Who fired that Hyper Beam? Was it Gyarados? No! It was Rowlet!
In the distance, the little red ball patted its belly. The recoil from that Hyper Beam just now was honestly pretty strong—it almost blasted it away—but luckily it grabbed onto the Gyarados's whiskers beneath its feet and stabilized itself.
After completely defeating Gyarados at the bottom of the lake with overwhelming advantage, it grabbed a few fish and surfaced, only to see its favorite Lumiere being bullied!
And so, what had just happened unfolded…
The sunglasses man stood there blankly, still unable to recover from the scene of Ariados being instantly defeated.
Rowlet leapt off Gyarados's body, flew quickly to Lumiere's side, tossed the fish aside, and untangled the silk binding him.
"Well done."
Lumiere rubbed Rowlet's head. He had only asked it to see if there were any Gyarados scales, but he hadn't expected it to pick up something this powerful!
〔Pokémon: Rowlet (Gyarados / Shiny Form) ♀〕
〔Type: Grass + Flying (Water + Flying)〕
〔Ability: Intimidate (Uses an adorable expression to scare others, lowering their Attack)〕
〔Moves: Crunch, Whirlpool, Ice Fang, Waterfall, Dragon Dance, Scary Face, Rain Dance, Aqua Tail, Hydro Pump, Thrash, Hurricane, Hyper Beam〕
〔Status: Living Plush (Cannot evolve, has no true ability, cannot learn other moves), Atk & Speed +2 (secretly farmed Gyarados twice)〕
〔Affinity: 100 (Your bond is practically overflowing)〕
"This Gyarados… if nothing unexpected happened, it should be the boss of this part of Lake Verity."
After thinking for a moment, Lumiere glanced at the belly-up Gyarados floating on the lake's surface, then walked over and untied the silk binding Dawn as well.
"Sorry… I messed everything up…" Dawn said softly, lowering her head like a child who had made a mistake.
Lumiere smiled and didn't scold her, instead speaking gently, "Maybe. But don't you think that for a beginner who just set out, this was an incredibly valuable experience?"
"What do you mean?"
"Only by taking enough lessons do people grow, and then they won't make the same mistakes next time."
After carefully thinking it over, Dawn raised her head, pressed her lips together, and nodded. "I'll remember that!"
"Do your best."
Lumiere patted her shoulder, then the corner of his mouth lifted slightly as he walked toward the sunglasses man. Without bothering to say anything else, he waved his hand and shouted, "Rowlet, knock him out!"
"Goo!"
Rowlet shot off Lumiere's shoulder. The sunglasses man was still standing there dumbfounded, but the Kecleon beside him reacted immediately.
It canceled its optical camouflage and revealed itself, trying to block Rowlet—but blocking like that was pointless. Not even your head could stop it.
It was instantly sent flying by an Aqua Tail, rolling twice across the grass before collapsing.
Then the sunglasses man himself was slapped by another Aqua Tail, his body crashing to the ground as he joined the others in lying flat.
With Piplup successfully rescued by Rowlet, this sudden and chaotic farce finally came to an end.
"Piplup!"
Dawn rushed over in two quick steps and picked up the still-unconscious Piplup, anxiously checking whether it was injured.
"It should be fine. It probably just fainted from fright. It'll wake up in a bit."
After checking, Lumiere confirmed there was nothing serious and immediately called Officer Jenny in Sandgem Town, informing her of everything that had happened.
After hanging up, as he prepared to wait for them to arrive before leaving, something caught the corner of his eye. He quickly turned to look.
On the surface of Lake Verity, a blurry figure suddenly appeared—pink-headed, with two tails, and vaguely mushroom-shaped.
Not only Lumiere,
even Dawn saw it. She stood up and asked uncertainly, "Could that be…?"
〔Pokémon: Mesprit (Phantom)〕
〔Type: None〕
〔Ability: None〕
〔Moves: None〕
〔Status: None〕
〔Affinity: None〕
"It's got three 'nones'—you've got five," Lumiere muttered.
He glanced at the information. Although it appeared, it was essentially empty. It was probably just a projection summoned by the real body somewhere else—meaning it was watching them.
Three seconds later, as a breeze swept across the lake and ripples spread, the phantom dispersed and vanished, as though it had never appeared at all.
"That just now… was that Mesprit?!" Dawn exclaimed excitedly.
"Probably. Just a projection, though."
"I don't care! Seeing it once is enough!"
Dawn was extremely excited. On the very first day of getting her Pokémon, she had encountered Mesprit—her journey ahead was clearly going to be amazing.
"You should head back with Piplup first. Don't catch a cold. I still need to wait for Officer Jenny here, so I'll probably be delayed for a while," Lumiere said with concern.
Although Dawn was soaked through, she was actually dressed quite warmly, so there was no 'wet look bonus'—don't even think about it.
"Alright then…" Dawn nodded, then hesitated before asking, "Will we meet again?"
"Just add each other on a messaging app. Why make it sound so dramatic?"
Dawn smacked her forehead, a little embarrassed. "That's true. Then tell me your ID—my phone got flooded."
"Sure."
After that was settled, Dawn returned Piplup to its Poké Ball, hopped on her bike, and waved. "Then goodbye~"
"Goodbye."
Watching Dawn leave, Lumiere sighed helplessly and continued waiting.
Rowlet flew over holding a fish, making its intentions crystal clear. With no choice, Lumiere gathered some dry branches from the nearby woods and started grilling fish by the lake.
Just as the fish finished cooking, Officer Jenny finally arrived with her team. After confirming the sunglasses man's identity, they arrested him and his Pokémon on the spot.
They also found a Chansey tied up with silk and unconscious in the motorcycle's storage box hidden in the forest—undeniable evidence.
As a party involved, Lumiere cooperated with the investigation. After everything was wrapped up, he returned to Sandgem Town with them.
Once it was all done, Lumiere and Rowlet finally returned to the Pokémon Research Lab.
Professor Rowan already seemed to know what had happened and said with a kindly smile, "Dawn already contacted me. I really must thank you for this."
"It was my duty."
Lumiere replied politely. Professor Rowan then settled the commission—two thousand in total, with Lumiere's seventy percent share coming to fourteen hundred. This meant he could finally buy Rowlet some good food just for itself.
Seeing that he seemed ready to leave, Professor Rowan quickly added, "Don't rush off yet. I still have an additional reward for you."
"Hm?" Lumiere remembered Rowan mentioning this earlier, but he'd thought it was just talk. He hadn't expected it to be real.
"What reward?"
"I have some Pokémon Eggs left over from cultivation experiments. Originally, they were going to be sent to the nursery on Iron Island in a few days, but I can let you choose one to take with you."
Hearing this, a flash of excitement crossed Lumiere's face. "May I take a look?"
"Of course."
Professor Rowan led him to the backyard of the lab, where there was a special incubation room for Pokémon Eggs.
The moment he stepped inside, a wave of warmth washed over him. On the shelves were dozens of colorful eggs, each one brimming with vitality.
"These are all of them. The Pokémon names are marked below. Pick whichever one you like."
"Alright."
Faced with so many choices, Lumiere was momentarily at a loss.
There were even some rare eggs among them, like Elekid and Magby. He wanted them all.
Just as he was struck by decision paralysis like Cynthia, Rowlet suddenly flew off his shoulder toward a corner.
It landed on a brown Pokémon Egg with creamy patterns, tilting its head as if searching for a good place to bite.
"You can't eat that!"
Lumiere rushed over and picked Rowlet up, but the little princess seemed to have set her sights on that egg, pouncing back and standing on it again.
With no choice, he indulged it for a bit—then noticed something strange and asked in confusion, "Why doesn't this egg have a label?"
Professor Rowan walked over, glanced at it, and explained, "That's an Eevee Egg. But there was an accident during its formation, turning it into a bad egg. It's been sitting here for over half a year without hatching."
"A bad egg… does it still have a chance to hatch?"
"Possibly, but the odds are extremely low. Bad eggs are rare to begin with, and the chance of one hatching is even smaller. At least, I've never seen it happen."
Lumiere nodded. Looking at Rowlet, who clearly didn't want to let go, he hesitated for a long while before saying, "I'll take this one."
Professor Rowan was surprised. "Are you sure? Eevee is very rare, but this egg will most likely just be a decoration."
"Since Rowlet likes it, I'll take this egg," Lumiere said firmly.
After looking at the strange Rowlet wearing a Gyarados outfit, Professor Rowan could only say, "Since you've made up your mind, I won't say anything more."
He called over Lucas, had the egg wrapped in thermal padding, and handed it to Lumiere.
"Thank you."
"No need to be so polite. You helped me a great deal—I should be thanking you."
Lumiere then walked to the lab's front entrance. The commission was complete, and it was time to return to Jubilife City.
"Then I'll be on my way."
"Travel safely."
Lumiere nodded and left. Watching his departing figure, Professor Rowan smiled and said, "What an interesting young man."
With that, he called Lucas over and returned to the lab, continuing his research…