"There's one more—a Snorunt egg."
Auron picked up another egg from nearby.
Pokémon: Snorunt
Gender: Female
Type: Ice
Ability: Moody (After using a move, one of Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, or Speed is randomly raised by two stages, while another is randomly lowered by one stage.)
Quality: Orange
Base Moves: Astonish, Powder Snow
Egg Moves: Disable, Icicle Crash, Block, Rollout
"Snorunt?!"
Before Lena could say a word, Serena's eyes lit up beside her.
She'd already given up on a pure Ice-type team, but her love for Ice-type Pokémon hadn't gone anywhere.
"Yeah, Snorunt. Female—so she can evolve into Froslass."
"Hmm..."
Lena looked at the Corsola egg in her arms, then at the Snorunt egg in Auron's hands, then turned to Simon with a look of anguish.
"Simon~"
Simon petted Lena's head gently. "I think Corsola's great. What do you think?"
Lena beamed up at him and nodded. "Mm-hm, I think so too."
Auron silently put the Snorunt egg back. *I'm just standing here like a stray dog on the street, minding my own business, and I get kicked.*
As he turned around, the two were still about to start being lovey-dovey, so he cut in quickly. "Why'd you pick Corsola?"
The couple paused their public display of affection. Simon answered, "Intuition, I guess. It just feels like Corsola suits her."
"Fair enough." Auron nodded. Intuition was real—Cursola really was a better fit for Lena than Froslass.
After all, Froslass had Speed going for it and could set entry hazards, but beyond that, nothing particularly standout.
And when it came to hazard-setting, Lena's Dragapult could do everything Froslass did aside from literally throwing spikes. In almost every other respect, it outclassed Froslass entirely. So Froslass's niche advantage was practically negligible.
Cursola, on the other hand, had outstanding Special Attack. Under Trick Room, it became a devastating cannon.
So apart from being Trick Room-dependent, Cursola was indeed the better choice.
As Auron walked, he explained the strengths and weaknesses of both Pokémon to Simon and Lena. Afterward, Lena's eyes sparkled with delight, and she planted a quick kiss on Simon's cheek.
"Great call! Here's your reward~"
This left Auron thoroughly choked up. He could've slapped himself—he should've kept his mouth shut.
"Um, Auron..."
"Hm?"
The moment he heard Serena's voice, Auron already knew what she was thinking.
"You want that Snorunt?"
"Mm." Serena bit her lip and nodded.
Auron smiled and spoke gently. "There are so many Ice-type Pokémon. If you want every single one you see, what then?"
Serena paused. He was right. If she wanted every Ice-type Pokémon that caught her eye, how could she possibly take care of them all?
"Whew~"
She let out a long breath. She wasn't dense—she figured it out quickly.
Understanding dawned, and Serena's face broke into a radiant smile. "Thank you, Auron."
Auron found himself momentarily captivated—but snapped back to reality almost immediately. "It's nothing. Loving Pokémon isn't a bad thing. I want to catch every Pokémon out there too."
He turned and walked briskly ahead, using the momentum to hide the flutter in his chest.
Serena watched him go with a quiet laugh, then fell into step behind him, her footsteps light.
After browsing a while longer, Auron felt a pang of disappointment. Eevee was one of the best partners for a new trainer, so there were quite a few Eevee eggs in the mix. He'd examined plenty, but not a single one had inherited Baby-Doll Eyes or Charm.
That was what he needed—an Eevee with one of those moves. Once affection was high enough, it could evolve straight into Sylveon without the risk of accidentally triggering an Espeon or Umbreon evolution.
Affection-based evolution was unpredictable. It could happen at any time, so it was better to prepare in advance.
Along the way, he'd spotted another egg well-suited for a Sandstorm team—but rather than pick that, it would be better to find a Teddiursa and raise it into an Ursaluna. Much more appealing.
"Let's head to my mom's shop. We'll pick out an Eevee egg for Serena there."
"Let's go."
The group headed out with light spirits and soon arrived at the Pokémon store run by Auron's mom.
"Mom, I'm here to pick out an Eevee egg."
The moment Auron walked in, he spotted his mom behind the register, cradling Eevee in her arms while watching TV.
"Since when do you want an Eevee egg? Back when I offered you one as a starter, you turned me down flat—insisted on picking your own."
His mom didn't even look up from the screen.
"Well, I already had Zubat by then." Auron scratched his head awkwardly. "Besides, you and Eevee get along great, don't you?"
"Tch—that's not the point. I'm here to help a classmate pick one. They want an Eevee."
"A classmate?" That finally got his mom's attention. She paused the TV and turned around.
"Serena! You're here. So you're the one picking an Eevee egg?"
The instant she laid eyes on Serena, her whole face lit up—she didn't even notice the others standing behind her.
Serena nodded, her cheeks faintly pink. "Yes, hi Auntie. I wanted to pick an Eevee egg, so I asked Auron to bring me."
"Mom, there are other classmates here too. You know Tim."
"Hey, Auntie."
Tim, who'd been ready to enjoy the show from the sidelines, was pushed forward by Auron and had no choice but to greet her.
"Oh my, look at me." Auron's mom smacked her forehead, only now noticing the rest. "And you—you're Yiming's son and daughter-in-law, right? Simon?"
"Yes, Auntie." Simon and Lena nodded.
Then Auron's mom turned to Lucas. "And you—Wang Quan? My husband mentioned you."
Lucas was nearly moved to tears. "That's right, ma'am. I'm Wang Quan."
*Finally!* Someone called him by his actual name instead of "Lucas" or worse, "Lucky." How incredibly touching.
"Mom, we're going in to pick an Eevee egg."
"Sure, go ahead."
After greetings were exchanged, Auron led the group inside. His mom stayed where she was, watching Serena's retreating figure with a warm smile.
Once the kids rounded the corner, she stroked Eevee's head and murmured to herself, "When is that boy going to figure it out? He didn't inherit a single romantic bone from his father."
"Ee-vee~"