"Good girl.", Ricky mused. Ricky rummaged through his Item Pouch and pulled out a set of car keys. Pressing a button on it, the two heard the car ding, signaling that its doors were now unlocked.
"This car really is yours...", Lillie uttered in amazement.
"She sure is. I don't plan to drive around in it too much, as I want to explore Kanto and other regions mostly on foot. We'll use it during events like this, when we need to.", Ricky explained.
"I too feel like walking around will make you get the most out of an adventure. Cutting it short with driving is something we should limit. Or if we want to go around to a certain spot to have some fun.", Lillie responded with a nod of her head.
"Yeah. For now, I'll put our bags in the trunk. Circling back to what Officer Jenny warned us about, I would advise not taking Snowy out of her Pokeball until we reach the hotel. It might just be the two of us, but you can never be too careful.", Ricky warned. Seeing the seriousness in his eyes, Lillie nodded.
"Alright. You can never be too careful.", Lillie responded. She was a bit saddened to hear that, but she recalled she was no longer in Alola. Lillie was in Kanto now. Each region worked differently, and until Lillie was more comfortable with how Kanto worked, she figured it was best for her to remain vigilant. Especially after hearing Officer Jenny's and Ricky's warning.
Ricky took this moment to put away their four bags. As they packed relatively small, there was plenty of room inside the trunk to store it away. Lillie took this time to enter the front seat on the right. Contrary to her expectations, she immediately felt the car seat very comfortable, and fluffy. It wasn't terribly hard. She even felt the seat beneath her start to warm up. On top of that, Lillie's gaze was immediately drawn toward the driver's seat. She saw several fancy screen panels that were showing different displays and gauges. It even had a map.
Finishing putting the baggage in the trunk, Ricky proceeded to the driver's seat, and got in. Once he saw Lillie staring at the many displays, he saw that Lillie's eyes were presently raised.
"Say Ricky, this car of yours isn't a self-driving one, is it?", Lillie asked with a doubtful look.
"Heh, you got a sharp eye. It sure is a self-driving car. I just need to input our destination, and it'll take over from there. I still need to be attentive to the road. Some mishaps can still happen. I'm almost as surprised as you are with how technology has advanced these days. It's not like we're in the dark ages of the Kalos War.", Ricky mused.
"Well, that is true. The seat's already making me feel warm too...", Lillie uttered, feeling the seat warmer heat up more and more.
"Don't get too hooked on it, alright? Still, if anyone is to blame. Blame my little bro. Gary's become quite an avid car collector. That probably rubbed off on me. However, unlike him, I only have one car.", Ricky replied with a playful smile.
"Oh right. You did have a little brother, didn't you? I haven't seen him since I partook in Professor Oak's Summer Camp about a decade ago. It'll be nice to see my friends again. I remember that he was a little prankster. You had to look after him a lot.", Lillie said, trying to recall what had happened back at the Summer Camp she went to. She hadn't gone to Kanto since, so for Lillie it really has been a good ten years.
"Gary definitely was, and is, still. He's matured a lot since then, which is a plus. I'm sure everyone will be happy to see you again.", Ricky responded with a smile.
"You think so?", Lillie wondered. Well, ten years was definitely a very long time. She wondered if the friend she made in Pallet Town even remembers her. Unlike Serena who has returned to Kanto a few times with Ricky, Lillie stayed behind back in Alola all this while, due to what struck at the Aether Foundation some years back. Because of that incident, Lillie rarely found herself going out to places.
"Definitely. I'm sure they'll be holding a welcome party of some fashion too, heh.", Ricky replied with a laugh.
"Hehe, I guess we'll see what happens tomorrow then. Before that, we have a hotel to head to, don't we?", Lillie said with a playful giggle.
"We do. I just have a slight problem before I enter our destination into the car's system.", Ricky suddenly said, which drew Lillie's gaze to him.
"A slight problem?", Lillie questioned, wondering what Ricky was referring to.
"That's right. We don't need to go to the hotel right away. We could perhaps watch the sunset and have a bit of fun while we're in the car?", Ricky suggested.
"I suppose having a little more fun wouldn't hurt...", Lillie uttered to herself. At this point she likely knew what Ricky was referring to, especially after seeing that playful grin on his lips.
Seeing as they didn't need to leave immediately, Lillie decided to go along with what Ricky wanted to do, and the two were able to spend an enjoyable evening together. They welcomed each other's embrace, but the two were careful enough not to do the real deed. That would be saved for something special. Ricky didn't know what that special something would be yet, but he knew, down the road, it could happen. After all he was in a relationship with Lillie now.***
Still, Ricky's evening was quite enjoyable thanks to spending his time with Lillie. He didn't realize an entire hour had passed since they left the airport lobby. Time sure flies fast when they have fun!
The two were able to enjoy that nice sunset once things settled down. It was now nighttime, and those who were working evening shifts started to open up shop for the evening. Marketplaces still operated around the clock, and Viridian City was quite a big city. It was one of the largest cities in the entire Kanto Region!
It was a shame Ricky only had five hours to waste now. If he had more, he would definitely want to give a tour of Viridian City and what it had to offer. There were lots of restaurants to choose from too, and many even allowed trainers to eat alongside their Pokemon!
As for Lillie, she could now be seen strapped in the front seat. She glanced over toward Ricky's side and saw that Ricky was fiddling with the touch screens before him. After inputting the destination that they will be heading to, the self-driving car started to sound off. Taking a moment, Ricky glanced back at Lillie, and wanted to make sure she was fine. After all, they did exert a lot of energy just in this last hour alone.
"You better now, Lillie?", Ricky asked. Recalling what went on, Lillie was quite out of it for a good while, but thankfully enough time has passed. Lillie seemed mostly back to her usual self again.
"Uh-huh. You really did take me for a spin there.", Lillie replied, letting out a giggle. Ricky just squinted his eyes at her, showing enough energy to crack a joke.
"You really should leave the jokes to me.", Ricky retorted.
"Pssh. You're no fun. I know a good joke or two.", Lillie responded. She even stuck out her tongue. It was as if the previous energy in the car's surroundings completely vanished.
"Is that right?", Ricky questioned, still being doubtful.
"Hehehe.", Lillie giggled again. Contrary to her happy-go-lucky attitude, what came next was a bit unexpected. The sound of a growling stomach suddenly spread across the entire car, causing Lillie to flush her cheeks in embarrassment. Hearing this, Ricky paused, but then let out a laugh.
"Haha! Well it looks like a part of you is honest, at least. To be honest, I'm a little famished after doing that. I hear they serve quite delicious food in Viridian Heights. They serve it buffet-style too, so it's basically an all-you-can-eat. They also set aside special dishes for Pokemon. Who knows, maybe even your Snowy might get a little something out of it.", Ricky wondered.
Ricky did recall some stories where Pokemon could learn a new move or two, depending on what a Pokemon ate. It sounded pretty crazy, but here in the Pokemon World, anything goes. People cook food with ingredients provided by Pokemon. So what if that dish, which was made with Pokemon ingredients, provides a chance to learn a new move?
Considering that there were over a thousand Pokemon out there, there were lots of moves on top of that!
"You can learn moves with Pokemon dishes?", Lillie mused.
"Or so they say. Trainers really do get a benefit out of visiting places with their Pokemon. Specialty cooking seemed to have started in the Galar and Paldea regions, and it's been slowly spreading around to other regions. It might rely on one's luck at the end of the day. It seems to happen pretty randomly.", Ricky explained, wondering himself how it went.
He also recalled in the Pokemon Games, one could get a variety of status effects that would apply whenever one went out to catch Pokemon, and some even made rarer Pokemon appear more frequently. Those Pokemon came with more powerful and rare moves too. So it wouldn't be farfetch'd to see Pokemon dishes provide some sort of benefits.
It was definitely something new to try out. Pokemon dishes were available to everyone to try, but Trainers especially got rewarded out of them. After all, they were given chances to learn new moves. Those moves could potentially assist Trainers in battle.
"That does sound pretty interesting. I think I've come across some promotional ads about Pokemon dishes too whenever I was at the villa. I didn't heed them too much attention, but do they really provide such good benefits to trainers? Maybe it might be good to see if we can get a recipe or two...", Lillie wondered to herself.
"Heh, chefs don't really like to hand out their secrets that easily. I'm sure there are more common recipes if we dive into some markets. We'll be able to do that once we're back in Viridian City if you'd like, but for now why don't we head on out to Viridian Heights? Their hotel is quite big.", Ricky suggested.
"Sure. I can help get a good scope of the place, and if Serena still has some stamina left from her sixteen hour flight, I can help point her to a good spot or two. Plus, I'm already looking forward to that buffet of theirs!", Lillie happily responded.
Ricky nodded at Lillie's words. The two didn't have any intentions of idling away here inside the airport garage anymore. Lillie did keep it to herself that the time she was spending with Ricky alone was coming to a close, but on the bright side, she was equally as excited. She was about to meet up with one of her friends again!
Just like that Ricky's black convertible pulled out, and started driving right into the heart of the big city. There were many decorated buildings with luminescent signs, making it quite the picturesque view. This was a far cry from what Lillie was used to seeing. Cities surrounded by the Alolan waters. Over here, it was just building after building after building! It was just like an endless sea of buildings!
Ricky decided to remain quiet as he let his car speed along the main streets. He was greeted by other drivers, making it a busy night. In no time at all, the two sped along the way, eventually arriving at their hotel...
*****
Were you able to find the ***?
That means to go check Patre0n!
It will take some time to get used to this format going forward, but hopefully the transitions don't feel too choppy.
Don't forget to drop some power stones!