The look on Claire’s face was priceless when I called my new partner out after breakfast. She had slept through the brief battle and not even noticed that I had caught the Shinx, so when I took out a Pokéball and sent out a Pokémon, she expected Charm or Vio, but when the small, blue lynx appeared, she was speechless. Though, I was rather surprised when I realised that the Shinx I had caught was the same Claire had tried to catch the day before, only to fail. The star-shaped pattern on its forehead was distinctive enough, especially in combination with the innate values, to make the identification.

“When?... How?!” she stammered, not getting too close to the freshly caught Shinx, in order to not avoid agitating it needlessly.

“The little guy wanted to do a night raid.” I grinned, as I stepped up to the small creature, Potion-bottle in hand. It observed me, just as I kept a close eye on it, neither of us fully trusting the other just yet, but I was the trainer and it would obey. Of that I was convinced, of that, I had to be convinced, or it would feel my nerves and might lash out.

When I knelt, it lowered itself for a moment, as if to pounce, but when I kept staring it down, it gave up. Under the pressure of my gaze, it obediently laid down, not quite offering its belly to me but submitting.

“Good, little one. You obey and I’ll take care of you.” I promised it, carefully spritzing some Potion onto the parts that still bore the marks from Prince Charming’s rough handling during the night. There was a curious contrast, the blue parts of its coat were wonderfully smooth, silky to the touch, while the black fur on its body was a little more coarse, stiffer, giving some protection to its hindquarters. The blue fur’s softness might have invited me to subtly change my movement from the purely procedural application of Potion to a gentle petting, the silky feeling just too pleasant.

The Shinx wasn’t too happy that I treated it like a pet, but it didn’t dare to push back. It merely laid there, letting me act while looking pitiful.

Seeing that the Shinx was subdued, Claire stepped up, lowering herself next to me. When she reached out to pet the Shinx, it swatted at her hand, chuffing in dislike. I had to struggle to keep from laughing, especially at the aggrieved expression on her face.

“But… Why?” she whined, protesting at the difference in treatment.

“Who knows.” I mused, before standing back up. The Shinx immediately rose itself, turning to present its backside to Claire. I could almost hear the arrogant huff in its actions, appearing so incredibly arrogant.

“That’s enough, little one. You can rest some more, let the Potion do its work. Later, there’ll be training, so you can become stronger.” I assured it, calling the Shinx back into its Pokéball. With the ball in hand, I set its aperture against the sensor of my Pokédex, to get the most accurate reading possible.

“I’ll need a nickname for him,” I muttered, looking at the displayed values. The Shinx would need a lot of training, but if things worked out and he reached his full potential as a Luxray, he would become an incredible attacker, supplementing his powerful, physical body with stinging electric attacks.

“Anyway, I’ll think about a good name for the little fella later. For now, let’s keep going.” I told Claire, a grin on my face. There was still a lot of distance to cover, and if there were any Starly in the area, I had a new partner that needed training.

By the time we returned to Floaroma City, the new Shinx had a fitting nickname, bestowed by Claire. It was just too fitting not to use, thus he was named Su, short for Surly. Surely, it was the perfect name for him, with the attitude he presented. Even after two days, and a lot of effort from Claire, the Surly fella had yet to allow her to touch him, let alone pet him. Yet, when I approached, he accepted the petting without a fuss, merely looking as if someone was bullying him. It was amusing to me, while Claire felt utterly aggravated.

Other than that, the patrol had been uneventful, to the point that Su and Nuts had been the main combatants. The Pokémon in the area simply weren’t strong enough to warrant intervention from any of the others.

While we had been gone, the town had completed the quiet preparation for their festival and was now in the frantic, last-minute hustle, trying to get everything just right. Through that atmosphere, we made our way to the Gym, to turn in the Task.

There was a bit of a queue at the reception, making us wait for a few minutes, but once it was our turn, the same receptionist who had given us the task originally was working, his professional smile turning up a little when he saw us.

“Ah, Dani, Clarie. Any problems with your task?” he asked, not even bothering with the usual greeting.

“No problems. Nothing unexpected, just some Bugs, a variety of plants and a few Poochyena.” I assured him, getting a nod in response.

“Excellent. The other part of your trial will have to wait until after the festival. If you are interested, there will be a small tournament, nothing big or fancy, just for locals and rookies to battle amongst themselves.” he added and suddenly, I was a little interested.

“Tell me more, please?” I asked, my voice eager.

“Here, take this flyer.” he handed over a sheet, introducing the tournament. It sounded simple enough, a single Pokémon allowed to enter, no trainers with more than four badges, nothing too complicated. Some rewards perked my interest. Maybe I really should enter.

“We started it only this year, so we’ll have to see how well things go.” the attendant added, as Claire and I were walking away, the formalities completed by Claire while I had looked at the flyer.

With that done, we headed to the Pokécentre, planning to check-in and get our room back.

“Good Afternoon. How can I help you today?” the attendant asked, a polite smile on her face.

“Good Afternoon. We’d like to get our Pokémon treated and to get a room.” I replied, only for the attendant’s smile to fade a little.

“I’m afraid there are no more free rooms.” she shook her head, before adding, “But I can take care of you Pokémon if you hand them over?”

“We were here just a few days ago and asked for the room we had to be held for us, under the names Dani and Claire.” I clarified, grateful that Claire had remembered doing so. The attendant frowned, looking down at the notes on her desk.

“Give me a second, please,” she told us, walking into the back room and I could hear papers being shuffled. When she returned, the frown was still on her face.

“I’m afraid there’s no such note.” she shook her head and I let out a frustrated sigh.

“I see.” I felt incredibly annoyed at the inconvenience but there was little I could do. Shouting at the receptionist wouldn’t help and only create another annoyed person. “Anything you can do?” I asked, after a second or two. Next to me, Claire looked just as frustrated, but held her tongue, letting me do the talking.

“Not in regards to the room.” the attendant shook her head again, a forced smile on her face.

“Great,” I grumbled, handing over my Pokéballs. “Can you recommend some sort of Inn or Hotel?” I asked, hoping that a local would have a good recommendation.

“You can go to the Golden Rose.” she told us, giving directions, “Or if they are full, the Flower Pot,” she added, giving us the directions to the second place. It was quite remarkable, for a town to have two hotels, as most travellers simply used the accommodations at the Pokécentres, but given that Floaroma City was a tourist destination, maybe it should be expected.

“Thanks for that,” I told her, before giving a polite weave and walking away, a frustrated Claire in tow.

“That sucks,” she muttered, clearly annoyed. “I specifically asked the other attendant to keep the room for us.”

“You did.” I shrugged, “But if they say it’s gone, there’s little we can do. Shouting at the receptionist will do nothing but spread misery.”

“Yeah.” she let out a sigh, “Let’s go to the hotel. Luckily, we saved up most of last month’s stipend, we should be able to get a room, right?” She tried to project a positive light, regardless of the circumstances.

“What’s the worst that can happen? It’s a festival, there’s gotta be a room in town, right?” I grinned, as we followed the directions given earlier.