Aresdra had loosely planned to leave for Purple Gold City in early June. Nova, for his part, had decided to wait until Lapras hatched before setting off on his travels.
According to Aresdra, the Lapras Egg had already been in the incubator for a full month. Even so, the exact timing of a hatching was always hard to predict. As a general rule, the higher a Pokémon's potential, the longer it tended to stay in the egg before being ready to hatch.
Nova's own Sprigatito was a good example of that. Its typical hatching window was around a month, but it had ended up staying in its egg for nearly fifty days.
Even with an early departure now on the table, there was no real urgency to rush things.
Between the two of them, Nova and Aresdra had about 480,000 in cash available. Nearly all of it had come from Nova's dealings with Taylor.
With Aresdra heading off to Purple Gold City on her own, Nova wanted her to take the larger share. His own Pokémon, meanwhile, were either growing rapidly and eating constantly or still very young, which amounted to the same thing: expensive.
Nova had gone into Taylor's belongings hoping to find a reasonable amount of cash. There had not been much. And after paying the Pokémon Prison to secure Purrloin's release, a good portion of what he had found was already gone. In the end, his cash had not grown much. What had grown was his collection of jewelry and precious metals.
He decided to sell off some of the jewelry first for spending money. The precious metals he had a separate use in mind for.
The problem with jewelry was that prices varied widely and Nova had no particular knowledge of the market. Walking into a shop and selling directly at the counter risked getting a poor rate, with no way to push back on it.
He was prepared to accept that, to a point. Everything he had came from Taylor with no cost to himself. Letting someone else take a modest cut was not the end of the world.
He thought back to the Nuggets from the Pokémon games he had played in his previous life. You could sell one for 10,000, but buying one back would cost you 20,000. That was a gap that made any jewelry dealer look reasonable by comparison.
Aresdra, however, could not let it go so easily.
Seven or eight years of living together had left them shaped by each other in small but noticeable ways.
Nova's biggest influence on Aresdra had been turning her from a genuinely sweet and trusting girl into someone far more perceptive and sharp. It was not something he had done deliberately. He simply had too many ideas in motion at any given time, and if Aresdra had not kept pace, she would have ended up being outmaneuvered by him without ever noticing. She had adapted out of necessity, and the result was a girl who was now considerably harder to get the better of, especially combined with the almost uncanny intuition she already had.
Nova occasionally caught himself thinking that innocence really was something that wore away over time.
And Aresdra's biggest influence on him had been her approach to money.
Her parents had been accomplished mountaineers and explorers, well-regarded in their field. Their reputation was strong, but the costs of operating in extreme environments around the world were equally significant, and the two of them had rarely been ahead financially. When they disappeared on the Western Plateau, the inheritance they left behind turned out to be very little, which was how a young Aresdra eventually ended up at the same orphanage as Nova.
That experience had stayed with her. By the time she was old enough to manage things for herself, she had become as careful with money as a Gimmighoul guarding its coins, doing whatever she could to cut unnecessary expenses and hold on to what she had.
When Nova had been working in Goldenlight City, Aresdra had sometimes skipped breakfast so she could send him what she saved. He had told her off for it more than once.
That same instinct was also why, when Nova had asked her to pick out some jewelry for herself the day before, she had shown almost no interest. She was already happy with how she looked. Spending money on accessories felt wasteful.
But the moment she heard that Nova was planning to sell the jewelry at a discount, something in her switched on.
If they were going to do this, she was not going to let them Slack Off about it. Aresdra decided to spend some time reading up on jewelry valuations before they made any decisions about what to sell and for how much.
Nova had no objections. If she wanted to look into it and they ended up getting a better price, that was fine with him. He stretched out on the sofa with Sprigatito on his chest and turned on the TV.
Aresdra settled in beside him, her long legs resting comfortably across his lap. She propped her phone up against Torchic, who obligingly stayed still and warm, and used the larger Growlithe as a pillow. In that very relaxed position, she started scrolling through her contacts.
Nova glanced over and saw she had pulled up a conversation with someone named Jacinth.
He remembered her. She was a travel streamer, fairly well known, and the one who had treated Nova and Aresdra to a long stretch of snacks at the food street back when he had first returned to Harmony City from Goldenlight City. He was mildly surprised that Aresdra had stayed in contact with her. Aresdra explained that they had added each other that same day and had kept in touch on and off since then. They were good friends now.
Nova could not help but shake his head slightly. It really did seem easier for girls to build that kind of connection.
What Aresdra had in mind was straightforward enough. Streaming had expanded into every conceivable area, including antique and jewelry appraisal. She wanted to ask Jacinth if she could point her toward anyone reliable in that space, just so she could learn enough to know what they were actually dealing with.
Jacinth responded quickly and confidently recommended someone, assuring Aresdra the person was completely trustworthy.
At that same moment, a streamer going by the name "Auspicious Treasure Appraiser" was in the middle of a livestream that could charitably be described as creative.
"Brother, I'd really suggest letting this one sit for a bit before deciding anything."
"A little closer... turn it over... actually, just try dropping it on the floor and listening to the sound."
"Can you move it down a bit? Set it on your lap so I can get a proper look."
Konnor was wearing a grin that left little to the imagination when a notification caught his eye. A viewer named "Sleepy Rabbit" had sent a large Super Chat.
"Oh! Thank you, Rabbit Sister, that's very generous! So, a friend of yours wants me to take a look at some jewelry? Absolutely, consider it done. Any friend of Rabbit Sister is a friend of mine."
After the shoutout, Jacinth Hall sent Aresdra a message telling her to add Konnor through the streaming platform's contact system.
Aresdra sent the request. It was accepted almost immediately, followed at once by an incoming video call.
She answered it.
A large face filled the screen, broad and expressive, with the startled look of someone who had not expected to find what he was seeing. When he took in Aresdra's appearance, his usual stream-of-consciousness commentary dried up completely, replaced by a long, halting string of sounds that did not quite form words.
Aresdra noticed the front camera was still on. She gave a small, apologetic sound and reached to switch it.
"Wait, wait, hold on," Konnor said quickly. "Beauty, there is absolutely no need to switch, everything is completely fine as it is, please do not change a single thing."
Aresdra switched the camera anyway.
Nova's face appeared on the screen instead.