Outside the train station, Rowan carried a backpack and was dragging a small suitcase behind him.
It was summer, so he didn't need to pack too many clothes. The suitcase also held some Pokéblocks and daily necessities.
Nekomi was sitting on the suitcase, being pulled along by Rowan.
At first, she had just been following behind him, but after seeing a young couple do the same thing just moments ago, she immediately decided to copy them and coquettishly plopped down onto the suitcase.
With a body shape similar to a human's but far lighter in weight, it was easier for a Meowscarada to do things humans might want to do but shouldn't.
For example, the couple Nekomi had copied had now run into trouble. Due to weight issues, one of the wheels on their suitcase unfortunately snapped, and now they were practically arguing.
"Teacher Liu isn't here yet. Let's wait a bit before heading into the station. Are you thirsty?"
"Meow~ (I'm fine. That place over there looks kind of interesting.)"
Sitting on the suitcase swinging her legs, Nekomi suddenly noticed a store with tropical-style decor. The sign featured a Tsareena on vacation in a tropical setting.
Judging by the sign, it looked like a bubble tea shop. It wasn't as famous as the Snow King chain, but Nekomi was interested, so Rowan took her over to check it out.
"Looks like it's not open…"
"Meow. (Then never mind, we've got water in the bag anyway.)"
"It's okay. They should be just about ready to open around this time… Excuse me, are you open yet?"
Seeing there were staff members bustling around inside, Rowan opened the door and asked. He was then immediately met with an enthusiastic welcome from the owner.
A deeply tanned owner with noticeable dark and yellowish marks on his skin burst out from behind the counter, as if afraid Rowan might run away.
His over-the-top excitement even made Nekomi wonder if they'd entered some shady shop. If it weren't for the fact that they were right next to a train station and there were other staff inside, she would've suplexed the guy right then and there.
"Welcome! Our specialty is Bounsweet Shaved Ice—100% natural, no additives! Here's our menu. See if there's anything you'd like?"
The most eye-catching feature inside the store was a mini water park shaped like a yin-yang symbol. One side was a steaming hot spring, while the other had normal-temperature water and components resembling water slides.
Floating on the surface were lots of pink mangosteens. But they weren't actual mangosteen, they were the Fruit Pokémon-Bounsweet.
Bounsweet is a Pokémon native to the Alola region. It looks like a mangosteen with part of the fruit flesh showing, and it gives off a sweet scent that can calm people's moods. The sweat it produces is said to be like concentrated fruit juice.
Diluting that sweat with water produces a perfectly balanced juice, and it's said that the flavor varies depending on the environment in which the Bounsweet lives.
"Give me two… no, give me three glasses of juice, and one large shaved ice."
After thinking about it, Rowan decided to bring a portion for Old Liu, who hadn't arrived yet.
The shop owner, upon hearing Rowan's order, put on a new pair of gloves and got to work. His movements were quite skillful, and in no time, he had everything Rowan had ordered ready.
"Meow~ (So tasty~)"
As she spoke, Nekomi picked up another spoon and handed it to Rowan, gesturing for him to try some too.
"It really is good…"
"Pretty good, right? I learned for a long time in the Alola Region, and these fruits are freshly bought too. But for some reason, business has been slow these past few days.
Ever since that new shop next door opened a couple of days ago, my revenue has been dropping fast.
Sure, I'm a bit more expensive than them, but everything here is made with real ingredients…"
Seeing how close Rowan and the Pokémon were acting, and with not many other customers in the store, the owner came over to complain, a little indignantly.
"Business has been bad these past few days?"
"Yeah, it was fine before. Rent in this area isn't cheap either, but lately I've been losing money."
"Boss, do you know what the most important thing is when running a business?"
"Conscience."
Hearing that, Rowan didn't really know how to respond. It wasn't wrong—nothing about that answer was incorrect—but he still felt the need to gently disagree.
"You're not wrong, but I think that in business, 'being open' is pretty important too."
"Being open?"
"That sign outside your door still says 'Temporarily Closed.' If it weren't for my Pokémon getting curious, I wouldn't have even bothered to ask if you were open."
As Rowan spoke, he pointed to the flip sign hanging outside the door. Judging by the owner's reaction, it seemed that it had been like that for the past few days.
"..."
The owner, whose face had just been full of sorrow, first lit up with joy but then muttered a low curse under his breath before heading back to the counter and packing two puddings as gifts for Rowan.
"Come again next time~"
After Rowan left, the owner's expression turned dark again.
"It must be that b*stard next door. I swear I flipped that sign!"
"Boss, what are you doing… calm down…"
Seeing the owner suddenly pick up a fruit knife, a nearby employee grew nervous.
"Working. What do you think I'm doing?
You guys head out early tonight. Once it's dark, I'm going to pour boiling water on that money tree of his. Hmph, trying to play tricks on me…"
Before long, Old Liu arrived at the train station too, and together with Rowan, they boarded the bullet train to Tianfu.
However, Rowan and Nekomi were seated in business class. According to Li Han, Rowan could spend however he liked to ensure comfort. Splurging on travel and accommodations was totally fine, and as long as it wasn't excessive, it could all be reimbursed.
But when it came to meals, there was a spending limit. He couldn't go overboard.
Old Liu, meanwhile, was in second class. It wasn't that he didn't want to sit in business class. This train ride would take eleven hours to reach their destination, but the finance department wouldn't reimburse it. One trip would end up costing more than a plane ticket.
At the same time, in Levincia, Paldea, a girl with dual-colored hair, wearing hair accessories shaped like Magnemite and sporting a mouthful of shark-like teeth was adjusting her equipment.
"Ladies aaand gentlemens! Ello, 'ello, hola! Ciao and bonjour! It's time for the Iono Zone!"
She was the Gym Leader of Levincia Gym, and also a well-known streamer and influencer—Iono.
"So, what are we streaming today, hmm? Wanna see Iono go head-to-head in a game against that Meowscarada who can play games? I'm really good at games, y'know!"
"Why did a Paldea Pokémon appear in Illumina…? How should I know?! I already sent him a DM yesterday, but he hasn't replied. Maybe he really did go to a tournament or something."
After Iono had reposted that gameplay clip, many of her viewers got interested in the whole thing. Seeing how much buzz it was generating, Iono originally wanted to reach out to the uploader on the other end and do a collaboration.
That was Iono's usual tactic—she often worked with eye-catching individuals to boost her stream's popularity. If she felt her stream wasn't gaining enough traction, she would even change the content on the spot to cater more to her audience.
Given that Meowscarada originates from Paldea, this kind of Pokémon already had a built-in popularity. And now that the topic was gaining momentum, Iono once again decided to improvise and change her stream plan.
"Alright, I've decided! The new stream content will be: finding this uploader who went off to compete in a tournament!"