It was another late morning. Battle training the night before at Clawmark Hill had gone well! The struggle of going against strong pokemon, of learning how to battle through it, of the practice they'd put into training evolving into function during battle.

But even I was getting tired. So today was going to be a new rest day! At least that had been the plan.

As I headed out of the Hotel I ended up walking down the main street of the city looking for a place to get some lunch for me and my team.

"Goo?"

"Does it smell good?" I asked Goomy, as she was riding on my shoulder and she woogled up and down a bit showing it did in fact smell good. "Well the little champion gets to pick lunch." I confirmed for her, and she brightened up instantly.

So smug for a little goo ball.

It was adorable how proud she was. She continued to be the only one of my kids that had really managed a win at Clawmark Hill, besides Mimikyu.

Not to say the others hadn't put on good performances. Riolu was definitely starting to shine combined with Luey's polishing of her fighting skills.

But Dratini, and Jangmo-o both weren't able to push all the way through. It didn't help that the silly boys were picking some of the stronger pokemon on the Hill when they battled, but at least they hadn't lost any of their spark yet.

No, instead the losses were turning that desire into a blaze!

Hehe!

I headed into the little shop, one that I hadn't entered before, but the smell of spices in the air definitely had my tummy rumbling, and soon I was seated in front of a window, as I got everyone comfortable.

Brave of course got a plate with some of my water from the cup the server placed on the table.

"It's not too cold is it?" I asked her. It had been ice water after all.

She bounced a bit and shook it off. Good it seemed she actually was enjoying the coolness.

With that everyone got placed around the table. Right next to me was Gible so I could make sure she didn't run off to the ocean. Dratini and Jangmo-o shared a chair, with Dratini wrapped around he back and Jangmo-o sitting with his tail wagging as he sniffed the air, and Mimikyu was refusing to leave my head, so I had him sitting on my head happily the highest on the table.

Riolu had her own seat, and was bouncing on her paws, tail wagging as she kept standing up on her chair and looking at the kitchen.

"Food'll be here soon."

"Rio!" She whined, and I chuffed a bit. That was definitely an "I know!" But she was still eager for the meal.

So while we waited, after ordering, I looked over my friends.

Jangmo-o's scales were a bit scuffed, but he wore them well. His Brassy head plate was scratched, and had a big white scuff running across it from where he'd blocked an attack last night.

"Jangmo-o, after we're done eating, want to sit on the be- I mean, find a place to sit, and polish your scales?" I asked him, glancing at Gible and relaxing, she was still zoned out, and not rushing to the ocean at my near mistake.

"Jang! Jang!" He barked tail wagging and I smiled at him happily as he loved that idea! His barrel was puffing up and he looked very proud. I almost started frowning at myself a bit. Had I not given him enough attention?

I hope he didn't feel that way, but between Riolu's training, and Gible in general, we hadn't really done much stuff, just the two of us.

So instead I smiled, and made a promise to spend more time with my little dragon.

"Your meal is served!" Called out a pretty girl as she started dropping off multiple plates of our meal, the skewers had meat and berries all grilled in a sauce, and I could see half my team start drooling at the smell.

Heh.

I started passing out the plates, making sure everyone had access. Then I grabbed a skewer and carefully de-skewered it onto a plate. Once the long piece of wood was pulled away and safely away I brought the plate down and rested it on my knee next to Gible. She noticed it slowly blinking once as she looked down from the ceiling. Or out the window it was hard to tell exactly what she was looking at sometimes.

She did have that predator vision where her eyes were very much on the other side of her head.

"Gib." She spoke and reached out, her little claw digging into the food before stuffing it into her face. She chewed. "Gib." Then reached for more.

Good.

I looked over everyone to make sure things were good. Dratini and Jangmo-o were both happily chewing down. Dratini had even reached out and was holding a full skewer in his tail!

"That's really good dexterity Dratini! Good job!"

"Tini!" He chirped happily in response.

Jangmo-o was sitting sort of back with both his paws wrapped around a skewer and while it was fighting him a bit he was still getting the food.

Brave was happily chewing on the side of a skewer I'd placed near her.

Riolu…

"Riolu."

"Rio! Riolu Ri!" She cackled mad with power.

She was double fisting a skewer in each hand and happily biting into both of them whenever her mouth was clear.

I sighed. This girl. She was making a mess of herself as well. Oh well. We'd hit the beach after this for a break. She'd get cleaned up then.

Then there was Mimikyu.

"Aaah." I made a noise as I was reaching to eat the next section, only for a Ghostly hand to slip down and slide the meat chunk off and disappear it into his disguise, leaving me to bite into nothing. "Huh!? My food is gone!" I said playing it up, and Mimikyu giggling above me, even Riolu was chuffing at my over acting.

I got the next piece, and then once again when I went to bite it disappeared.

"Huh!? My food is gone!" I repeated, fully in the position of straight man, and this time Riolu had to stop eating. She was laughing so hard.

I fought off my smile instead keeping my face blank as I looked around.

"Who's there!?" I demanded, and Mimikyu started cackling above me as he couldn't hold it back, and then Dratini guffawing a bit too much dropped his skewer.

"Dra!" He gasped in shock, and looked halfway to being upset, when I just reached out and pushed another one to him.

"It's okay buddy. Accidents happen." I assured him, since he knew the floor rule.

Either way. Lunch was a fun time with everyone having fun and chattering away as we all ate.

—--

"Looks good huh?" I asked Jangmo-o, having polished not just his main brassy armored head scale, but his side faulds as well, and he was examining each and every one of them, seemingly enjoying seeing his own face in his scales.

"Jang!" I smiled, satisfied, as I put away the polishing kit. When dealing with dragons, it really was a necessity. They were messy little guys when little.

Once I packed away the polishing kit he raced off. Almost instantly running up to Dratini and showing off his scales. Dratini had been working with Riolu making sand castles. He'd been helping her make the tunnels through the sand so he was 90% structurally supporting the whole castle.

I of course knew this would never work for long. Dratini was a happy little guy and patient, but he would still forget, or just decide it was time to leave eventually and Riolu's little castle would get torn apart.

I just let them play though. Mama, Papa, and Lucario were all here keeping an eye on things. I looked at the three 'adults' and smirked at how relaxed they all looked.

Papa had Rockruff literally laying against him, the rock Type was belly up and looked in heaven as he was curled up in the nook of Papa's arm, and both of them were passed out I think.

But there had been a little girl that was being a very good dragon today that needed a reward.

"I'm going surfing! Keep an eye on everyone?" I asked, and Lucario nodded behind those silly sunglasses she'd picked up, as Mama glanced up from her book.

"Taking Riolu?"

"Not this time, she's busy with sandcastles. I'm taking Gible." I said and Mama gave me a look for a bit before nodding. "Be careful."

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"I will!"

I grinned as I walked up to my little ball of teeth. She'd been sitting in the shallows just splashing around for a while, completely content.

I'd managed to convince her not to rush out into the waves somehow, and she'd been a good girl and stayed put.

So I flopped down in the sand beside her on my elbows.

"Hey Gible Gable. You want to go into the ocean with me?" I asked, and waited. Something I'd learned in interacting with her more, you really did need to give her some time to process.

Her eye looked at me, without a reaction for a while, but eventually she pushed herself to her feet and started waddling right into the waves.

"Heh. Yeah I thought so. C'mon I have something fun for us to do, okay?" I picked her up, and instead of walking back out, I stuck to waves, letting her enjoy the water as I walked down the beach.

The Surf board rentals were a good way up, but a slow walk with the waves splashing with my silliest girl sounded fun.

"You like water a whole bunch don't you Gible Gable."

"Gib." She sort of replied, although I wasn't sure if that was in response to what I said, or just because she felt it was time to make noise. I'd often hear her randomly Gib when she was doing anything.

Finally I got to the rentals, and had to take Gible out of the water for a bit, and the whole time I could tell she was just staring at the water.

But finally with a bit of finangling I had Gible under one arm, and a surfboard under the other and headed out into the waves.

"Heh. I feel like Lilo and Stitch right now." I mentioned as I paddled the board out, while Gible sat at the front happily playing in the waves we swam over.

"Gib."

"Yeah." I agreed with her, whatever she was saying, or not saying.

Gible was just like that.

I didn't head out for the actual surfers though. I was not confident I could hit a wave and keep Gible on the board, so instead I swam out another way. This was the baby waves area, and the surfing was mostly just playing around.

Perfect for Gible.

The first time we hit a small wave and I stood up and rode the wave back towards the beach she actually perked up as instead of seeing the wave wash over her, she actually got to reach out and touch the little wave as it pulled us along.

"Hehe! Like that did you?" I swam back out, fighting through some waves before doing it again, and once again Gible reached out and happily felt the wave that we rode along with.

I could see how excited she was!

I might have to try a real wave to see how she'd react.

But before I could even get that idea started. I noticed someone approaching, and blinked.

"Is that a Shellos?"

"Is that a Gible!?" Was shouted back at me at the same time, and I felt like I'd just been pushed back with how much force the girl had put into her shout.

"Gib."

I petted Gible to calm her down. "She sure is!" I agreed, and then the girl blinked, realizing I had spoken and looked at her Shellos.

"Yes! This is my Pinkie! She's going to grow into a monster just like Cynthia's!"

I blinked and then nodded. "Yeah Cynthia's Gastrodon is strong."

"Yes! Exactly!" She snapped at me, and then shifted her head her blonde hair shifted to the side, showing off…

"Are those Cynthia's hair pins?"

"Hehehehe! The official Cynthia branded Lucario hairpins! Only four hundred were ever made!" She offered and I nodded slowly, because…

Branded?

"Ah! It's such a relief. Someone with a pokemon I can actually recognize! I got into an argument with this Hoenn boy at the hotel, he said Steven Stone is the best Champion! I've never even heard of Steven Stone! He sounds dumb!"

"He's strong, with his Metagross but… Garchomp is better." I said, grinning down at Gible and rubbing at her scales.

"Gib."

"Yes exactly! Pfft! As if there is any champion in the world better than Cynthia!" The girl yelled, at the top of her lungs.

I just chuckled, cause I mean.

Cynthia was just built different.

It wasn't exactly planned, but there was a reason I had like half the pokemon on her team as well.

Milotic, Lucario, Garchomp. Cynthia built herself a team that was frankly scary.

Not like all flying type Lance.

Heh.

"But a Gible! Wow. I didn't think I'd even see one! How did you get permission to bring it along?"

"Oh it wasn't any trouble really. Not like my bigger pokemon." I explained and she looked impressed.

"Wow, your family must be important to be allowed to take a Gible out of Sinnoh."

"You can find Gible in other places besides Sinnoh. Garchomp can fly, you know."

"Pfft. No way. Everyone knows that only Sinnoh has the proper atmosphere for Garchomp!" She offered with all the confidence of someone that had no idea what they were saying.

"That's…"

"But ugh you're so lucky. How'd you do it? I've wanted a Gible for, forever! I really wanted to try and find one as my partner, like Cynthia."

"Oh well. I was exploring and stumbled into a nest."

"Oh no!"

"Hehe!" I laughed at her honest horror waving her down. "It was okay, my team is really strong! I fought Gibles mother who was a really big Garchomp, totally the alpha of the whole mountain."

"Whoa, and you won?"

"Yep! My team is the strongest! But then I got permission by the Matriarch to take a Gible. I offered to raise one of her children to be just as strong as the rest of my team, and out of all the Gibles, I chose this one."

"Wow. Was she the strongest?"

"Nope! She was the smallest. She was being bullied a whole lot by the rest, for being small, and so I chose her." I explained gently stroking Gibles fin which she was quite happy to let happen as she played with her claws in the water.

"Huh… You picked the weakest one?"

"I picked the one that I could help the most, and the one that was perfect for me."

"I don't know. I think I'd have picked the biggest one. Don't you want strong pokemon?"

"Pokemon are strong or not based on their trainer. Not on how big they are, or something. Gible will someday be the strongest Garchomp in the whole world! And probably spend all her time playing in the water. She likes it."

"Second Strongest, maybe." The girl offered and I looked up. "Cynthia's Partner is the strongest! The unbeatable Garchomp!"

I just laughed at the girl's exuberance.

"You really like Cynthia huh?"

"You're looking at Cynthia's future apprentice!"

"Whoa. Really!?"

"Ah, well… I will be someday!" She argued and I calmed down from the surprise before nodding. Fair enough.

I wasn't dealing with someone actually working with Cynthia, but just a Cynthia fangirl.

"Good luck. You'll need to be strong though."

"I know!" She agreed, shooting a fist into the sky. "I'll be a strong trainer! I'll get all the gym badges on my journey and beat the conference! I'll face Cynthia!" She roared to the heavens and I couldn't help but giggle at just how exuberant she was.

"I wish you luck on your goal. Just keep trying and you'll make it there."

"Hmph! I will! Without a doubt! What about you, are you excited for your Journey?"

"I've already done it. This is my vacation after the conference and stuff."

"Wha!? You're twelve!?"

"Nope. I'm eleven!"

She looked at me in shock for a moment.

"You can't start your journey until you're twelve!"

"Oh, it starts at ten in Kanto."

"Wha, Kanto!? What even is that?"

"The Kanto Region? It's where I'm from." I explained and the girl continued to look like her brain was fried.

"But… But you have a Gible!"

"Yep! I went exploring in the wilds north of Kanto and found her nest."

"But-but! That's a Sinnoh only Pokemon!"

"They're mostly found in Sinnoh, but I did say you can find them outside of Sinnoh."

"No way! Everyone knows they only live in Sinnoh! Are you-you a-a Pokeon Thief!?"

"Don't be rude." I snapped back holding Gible a little closer. "I'm not a thief! That's mean."

"But…" She shook her head. "I have to tell Papa about this! He's part of the Sinnoh League! He'll do something!" She said, sounding rather frazzled.

So I just shrugged.

"Okay. I'm gonna keep playing with Gible Gable, and then I'll be on the beach." I offered to her and she seemed to take my lax reaction to heart and seemed to puff up.

Then she started paddling away.

"C'mon Gible, let's hit another wave!"

"Gib."

—--

"I warned you Riolu." I called out as I walked out of the waters and onto the beach. Riolu was pouting in the remains of her sand castle where Dratini had obviously got fed up acting as her support and slithered out.

"Rio!"

I just shook my head and headed over to Mama. Papa was gone along with Lucario I noticed.

"Welcome back. How were the waves?"

"Great! Gible really likes surfing, and she didn't mind when I tried a bigger wave and lost control. I think she actually giggled when she went splashing into the water."

"Well that sounds positive." Mama offered, smiling at me, and waving me over, so I plopped into the sand beside her.

"Where's Papa, and Lucario?"

"Getting some food. Not all of us slept in until noon and then had lunch."

"Hehe!" I rubbed the back of my head as Mama was giving me the look.

"You know this is a vacation. I understand you want to train your pokemon, but you're supposed to be having fun."

"It is fun!"

"But not at midnight. I know you've been staying out late."

"Ah."

"Yeah, Ah." Mama gave me a look. "Try not to stay out so late. I know you want to battle with your friends, but… Well you're not on your journey right now. So I'm gonna start putting in a bed time if I have to."

"Ewww. Mama, please no. That's so lame." I whined and she laughed at my disgusted expression.

"There she is!" A voice called out, and I looked over and sighed.

"Oh it's her." I muttered. Mama instantly sent me a look. "It's a girl from Sinnoh that said I stole Gible." I told Mama hurriedly, and she started frowning as the Shellos girl was pulling a man that definitely looked like he was trying to relax on the beach along with her.

"Bernice, what have I told you about your volume?" He said and the girl winced at her fathers rebuke.

"Sorry Daddy."

"Alright, now… That is a Gible!" He said, sounding quite happy, actually a big smile on his face. "A tiny one too!"

"She's still growing!" I retorted instantly as I held Gible to the side of me like I was protecting her from bad words.

"Of course of course. Excuse me. I'm Ian Sasaki."

"Haruka." Mama offered back and he smiled.

"A pleasure. Sorry to bother you, but Bernice mentioned a girl with a uh. 'Stolen' Gible, and urged me to investigate. I apologize for any disruption."

"Heh." Mama offered smirking a bit, as she seemed to pick up on the fact the guy wasn't very impressed with his daughter's opinion.

Then before I could say anything else, Bernice nearly shrieked. "Is that a RIOLU!?"

"Rio?" Riolu questioned perking up from the sand where she'd dug herself into a pit of sorts and was mostly out of sight.

"Yep. Riolu is one of my other pokemon." I offered, and then Bernice slowly creaked her neck towards me, her face shifting.

"Bernice-"

"I won't let you take the role of number one Cynthia fan! That's me!" She shrieked and I just had to blink.

What a weird day.