Chương 123: Chapter 119

There'd been a bit of a daily "psychic party" going on along the way to Hearthome. With me were Ninetales, Florges, Carbink, Whimsicott, Kirlia, Ponyta, and Togepi. That might have just seemed like a usual collection of seven team members, but there was a shared trait between all of them. They were all capable of learning Psychic. Well, except for Ninetales. Whimsicott had already been taught Psychic, the move, from a TM, but now both Florges and Carbink had been taught the move as well.

TM moves weren't as flexible as normally learned moves, but they still needed time to be spent on them to effectively break them in. Since several of my Pokémon were already practicing Psychic, it also made sense to have them work with Kirlia and Ponyta and have them "upgrade" their Confusion attack into Psychic.

It was a bit of a reversal of how things normally went, as out of the five members of my team working on Psychic, it was the non-Psychic Types that were trying to help the Psychic Types learn the identically named move. We were set up on a hill not too far away from Hearthome City, getting the morning's practice in before we would make the last push to arrive. By my estimate, we had a day left of travel, us having been traveling northwest from Pastoria for the past five days.

That meant we had been traveling primarily off route, taking the most direct but most dangerous route. My intention had been to explore the Great Marsh location to the north and around the city, but, well... My team had unanimously agreed we weren't going to talk about what we experienced in the marsh. Nothing had happened in the marsh. The sole Pokémon here who couldn't learn Psychic was Ninetales.

It was unfortunate that she was being left out, but she at least knew Extrasensory, which she used to keep Togepi entertained. Extrasensory wasn't true telekinesis but it was awfully close. It was good enough to demonstrate to Togepi, who would be capable of using the move eventually. She was still too young to practice, although I was expecting to see her start to use moves at any point. However, considering she'd only hatched just over a week ago, I felt no need to do anything other than keep her happy.

Personally, on my end, I'd mostly just been sitting around, holding the Pixie Plate in my hands. Just keeping it around made relaxing a lot easier for both me and everyone else on my team. My ultimate goal was to reach Celestic Town and talk to Cynthia's Grandmother about it, but there wasn't any reason to rush. I planned to spend a bit of time in Hearthome itself, competing in the local Contest, battling in the local Gym, and also seeing which of my team members were considered "cute" enough to enter Amity Square.

In my opinion, it would be all of them. With what was essentially a miniature tornado of glowing stones and sticks happening nearby, all I had to do in the moment was sit back and enjoy the sight of my team working together. Kirlia was throwing himself into training, like usual, but now, he was much more willing to get help from others. A sudden crash off to the side caught my attention, and Ninetales barked out her name. When I glanced over to where she was keeping Togepi company, I didn't see anything wrong.

I quickly stuffed the Pixie Plate back in my pack and headed over.

"What was that? Did something happen?" For a brief moment, Ninetales looked conflicted about how to act before she decided to sit back on her haunches and puff up her chest in pride. She nosed towards where Togepi was sitting next to her, who looked just as pleased with herself as Ninetales was.

"Togepi caused that crash?" I asked, confused. At my words, Ninetales nudged Togepi with her nose, who giggled at the cold touch. Togepi then held up her arms and waggled them back and forth, making them move in a regular pattern almost like a—"Metronome," I said, surprised. Togepi's arms glowed white while they moved until a moment later, where the glow stopped.

From her head, her crest suddenly elongated and shot out several long pins, which sailed through the air and disappeared into the trees off to the side of this hill. It took a while before the thin missile barrage ended.

"Huh. That was Pin Missile," I said. Both Pokémon puffed their chests up once again at that declaration. This was the first time I'd seen Togepi use a move. I kneeled down to get closer to eye level with my Pokémon so that way I could better talk with Togepi. I purposely spoke in a quiet voice to not upset her with what I was about to say.

"I'm proud of you for using Metronome. Such a strong move after only a week is impressive. However, Metronome can have some pretty nasty results, so we should probably refrain from using it outside of battle." Togepi smiled at my words, and Ninetales nodded her head as if to support what I said. There was a brief pause as Togepi stared up at me, a wide smile on her face, then she began to move her arms back and forth again.

"No, wait—" My words were interrupted by a chill that went down my spine. A cool breeze blew over our camp, and I couldn't help but to feel like something bad was about to occur. However, nothing happened. Behind me, the Pokémon practicing Psychic stopped what they were doing to look on. Ponyta started to approach.

"That was Ominous Wind," I identified.

"Again, I'm happy you can use the move, but its outcome can literally be—" Togepi laughed and waggled her arms for a third time. Ponyta's eyes suddenly went wide, and he burst into a sprint. There was a flash of light. Togepi disappeared.

"What," I deadpanned. Ponyta seemed to be the only Pokémon who had truly understood what just went on. Everyone else genuinely needed several seconds just to process that. It wasn't that Togepi had turned invisible with Camouflage or the like. No, Ninetales made that clear when she pawed at the space Togepi was just in and found nothing. Togepi had clearly left the camp. If I had to guess, Togepi had unintentionally used Teleport.

Ponyta paused for a moment to close his eyes before rushing off into the nearby forest. I cursed once I managed to regain my bearings.

"Everyone, emergency mode. After him!" I immediately dashed after Ponyta, trying my hardest to match the pace of a Ponyta specialized in running. He went as far as to use Agility to increase his speed, disappearing into the woods. Behind me, my Pokémon were quickly moving after him. After all our encounters between Team Magma, Team Flare, Hunter J, and even Team Rocket, practically every member of my team was ready to go at a moment's notice. They all started to pass me.

With the sheer difference in speed between human and Pokémon I felt as though I would never catch up. It was at that moment that Kirlia teleported in front of me. I paused my movement as he gave me just the smuggest grin and held out his hand.

"Show off," I grumbled. Within an instant, my stomach twisted over itself, and reality warped. My location instantaneously changed, but I had trouble detecting my surroundings due to the intense nausea I was experiencing. It was better than before, but Kirlia was still developing as a Pokémon to take others along in Teleport. Considering his focus had been on his offensive moves, it'd be a while before he could help with transporation. As my vision swam, my head darted around to figure out where we were.

A sudden surprised grunt caught my attention. The unexpected sounds of Togepi's giggling caused everything to snap into focus. With the momentary adverse reaction to amateur teleportation out of the way, I could finally see who was in front of me. As far as I could tell, Togepi was in no danger whatsoever, but she wasn't alone. Currently holding her in his arms was an aging man who was dressed in the black and white uniform of a butler.

He squinted his eyes at me and wiggled his white mustache in thought as he took me in.

"Are you this little one's trainer?" he asked.

"I am," I sighed.

"She teleported away in a Metronome accident." At that moment, Ponyta burst through some nearby bushes and skidded to a halt, looking somewhat surprised to see both Kirlia and I here. Togepi, upon seeing her imprinted "mother," pushed and struggled to get out of the butler's arms. The old butler yelped, and Togepi began to fall, but Ponyta quickly caught her in a telekinetic grip and placed her solidly on his back with a sigh. The butler twirled his mustache.

"Interesting," he said. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

"What?"

"Your Pokémon. They'd be considered cute, wouldn't they?" I shook my head at the absurd question then nodded to give him the affirmative. There was only a momentary delay after that before my team made their way over. Ninetales was first, thanks to her Agility, but then she disappeared only for Florges to replace her with an Ally Swap. Ninetales reemerged for the second time, grumbling to herself as the rest of the team followed.

There was a brief moment where they tensed upon recognizing there was a stranger in between the trees with us, but they quickly relaxed when they saw neither Togepi, Kirlia, Ponyta, nor I seemed that worried. The old butler hummed in thought, bringing my attention back towards him.

"I don't suppose you're interested in coming back with me to my master's mansion, are you?" My blank stare of confusion made it clear he needed to elaborate. The butler laughed.

"Sorry, sorry! This has all been so sudden, between Togepi literally appearing in front of me and you and your Kirlia doing the same afterwards. Not to mention your Pokémon rushing in twice over." He cleared his throat.

"Hello. I'm a butler for Mr. Backlot, the owner of Amity Square in Hearthome City. He has quite the expansive garden behind his home that I always try to keep stocked with cute Pokémon I find during my morning walks. While I can see that Togepi has already found a family, my master is always interested in meeting bright young trainers like you, especially those with such cute Pokémon on their team!" He chuckled to himself appreciatively as he looked over my Pokémon.

"Oh, and we'll be sure to compensate you for your time by providing delicious food during your stay. Our chefs specialize in making food for Pokémon, but they're quite adept at making food for humans as well," he quickly added.

"Deal," I said. Ninetales's mouth was already drooling. The food itself hadn't even really been described. The old butler laughed again.

"Then come along now, Mr. Backlot's mansion is this way." The butler began to lead me and my Pokémon through the forest, although we had to make a brief delay to pack up our campsite. Soon enough, the forest parted to reveal a large, old fashioned mansion complete with a hedge that divided it off from the wilderness around it. My Pokémon and I headed inside. Mr. Backlot was a rotund man with graying hair and a practically permanent smile on his face.

He didn't question his butler in the slightest when my team and I appeared outside his front gates, simply welcoming us in and leading us to his back gardens. Once we were there, almost immediately, what felt like a dozen stereotypical maids set up a white table covered with an absolutely massive selection of different foods to eat. Ninetales immediately lunged forward to dig into a bowl of berries laid out for us then moved over to chomp down on a poffin, which was Sinnoh's local baked speciality. Mr.

Backlot and I had a small table with tea and pastries set up on the side. I sat down as I watched Whimsicott eye a bowl of sweet fruit juice mischievously.

"Here comes my favorite part," Mr. Backlot whispered. The gardens we found ourselves in were similar to a hedge maze in that there were a number of bushes that divided sections of different plants and flowers up. The section we were in was a graveled clearing that had a large fountain flowing in the center. Popping out from both a few different paths as well as the fountain itself were several small Pokémon, many of whom were Fairy Types.

There was a trio of mousey Pichu, a puffy pink Igglybuff, a bright blue Azurill, as well as, to my surprise, a single Cleffa, the pre-evolution of Clefairy. I was so used to Clefairy being a restricted Pokémon in Hoenn that it hadn't occurred to me that it might not be the case here. Togepi had been riding on Ponyta's back, and she hopped off to approach the Pokémon that had been in the gardens. She showed no signs of fear as she cheerfully toddled over to them and grabbed one of the Pichu's hands to shake.

She then moved down the line to shake the second Pichu's hand, then the third, and started to make her way to the rest of the Pokémon here as well. They all seemed dazed at how friendly she was but more than willing to go along with her at the same time. Mr. Backlot laughed at such a sight.

"If I had only known I'd be receiving guests today. I'd have had even more poffins prepared!" he declared. The pile on the table was already almost a foot high.

"Oh, no," I said.

"This is more than enough. Any more and you'd be encouraging Ninetales to gain even more weight than she already has." Ninetales sent me a glare but continued to dig into her yellow-colored poffin regardless. Mr. Backlot let out another boisterous laugh.

"Hoh hoh! What a delightful exchange! Say, I don't suppose you're Robin, are you?" he asked. I had been bringing a biscuit up to my mouth, but the unexpected question caused me to pause and bring it back down to the plate instead.

"What makes you ask that?" I said slowly.

"I'm an avid consumer of Contests across the region. You two share quite a similar team. In fact, I could swear that Florges is the same one that performed in the Wallace Cup!" Florges purposely positioned herself to face away from Mr. Backlot. Ninetales scooted over to nudge her in the side. Florges refused to turn around. Mr. Backlot hummed as he looked at them. Soon, however, he eventually shook his head.

"No, no. I don't think you are. The height's all wrong. Wait! Unless—""How could I be Robin if I'm fighting in show battles so often?" I interrupted. He tilted his head to the side quizzically.

"Show battles?" he asked.

"You know, against Gym Leaders? To demonstrate Mega Evolution?" Mr. Backlot simply shrugged and went back to watching my team eat and play with the Pokémon here while he himself consumed some confections. Togepi had entered a game of tag with the three Pichu and Cleffa. One of the Pichu seemed to have the bright idea of using an Electric Type move to paralyze Togepi, but that plan was stopped in its tracks when it noticed Ponyta looming right there behind them. The game continued uneventfully.

"If you truly are competing in Show Battles against Gym Leaders, I must admit, I don't pay much attention to the battling side of Pokémon. Performance is where my heart truly lies! In any case, I recommend taking part in the Hearthome Contest. Your Pokémon are clearly well groomed and have incredible control. They'd do well in the doubles performance there." I nodded, finding humor in the fact that he was advising the winner of the Wallace Cup to compete in a Contest, but paused when he said that last phrase.

"I didn't know Hearthome's Contests had a doubles performance," I said.

"Indeed! Two Pokémon performing in sync, demonstrating not only their own skill, but their impeccable teamwork! Due to my donations to the city, I've judged my fair share of the local Contests, but, alas, that judging slot will be taken up by Fantina for the foreseeable future."

"Wait, what? The Hearthome Gym Leader? I thought she only performed in Contests, not judged them." The old rich man chortled.

"Well she is a Top Coordinator. It makes sense to allow her to provide input on them. Wallace does the same thing in his own cup, after all!" I hummed at the comment and watched my Pokémon enjoy themselves. Ninetales was already near comatose from how much she had eaten while Florges was calmly sipping on a bowl of the fruit juice that had been placed on the table. Off on the other side of the clearing, I glared at Whimsicott who seemed to be trying to egg Kirlia on to do something. Kirlia looked a little annoyed.

My quiet observation was suddenly interrupted by a question from Mr. Backlot.

"So. Would you like to see my collection?" he asked.

"Collection? Of Pokémon?"

"No, no, no. I do not collect Pokémon; I only take care of the ones that wish to live here. I have many rare items I've acquired throughout the years, and I love to have others see them. Of course, why else would I collect if not to show off to others?" He laughed at his own joke, and I chuckled politely. He slapped the table in a very final way before pushing upwards and starting to walk toward the mansion. I moved after him, Ninetales falling in at my side, as she was somewhat bloated and needed to walk it off.

The rest of my team would be staying behind. I trusted them to keep themselves safe. Based on the way Ponyta was currently dividing up a poffin for all the smaller Pokémon to eat, I could tell they'd be fine. Mr. Backlot led me into his mansion and up into an expansive second story. From there, he led me to a room completely filled to the brim of items displayed in glass cases.

"Behold!" he announced.

"My stuff." With him smiling and leading me along, he began to discuss and talk about practically everything I laid my eyes on. For a collection of random, valuable goods, I actually found myself quite interested in what he had.

He had a strange souvenir from Alola, a few stones collected from space by the Mossdeep Space Center, gems and crystals from mines in Galar, a genuine Key Stone (although he didn't realize what he had until I told him), as well as a curious glass sphere that he said was an artist's rendition of a Griseous Orb. Personally, I was shocked that the knowledge of such an item was public at all. After seeing a decent chunk of what he had collected, Mr.

Backlot eventually took me to the center of the room where a curtained pedestal sat on its own. He puffed up his chest rather proudly as we approached and began to speak even before revealing what it was.

"I consider myself quite lucky to have this," he said.

"I wasn't going out of my way to find it; it was merely listed in one of my contact's inventories, and I knew it must be mine. At times, I find myself admiring it just for its sheer uniqueness. After all, I'm confident it's the only one of its kind in the world." He grabbed a small golden rope and pulled it, drawing the smooth, velvet curtains back.

"And there it is! The Blank Plate!" he declared. My body went stock still. Not unlike the Pixie Plate in my backpack, the Blank Plate was a solid rectangle made out of an unknown, almost ceramic-like material. Instead of being pink, however, this one was perfectly white. It was hard to explain just how white it was when I looked at it. White on its own was a color, but it was a color that was both all colors and colorless at once.

Just looking at it made it hard for me to tell if I was looking at pure nothing or a complete rainbow. The strange effect it had proved its authenticity. Like all of the special plates, this one had words written on its back. It had been specifically placed on a dark pillow upside down to let those words be visible."' Three beings whose power can hold both time and space fixed,'" I read reverently off the back. Mr. Backlot smiled.

"Impressive, is it not?" he asked. Unconsciously, I reached into my backpack and pulled out my own plate. This time, Mr. Backlot stilled.

"Is that—""The Pixie Plate?" I interrupted.

"Yes. Please, I need to know. Have you ever tried to have someone take the plate away from you in your presence?" He furrowed his brows and glanced between the Pixie Plate and the Blank Plate.

"No. Why?"

"Call someone in here and have them try," I said. He frowned, almost concerned, then nodded. He actually didn't even need to call anyone, as a maid that had been quietly standing in the corner approached. She lifted up the glass to retrieve the plate then hurried out of the room. Mr. Backlot and I stood facing each other in silence. Ninetales was still here too, of course, but she was practically asleep on her feet. The combination of copious amounts of food and a boring (to her) tour of Mr.

Backlot's collection meant she had almost no energy left. The nervous silence developed into an awkward silence as there was no change in the room.

"Is something supposed to happen?" Mr. Backlot asked.

"Keep waiting. Any moment now." Neither of us spoke for several long minutes until the maid came hurrying back into the room. She placed the Blank Plate on the table, it having not left her presence during her entire jog around the mansion. I rubbed my head.

"Can you try with the Pixie Plate, maybe? Carrying it?" I asked Mr. Backlot. He exchanged a glance with the maid in the room, then hesitantly grabbed the plate from my hand. He began to walk out of the room and closed the doors behind him, where there was no reaction for only a few seconds longer. The doors burst open as Mr. Backlot came hurrying in.

"The plate! It disappeared! It—" His eyes moved to stare at something behind me. The maid and I turned around, seeing the Pixie Plate sitting there as if it had never left.

"Huh," he said.

"I know," I replied. Wordlessly, he walked over, picked up the plate, and tried again. Once more, the Pixie Plate disappeared to reappear at my side. We repeated this experiment with a few more variations, using different people and different combinations of the plates, until one thing was clear: the Blank Plate wouldn't move around but the Pixie Plate would. I was baffled by the difference between the plates, and so was Mr. Backlot.

I put the Pixie Plate away into my backpack and the two of us returned to the gardens outside, Ninetales keeping in pace with me with her eyes closed. When I arrived, my befuddled mood was lifted slightly when I found out what Whimsicott had been trying to convince Kirlia to do. However, it seemed to have backfired, as Whimsicott had become the subject of the prank he had been trying to cause. His cotton hair was now a bright red, courtesy of the red juice he had been teleported into. Mr.

Backlot and I said nothing for a long time.

"Do you want to take the Blank Plate?" he offered. My head snapped towards him.

"If the Pixie Plate undergoes such a reaction—""No, it's not mine," I said quickly.

"I've already had enough fortuitous encounters for one lifetime. I really don't need another connection to god." Mr. Backlot snorted in amusement.

"God, hm? So you're religious?" I scoffed. There was a difference between being religious and knowing for a fact there was a creator Pokémon in this universe.

"Honestly, based on what happened with the Pixie Plate, I think it just might be that you don't count as the owner of the Blank Plate," I said.

"I don't know if this is a temporary stop for it, or if it thinks you're just storing it, or if someone is going to steal it from you, but I think soon enough, there's going to be someone who has the same reaction with it as the Pixie Plate does with me." Mr. Backlot nodded, obviously completely out of his depth. I let myself slump back in my seat, then let the Pixie Plate fall down into my lap as well.

I could have sworn I had put it away earlier, but I wasn't going to dwell on any more mind-boggling, paranormal events any longer. Instead, I let my eyes close as the sounds of my Pokémon happily playing filled my ears. We'd likely be entering Hearthome tomorrow, and there, we had not only a doubles Contest, but a Gym Battle, too. After that, it would be time to head north and see if I could find anything out from Cynthia's grandmother. Until then, there was a lot that still needed to be considered.