"Rattata?" Ribbon turned its head and looked at Indeedee sitting next to it, asking curiously: "Rattata?" (Are you here to buy accessories too?)
"..."
"Indeedee?" Buy accessories? Indeedee paused, then rapidly shook its head: "Indee!"
It, Indeedee, was here for very important work! Not for vacationing and shopping.
"Rattata."
Ribbon nodded thoughtfully, pulled out the fashion magazine it carried with it, and began flipping through it.
Haley, who was nearby, immediately recognized her old magazine. Since she was idle anyway, she leaned right over and started looking along with it. "This season's issue is already a bit out of date... but this ribbon really suits you."
Haley said, touching the ribbon bow on Ribbon's head: "It's very pretty."
"Rattata!" Ribbon proudly reached out a paw to touch it: "Rattata!"
Of course! This was made using gems paid for by Ron, cloth from the farm, and crafted by Sandy and Emily together! They even made slight custom modifications based on the original bow from the magazine!
"When we get to Coumarine City, you guys go with it to buy accessories," Ron added. "I'll reimburse the expenses."
"Yay!" Haley cheered.
Abigail wasn't very interested in this, while Bonnie raised her hand high.
"What?"
"Can we get reimbursed too?"
"Bonnie." Serena couldn't help but pull the slightly carried-away Bonnie back.
"Sure." Ron nodded, then thought for a moment and added, "Within a certain amount limit, anyway. I temporarily can't afford to buy the whole building for them."
Bonnie's eyes immediately lit up.
"Really." Serena rubbed Bonnie's head.
"Just kidding." Bonnie hugged Ribbon on the side to her chest. "I have my own money. We'll take good care of Ribbon."
"Rattata, Rattata!"
Because the boat had been teleported to Kalos right along with them, the people on board hadn't even noticed that the sea had already changed.
Before long, the boat docked at the Coumarine City port.
"Rattata, Rattata!" Ribbon widened its eyes at this city, which was far more prosperous than Pelican Town.
As a fashion capital, the streets were bustling with many fashionably dressed people, carrying their equally fashionably dressed Pokémon.
"Do you like it here?" Bonnie asked, holding Ribbon.
"Rattata!" Ribbon nodded vigorously.
It originally thought that just by putting on those fashionable accessories, it could instantly be like those gorgeous Pokémon on the screen. Now that it had arrived in Coumarine City, it felt that was still far from enough.
"Let's go to the shopping mall in the city center later," Serena said. "After we finish shopping and drop Ribbon off, we can head toward the city hosting the Pokémon Contest."
As Serena said this, Haley and Abigail thought for a moment and nodded.
Ron then handed over all the ingredients he had brought this time to them.
Before they could even sort the items out, Ramos, who routinely came to the port to watch for Ron's arrival, immediately spotted Ron standing at the port.
"Ron!" Ramos walked over to Ron happily. He then looked at the girls standing next to Ron, and after his gaze locked onto the Sunkern in Haley's arms, Ramos suddenly remembered this girl's background: "Ah, I remember you, that girl from Pelican Town?"
Seeing Haley nod, Ramos couldn't help but say, "Makes me want to visit Pelican Town too... really, are all the Grass-type Pokémon raised in your area this strong?"
Whether it was Haley's Sunkern or Ron's Bellossom, every single one was astonishingly powerful.
"Because Ron also helped out a bit with this little one." Haley held up Sunkern upon hearing this.
Hearing this, Ramos took another look at Ron. He then rubbed his eyes, his gaze darting back and forth between the group, before asking, "How many of you were there originally? Why do I feel like a purple figure just flashed by?"
It was only then that Ron noticed the Wizard had already teleported away early. Considering that he probably didn't want to have much contact with others, Ron laughed it off and covered the matter up.
Because they were busy planting Tea Saplings, Ramos brought several assistants from the Gym, along with the Grass-type Pokémon from the Gym, to help out at the tea mountain. As for Serena and the others, following Ron's request, they took Ribbon to go buy accessories.
In the forest not far away, the Wizard watched the group scatter and breathed a sigh of relief. He picked up the Pokédex that Ron had given him as a friendly gift and glanced at the map.
"——Where exactly do I go to find a Beldum..." Looking at the flashing place names on the screen, the Wizard found himself in a bind. Although traveling to other otherworlds was a common occurrence for the Wizard, fully adapting to a brand-new place always took some time.
Just then, a message popped up on the Pokédex in his hand.
[A large number of Pikachu are gathering in Lumiose City for unknown reasons—]
Along with it, several icons appeared in various places on the map.
Seeing no sign of Beldum, the Wizard took a deep breath and chose to find a place to rest for the night first. Pondering this, the Wizard headed deeper into the forest.
Meanwhile, at the shopping mall.
Coumarine City's shopping mall was quite large, mainly because during the annual Coumarine Tree Festival, it would attract many tourists from all over Kalos, who came to spend money buying gifts for their Pokémon.
"Ah, where should we start shopping?" Bonnie asked, holding Ribbon in her arms.
"Rattata, Rattata!" Ribbon pointed at an accessory store not far away and shouted excitedly: "Rattata."
"Over there?" Bonnie held Ribbon, exchanged a glance with Serena beside her, and walked over.
"It looks so excited." Serena stared at Ribbon's head, which was looking everywhere. "Is Ron's money really going to be enough?"
Although both Ron and the people in Pelican Town seemed to look very wealthy... After all, such beautiful gems could be casually worn on Ribbon's head.
"Rattata!"
"Do you want this one?" Bonnie held up an accessory and asked, "Or this one?"
Ribbon's gaze spun back and forth between the two accessories, and for a moment, it couldn't help but rest its chin on its paw and fall into deep thought.
"Or do you want both?"
"Rattata..." Ribbon shook its head and began to try hard to make a choice.
As a sensible child, Ribbon naturally didn't have the plan of extending its left paw and its right paw and buying out the entire store.
It pondered seriously, and finally leaned its head toward the accessory on the left.
"This one?" Bonnie helped clip it onto Ribbon's head, then held it up in front of the mirror: "How is it? Do you like it?"
Ribbon stared at its reflection in the mirror, held up the other accessory with its paw to examine it repeatedly, and finally made its decision: "Rattata!"
"Then let's go with this one."
------------------------------------------------------
40+ Chapters Ahead: patreon.com/EphemeralShadow
There's something for free patrons too! Free Patrons receive 1 chapter in advance :)
