Chapter 3 - Chapter 3 A Mom's Day Out

Clyde and his mother manage to locate their room and get themselves adjusted. His mother even added some adorable decorations to the room to make it feel a bit more like home. Clyde didn't really mind it too much; his mom always has an eye for design. At least that's what she likes to call it.

Soon, not too long after this, Clyde's mother gets a phone call. "Oh, excuse me for a second, Clyde." She starts walking outdoors to answer the call. Before leaving, she tells her son, "Clyde, make sure to message your father and tell him the room we're staying at while I'm on this call, kay?" Clyde just gets out his Poryphone and says, "Yes, ma'am," as he begins to type out a message for his dad to see.

Walking around the outside of the cruise, Clyde's mom opens up her phone. "Hello?" She heard a familiar feminine voice on the other side. "Talia?" She recognizes the voice, and a big smile appears on her face. "OMG, ESTER! How are you, girl? How have you been?" Ester then replies, "I've been good, Tali. I wanted to call since it's been a while and also tell you I got a new job."

Talia, finding a place to sit down, says, "That's great, girl! Where are you working now?" Ester twirling her hair says, "I'm working on this big cruise liner. I can't remember the right name. I think the name of the ship was the Anne. Wait, was it Annie? It's not forever though, just a temporary business venture of mine. At this, Talia exclaims, "You're telling me you're on the SS." Anne right now? Ester says nonchalantly, "Oh right, that's its name. I have been working here, yeah. Talia then replies, "Where are you on the ship right now, girl?" Ester responds in disbelief, "No... Stop talking. You're not on here."

Talia beams with joy at the prospect of seeing her old friend once more. "Yup, the Anthony and I decided to go on a family vacation." "It's been so long; we'll be able to catch up," Ester then tells her "All right, I'm in the main room of the ship. I'll be waiting for you at the exit door." Talia simply responds, "I'll get there as soon as I can."

Excited to see her friend, Talia, she runs down the hall. Just as she is ready to go down the stairs, she collides with her husband, causing them both to fall to the ground with a thud. Picking themselves up, Anthony just looks to his wife, "Talia, what's the hurry? Why the rush?" Talia takes her husband's hand to help her get back up. "Sorry, Anthony, I found out that one of my old friends is working on the SS. Anne and I wanted to go see them."

Anthony just sighs, looking at his wife, saying, "Alright, I get it; just try not to be too long. We still got to give our gifts to Clyde." Talia, in a rush, says while running down the stairs, "Don't worry; I will love you byeee." Anthony just lightly smiles, knowing how much his wife loved catching up with old friends. He just hopes she doesn't lose track of time while she's there.

She rushes into the main floor after descending the stairs. She glances around and sees that a lot of people are still entering the ship. Sadly, she didn't see her friend Ester anywhere. She pulls out her Rotom phone, hoping to contact her again. She suddenly feels something tugging on her clothing, as something is trying to get her attention. She looks down to see a quadrupedal, feline-like Pokémon.

It was an Espeon; the feline kept tugging on Talia's blouse. Talia assumed it was trying to show her that it wanted her to follow it. She decided to at least see where it wanted to take her, entertaining the Pokémon; she followed its lead. The Espeon leads her to a young woman who appears to be tidying up and getting ready to open a small tent-like booth. Espeon walks inside of the booth, having done its job. Talia recognizes the woman cleaning the booth right away as she rushes up to the booth and yells. "ESTERRRR!!!!!" When Ester looked up from cleaning and saw Talia sprinting from her booth toward her, she yelled out at her. "My goodness, girl, I'm so sorry; I didn't think you'd arrive so quickly. I was hoping to finish some cleaning."

Happy to see one another, the two embraced each other warmly. After some time spent talking, Talia decided to let her Marill play with her friend's Espeon. "It's great to be able to catch up again, Tali," Ester added, purchasing some lemonade for the two from a nearby vending machine. What's up with the family? I am aware of how preoccupied you and Anthony have been with your jobs. "Yeah, I apologize for that, Ester; it's been a little stressful lately," Talia replied. "Given the amount of crime occurring, Anthony and I concluded that we just needed a vacation from the Orre region. We've been thinking of moving to Kanto, but nothing is final."

Hearing this, Ester responds, "Then know whatever choice you make, just know I'll always stay in touch with you, girl." As Talia finishes her lemonade, give her a gentle prod. Changing the topic, Talia says, Hey, Ester, what's your booth about? It appears to be far too little to hold anything, despite its lovely appearance. "I'm glad you asked, Tali," Ester said when her friend inquired about the booth, looking excited. "You see, I will reveal people's fortunes." She says proudly. As Talia just looks to her in confusion, "Huh..."