Getting my money and out of the gym with my new badge was honestly... Painfully uneventful. I expected Daisy to come out and make a scene. I almost expected her fans to attack me.
But nope. I walked out with my bank account noticeably inflated, a new badge in my system, and said system hitting me with all the rewards I got from getting the cascade badge.
"Well... Do you want to go out to eat or something Jake? I mean that WAS rather anti-climactic, honestly." Ai said with a helpless smile.
I cleared my throat and I couldn't help but nod before pausing and saying more seriously. "Sure, but first before we forget it. I need to get that prism scale now. I want my Feebas to evolve tomorrow so they can get used their new body."
Hoshino Ai understood my desire as she smiled and said thoughtfully. "I understand, I have also been wondering I should try to save up to get a moon stone for my jigglypuff. If she get's even bigger. I bet she would be an even better singer as well!"
A shudder ran through at the thoughts of that damned walking calamity getting bigger and her voice having a naturally longer reach. But I couldn't say that as I knew Ai utterly loved that sleep-inducing monster.
We then made our way to the local pokemart. And I headed straight to the large stores teller and asked where the prism scales were.
And the rather tired-looking worker waved me over to the locked cases where the sea prism and other ultra-expensive Pokémon-based materials were.
'Shoooot, that's expensive.' I hissed as I saw the damned prism scale was the same price as elemental stones as well.
But in the end, I could only tighten my belt and bemoan my now hollowed-out wallet's fate. As I took that multi colored scale into my hand that was cool to the touch.
Once I got what I needed, along with stocking up on pre-made meals for when we did leave Cerulean City, and headed off to the next city. Ai and I went over to a nice restaurant. Where I casually ordered a steak and some delightful garlic butter rolls.
A good time all things told... Until I realized the steak came from a Tauros and I was a bit torn. For like a good two minutes, and then I realized this steak was utterly delicious.
'It's not so commonly advertised that humans eat Pokémon after all. After all... Telling some kid that the Farfetched they grew up with and thought was going to be their partner for their Pokémon adventure was going to be made into chicken nuggets woudn't go so well.' I mused to myself.
As I relaxed into a bit of a food coma, we had come back to our hotel. Hoshino Ai was already quietly asleep as she was clearly utterly exhausted after the day's antics.
"Kirrr." [We going to sleep now?] Rose whispered with a poke to my head as she leaned against me, as per usual.
I nodded silently as I gently patted Kirlia's head while throwing my belt an idle look. With Rose huffing as she said firmly. "Kirlia Kir!" [Don't bring out that big baby. She is going to run around and be all crazy... It's nap time!"
"Alright, alright." I said with a soft hmm as I decided to just humor my clearly jealous starter, who didn't like Latias due to her larger form stealing the majority of my body when it came to snuggle time.
And before I knew it, my exhausted mind connected to Rose. My physical body shut down and I was welcomed to the dreaming world as I just passed out.
-
My sleep however, wasn't so restful for long as in the darkness of our hotel room... A cold darkness filled it, and both Rose and I were stirred as the darkness of a ghost type pokemon was all to clear to our gaze.
A violent rumble rang out through the hotel room as I flared my psychic power along with Rose, yelling out as pink flames filled the room with light as she created an orb of mystical fire.
A loud hiss rang out as a dark shadow retreated from the wall of the hotel room and shot towards the room's door. And I lashed a hand at it with a purple lash of pyschic energy hitting the shadow with a loud hiss of "Haunt!"
But what was clearly a rogue Haunter managed to flee from my room even as I got up, as I looked over and saw that Ai was shuddering hard with her eye's visibly slammed shut.
"That fuck was using Dream Eater on her!" I realized with a frown.
I laid my hands on Hoshino Ai's head and with my pyschic energy I was able to sooth her mind. Breaking the dark ghostly energy that had infested her mind and soul and kept her in a nightmare.
And with a loud exhale of relief Ai relaxed with her mumbling something in her sleep as she blindly grabbed my hand that was on her face... And then dragged it to her very ample chest so she could use it as a new body pillow.
Feeling Ai's very nice breasts around my arm and hand. I thought with a small smile. 'Ok... Maybe I won't hunt down that Haunter and shred its form with psychic energy like how Sabrina taught me."
But in reality, I knew this wasn't so simple. What was the odd's that the very day I came out into the open, when Sabrina told me that the criminal team of Sinnoh was looking for me. That a ghost type was spying on me.
'Is Team Galactic already here?' I wondered with a frown. All the while, Rose was settling down from her murderous rage, even as she perched herself back onto my lap the moment I sat back down on my bed.
In the end, I could only send a message to Sabrina telling her that the very day I did my gym battle, I was attacked in my hotel by a Haunter.
For all I knew. This could just be bad luck, but it couldn't hurt to make sure after all.