Chapter 141

Chapter 141: Chapter 141

"So this is what Floaroma Town itself looks like."

Mike stood in the middle of one of the town’s streets and slowly looked around, taking in a scene that somehow managed to be even more colorful than the flower fields outside.

Nearly every house was covered in blossoms, with flowers growing beside front doors, spilling over balcony railings, and filling planters arranged across rooftops.

Wherever there were flowers, hardworking Combee could usually be found moving between them, and the residents seemed perfectly happy to let the little Pokémon collect nectar around their homes.

Mike drew in a deep breath and immediately noticed another difference from the cities of his previous life.

There was no exhaust hanging in the air and no smell of traffic, only the rich fragrance of flowers carried through the streets.

"No wonder Floaroma is famous for this. It really is beautiful," he said sincerely. "Honestly, this would be an amazing place to retire someday, as long as you don’t have pollen allergies."

With his camera in hand, Mike continued down the street, photographing the town while simultaneously searching for somewhere to eat and a hotel where they could stay.

He intended to spend a couple of days resting here before visiting the Gracidea flower fields and then heading toward the coast so Snivy could finally see the ocean and he could begin gathering Water-type footage for the next episode of The Wide World of Pokémon.

Floaroma was far busier than he expected.

From the number of people walking through the streets, it almost seemed comparable to Jubilife City, but after thinking about it for a moment, Mike decided that wasn’t particularly surprising.

A town famous throughout Sinnoh for its flower fields would naturally have a thriving tourism industry.

Public notices and advertisements had been posted on walls throughout the town.

Mike eventually stopped in front of one while chewing on a grilled sausage he had bought from a nearby stall.

"Poffin class?"

He leaned closer to the notice.

"What exactly is a Poffin? Some kind of bread?"

"Gar—"

Gengar, who was chewing on his own sausage beside him, shook his head.

[No idea.]

Mike raised his sausage for another bite, only for his teeth to close on empty air.

He paused, slowly lowered his hand, and discovered that the entire sausage had somehow vanished.

His head turned toward Gengar.

Gengar immediately covered his mouth with both hands.

"Gar—"

[Don’t look at me. I didn’t eat it!]

Mike narrowed his eyes. "Then why are your cheeks still moving?"

Gengar froze and his eyes widened.

He had been caught!

Very slowly, he shifted his feet into a position that would let him flee the instant Mike moved, while Mike stared back and waited for Gengar to make the first mistake.

Before the confrontation could develop any further, a gentle voice came from beside them.

"You’ve never heard of Poffins?"

Mike and Gengar turned together and found an elegantly dressed elderly woman standing nearby with a long umbrella in hand.

Mike immediately abandoned his standoff with Gengar and greeted her politely.

"Hello, ma’am. This is actually the first time I’ve heard of them. Would you mind explaining?"

"Poffins are Pokémon treats made from Berries," the woman told him. "They’re especially popular with Coordinators because they can improve a Pokémon’s condition and make its coat or appearance more attractive."

"Oh, I see. So they’re somewhat similar to Pokéblocks from Hoenn."

"That’s right," the woman said with a smile. "You should try making some while you’re here."

Mike glanced toward Gengar and discovered that the moment food had entered the conversation, all thoughts of escaping punishment had completely vanished.

Gengar was now staring at the Poffin advertisement with obvious interest.

Mike smiled helplessly. "We probably will. Thanks for telling us."

The woman nodded before looking over the dust on Mike’s clothes and the traveling gear carried by Gengar and the others.

"You’ve only just arrived in Floaroma, haven’t you?"

"Yeah. We came all the way from Oreburgh City, so this is our first time here." Mike looked around again.

"I have to admit, Floaroma is even prettier than I expected."

"Hahaha. I can tell you mean that." The elderly woman rested both hands comfortably on the handle of her umbrella. "Then have you heard the old legend of Floaroma Town?"

Mike’s attention sharpened immediately. "What legend?"

Gengar tugged on the hem of his shirt before Mike could continue.

"Gar!"

[You can’t make her stand here and tell us a whole story. We should invite her to tea!]

Mike looked down at him and, for once, had to admit that Gengar had made an excellent suggestion.

Since it was already afternoon, he turned back to the woman and said, "If you have some free time, would you let me treat you to afternoon tea? I’m very interested in legends and old stories from the places I visit."

To show that he was serious, Mike took out his tablet and opened several photographs of the ancient ruins he had explored earlier in his journey.

"I’ve been collecting information about local legends and historical sites as I travel."

The woman accepted the tablet, looked through the photographs for a while, then handed it back with an amused smile.

"I was already planning to have afternoon tea, so why don’t I invite you instead?"

Mike immediately shook his head. "Oh, no, I couldn’t let you—"

"Nonsense. You’re a guest visiting Floaroma for the first time. Let an old woman show you a little local hospitality."

Mike and Gengar exchanged a silent look.

Gengar’s expression clearly said, ’How are you letting an elderly woman pay for us?’

Mike’s equally obvious response was, ’I tried to stop her. You heard everything.’

Gengar still looked offended on principle.

In the end, Mike could only give in.

"Then... thank you. We’d be happy to join you."

...

The woman led them to a quiet café with a beautiful rear courtyard overlooking the coast.

She clearly visited often, because she settled immediately into a familiar seat in one corner while Mike took the chair opposite her.

Beyond the fence surrounding the courtyard stretched a vibrant mixture of greenery and flowers, and farther beyond that was the sea.

The blue of the ocean and the blue of the sky seemed to meet at the horizon until the boundary between them almost disappeared.

Mike released the rest of his Pokémon.

Snivy immediately used Vine Whip to pull herself into a nearby tree and sat on a branch with her gaze fixed on the distant water, while Glameow climbed onto Mike’s lap and settled there with a lazy yawn.

Beedrill slipped behind the leaves overhead, and Gengar took a seat beside Mike at the table.

The elderly woman watched Mike gently stroke Glameow’s back and smiled.

"You take very good care of your Pokémon."

Mike’s hand continued moving slowly through Glameow’s fur. "They follow me everywhere without asking for anything in return, even when I drag them through mountains, forests, ruins, and whatever other mess I stumble into. Taking care of them properly is the least I can do."

The woman smiled more warmly. "You’re a little different from most Trainers I’ve met."

Mike returned the smile before looking toward Snivy.

"Snivy, should we go down to the beach tomorrow?"

Snivy lowered her head from the branch and shook it.

"Sni."

[There’s no hurry. Finish what you came here to do first. The ocean will still be there afterward.]

Mike thought about it for a moment, then nodded.

She was right.

There was no reason to rush the one thing he had promised her when the sea wasn’t going anywhere.

The elderly woman followed his gaze. "Snivy likes the ocean?"

"Yeah. She was born near the coast, so she has a strong attachment to it."

"I see."

A server soon approached the table, greeted the elderly woman with a familiar nod, and then turned toward Mike.

Apparently, she was enough of a regular that the staff already knew what she wanted without asking.

Mike ordered a simple coffee, while Gengar declined anything to drink.

Once the coffee and hot tea arrived, the elderly woman quietly enjoyed her drink while Mike sipped his coffee and continued petting Glameow.

Neither felt any need to fill every moment with conversation.

The view alone was pleasant enough, especially with the ocean stretching out beyond the flowers.

Unfortunately, this particular part of the coast ended in a steep cliff rather than a beach.

If there had been an easy path down to the water, Mike would probably have taken Snivy there immediately.

"Beautiful, isn’t it?" the woman eventually asked.

Mike returned his attention to her and nodded. "Definitely. Out of every town I’ve visited so far, Floaroma might be the prettiest. There are flowers everywhere, and even the people seem happier."

"It is a lovely place," she agreed. "If you decide to visit the coast properly, though, you’ll need to approach from another direction."

She pointed toward a road leaving town and carefully explained the route.

"Follow that road until it bends, then take the path through the woods. If you keep going from there, you’ll eventually reach the shoreline."

Mike committed the directions to memory.

Then, as though offering something completely ordinary, the woman added, "If you ever want to go farther out to sea, let me know. I have a boat at home that nobody uses anymore. You’re welcome to borrow it."

Mike stared at her. "No, no, I couldn’t borrow something that valuable."

"It isn’t doing much good sitting there." Her expression became slightly nostalgic. "My husband bought it for me when he was still alive. I loved going out to sea when I was younger—feeling the ocean wind, looking for Pokémon that rarely come close to shore, and simply spending time on the water. These days, I’m too old to take it out myself."

She glanced toward the camera hanging around Mike’s neck. "You use that to photograph Pokémon, don’t you?"

Mike nodded.

"Then borrow the boat if you need it. Go take some photographs of Pokémon out at sea and bring the pictures back for me. That can be your payment."

The offer sounded far easier to accept when she put it that way, and Mike smiled.

"Deal. I promise I’ll bring you plenty!"

The woman took another sip of tea before finally returning to the subject that had interested Mike from the beginning.

"Now, about Floaroma’s legend..."

The moment she said those words, Mike and Gengar straightened almost simultaneously.

Even Glameow, who had been yawning on his lap, raised her ears, while Beedrill’s head emerged from the foliage overhead and Snivy looked down from her branch.

Mike was especially interested because experience had taught him that legends in the Pokémon world had an inconvenient tendency to be based on events that really happened.

The elderly woman began slowly. "Long ago, before Floaroma became the town you see today, this entire place was little more than a barren hill. The people living here thought the landscape looked lonely, so they repeatedly tried planting flowers and other plants, but for reasons nobody could explain, nothing they planted survived."

"Then one year, a tremendous storm swept across the area, filled with violent wind and lightning. Several days later, an equally severe rainstorm followed. After the weather finally passed, a young woman climbed to the top of the hill and offered her heartfelt gratitude to the heavens."

The woman looked out toward the flowers beyond the courtyard as she continued. "At that moment, flowers suddenly bloomed across the barren land, while every Berry tree became heavy with fruit. One particular section of the new flower field was different from the rest.

The blossoms there carried a richer fragrance, and honey made from their nectar tasted noticeably sweeter."

"That field stood exactly where the young woman had offered her thanks, so the flowers growing there eventually became known as Gracidea, flowers symbolizing gratitude."

Mike listened without interrupting, but his thoughts were already racing.

A young woman.

Gratitude.

Gracidea.

There was one Pokémon associated so closely with those three things that it was impossible not to think of it—a tiny green hedgehog capable of changing into a deer-like Sky Forme.

Shaymin, the Gratitude Pokémon.

’Could the woman in the legend actually have been Shaymin?’

Then another question immediately followed.

’If she was... who was she thanking?’

Enamorus?

Had the Gracidea flowers first bloomed because Shaymin had expressed gratitude toward Enamorus after the Herald of Spring restored life to the land?

Mike felt another headache coming on.

Every time he uncovered one piece of Floaroma’s history, it seemed to create several new mysteries.

He pushed the speculation aside for the moment and looked toward the woman. "Thank you. I really appreciate you sharing something this valuable with us."

"Gar—"

Gengar nodded enthusiastically.

The elderly woman chuckled. "You’re welcome. Telling Floaroma’s old legend to first-time visitors has become something of a hobby of mine. In fact, not long ago I told the same story to three children who had just arrived here for the first time."

Mike immediately knew who those three children had been.

He stayed and chatted with her for a while longer before exchanging contact information and eventually standing to leave.

"Thank you again. We should probably get going."

The woman nodded. "Call me if you decide you need the boat."

"I will."

Mike waved goodbye and left, with Gengar following behind while carrying the backpack.