After Lain successfully produced top-grade incense, Yuga didn't rush to put it on the shelves. Instead, he first had Lain stabilize her technique and stockpile some inventory for a while before finally putting the top-quality incense up for sale.
Incense was already a luxurious and expensive product to begin with, and top-grade incense even more so. Trainers with average means simply couldn't afford to use it. Moreover, with such limited supply from YoYo Day Care, Yuga barely advertised it, and that bit of stock was quickly reserved by members such as Robert, Steven, Cynthia, and Wallace.
Top-grade incense masters were even rarer than top-grade Pokeblock makers. So even top-tier trainers like Steven and Cynthia found it difficult to get their hands on top-grade incense.
Later, Yuga thought, since the output of top-grade incense wouldn't increase in the short term, it would be better not to sell it publicly but keep it for internal use only.
So he had Windy set up a special channel on the official website of YoYo Day Care, accessible only through a special member account. Top-grade incense and some top-grade Pokeblock could only be reserved through this channel.
Yuga's decision received unanimous support from Robert and the others, as it meant there would be fewer people competing with them.
After Lain became a top-grade incense master, Yuga also put more effort into his own incense-making practice. Every day he would carefully study the instructional videos rewarded by the system and then discuss them with Lain.
Although Lain had already become a top-grade incense master, the system's instructional videos continued to give her great inspiration. She was very curious about which master was guiding Yuga and really wanted to meet and communicate with this master face to face, but Yuga refused to tell her the identity or contact information of the master no matter what.
Thanks to Yuga's efforts, his incense-making skills were indeed steadily improving. However, since his techniques were far behind Lain's to begin with, it would be difficult for him to become a top-grade incense master in a short time.
That day, since she had nothing to do, Lopunny went out of the Ecopark to help Doudou and Gothitelle with cleaning the shop. Seeing this, Flabébé came over to help too.
"Gothita~ Gothita~"
After a while, the three Pokémon suddenly heard a cheerful singing voice, and then Gothita happily came running out while riding on a Cubchoo.
"Gothita~"
Flabébé, let's go play outside!
From far away, Gothita shouted loudly to Flabébé.
Flabébé didn't really want to go out, so she didn't respond.
At that moment, Gothita had already run up to Flabébé, urgently urging her to go out together.
Because of the incident with Chikai, Flabébé had not yet emerged from the shadow of that event and was often in low spirits. That's why Yuga had asked the lively and energetic Gothita to bring Flabébé out to play more often, hoping that it would help cheer her up.
However, Flabébé's personality was completely different from Gothita's, so out of ten invitations, Flabébé would refuse nine.
Fortunately, Gothita, despite being mischievous, was very obedient to Yuga. Otherwise, after being rejected by Flabébé so many times, it would've given up long ago.
Lopunny thought it really wasn't a good idea for Flabébé to stay gloomy like this, so she nudged her and said, "Go on. You stay cooped up at home all day. It's good to get some fresh air."
Gothitelle and Doudou also tried to persuade Flabébé, and she reluctantly agreed in the end.
"Gothita~"
Let's go!
Gothita cheered, waved its little hand, and urged Cubchoo to dash forward. Flabébé had no choice but to follow helplessly.
At that moment, although it was already late autumn in Hoenn, the temperature hadn't dropped much. So as soon as they ran out the gate, Gothita gasped from the heat and quickly patted Cubchoo's back, signaling it to retreat under the corridor's shade.
It's a bit hot…
Cubchoo itself wasn't bothered by the heat because it was wearing a Never-Melt Ice. It thought for a moment, puffed up its cheeks, and gently blew, producing a smooth, round chunk of ice.
"For you!"
Cubchoo pointed to the ice block on the ground and said to Gothita.
"Wow, Cubchoo, you're so smart!"
Gothita used its psychic powers to levitate the ice block in front of itself, held the ice block and pressed it against its face. The chill instantly dispelled the heat.
(*≧▽≦) So refreshing!
Suddenly, a clever idea popped into Gothita's mind: "Can you make an umbrella out of ice?"
Cubchoo hesitated for a moment. "I'll give it a try!"
Then it took a deep breath and blew again. Before long, a shiny ice umbrella appeared. The design was exquisite—aside from not being collapsible, it was nearly identical to a real umbrella.
"Cubchoo, you're amazing!" Gothita picked up the ice umbrella and happily praised its little partner. "If you join a Pokemon Contest, you're sure to win a prize!"
Gothita had never participated in a Pokemon Contest before, nor had it seen one, but it had heard other Pokémon in the Ecopark chatting about it.
Cubchoo shook its head—it had no interest in the Pokemon Contests.
Gothita was short, so the ice umbrella didn't need to be too big. Holding the umbrella and feeling the chill in the air, it was utterly content and delighted.
At that moment, it looked over at Flabébé. Originally, it wanted Cubchoo to make one for Flabébé too, but Flabébé was already holding a fairy flower that worked just like an umbrella. There was no way she could hold a second umbrella!
In the end, Gothita thought of asking Cubchoo to make an ice fan for Flabébé, but Flabébé declined. She wasn't particularly afraid of heat; she just didn't want her flower to dry out in the sun. So she simply asked Gothita to give her the ice block Cubchoo had made earlier, so the fairy flower could replenish some moisture.
"Let's go!"
Gothita proudly held up its little umbrella and headed out to browse the streets with Flabébé and Cubchoo. The shiny little umbrella sparkled under the sunlight, casting a beautiful shimmer, and it attracted a 100% head-turn rate on the street.
Gothita was already well-acquainted with the local townsfolk, so when people saw it, they cheerfully praised its beautiful little umbrella, which made it feel fabulous.
Gothita's proud and excited demeanor was quite adorable, so everyone loved to tease it.
Unknowingly, the three Pokémon wandered beyond the range of the YoYo Day Care.
Just then, Gothita suddenly noticed a lot of people lining up ahead and quickly called Flabébé over to run there together.
As people waited in line, they chatted with each other, and soon Gothita learned from their conversations that they had wandered to the area near Verdanturf City Battle Arena (the former Verdanturf Town Pokemon Contest Hall). Today was the day of the Pokemon Contest being held in Verdanturf City, and those people were audience members waiting in line to enter.
A Pokemon Contest?
Gothita was instantly intrigued—it had never seen one before.
So the three Pokémon whispered among themselves and decided to go inside and take a look.
Flabébé was also rarely interested, so she didn't object, and joined Gothita in lining up.
Other spectators saw the three Pokémon lining up properly and found it amusing, so no one stopped them—nor did anyone inform them that Pokémon weren't allowed inside without a trainer's escort.
Sure enough, when it was the three little ones' turn in line, they were stopped by the staff at the entrance.
"Little ones, where are your trainers?" the staff member asked very gently.
The three were stunned. Where would they get a trainer from?
Gothita flailed its arms in gestures, but the staff couldn't understand and just maintained a professional smile, saying, "I'm sorry, without a trainer accompanying you, I can't let you in."
This staff member was already quite patient. If it were someone else, the three little ones probably would've already been shooed away.
To avoid Gothita and the others delaying operations, the staff continued to let other spectators in, leaving Gothita fuming and frustrated on the side.
The queue got shorter and shorter, but Gothita and the others still couldn't convince the staff to let them in.
Just when Gothita was considering whether to sneak in from another entrance, a voice suddenly called out...
"Mom, isn't that Mr. Shimizu's Gothita and Cubchoo?"
Gothita recognized the person speaking and thought: Isn't that the annoying kid who often comes to the shop?
The one speaking was none other than Natsuhiko.
As it turns out, both Natsuhiko's and Haruki's moms were fans of the Pokemon Contest, and today they had brought their two children to watch the event.
Both families frequently visited the YoYo Day Care, so they naturally recognized Gothita, the little troublemaker of the YoYo Day Care—especially Natsuhiko, that brat, who had even had a conflict with Gothita before. It was hard for either side to forget each other.
It was almost time for Natsuhiko and Haruki's turn to enter the venue, so they ended up near Gothita and the others.
"You guys want to watch the Pokemon Contest too?" Haruki, holding his Chikorita in his arms, gently asked the three Pokémon.
Gothita immediately nodded, then angrily pointed at the staff member and started yelling loudly.
So Haruki walked over to his mom, gently tugged on her sleeve, and said, "Mom, can we bring them in with us?"
Haruki's mom thought for a moment and agreed. After all, their family had a good relationship with the YoYo Day Care.
"All right, but there will be a lot of people inside. Haruki, you must take good care of them," she said, ruffling her son's hair.
"Mm, I will," Haruki nodded seriously, then turned to Gothita and the others and said, "Do you want to come in with me?"
Of course! If they could enter fair and square, Gothita definitely didn't want to sneak in. Its opinion of Haruki improved greatly in an instant.
Off to the side, Natsuhiko thought Haruki was being a pushover and made a funny face at him and Gothita—only to be spotted by his Buneary.
Buneary silently punched him, twisting Natsuhiko's face in pain, but he didn't dare complain to his mom. The painful lessons of the past were still vivid in his memory, so he could only turn his head aside and bear the pain.
When it came to secretly hitting Natsuhiko, Buneary had already mastered the art.
It pouted at Natsuhiko, then instantly changed to a cute expression, sweetly acting spoiled in front of Natsuhiko's mom, making her laugh happily.
With the help of Haruki's mom, the staff reluctantly let Gothita and the others inside.
After entering with Haruki's group, the three Pokémon immediately looked around the venue excitedly. Since Haruki and the others had arrived relatively late, the venue was already packed with people.
After everyone found their seats and sat down, someone suddenly passed by them and accidentally bumped into Gothita's little umbrella. With a sharp crack, the umbrella handle snapped, and the umbrella fell to the floor, shattering into pieces.
The person immediately started cursing, "What's your problem? Why would you bring something like this in here?!" As he spoke, he patted his clothes and found a damp patch at the corner of his shirt.
Gothita had a fiery temper. Seeing that this person not only broke its precious umbrella but also had the nerve to scold them, it was about to yell back—but was stopped by Haruki's mom.
"Sorry for the trouble."
Regardless of who was right or wrong, making a scene in such a setting was never a good idea.
The one who had bumped into the little umbrella was a blond young man. He originally wanted to scold a bit more, but when he saw how pretty Haruki's mom was, he couldn't bring himself to say anything else and simply walked away with a sullen face.
After this small incident, the Pokemon Contest finally began, and everyone was able to watch the event in peace.
This competition had many new-generation Coordinator Trainers participating, and among them was a girl whom both Natsuhiko's and Haruki's moms liked a lot. That's why they had made a special trip to come watch today.
The two moms were also thinking that since Natsuhiko and Haruki were still young and hadn't decided what they wanted to do in the future, it wouldn't be a bad thing if the Pokemon Contest sparked their interest in becoming Coordinators.
If someone in the family could become a top Coordinator like Robert or Wallace, just thinking about it was exciting!
The competition was really spectacular. In the end, the girl that both Natsuhiko's and Haruki's moms liked won the championship, causing the two moms to cheer again and again.
However, Natsuhiko clearly wasn't very interested in this kind of event. He spent the whole time spacing out, and the Buneary in his arms had already fallen asleep, drooling all over Natsuhiko's shirt. Natsuhiko was fuming but didn't dare say a word.
On the other hand, Haruki was quite interested. He would lower his head from time to time to talk with his Chikorita, looking very enthusiastic.
Gothita had originally been quite excited about the Pokemon Contest, but the more it watched, the more it felt bored.
What the heck, not even as good as the performances by the seniors back home!
Flabébé, on the other hand, obediently watched the entire event. It even somewhat liked the performance of the girl who won the championship, feeling that both the girl and her Delcatty on stage were sparkling like stars.
After the event ended, Natsuhiko's and Haruki's moms, still feeling unsatisfied, took the children and left the venue. Originally, they had wanted to meet their idol, but there were just too many people, so they had to give up.
Once they exited the gymnasium, Haruki said to his mom, "Mom, you and auntie go home first. I'll take Gothita and the others back."
"All right, but make sure you get home early, and be careful on the way," Haruki's mom reminded.
"Mm, I know."
Natsuhiko's eyes darted around, then he said to his mom, "Mom, I'll go with Haruki."
Natsuhiko's mom said, "Sure, but you have to protect Haruki. Don't you dare bully him! Otherwise, wait and see how I'll deal with you!"
Recalling his mom's iron fists, Natsuhiko shrank his neck and replied in a small voice, "Got… got it…"
Then he pulled Haruki and started running. Buneary quickly followed its young master, thinking: Wouldn't it be nicer to just go home and sleep? Why are you running around? What's it got to do with you anyway!
(▼皿▼#) ~