'Ride home together?'
Axel's throat was a little dry.
Who could refuse a girlfriend wearing an Eevee-tail outfit?
"Um… that's not really good, right?", Seeing Axel clearly full of anticipation but refusing to say it, Iono deliberately pretended to put the clothes in her hands back.
"Then let's not buy it?"
"No!", Axel waved his hands in a panic, "What I mean is, just taking one feels a little disrespectful toward today's expenses."
"I see there's also a Sylveon-style one right next to it. How about we take them both?", Iono grinned wide, carrying both outfits into the fitting room.
"Alright then, I'll show you in a bit. You just rest for now, okay?"
.
.
.
Not long after, a sweet fragrance drifted over.
Axel raised his head slightly. Iono had already changed into the Sylveon-style outfit she picked.
The whole set was in white and blue tones. Compared to the cute, playful look of the previous outfit, this one was clearly more mature.
The pale-blue ear hairclip on her head was just right, perfectly matching the fluffy blue tail.
'A Sylveon girl. Shiny, too!'
Iono twirled in a circle, showing off her beauty to Axel without reservation.
"Axel, does it look good?"
"It looks good!"
"Not only does it look good, it's even more fun than that~", Iono winked her left eye and lightly bit her lip.
She pressed a hidden switch on the outfit, and the white ribbons suddenly floated magically, stretching out toward Axel and giving a playful tug~
———
After a round of "battle," Iono was exhausted, unable to untie the ribbons at all.
But Gyarados's energy was surging, on the verge of launching into a second round.
"Uu~", Iono's voice was like a startled little beast, her hands crossed in an "X" to guard her chest.
"Axel, I'm thirsty… can you go get a bottle of water first?"
"Dehydrated? Then wait here just a moment."
Axel dotingly pinched Iono's cheek, not bothering to untie the ribbons, and walked off toward where he remembered seeing the water dispenser.
———
"Gulp~"
In the corner of the shop, Elesa licked her lips, dry with thirst.
Just now, she had been startled awake by the sounds of battle.
But her body was still paralyzed and she couldn't move at all.
So she could only grit her teeth and endure, watching the entire fight to the end.
The battle was fierce, Gyarados was ferocious. Far beyond what Elesa could have imagined.
As an adult, and a star admired by thousands, Elesa had also turned on the battle channel late at night before, watching an exhilarating match.
But because of her public status, it was hard to find a partner to battle with day and night.
Originally Elesa thought that since Iono was a big streamer, she too wouldn't easily find a partner.
Someone to accompany her along this path.
But she never expected, this girl actually betrayed her.
Elesa glared angrily at the exhausted, sleeping Iono, but the corner of her lips curled into an "auntie smile", "This round… just wait till tomorrow and see how I tease you!"
Suddenly, Elesa felt a straw being pressed against her lips.
She instinctively looked up. Axel was already standing in front of her, she didn't know when.
"Here, drink some water."
Elesa clamped her mouth shut, afraid to wake Iono and let her see her defeated appearance.
At last, when the Hydro Pump finished, Axel gently patted Elesa's back.
Before he could say anything, Elesa grabbed his shoulder and pulled out a familiar golden card.
"I'll take responsibility for you. Don't tell anyone about this."
Axel: "..."
'The hell, since when did I become a professional sparring partner?'
'Girl, did you just get possessed by Caitlin or something?'
Axel took a deep breath, snatched the golden card from Elesa's hand, and shoved it back into her pocket.
Along with it, he slipped in a coin from the Safari Zone.
'I, Axel, will never live off a woman. If anything, it's you all who should live off me.'
Elesa stared at Axel's back for a moment, then couldn't help but burst into giggles.
'This man… seems kind of cute, actually…'
———
Not long after, Iono slowly woke from her sleep.
"Axel, where's my water? I'm so thirsty~"
"Here!", Axel quickly placed a fresh cup of water and straw in front of her.
Iono drank greedily, only to realize afterward that Elesa was now standing behind Axel.
'Ahhh, I'm gonna die!'
'Battling in a shopping mall? If people find out, it'd be social death!'
"Ahem!", Axel pointed at the loose yellow coat on Iono, signaling her not to panic.
"You just fell asleep from exhaustion. Elesa happened to come here just now, so we chatted a little."
"Y-Yeah, that's right!", Elesa hurried to explain, "Today my Emolga seemed to be acting strange and flew in here carrying other people's things."
"When I followed, I saw you lying asleep on the chair."
"Phew~", Hearing Elesa's words, Iono let out a long sigh of relief.
'Thank goodness, thank goodness. Saved from social death!'
Seeing Iono relax, Elesa and Axel both also breathed easier.
'Thank goodness, thank goodness. Otherwise that misunderstanding would've been impossible to explain.'
"Sis Elesa, how about we go look for your Emolga now?"
"Yes!", Axel and Elesa exchanged a glance and quickly answered in unison.
At this moment, hidden inside a pearl, a dragon trembled slightly.
'Don't come, don't come! I don't want to run into you!'
Reshiram was panicking. Panicking hard.
He only wanted to find Axel before the black dragon did, to make him his trainer.
But now the timing was all wrong.
He hadn't yet reached the proper moment of birth, and his consciousness couldn't stay awake too long.
So when Iono and Axel showed up at the mall, he deliberately put himself back to sleep, wanting to meet Axel in peak condition.
But when he had just now awakened, he was shocked to find Axel helping Elesa put on shoes.
If Axel knew about such a scene, wouldn't he definitely silence him?
But if he ran now, and the black dragon found Axel first, then he might as well be silenced anyway.
'The hell with it, fight!'
Reshiram rolled a few times, forcing himself out the door.
At once, two Emolgas hiding nearby appeared, carrying the pearl containing him and flying back inside, hovering above the three of them.
["I am Reshiram! Here I have sensed the aura of courage, and so I rushed here from afar."]
When he said "from afar," Reshiram deliberately stressed the words. Terrified Axel might realize he had just overheard something he shouldn't have.
["That domineering, handsome, upright man before me. Are you willing to become my trainer?"]
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