Castelia City, Ice Cream Shop.
Cynthia stood in front of the ice cream freezer, completely lost in thought.
Vanilla, mint, strawberry, chocolate... they all looked so delicious.
"Uh, miss, have you made your choice yet?" the masked employee asked awkwardly.
This customer had been staring at the display for nearly half an hour. It's not like she was picking a starter Pokémon—was this level of indecision really necessary?
"Sorry, I'll have the mint flavor, please." Cynthia finally pulled her gaze away from the freezer.
With tears of relief in his eyes, the employee handed Cynthia a vanilla cone. Finally—decision made.
"Hard to believe that someone as decisive as Cynthia in battle could hesitate so much over ice cream," said Gardenia, who had long since finished her cone and was waiting nearby.
She never expected to see such an adorable side to Cynthia. This trip to Unova? Totally worth it.
Cynthia took a lick of her ice cream. The icy chill instantly tingled across her taste buds. She turned to Gardenia and Candice and said:
"Let's go see if Pachirisu is done eating yet?"
At the eating contest venue—
After two elimination rounds and a main event, only four Pokémon remained on stage.
Blaziken, Snorlax, Muk, and Pachirisu.
A sizable crowd had gathered below. Clearly, the event was a hit.
The bald store manager stood on stage, shouting with booming enthusiasm, "Now we've come to the grand finale—who will be crowned the ultimate glutton today? Let's find out!"
With that, he motioned for the staff to bring out the final dish.
As the four waiters lifted the lids at once, the once-cozy room was instantly yanked downward in temperature, as if some invisible hand had dragged the whole place into a freezer.
Cold air spread without restraint, filling every corner of the room.
If someone hadn't been quick enough to open the door, the place might've turned into the shop's second freezer in no time.
But the bald manager's enthusiasm remained undiminished. He raised his voice even higher:
"Whoever finishes the fifty jumbo-sized ice creams on their plate wins this competition!"
A regular Castelia Ice Cream was about the size of a Vanillite, the kids' version was like a Mini Ice, so naturally the jumbo size was like a double Vanilluxe.
The stacked ice creams on each plate looked like the cold, creamy corpses of the Vanillite family.
"Then without further ado—let the final round begin!"
At the manager's command, the four Pokémon opened their mouths and began.
Muk moved first. Muk and Grimer could absorb trash straight into their bodies.
So instead of eating with its mouth, it simply enveloped the ice cream with its whole body.
In an instant, Muk's purple body turned blue...
"Shiny! It's a shiny Muk!" someone in the crowd shouted, clearly clueless.
Another more knowledgeable spectator quickly corrected him: "Shiny Muk is green. This one's just... frozen."
Sure enough, blue Muk pulled back, sneezing loudly.
Muk, out!
"Now that we've got our first knockout, let's check in on the other three contestants!" the bald manager shouted into the mic, full of passion.
Blaziken picked up the ice cream elegantly and stuffed it into its mouth.
Snorlax opened its abyss of a mouth and started gulping down scoops nonstop.
Pachirisu, meanwhile, was like a vacuum cleaner on turbo mode—the ice creams just jumped into its mouth.
"Incredible! Simply incredible! The remaining three are plowing through their plates!"
The bald manager was tearing up with emotion, even if no one really understood what exactly he was getting so worked up about.
Soon, Snorlax's belly began to slow things down. The mountain of ice cream inside was too much—even it couldn't keep up.
"Uuurrgh—"
In the end, overwhelmed and nauseous, Snorlax toppled over.
Snorlax is unable to battle. Snorlax, out!
As staff hauled Snorlax off the stage, only Blaziken and Pachirisu remained.
Suddenly, Candice pointed at Blaziken.
"Oh! I just remembered! That Blaziken used to dominate the Tri-Region Eating Contest—it's the legendary glutton champ known as Caesar Blaziken!"
"Legendary glutton champ!? Then doesn't that mean Pachirisu—wait, it's done?"
Gardenia had just started to freak out when something even more shocking caught her eye.
Pachirisu's plate... was already empty!
No way. That tiny fluffball actually ate a mountain-sized plate of ice cream?
That made zero sense!
"It's done! It's really done! Pachirisu has officially eaten all the ice cream!! I declare Pachirisu the winner of today's contest!! Ahem!"
The bald manager shouted so hard his voice cracked.
He was deeply moved. To think someone loved his ice cream so much they'd eat every last bite!
In Pachirisu, the bald manager saw a reflection of his younger self.
He had loved ice cream since he was a kid. To make the best ice cream in the world, he'd even given up his right to inherit the family business. Despite protests from family and friends, he came to Castelia City alone and opened this little shop.
Back then, everyone thought he was crazy—giving up a perfectly good business empire to chase such a ridiculous dream.
But he knew better. He wasn't crazy. This was just the price of chasing a dream.
Now, finally—someone who truly appreciated his ice cream. He was overwhelmed with joy.
He pulled out a coupon and said, "This is the secret grand prize: a one-year unlimited ice cream voucher. You can eat to your heart's content, anytime you come by."
Then he took out a small, deep blue stone and added, "And this... this is a special prize just for you. Take good care of it."
Pachirisu didn't hesitate—stuffed the coupon and the stone right into its tail, then bolted without another word.
"Wait—hold on..." the manager tried to call after it, but Pachirisu was already gone.
Outside the shop—
"Bleeaarrgh—"
"Bleeaarrgh—"
Gardenia, Candice, and Cynthia came out just in time to see this sight.
"Guess eating that much ice cream really was too much..." Candice moved forward to help.
Then they saw it.
In the middle of Pachirisu's retching, it actually spat out a creature that looked exactly like an ice cream cone.
A Vanillite.
It... came out of Pachirisu?
The three of them were stunned speechless.
"Chipa~"
Whew. Feels so much better now.
Pachirisu let out a frosty sigh.
It stared blankly at the dazed Vanillite in front of it.
Then, suddenly—an idea.
If I catch this thing... I'll have unlimited ice cream from now on!
That thought alone made Pachirisu want to crown itself a genius.
It grabbed its tail, rummaged inside for a moment, and pulled out a jet-black Poké Ball with golden stripes.
A Luxury Ball.
Then, copying Caleb's usual move, Pachirisu hurled the ball straight at Vanillite.
Thud!
Direct hit!
Vanillite was knocked out cold.
The Luxury Ball opened, released a flash of red light, and sucked it in.
Ding!
No shaking. Capture successful.
"Chipa!!"
Pachirisu excitedly lifted the Poké Ball and shouted at the top of its lungs—
Vanillite, Get☆daze!
Meanwhile, Cynthia, Gardenia, and Candice, who had witnessed the entire thing—
Cynthia: brain buffering.jpg
Gardenia: brain buffering.jpg
Candice: brain buffering.jpg