Chapter 272: The Photograph
On the Celestica people's land.
Pokémon here ran free in the meadows and groves, just like in the Dragonite territory.
Honestly.
The TV advertisements for this place weren't lying or exaggerating at all.
Peaceful.
Natural.
And ancient.
Just like the Dragon Clan, many aspects of life here still retained the colors of antiquity and primitive ways of living.
"Bring Mom here next time," Will tapped Lorelei's arm.
Lorelei had watched the video with her mother.
So now that she was actually here, she wanted her mother to see it too.
"Mhm."
Lorelei nodded.
Following Cynthia, they arrived at an unassuming, two-story Japanese-style house in the village.
This surprised Will.
He had expected Cynthia's family home to be somewhat modest, but still luxurious by ordinary standards.
But he hadn't expected it to be this modest, almost indistinguishable from a regular family's home.
Lorelei's family lived in a two-story house like this, too, just Western-style.
"Mom, I brought Sister Lorelei! And Sister Lila is here too!"
As Cynthia called out, a blonde woman walked out of the house.
She was called a "woman," but she looked to be only around thirty, still a great beauty.
This was Carmela, nearing 40.
"Celestia must have looked just like this when she was 40."
Will stared at Carmela's face, feeling a bit emotional.
They looked very similar.
But just looking at their temperament... Carmela and Celestia were very different.
Celestia had an air of elegance and intelligence, while Carmela exuded heroism and aloofness.
Maybe...
Celestia was more like Cogita, while Carmela was more like Volo.
And the grown-up Cynthia seemed like a combination of Celestia and Carmela—elegant and heroic.
"Welcome to Celestic Town. I've wanted to meet you for a long time, Lorelei, and Piplup."
Carmela smiled.
The smile seemed to warm her up, making her look less unapproachable than she first appeared.
"Senior Carmela, sorry for disturbing you."
Lorelei was slightly excited to meet her idol. But outwardly, she remained composed.
This was completely different from when she was a child.
Child-Lorelei would have already pounced on her for autographs and photos.
"You're planning to participate in the Indigo League's Elite Four Tournament, right, Lorelei?"
"Yes!"
"So you came to ask me for advice?"
"How did you know?"
"I heard from Professor Oak that many people have been visiting him lately, wanting to learn how to become stronger."
Carmela grinned.
It seemed that people had come to find her before Lorelei.
"That's right! People came to find Mom before, but she didn't plan to help them. Only Sister Lorelei is an exception."
"Really?! I'm honored."
Lorelei covered her mouth and chuckled.
"To be precise, I wanted to meet this little one."
Carmela pursed her lips.
She extended a finger.
Pointing at the Piplup in Lorelei's arms.
"Piplup? Mm, my Piplup is indeed very special."
Lorelei glanced at Will and nodded matter-of-factly.
The number of people who wanted to meet her Piplup... wasn't any smaller than the number of people who wanted to meet her.
Especially the big shots.
More than one regional Pokémon Professor had visited, wanting to invite Will to their labs for research.
But Lorelei had rejected them all.
She didn't want anything weird done to her Piplup.
"Well... the reason I want to see Piplup might not be what you think."
Carmela blinked.
She walked up to Lorelei and leaned down, staring at Will in Lorelei's arms.
"Mom, you can't hug Piplup!"
Before Lorelei could speak, Cynthia suddenly interjected.
"Huh?"
Carmela paused.
"Piplup are very proud Pokémon. If you hug them randomly, they'll peck you. Even trainers with a good relationship can't hold them all the time."
Cynthia put her hands on her hips, then suddenly tilted her head, turning to look at Will in confusion. "Why does Lorelei's Piplup let you hold him?"
"Hehe, I told you my Piplup is different from others."
Lorelei patted Will's round head.
Will yawned.
People always got hung up on this.
"I think... for our family, hugging this child should be fine."
"Hm?" (x3)
Carmela's words silenced all three of them.
Lorelei and Cynthia were confused about why Carmela would say that.
Will was guessing what Carmela knew.
But no matter how much he thought about it, Carmela shouldn't know anything.
Celestia knew very little about him. And she couldn't possibly have told Carmela that he had been reborn as a Shiny Piplup.
"Could it be that using that move earlier made Carmela think I'm related to their family? Surely not."
Just as Will was pondering, Carmela reached out and took him into her arms.
"See? I told you."
Carmela rubbed him, carefully feeling the texture of the Piplup in her arms.
"Huh?! Why?!"
Cynthia's eyes widened in surprise, and she reached out for Will.
Carmela handed him over.
Seeing Will didn't resist, Cynthia immediately rubbed her cheek against his.
"For Piplup, as long as it's a pretty girl, anyone can hug him," Lorelei explained from the side.
"Bullshit! Slander!"
Will's eyes widened, and he pointed an accusing flipper.
He didn't mind people hugging him. Male or female, it didn't matter.
Usually, the only male who hugged him much was Lorelei's dad, when Will went out to sea with him.
It had always been girls reaching out to hug him randomly.
Boys were either uninterested in cute things or could control themselves.
Especially since Lorelei was a girl. Other boys wouldn't dare snatch Will from her hands randomly. If they accidentally touched something inappropriate in the process, it would be hard to explain.
Although the anime had that "Water-types are perverts" gag... what did that have to do with him, Will?
"By the way, why did you say that, Senior Carmela?"
"Hmm... Lorelei, you're not the one commanding Piplup in battle usually, are you?"
Carmela didn't answer, asking Lorelei a question instead.
"How did you know?!" (x2)
Lorelei and Will were both shocked.
"Mhm, I noticed it too."
Lila, standing nearby, nodded.
"What?! Is it that obvious?!"
Lorelei and Will looked at each other. neither of them had noticed.
"Of course. The battle style of your other five Pokémon and this Piplup are completely different," Lila shrugged, pointing at Will.
"As I said before, every Coordinator has a performance style they excel at. Trainers are the same. This Piplup clearly isn't on the same path as you."
"..." (x2)
Lorelei and Will fell silent.
They really hadn't noticed this.
In fact... Will had never paid attention to his own battle style.
"Piplup's battle style is very similar to a friend of my grandmother's. He even used the same moves in the tournament. So I thought, could this Piplup be related to my grandmother's friend?"
Carmela rubbed Will's head, a gentle look in her eyes.
"Oh! I know! Wait a second!"
Cynthia's eyes suddenly lit up, and she ran toward the living room.
a few seconds later.
She returned holding a photo frame, showing the slightly grayed photo to Will and the others.
The moment he saw the photo, Will froze.
In the photo was Celestia, nearing seventy, and...
Meowscarada.
"So that's how it is."
Will pressed his lips together.
No wonder Carmela and Cynthia's Sceptile knew the moves he developed.
No wonder their mother-daughter battle style was so similar to his.
No wonder Carmela felt he would be close to their family.
It wasn't that Celestia had stolen those moves and techniques from him... it was that Meowscarada, who had learned everything from him, had taught her.
"Meowscarada's battle style is exactly the same as mine. I told her not to copy me all the time back when she was a Floragato, but she wouldn't listen..."
Will lowered his head and sighed helplessly.
"So, Piplup, do you know the Meowscarada in this photo? Or have you met her descendants?"
Carmela leaned down, looking at Will.
"...Yes, I know her."
"She's the child I raised from an egg."
Will smiled and nodded.
Lorelei opened her mouth. Since when did her Piplup know such an ancient Pokémon?
But before she could ask... Carmela spoke again.
"Where did you see her?! This is very important to our family. Grandma said Great-Grandma was asking for news of her until the very end of her life."
Carmela looked nervous. Cynthia got excited too. It seemed finding Meowscarada was very important to their family.
"I met her when I was little, resting on Four Island. She was traveling around. She happened to pass by, and we got to know each other. She even taught me some battle strategies."
Will spoke using his Aura Power, making up a random story.
This story could fool Lorelei too. Because when Lorelei was little, there was a period where she stayed at the Pokémon Academy. She basically didn't know what Will did during that time.
"Is that so... Great-Grandma's diary did say Meowscarada often traveled around the world."
Carmela paused, then let out a long breath.
But beside her, Cynthia was completely stunned.
Not just her, Lila was stunned too.
The two of them stared at Will in shock.
"What's wrong with you two?" Carmela looked at them, confused.
"Mom... Piplup just spoke."
"Yeah. Human language."
Carmela blanked for a moment, then her eyes widened as she turned to Will.
Right.
Why could she understand Will just now?
Shouldn't Piplup go "Piplup Piplup~"?
"Oh? It's rare to see you willing to expose your Aura Power in front of others, Piplup." Lorelei looked at Will in surprise.
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