"The Underground is still rather hectic right now, so I recommend if you want to send something down Diglett Delivery, you do it a little later."

Luce nods at that.

Lopunny plays with the blue scarf, rolling around in it, trying to figure out the best way to arrange the other healing items and souvenirs into the box.

Luce sighs, stretching out his leg with the edge of the bedframe, testing his recovery. Nurse Joy said Chansey gave him the okay for activity again, but the repeated injuries aren't going to bode well for his general physical state if he doesn't get some regular workout in. That sucks.

He heaves as he stretches out fully, bending down, catching the sight of Duskull rolling in the air, presumably trying to get to the same angle.

"Honestly, I'd say you're better off doing some Yoga!" says a Karate Girl, whose arm is in a cast. It's mostly the injured or older visitors assigned to the first floor, so Luce is honestly relieved he didn't have to climb stairs today.

Luce grimaces. He hasn't had to do that in a long time (his mother used to be obsessed) and he really isn't looking forward to starting again.

Luce straightens, stretching his arms to hear a satisfying pop in his shoulder. Duskull tries in vain to pull his appendages around and achieve the same results, but alas, spectral abominations do not have joints.

His imitation game ends there, and he plunges into the bedding, right beside Psyduck.

Psyduck's upside down with her face stuffed between the pillows, and Lopunny is looking at the other new jackets and foodstuff they've bought, organising them into care packages. She'd even laid out the cute cyber jacket for herself and Luce that they were planning to use for Contests.

"You're on your pilgrimage, eh, kid? Veilstone's just the best stop to send souvenirs home!" a Veteran chuckles, "it's a good thing you're so thoughtful, kid. I remember when I was on my pilgrimage..."

"Old Man, don't get started now!" an Ace Trainer on a wheelchair sighs, "you start reminiscing, everyone's going to start, and we'll never get any sleep."

The Veteran laughs fondly. "You have a point! Do you have your courtesy name yet, young Luce?"

Luce blinks at that.

Courtesy name...

"Wha— old man, you can't just ask for the courtesy name of a young trainer before they finish their pilgrimage!" a Gentleman says, appalled. "If a Veteran's asking, he can't refuse, you know?"

"Yeah, he's such a good boy he'll be too polite to say no."

The Veteran laughs warmly. "I'm curious!"

"It's okay, Luce, we'll refuse on your behalf, just keep it to yourself," the Ace Trainer assures, "courtesy names are only for official records, and for life partners."

Luce chuckles breathily, endeared that they seemed to care for it more than he did.

In Sinnoh, there is an old tradition.

Children are to embark on a pilgrimage once they're of age, and only after they succeed are they bestowed a name in the honour and language of old Hisuian traditions, to represent their maturity.

Though, in modern times, it's mainly just a superstition or a tradition that's still practiced for old time's sake. It's more often for children to know their own names from young and only use it officially after they're done, though no one quite uses their courtesy names in favour of their official names on their trainer IDs anymore. It's like a Baptismal name, or a late-life middle name.

Though, it's not as if it's some kind of secret. Everyone knows Champion Cynthia goes by Shirona among the League.

(Luce had been worried, for a moment, that he'd forgotten his own along with the memories of another life coming to him... but it was much easier to figure out than he'd thought, especially since 'Hisuian-language names' apparently just meant 'original Japanese names' in this unique way. Cece knew it all just fine.)

But this all meant that it was about time for things like these to be in his considerations.

He's already buying souvenirs. He saw his mom recently, but it's really been a while since he's called home. They're halfway through their journey, they've made it to the other side of Sinnoh...

...it won't be much longer before he gets toward the ending of it all. Though, maybe he's thinking too soon. There's still plenty of this journey to come.

But if he came here at the start of the game... what does the end of the main story mean for him? Does it set him free? Or does it close, does it stop being meaningful?

He's not sure, and honestly, there's no substance to anything he thinks about it.

He'll just leave it be for now, and worry about it when the time comes.

-

Honestly, he's very surprised to see Maylene leading his Pokemon into the Pokemon Center.

He picks up his stylus quickly to greet them, Monferno hurrying to lightly toss Togepi into Luce's arms (he yelps soundlessly but didn't drop the baby, thankfully) before clambering up him by the arms and shoulders before hugging him right at the neck, smushing Togepi between them.

Snover huffs in greeting. Luce nods back. And then Snover dismisses himself to go back to the other Pokemon.

"I'm the local Gym Leader, Maylene," she says, "I'm glad Monferno has found his owner! He was working really hard at my Lucario's lessons!"

Lessons? Luce is very surprised. Monferno giggles cheekily, and refuses to elaborate.

"Ah, of course, Monferno's very welcome to come again tomorrow," Maylene assures. "I hope you enjoy your stay in this town, then! Have a nice night!"

Ah, wait, wait wait!

Luce is grabbing at her shoulder before he realizes what he's doing, and when she turns around, he panics.

Quickly, he scribbles down a response. "[Thank you.]" That's simple enough.

Maylene beams. "You're welcome!"

Luce is very flustered. He can't think of what else to say anymore. Maylene's now staring very blankly at him, expecting something a little more, and Luce now regrets everything. How does he say 'that's all' without making things awkward for both of them?

Why is he such a conversational disaster?

She's the Gym Leader, right...

"[Gym]," he writes, and hopes that's enough.

"Oh! The Gym... are you interested in taking the Gym Challenge?" she lights right up, and Luce finds himself nodding. "Great! Ah, maybe not tonight though, I'm booked for the evening. You see, I have to follow the city association very often in the daytime, so I only open my gym in the evening! Challengers register for the night ahead of time and line up for it right about now."

Very... systematic.

But that makes sense. Maylene's the youngest among the Gym Leaders, and she's heading the biggest town of them all. It's daunting to just imagine the workload she has to deal with on a daily basis.

He scribbles his response quickly.

"[Where do I sign up?]"

Surely, Barry wouldn't mind him taking a gym challenge without him. He's got some time before they're all due to meet up again.

"If you're interested, just drop by the gym! It's down south uh—" Maylene leads him to the town map at the side of the floor, pointing to the Center before leading him down. "You just go west here past the Game Corner, then up north. There's always a line for signups, and of course, a really bright glowing signboard. You can ask Jim, if you're still confused when you get there."

Luce nods. Grateful. She's very earnest. He can't help but want to talk more with her, but alas, she's probably busy.

He holds up "[Thank you]" again and Maylene beams.

"Always glad to be of service! I'm looking forward to seeing you, and battling your Monferno!" Then, reaching down, she high-fives Monferno and nods politely at Snover, who huffs approvingly from behind Luce's leg. She lifts her head again to say, "I'll excuse myself then. Have a good night's rest!"

At ease, Luce finds himself seeing her off with a smile.

Now...

He turns to Monferno and sighs.

Monferno babbles, nervous about being late. Psyduck whacks him in the back of the head and earns an offended hiss. Duskull is laughing at him. Lopunny takes Togepi from Luce and calmly makes her way back to the bed, where Snover has decided to sit at vigil at the foot of the bed, flaring at his bedmate's equally-scowling Donphan.

Luce pats his head in defeat.

"Let's teach you how to read time," he offers, and Monferno lights up like Flash. Gesturing at his Poketch, Luce suggests, "I'll buy you a watch or something. With an alarm in it."

"Hand clock! Hand clock!" Monferno squeals in excitement.

-

Luce remembers something, over the night.

He wakes up rather early in the morning and, numbly, he reaches for his bag, digging around for one rather forgotten thing. Of the things to do in Veilstone City, Cece remembers... there's one thing. Not very important, but it's a thing.

He still has the Vs. Recorder.

Yeah.

And so, as the sun rises he leaves everything behind in the room. Monferno and Lopunny are sprawled over each other with Togepi somewhere in between huddled in his shawl. Duskull is hiding from sunlight in his Poke Ball, and Psyduck is snoring upside down against the headboard.

Luce decides to sneak out into the fresh dew hours of the dawn. It won't take long, he's just taking a morning walk, no big deal.

The Pokemon Centre doors whirr open.

To his left, Snover grunts at him.

Luce jumps, maybe a foot into the air, and he needs a long moment hunched over the wall after that to recompose himself. He hopes he didn't make a weird noise.

How long has he been at the doorway? Luce wondered where he'd gone... maybe it makes sense Snover was out in the coldest hours of the day?

He smiles nervously, feeling like a child caught with a hand in the cookie jar.

But when he steps forward, Snover doesn't stop him. Luce walks calmly, and Snover follows every step, keeping guard vigilantly around him, like a personal sentry. It's rather endearing, and Luce feels safe, even without any other Pokemon on hand.

So, onward.

The Game Corner is open 24/7, and this works out just fine. Because the way the cleaner lady smiles at him Luce can tell that there are definitely quite a few people camping out at the slot machines overnight.

Luce steps around the sleeping bodies (some of them are awake and just crying?) while Snover scowls disapprovingly at them. He finds what he's looking for rather quickly.

On one of the slot machines, a single Croagunk wearing a police hat raises his hands with a wave. The body in a trench coat, slumped over the machine beside him, is Looker.

Yeah. He's here. Just like in the games. How does this work?

Looker's slots are still on, the on-screen Clefairy desperately gesturing at one row after another as they spin and spur and go on and on, waiting for buttons to be pressed.

Curious, Luce follows the gaze of the—ooh, shiny Clefairy chance, nice— and, when Croagunk welcoming gestures toward the machine, Luce reaches out and pulls down the lane according to the Clefairy's instructions.

He remembers. Cece quite likes thes, so he calmly follows the guidance of her memories, and he watches as the slots ground to a stop on seven, seven, seve—

The loud jackpot bell screeches out of the machine and Luce really jumps a foot into the air this time. The entire hall squawks awake and Looker baubles a terrified shriek, leaping off the machine flailing in surprise. Coins start pouring out the payout and Luce clings to Snover, terrified. He has never seen so many coins in his life.

He only did one thing! He swears!

Snover's eyes are also wide with surprise, pushing Luce behind him as he poses in preparation of battle against the still hooting machine.

Finally, one of the bodies on the ground lifts their head and goes, "oh, nice. You know how to use all that, kid?"

Luce is near tears at this point. He shakes his head.

"Also, I just lost all my allowance. Buy me a soda?"

The guy's weird. His hair's spiked upwards in the colour of a Honchkrow, and though he looks dressed to the nines, he's penniless after losing all his cash.

"What a shame. The damn machine ate the entire box of coins Darach left with me," he murmurs. "Guess I'll have to call someone to get me home now. Whatever then."

He teaches Luce how to cash it all in for Pokedollars, and after getting the most obnoxiously huge Bibarel, blue Gastrodon, and red Gyarados plushies, and a Lucky Egg and Amulet Coin from the Exchange Shop (because 'you can never have too much profit'), they're now at the vending machine. Luce clutches the huge doll, not really knowing how he's going to keep this.

The man, Grimsley, apparently, yawns before sipping on the Soda Pop.

Luce got himself a Lemonade before opening a Moomoo Milk for Snover, surprised when they regally accept the offering and starts drinking, though still standing fiercely on guard against whatever threat he seems to think is out there.

Croagunk also decided to join them (instead of taking care of his trainer that hit his head against another slot when he got up too quickly and fainted again,) happily sipping on Lemonade.

"So you, kid, you're on your pilgrimage?"

Luce nods.

"Ah, nice. I remember my pilgrimage."

And then, he doesn't say anything more. World's best conversation creator, Luce is honestly kind of relieved to be in his presence.

"Hello, Brycen. No, I am not dead. No, I didn't lose all my money on the slots. No, I am absolutely definitely not in Veilstone, what made you think so?"

There's a pause.

Then, "Darach sold me out? What do you mean you're making me pay back the money he gave me, it was a donation!"

Whoever's on the other end of the— oh hey, that Poketch can video call? Wait a second that's an Xtransceiver— call starts furiously scolding Grimsley, to which Grimsley just holds the device far, far away from his arm in some attempt of not being affected by the reprimand.

"Ugh. Okay I can rent a Staraptor Flight back to Hearthome, geez—" Grimsley groans, "huh? What do you mean, it's okay? And uh..."

Grimsley glances over at Luce. Luce is staring at him curiously.

"You want to see the kid?"

Luce sees Fantina's face on the other side of the communicator.

Grimsley puts the thing on speaker. It is a mistake he notices too late.

"LUCE BABY DEAR I KNEW IT WAS YOU! NOW STAY THERE!"

-

Looker wakes up.

"Young Luce! Great to see you again!" he composes himself, like he wasn't just conked out in a casino throughout a work night. "I see you are injured again."

A deep sigh. Luce squirms, a little guilty.

"No, no, I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed," Looker says. "But I'm relieved you are doing well. How is your Vs. recorder, if I may see it?"

Grimsley frowns at him, skeptical. But he doesn't say a word. "You sure you're Secret Police and not like, some pervert?"

"How rude!" Looker snaps at him. "I'll have you know I've been in the force for decades!"

"What kind of Secret Police blacks out at the gambling parlor, though?"

"Well what kind of Elite Four does??"

"An Elite Four with free time and money to spare," Grimsley doesn't miss a beat. "And I'm on vacation. Brycen wanted me to spend time somewhere other than the Unovan Casinos so he dragged me out of the region."

"You have a problem," Looker says, sincerely.

"Yes, but at least I have one. You are one."

"Enough! You are a bad influence on young Luce!"

"Pot calling the kettle black! Do you truly believe you are the decent adult between the two of us? We're both disasters! Accept your reality!"

"YOU should learn to fight against your reality a little! You're still too young to have given up on your future!"

Luce doesn't understand why he's in this situation. But Snover is tugging at his arm, beckoning him to go back to the Pokemon Center because his time for morning stroll is over.

And Luce stands up, listening to the most responsible creature in the room right now. Unfortunately, it's a Pokemon, but oh well. He's not complaining.

-

That's not where the chaos in Veilstone ends. Apparently, it's only getting worse from here. Grimsley escapes on his Honchkrow only to be shot down by a Cryogonal and carted off by a Beartic, but Luce decides his sanity isn't ready for that today and ignores it all.

The story goes in pieces like this: Oh no, the blackout freaked people out! Let's make people happy. What makes people happy? Contests, Fantina screams, and no one stops her.

"You can't just do this!" Maylene is complaining fervently at them when Luce finally makes his way to the newly-set-up guerilla contest tent in the middle of Veilstone main road. "You didn't even schedule! We are having a holiday bash rush at the Department Store and you are affecting their marketing team's efforts!"

"Well is anything scheduled to run across this street?" Fantina asks.

"Well—!! No!" Maylene fumbles. "But I can't just– you know! There was no warning! There are morning calisthenics!"

"Well then, we will clean up by tomorrow morning."

"And your disturbance might result in Pokemon getting lost!"

"Oh dear. You see Maylene, the trick to that is to employ more Machop Escorts and Geodude Sentries around town," Fantina says. "They'll lead children and lost Pokemon where they need to go."

"Fantina, I don't have the budget for that!"

"Okay then, I'll give you all today's earnings for this guerilla tent. Problem settled, alright!" Fantina claps her hands together and beams. "Now, onto Contest Preparations! Maylene you will be a dear and spread the posters around for me?"

Maylene slumps in defeat.

Luce hugs Togepi to his chest, feeling incredibly sympathetic for Maylene. Monferno tugs on the edge of his scarf and signs out a genuine question.

"Is that allowed?"

Luce musses his lips and doesn't know how to answer.

Beside him, Fantina's Mismagius garbles something peppily. Luce reckons it is a cheerful 'nope!'. And Monferno nods. Yeah, he's figured. Maylene looks utterly defeated and it's a paltry reflection of the strong, youthful Gym Leader they've seen thus far.

"Luce, dear!"

Fantina spins over and captures Luce in a hand and cradle and suddenly Luce is being swept right off his feet and dropped like a princess in a waltz and he's so terrified and clutching onto Togepi— Fantina swirls him back onto his feet and he drops immediately onto his knees.

"I'm overjoyed to hear you're doing well, dear!"

Snover is growling at Fantina now, but Fantina only swoons, rubbing him on the head cooing and somehow managing to divert her hands away before Snover chomps.

"We're thinking of expanding the Contests! Not officially, there's no space in the Sinnoh region for that, but we're thinking of setting up Contest Tents, where anyone can participate in small-scale contests all over Sinnoh! What do you think of the idea?" Fantina says, and Luce's eyes gleam at the suggestion.

That would certainly expand the potential of Coordinators in Sinnoh. Liven up some of the less developed towns, too.

"Ah, of course, Master Rank contests must still be held in Hearthome," Fantina says. "We must keep the novelty alive, after all."

Luce nods.

"And is that dear little child the egg that was in your care? What a precious one!" Fantina swoons. "Where is little Fighter? I've heard many great things about her from Lucian. I'm looking forward to seeing you participate in the Contest held tonight!"

Oh, she's already decided he's participating. Oh no, he's definitely not prepared— wait, they do have an outfit ready...

And then Maylene wails, running at them and looping her arms around Luce's and clinging tightly before proceeding to burst into tears.

"NO!" she exclaims, "Luce was going to challenge me tonight! You can't steal him away from me too, Fantina, it's not fair you keep doing this!"

Luce is gobsmacked. Why are people like this? He cannot catch a break. 

In the end, Luce somehow agrees to doing them both.