyarados, now an egg she had poached from the wild… What, you really think she even mentioned the Zangoose either? Only reason to would be if she was in the mood for another lecture, another cautionary tale, another bundle of doubts she’d have to fend off when she should be focused on way more pressing issues.

  Like Mida learning Bubble.

  It was 10pm and both of them were in the bathroom, Luvia sitting on a chair, Mida standing in the barely filled bathtub. They had been in there for the last two hours. In the first hour alone, Mida’s failed attempts had filled the bathtub almost halfway. Alright, some of it was from the tap – Mida liked standing under it and letting it gurgle and overflow from her mouth, but most of it had been Mida’s.

  The water produced by a pokémon move was a tiny bit different from regular water. It wasn’t actually stored inside the pokémon – that would be impossible, given the volume and size – it was channeled in and through the ways only a pokémon could. And more, it was considered even cleaner than rainwater because it skipped the whole process of falling through the sky and picking up the tiny particles and microbes floating around in the air. There were some pokémon that did process the water internally before releasing the move, but that was normally for an added effect.

  Wooper, for example, strengthened their Mud-Shot attacks by rolling their heads on the ground like rolling pins to gather ground-type essence, mixing it all up in their mouths, then spitting out a yucky glob of mud.

  But if you looked closely, you’d see that almost none of the earth it rolled its head on actually entered its mouth – hence why people called it ‘essence.’

  Pokémon Types didn’t gain their status just because some old man said so. At least not only because an old man said so. Every Type was rooted in a particular element already found in nature. The most basic ones like Fire, Water, Ground, and Flying (which Luvia always thought should have been called Wind) were the most obvious case-and-point examples.

  Then there were the more head-scratching sorts such as Poison, Dragon, Fighting, and the super rare Fairy types, all of which, according to Andrea’s notes, were thought of as amalgamations. Sort of like mixing different soda pop flavors and coming up with some new, weird thing.

  The further away a move was from a particular pokémon in the type chart, the harder it became for that pokémon to pick up the move. It ranged from ‘simple’ all the way to ‘impossible.’

  Unless you were a ditto, that is.

  “One more time, Mida, look…” Luvia held the bubble stick to her lips and blew through the gap gently, trying her best to make the biggest bubble for Mida to see.

  It wobbled as it grew, and when it got to around the size of a pokéball, Luvia flicked her hand away and let the bubble float down into the bathtub.

  “Buh-bol, Mida… Buh-bol…”

  Mida’s tail splashed the puddle of water in the bathtub as she angled her head for another attempt.

  *g-hhhh…* The little one was doing her best to blow air. She couldn’t pucker her lips the way a human could – maw was too wide. The air she blew came from the back of her throat, not the edge of her pencil-thin lips.

  Luvia covered her mouth to trap the sudden urge to laugh. She couldn’t. “Hahahaha! Mida!”

  *hhhhhh… hhhhhh*

  Luvia couldn’t. She doubled over in her chair and slapped her thigh repeatedly. At least Mida was trying something new! “Hahahahaha! Stop, Mida!

  “Sto-!”

  *G-hhfloip!*

  A small blob of water jumped out of Mida’s mouth, only this time, it had a pocket of air inside it. It didn’t float, but Luvia saw the way it wobbled and gave the tiniest *pop* when it struck the edge of the bathtub.

  “…”

  Mida vibrated her tail fin, still looking at the other end of the bathtub, and angled her head again. She hawked once more.

  *g-hhhhhh…*

  This time, Luvia kept her mouth shut.

  *hhhhh… hhhhhh… hhh-fluip!*

  Another air-filled blob hopped out of Mida’s mouth and hit the slanting tub surface with another, near-inaudible *pop*.

  Luvia started from her chair and gripped the edge of the bathtub, heart throbbing in her chest. “Yes!” she squealed. “Yes, Mida! Bubble!”

  Half a day? That’s all it took? They had been at it every moment they could spare since yesterday, but she didn’t actually believe they’d see progress this fast. She half-thought Glacia had set them an impossible task just to spur her on. Aim for the stars, reach the moon sort of thing.

  Bubble wand stick – the best ?25 she had ever spent! Glacia would have to teach Mida Aurora Beam!

  There was a brief knock on the door before it swung open. “Luvy, you’re still in here?”

  The girl rushed to her mother. “Mom, she’s learning Bubble!”

  Pulling back from Luvia suddenly being in her face, Mrs. Juneworth looked past the girl at little Mida shaking her fin in the bathtub.

  “That’s good, sweetie, but it’s time for bed, you’re going to wake your grandmother with all the noise. You know how she gets when she wakes up in the night.”

  Luvia rammed a finger to her lips and nodded repeatedly. “Mom, like, this is very important!” she whispered. “I’ll go to bed later.” She was already clutching the door and closing it on her mother.

  “No no no no…” Mom pushed back. “Not later Luvy – come on, you even had your dinner in the toilet. It’s mad.”

  “Mom!” the girl whispered more forcefully. “It’s only for one night. She needs to learn the move for tomorrow!”

  Her mother huffed and pursed her lips. “What for?”

  “I already said; it’s for the job – they’ll give me more money if she can show the move before they leave! That’s tomorrow!”

  Another huff and a shake of the head. “These people are so strange, Luvy. Why would they give you more money for such a silly thing?”

  But Luvia saw that she had won the battle. Her mother let go of the door.

  Luvia began closing it carefully, sticking her mouth out through the shrinking gap. “You’re the ones who told me to do something. Goodnight, Mom!”

  The door clicked shut.

  “No more noise, Luvy.”

  …

  Hey, if they weren’t ready for her to actually take them up on their advice, they shouldn’t have said it so carelessly. Though to be fair, if Neela had been here, she would have not stopped bugging them until Mida could blow a damn near perfect bubble.

  The next day…

  There was a bittersweet feeling on the final day of the survey operation. More bitter than sweet, if Luvia was being entirely honest.

  She’d gotten used to the banter. Used to Nolan saying something dumb every ten minutes or so. Used to Glacia’s coolheaded presence, and the rock steady sense of safety from having a looming Dormund watch over her.

  She would have never imagined she’d feel this bad about saying bye to these people. Even the other members of the team, whom she didn’t speak with all that much – even them she’d miss. They’d been in her ear for three days, all doing this thing together, and now it was coming to an end.

  The wild pokémon decided to behave themselves for the most part. Only one of the girls had to battle during scanning – a nuzleaf and its seedot little brother insisted (quite forcefully) that she should take her gadget elsewhere, but too bad for them, the girl was the one with an Altaria, and doubly too bad, Altaria was a flying-type. Peck, peck.

  As Robert called for everyone to commence the trek back to town, those with flying-types took to the sky one last time for a thorough arial scan of the section, as they had been doing at the end of every day. They were the last to arrive in town, though not by too wide a margin.

  “Thank you for all your work, everyone,” Robert said as he and the other supervisors, save Glacia, handed out envelopes to the team.

  Like she thought – bittersweet.

  The sweet,

  Luvia felt the thick wad of cash in there, and she felt her sister’s ghost groaning in pleasure over her shoulder. She was filthy rich now, and she had earned it, but why did it feel like she was robbing a bank?

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  + ?5000!

  The key to her future… right between her sweaty, noodle fingers.

  The bitter,

  She glanced at Glacia, cinched up in her hoodie, sat casually on one of the hotel lounge’s plastic chairs, leg over her knee and eyes closed meditatively…

  She was going to miss her. The woman was the reason this happened at all. The whole thing – thanks to Glacia.

  Surfing on Dormund, seeing a wild gyarados stopped in its tracks, battling against a feral Zangoose… Saving an egg...

  Had it all really happened in the space of three days?

  It was just like that trip to Slateport two months ago – time had dilated. So much experience in so little time made the whole thing feel way longer.

  One by one, the trainers broke off after shaking hands with one another.

  Then there was Nolan. An admittedly great flyer on the back of his Pelipper, and competent enough to have helped with a gyarados attack. A badge holder too. Two of them. One from Lavaridge, the other from Mauville.

  But definitely a dork. He fanboyed too much, and his jokes weren’t even funny. Luvia liked him best when he was quiet.

  When they shook hands for a goodbye, the little hint of his smile made Luvia break into a smile of her own. It seemed that neither of them could take the other seriously. He likely thought of her as a clueless island hillbilly, but weirdly enough, the idea didn’t offend her in the least. There wasn’t any malice in him.

  “Why are you smiling like that?” Luvia said, grinning.

  “Because you’re smiling,” he replied. “It was a fun job, huh? We got to hang out with an Elite Four.”

  Luvia huffed and rolled her eyes. “How many times are you going to keep saying that?”

  He looked surprised. “What? – I’ve only said it like twice.”

  She leaned in for a light hug. “You’ve said it every day, like five times.”

  “Nah, you’re exaggerating,” he said with full certainty, returning the hug.

  A tiny awkward lull came between them as they pulled back from each other, then Nolan tipped his chin at her.

  “So I guess you’ll be taking the exam soon then?”

  “December.”

  “December? Why not next month?”

  She squinted at him. “Because I need to study first? I’ve never taken it before.”

  Nolan gawped. “Wait – ever?”

  “Never.”

  “I thought you were just going for a retake… Damn you’re weird.”

  She shrugged. “At least I’m not dumb.”

  When everyone had dispersed and the other supervisors were retreating to their lodge, Luvia followed Glacia to her bungalow, where the woman immediately took off her boots and wormed her feet into her pink, fluffy flip flops. She let her hair down, rubbed her scalp with the tips of her fingers, and sighed.

  “So, Luvia…” She said her name like she was saying it for the first time. “You really got a bubble out of Mudkip?”

  “Almost! It’s not like Water Gun, but it isn’t really a Bubble yet either…”

  The Elite 4 woman took off her rain jacket and threw it on a chair as they crossed the dining. “Show me.”

  Luvia continued on to the picket-fenced backyard and released Mida from her ball. Glacia dropped some ice cubes from the fridge into two glasses and poured them some crispy clear apple juice.

  Alright, Mida …

  She knelt by the little one’s side and spoke in a low whisper. “Just like we did this morning, ok?”

  Glacia joined them outside, already sipping on her glass, and holding the other as she gazed down at Mida with all the calmness of a mountain peak.

  Luvia gestured wide, toward the other end of the small backyard. “Bubble, Mida.” She said it firmly and as devoid of emotion as possible – just the way Glacia did with Spheal.

  *hhhhhhh – hhhh-fluip!*

  It was a bubble that came out. For the most part. It was bottom-heavy with a jiggling mass of water clinging to its underside as it travelled in a quick, graceless arc and landed near the picket fence.

  Glacia almost spat the little juice she had in her mouth back into her glass. Her eyebrows rose one moment, and frowned the next. She levied a baffling look at Luvia, who immediately cocked her head at the woman with her own frown to match.

  The heat of embarrassment was already crawling up to her face. “Yeah… It’s not a bubble yet.”

  “Ohohoho…” The woman was either very impressed or had found the attempt ridiculous. “My dear, that isn’t a bubble at all.”

  “…” The latter then.

  Tamato red was flooding to Luvia’s cheeks. “Yeah…”

  “Meehd?” Mida looked up at Luvia, then at Glacia.

  She hawked up some air and spat out another airy blob by their feet. This time, it had a little pop.

  Glacia found it amusing. She passed Luvia the other juice glass and frowned down at Mida. “Eager little Mudkip – that’s a blessing in and of itself…

  “But you’re correct, that isn’t yet a Bubble.”

  “Aww…” I guess no Aurora Beam?

  “Any other moves she knows besides the ones I’ve seen?” asked Glacia.

  Luvia shook her head with a slight pout on her face. Glacia nodded musingly.

  “In that case, I know what I’ll teach her…”

  Luvia smiled inwardly. Yay!

  “But it won’t be Aurora Beam.”

  … Yay? She nodded anyway. “Anything is fine!”

  Anything was fine, actually. Like Glacia had said herself, you could never have too many moves. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

  “Come with me, you cute little thing,” Glacia said, taking a sip of her juice and setting it down on the floor with a glassy *clack*. She picked Mida up from under the armpits and looked into her eyes for a moment.

  Luvia’s eyebrows drew in surprise. Mida would thrash free any second now.

  …

  …

  Mida shook her tail fin rapidly a couple of times, but no thrashing ensued.

  Glacia then hoisted her under one arm and took the little one back inside. “Wait here.”

  Luvia stuttered mid-step behind them. “Okay.”

  What is she going to do with her? … Is she going to use one of those TM thingies?

  Didn’t those need that weird computer, porygo-thingy pokémon to work?

  She’d seen it in the TV ads; “Teach your ‘mon any move! Easy use! Put your wonderful ‘mon in their pokéball, place the ball in the Porygo-rig, and insert the Technical Machine in the TM slot! Let the Porygon work its magic, and it’s done! Your precious ‘mon’s arsenal just got better!”

  She’d also heard of a bunch of people complaining about being ripped off, and that the things didn’t work as advertised…

  “I paid ?15,000 for Flamethrower – I got a glorified Ember! My pokémon already knew Ember. This is daylight robbery!”

  Luvia drank her chilled apple juice as she waited. Minutes after they had left her there, she heard Spheal’s “Sweeeel!” from within and wondered if maybe Glacia was using her pokémon to teach Mida the ice-type move.

  That made a lot more sense!

  So, she said no Aurora Beam – then what could it be? … She frowned. It wouldn’t be Ice Beam, would it? … Maybe that ice ball thing Dormund used against that zangoose? … Hmmm, could be!

  The ice ball attack looked basic enough. It was just a frozen water gun blob. What stumped Luvia most though was the type difference. Mida was a pure water-type, and her evolutions, Marshtomp and Swampert gained ground-type.

  Ice just didn’t seem like something a mudkip would naturally learn.

  Not long after, Glacia returned with Mida trotting behind her.

  Luvia stood from her chair, heart thumping with excitement. “Is it done?”

  “It is, my dear.”

  Yes! Oh my god, yes!

  “What move is it?” the words rushed out of her.

  Glacia took her spot beside her and gestured Mida with a hand. “Time to show her.” Then she looked at Luvia with a faint smile.

  “The move is called Aurora Veil – I simply call it Veil.”

  Luvia was already looking down at Mida, who had taken a strangely rigid stance on the ground beside them. Her shorter head fin was twitching, and her beady eyes were in a small, concentrated frown.

  “You have to keep in mind that this move works best in frigid, icy conditions,” Glacia explained. “Out in here in this languid climate, the move won’t be as efficient to use, but if you use it right – if you time it well… it can be a great boon to you.”

  Luvia was listening intently. Aurora Veil… “What does it do?”

  As they spoke, the girl suddenly noticed that a flicker of a light was shining around Mida. It was a weak, fluorescent, violet and green halo. It was so weak that the light kept fading and regenerating like a ghostly smoke. She gasped. She smiled.

  “The reason I chose this move is because she has all bite and no shield. That’s what you should think of whenever you see this light – a shield.

  “You’ll have her practice the move daily and she’ll get the hang of it in two weeks or so.”

  Luvia was mesmerized by the ebbing and shimmering halo around her Mida. She was falling in love with the little one all over again.

  “Aurora Veil…?”

  “Yes, my dear. Call it what you like though.”

  “…”

  Glacia glanced sideways at her, perking one eyebrow. “What, not impressed?”

  “How did you teach it to her so fast? How?”

  The woman smiled, then tapped the side of her nose.

  A secret.

  “You won’t tell me?”

  Glacia scoffed and looked away. “Of course not. There’d be no point if I did anyway.”

  The way she said that, Luvia let it go.

  “Thanks so much, we’ll practice it every day!”

  “Splendid.”

  Glacia poured them more apple juice which they drank in silence.

  It was time to say goodbye.

  “Is there a particular reason you want to get your license?” asked Glacia as they set their glasses down.

  “Hmm…” Luvia pondered it. Where had this urge to become a trainer come from, again? When had it started? Why?

  She decided to tell her the unfiltered truth. “I felt so alone when my Zigzagoon started ignoring me. My friends were busy, my sister was leaving… There was nothing. My Mom and Nana are great, but… you know…”

  Glacia only gazed serenely and nodded slowly.

  “I just felt like I needed to get out. Then I got Mida… and everything just lined up. I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do.”

  …

  “I see,” said Glacia. “A very pure reason – adventure.” A small shadow came over her eyes as she turned her face at Luvia.

  “But do you have a goal?”

  …

  “A goal?”

  “A goal – like crossing through Victory Road, challenging Steven, becoming renown. The ‘dream of the droves’ of all young trainers. Do you have something like that?”

  Luvia balked. “Uhm…” She didn’t want to say something lame and disappointing.

  “I like contests and showcases. I might try something like that.”

  “Ohohoho!” Glacia laughed. “How uncanny!”

  Huh? Luvia cocked her head as Glacia rested those serene pale eyes on her.

  “How uncanny,” she repeated. “Do you remember what I told you yesterday? About the woman, the fortune teller, Zamal of Sootopolis?”

  “Mhm!” Luvia quickly nodded.

  “Well, in the same Sootopolis, there is a Gym led by a ponce called Wallace.”

  “… A ponce?” Luvia frowned.

  “A flashy and insufferable joker,” Glacia quickly explained. “If you ever do see him in public, just remember, it’s all a mask. Real diva, that one. Can’t resist poking fun at everything.”

  …

  “Uhm…”

  “Yes, my dear, as I was saying… Wallace is the Gym leader of Sootopolis, and not only is he a water-type expert, he just so happens to be a contest aficionado as well…”

  She gazed at Luvia with raised and expectant eyebrows.

  “Oh!” Luvia understood what she was getting at.

  “It appears Sootopolis holds more than one point of interest for you. Now, I would recommend anyone to meet with Wallace’s mentor instead, a man by the name of Juan – also a water-type master. He is relatively normal, and a much more productive chat than Wallace could hope to be.”

  …

  Wow, that was a lot to take in. Luvia wasn’t sure what to say.

  “Can anyone just speak to them? Aren’t they super busy like you?”

  “You can always fast-track yourself for a chat by taking on the Gym. If you do well, you’ll have their attention in no time. You might learn a lot about water-types from them. From Juan mostly.”

  Oh, jeez… The prospect of taking on any Gym was still incredibly daunting. Not that a member of the Elite 4 could ever relate. This woman probably saw Gyms like little amusement parks.

  “Okay!” the girl said, shaking her head clear of worries. “I’ll remember.”

  …

  Glacia offered her the clearest smile and opened her arms. “Luvia, it was nice to meet you. Take care of little Mudkip.”

  Luvia hugged the woman and thanked her profusely. “…And say bye to Dormund for me!” She waved from outside the picket fence.

  ***

  After a much-needed cold shower, Glacia joined her colleagues in the common room lodge, wearing a different hoodie, still cinched up.

  “There she is,” drawled Mark. “Let’s have a drink, Ice Queen.”

  Glacia scoffed. “Doesn’t look like you need another.”

  The guys snickered and made room for her at the small lounge table.

  All three of them, Robert, Mark, and Osley had a red tint to their cheeks, flushed in celebration of a job well done.

  “So, did you finalize the paperwork?” asked Osley, sharing a cheeky look with the other two.

  Glacia picked up a bottle of the wine they were drinking and read through the label. “What paperwork?”

  …

  “Aren’t you adopting the girl?”

  Laughter.

  Glacia smiled. “You know, actually, I have a feeling that girl is going to become something.”

  Tipsy and merry with wine, the guys jeered at her.

  “What tells?” asked Robert.

  …

  Glacia poured herself a tiny glass as she spoke.

  “In the four days they’ve been with us, she’s the only one who hasn’t asked me for an autograph.”

  ***

  A.N:

  very vivid image of Wallace in my mind. I hope you guys can forgive my interpretation of the character.

  Thanks for reading, and btw, YVO's rising star run is coming to an end! We peaked at #9! Just awesome.

  Much luv guys!