Chapter 13: The Hilarious And Hospitable Hidden Harlequin Hunt
May 28
Castelia City
Although Rosa left the lost Xtransciever out on a sidetable, she didn't get a call back until the next morning, when she was brushing her hair. “Hello, you got me again,” she said cheerfully as she brought it closer to the chair she had been sitting in.
“That's good,” the guy said, sounding like he wasn't a morning person. “Listen, sorry about how we got cut off last time. It's been a rough week.”
“That's okay,” Rosa said. “Days like that happen. Anyhow, I'm Rosa.”
“That's a pretty name. Um, I'm Curtis.” He grumbled for a moment. “Ugh, sorry, really not the best of mornings for me. I've got a few minutes to talk. What'll you be doing in Castelia City?”
“Today, I dunno,” she said, back to brushing her hair. Bard was already searching around her room for something to play with. “I'm traveling around with my friend Nate; we're both Pokemon Trainers challenging the Pokemon League. We'll either be training or exploring the city today, since we just arrived.”
“Really? I always thought that sounded like an interesting thing to do, traveling around at your own pace and working with your Pokemon to accomplish a worthy goal.”
She laughed. “I wasn't thinking quite that lofty when I started out! I just wanted to have fun, you know, like Hilda did. I was hoping to get to meet her too, since she's my hero, but apparently nobody seen her in a long time.”
“Huh, I hadn't heard about that. Then again, I haven't heard about her on TV or anything lately. I didn't think anything of it because, you know, fame tends to be fleeting.”
“More than just not hearing about her. Even her friends don't know where she is. It's a mystery, and maybe we can solve it. You should travel for the League too if that's what you want. It's tough, but great at the same time.”
“I couldn't do that, not now,” Curtis said, sounding disappointed. “I'm busy with work almost every day, so I don't have time for that. I even have to follow the schedule for when I spend time with my Pokemon and train them.”
Rosa raised her eyebrows. “Wow, that's rough. What kind of job do you have?”
“Ah, hah hah, I can't really say.” Even his laughs seem nervous now.
That didn't seem right, so she decided to try cheering him up. “Whoa, are you like a government secret agent with mysterious super powers? That is sooo cool!”
This time, he broke into genuine laughter. “N-no, not that. I wish, though. That would be amazing.”
“But that's exactly what a secret agent would say to throw off suspicion! Don't worry; I won't let anyone in on your little secret.”
“Oh dear, what have I gotten into now?” Curtis said in amusement. “More seriously, are you going to be in Castelia City all day?”
“I should be,” she said.
“Good, then I'll call you back if we can arrange to meet up. I've already told everyone to call back to the old phone I'm using now, so I should be the only one calling the one you have. I don't know if we can get together today, but keep hanging onto that phone for now.”
“Are you sure?” she asked. “I might be able to get it to you quicker through the company.”
“Let's just try to meet up in person for now. Anyhow, I've got to go. Talk to you later, Rosa.”
“Yeah, later Curtis,” she said, turning off the Xtransciever when the call disconnected. What was bothering him? Hopefully she'd brightened his morning a little bit with the jokes. She continued working on her hair, her thoughts turning to Nate and if he was up yet.
-+-
Nate was woken up by the shadow of a train outside of his window disrupting the early sunlight. He sat up and opened his eyes, but the train had already gone by. Wondering at how little noise it had made, he got out of bed and looked around the hotel room. Argent was already up and investigating the TV, while Ruby was still asleep on the other bed. Rosa had taken another room. Due to being outside the elevated train tracks and to being so small, these rooms had been low priced. Not that he minded; the train wasn't that much of a problem.
He got dressed, roused his Pignite, and prepared for the day. Castelia was a big city, but Rosa assured him that there would be places to train Pokemon even in a place like this. Meeting up with her in the lobby, they headed out to a diner in the same building for some breakfast.
“Last night, I was looking on the internet and found a debate about whether or not you should feed your Pokemon like this,” Rosa said. “Because if you hook their Pokeballs up to a charger station, then you don't really have to feed them, just make sure they get some water daily.”
“That doesn't seem healthy for a living creature,” Nate said, looking at their Pokemon. They were all eating breakfast too; Ruby had the most, presumably because her natural fires needed a lot of energy.
Rosa nodded. “And they're happier with actual food, I think. Not only that, but we keep ours out and around a lot. Maybe they need more energy like that; I could ask my Mom about it. But I certainly wouldn't keep them cooped up in a Pokeball all day.”
“I didn't even have them in their Pokeballs last night,” Nate said.
“Me either! So, what do we want to do now that we're in Castelia?”
He shrugged. “Look around, as usual. Do you know of anywhere that might be associated with Hilda?”
Surprisingly, Rosa nodded. “Oh yeah, the central plaza. When she was here to beat Burgh's Gym, there was one day where she somehow got a hold of a cape just like the one Ghetsis always wore and she wore that near the fountain and mocked him in a parody of his big long-winded speeches. It was really amazing. So yeah, that place.”
“Okay, then we'll have to go there,” he said.
Without warning, a glittering jingling colorful ball bounced onto their table, precariously hitting between his plate and the bin of condiments and napkins. Bard was immediately distracted from his meal, looking at it with big shining eyes. However, Ruby managed to pluck it out of the air first. The Pignite teasingly held it over her head while the Dewott dropped under the table and gave her a begging look from there.
“Oh dear, I seem to have tossed the ball your way,” a cheery voice said behind him. Then a harlequin dressed in bright orange, red, and silver was standing by him, with his hands on the table. The bells on the three tips of his hat jingled as he shifted his head. “Sorry, but at least I made your Pokemon's morning more fun!”
Rosa laughed and tried to snatch the ball from Ruby (but she was too nimble and got it away). “It sure did. Aw, come on Ruby, give the ball back.”
The harlequin flicked his wrist and made another ball appear. “No problem; they can keep it. I've got plenty hanging around.”
Nudging his Pokemon, Nate pointed down a space between tables where no one was sitting. Ruby nodded and tossed the harlequin's ball that way. Bard tore after it, knocking over several chairs and crashing into the wall as he caught it. Thankfully, he didn't break anything doing that and even the staff made a few chuckles as Bard proudly came back to their table with the prized ball in hand.
“Aw, you look so happy,” Rosa said, patting Bard on the head. “Thanks for that.”
“Hey, did I happen to hear that you two are new in town?” the harlequin said. “Castelia is a wonderful place. Do you have bikes to get around with? All of the vehicle traffic is underground or over-ground, so you're free to bike wherever you like on the ground.”
“I have a bike,” she said.
“You do?” Nate asked.
She shrugged. “Yeah, but I didn't want to use it because you don't. But I thought it might be handy.”
The harlequin tossed the jingling ball up. “Well you're in luck! Today we're having an extra-special event for the Medal Meet: the Hilarious And Hospitable Hidden Harlequin Hunt! Bike around all day and find the five hidden harlequins all over the city, not including me here in the hotel, by nine o'clock and we'll let you keep the bike you use. Make it in good time and I'll throw in an extra prize package.”
“The bike I use?” Nate asked. Were they really just going to give it to him?
“Yes!” the harlequin said, whirling his hands about and making a bike appear out of thin air (or probably from virtual storage with some flourish). It was candy apple red with a large wire basket on back, all of it sturdy looking but light. On part of the frame, there was a small device wrapped around the bar. “For a guy like you, a red one! You may borrow it for the day and if you win, I'll take the tracking device off and you may keep it.” The harlequin winked. “You might even be able to use the device to help you. Maybe. Maybe not. You'll just have to explore around and see! Well, good luck and have fun! This is a great city to take a bike ride in. Castelia, Castelia, here we come!” The harlequin then whirled off (literally), singing his song and talking to another group about his hide and seek contest.
“Wow, that's lucky!” Rosa said, admiring the bike. “We were going to just explore, but now we have a mission!”
He shrugged. “Yeah, but we need to find five people in this big city. Well, I’ll finish breakfast and then fiddle with that tracking device and see if I can find what he was hinting at.”
Since the bike was in the way in the diner, he later took it into the lobby to look it over. When he was examining the tracking device, he got an alert from his Xtransceiver that it was trying to send an app to him. Letting that download revealed that it was a tracker for the harlequins, which would alert them to the location of one of them through a matching device they wore. That made the task of finding them look more manageable, so they headed out to ride around the city with their Pokemon following along if they wanted.
Rosa's bike was a light sparkling blue, with a white wicker basket decorated with silk flowers behind the seat and ribbons of various blues and silvers on the handles. Keeping their gear in the baskets (and one Pokemon, as River decided to ride in the basket of Rosa's bike), they were able to get around the streets quickly. The morning air was misty, yet the sun still shone bright. But they didn't get far from the hotel when they saw something interesting out on the docks.
It was a massive ship made of metal and wood, over three times the size of the ferry they had ridden. There were large walls around the body of the ship, making it hard to see the deck even from their position on the higher streets. Painted a motley arrangement of blue, black, and gray, there weren't any signs of what the ship was for. And yet the oddest thing about it was that it had three large masts with canvas sails hanging from them. Someone was up there, doing work on the sails.
“Wow, what's a frigate doing here?” Rosa asked, enchanted at the sight. “Nobody uses that style of ship these days, especially with sails.”
“Maybe someone rich who really likes history?” Nate wondered aloud. “Or sailing? How do you know it's a frigate?”
She pointed over areas as she talked. “The shape of the hull is made to be especially maneuverable and fast, plus there's the way the masts and sails are formed. They're primarily warships with lots of cannons, and it looks like they've got most of the weapon ports sealed up. Probably good, since people probably wouldn't like it if it was fully armed. I went through a phase of really liking ships when I was a kid and I still remember most of it.”
“I see.” He checked his Xtranciever. “I’m getting a reading from the app that's nearby. Around...” he glanced away from the dock, then pointed out a building. “In that place.”
“Let's go then.” She took one last look at the ship, then followed him across the street to the building.
There was a bike rack they could leave their bikes at. While there were only a few others, Nate thought that some people might keep their bikes in digital storage, like how he kept most items that he didn't think he'd need right away to keep his traveling bag manageable. They weren't going to be here long, so they left the bikes outside while they went into a building with a sign that said 'Passerby Analytics- a research facility'.
There was a pleasant looking office setting inside, although there didn't seem to be many areas for a lot of workers. Maybe most of them worked upstairs. Instead, there were various tables in the middle, with booths where groups could talk privately in other areas. On the walls, electronic charts scrolled through various opinion polls. The harlequin there was dressed in an outfit much like the one they had met earlier. He was occupying himself with balancing various objects on top of a ruler.
When they got within a few feet of each other, both Nate's Xtransceiver and the harlequin's played a cheery chime. The harlequin tossed the items on the ruler up and caught them in his hands. “Hel-lo! I've been found already!” He whirled around, putting the items on a nearby table. Then he winked at them. “Good work in figuring out the device.”
“It wasn't that hard,” Nate said. “But yes, I'm here about your hide and seek thing.”
“The Hilarious And Hospitable Hidden Harlequin Hunt!” he corrected. “We're here to make sure you see many wonderful things about Castelia! So, this place,” he danced aside a couple of feet, then waved dramatically to the electronic charts. “This is Passerby Analytics, a place where they survey ideas! Marketing, politics, art, Pokemon, education, entertainment, harlequins, whatever it is, they have lots of questions to ask about it, and a lot of answers they've gathered. You might be able to earn a bit of money or a new product if you qualify for one of their big studies. But, they also offer a free app that lets you survey anyone who passes you by! Just pick a survey, activate your Xtransciever, and anyone who has the same app can find your survey and take it, letting you get a picture of what the people around you think.”
“I’ve seen that app,” Rosa said. “It was really popular in Nimbasa a few years back.”
The harlequin nodded. “Yup! They're adding and changing the surveys all the time, so you might still find out new and exciting things.” Then he danced back to them. “Since you've found me and listened to my tale, you have earned a Harlequin Medal!” He produced a green metal coin that fit in the palm of Nate's hand. “Find all five in good time and win a wonderful prize package! Good luck, and have fun biking in Castelia. Castelia, Castelia, here we come!” He then started singing and grabbed the things to balance on the ruler again.
On their way out, Nate commented, “Odd place to put as a potential tourist spot, if that's what this Harlequin Hunt is about.”
“Their app comes and goes as a fad,” Rosa said. “And they do have some fun surveys, although it would be more fun if they let you write your own surveys. Sometimes they do, but as a contest where they only put out a handful of user-written surveys. Maybe it might be good for some extra cash, if we can.”
Nate shrugged. “We seem to be making a fairly good amount with just battling earnings from the League. Maybe if we needed to get something big.”
“Where do we go for the next one?”
He checked his Xtransciever. “I'm getting one from further down this street, and another about the same distance in the other direction, I think.”
“Hey, would you two like to take a survey?” a woman called out before they left the building entirely. She came over to them. “It won't take long. Fifteen minutes tops and I’ll give you a little something for it.”
He glanced at Rosa, who shrugged. “I guess we have time,” he said.
The woman grinned. “Great! Come over to one of the tables and I’ll get the forms to you in a bit. Just don't peek!”
Sitting across from each other, they shared a table to fill out the survey given to them. It seemed to be some kind of opinion or personality survey. In a long list of questions, Nate was asked how he ranked certain traits in others, like integrity, kindness, wit, and beauty. The next section asked about things he valued, like if he wanted to be popular or if he would rather study (that didn't need a second thought to pick the latter). Then, it asked him a series of questions about situations and had various responses as the choices. Such as if he was surprised with a party, would he be spooked, be excited, or be mad? By the end of it, Nate wasn't sure what value this kind of survey held for research. It seemed more like fluff. But, they did do surveys for entertainment, didn't they?
When he was done, he passed it back to the woman. She told him to wait for a little while for her to analyze the two surveys. They chatted for a little bit of what kind of surveys they would want to run. Rosa wanted to ask about making some books into movies while Nate wanted to know what kind of myths people liked. Then, the woman came back to them. “Thanks for taking the survey,” she said, grinning. “As for the results, it says that you two share a lot of connections, but balance each other well in areas of difference. This means that you're a wonderfully compatible couple who could be together for many years.”
“What?” Rosa asked. “We're not dating.”
“You're not?” she asked. “But you came in with each other, and you look so cute together.”
“It's good to know we'd work together as friends, at least according to your survey,” Nate said. “But yeah, we're not dating.”
“Oh, well...” she shrugged, but kept smiling as she handed them a small ball of red yarn. “Take this anyways. It's an accessory that you may find useful on your Pokemon. Have a good day, then.”
Once they were really out of the building, Rosa looked up what she had. “It's a Destiny Knot,” she said. “Looks like if another Pokemon uses a move that causes infatuation, then it will also be infatuated.”
Nate rolled his eyes. “Of course.”
She looked puzzled. “Of course? What does that mean? It's just a small ball of red yarn, although I suppose there must be something about it that makes it work.”
“It's a symbol in...” he waved his hands a bit, then pulled his bike from the rack. There were lots of little droplets from the dispersing mist. “In several cultures, of the idea of the destiny of love. You know, the couple that falls in love at first sight and is destined to be together for all of their lives. It's said that they're connected by a red thread tied around their fingers, binding them together. Not literally, but a symbol.”
“Oh, that's why she wanted to give it to us.” She sighed as they rode off to the next street. “Why do people keep thinking we're a couple?”
“People like the idea of love,” Nate said. “Don't you like talking about people who get together and eventually get married?”
“I guess,” she said, blushing a bit.
Going down the next street, they spotted the local Gym, with a bright red and white Pokeball sign above the door. Like with the other two, it fit in nicely in the city. The signal didn't send them in there, though. It sent them into the building opposite the Gym, which had a tall neon sign listing many businesses located inside.
The harlequin was just inside, juggling many of the jingly balls. But going in there, Nate felt a sense of familiarity without it actually being familiar. Was this another place? He reached into his bag and got his storage device to pull out his migraine medication. Maybe if he caught it coming on, it wouldn't be as bad.
The Xtranscievers chimed, oddly startling. The harlequin came over without stopping her juggling act. “Hey-o, you're on the hunt? Well you've found me! Welcome.” She bowed, then started pulling a few balls out of rotation.
“Hi,”Rosa said. “What're you here for?”
“The Medal Office!” she said in a sing-song voice. “You can go up to the fourth floor if you want to visit. We're a wonderful organization that puts together many fun contests and prizes, much like the Hilarious And Hospitable Hidden Harlequin Hunt you're on now. Some of it we do for awareness of good causes and organizations, and some we just do for fun. And here is your fabulous medal for finding me!” She brought out an orange medal while juggling, then tossed it to Rosa.
“Thanks, but he's the one with the bike of yours,” she said, starting to hand it to him. Then she saw what he was doing. “You okay?”
“Maybe,” he said. “Is there a water fountain around? Or somewhere to get a drink?”
“We run vending machines too,” the harlequin said. “I think... ta-da-da!” She shifted her juggling to one hand, then pulled out a bottle of soda out of thin air. “I can go up to get more, so take this if you're not feeling well. Our vending machines are everywhere, selling drinks and snacks that both humans and Pokemon love. So if you like it, just look for the Fun-Times Vending Machines!” She then handed the soda to him.
“Thanks,” he said, opening it up to drink while taking the medicine. Then he sat down on one of the lobby couches.
Rosa sat next to him. “Did you see something?”
“I might,” he said, trying to relax. “I just felt something like I had before.” He took another drink, then closed his eyes.
Then it came to him.
…
In the now quiet lobby, Hilda was sitting with a man who had a full head of dark gray hair. One of his ears had a scarred nick in it. “What are you going to do now?” she asked. “The police are looking for you.”
“I know,” the man said. “I mean to go talk with them. I don't know what they want with me, but,” he shook his head. “I'll accept responsibility for what happened. We all need to do that, although I’m not sure how many of the others will.”
She put her hand on his. “If they put you in prison, then I’ll come visit you every day, Dad.”
Smiling, he squeezed her hand. “Thanks. I heard some things; were you sent to look for us? Some won't want to accept that we were being wrong, but now that things are out in the open, I'm sure others will. Like...” then he spoke a name that caused the vision to blur.
It was another scene of that same man, but looking a lot better with black hair. He was speaking, but what it was about wasn't clear. Like a dream, or a half-forgotten memory.
…
Like one of his own memories?
Nate found that he wasn't holding his soda. Instead, Rosa had it. “Nate?” She sounded worried.
“I'm okay,” he said. “May I have that back?”
“Sure,” she said, giving it to him. “You went totally silent, and then you started shaking and nearly dropped that. Did something bad happen here?”
“I don't think it's bad,” he said, then took a sip of the soda. “Hilda was talking with her father here. There was... something going on between them, something about him possibly ending up in prison. I didn't see why but then it changed into something else. I think I’ve known someone like her father; maybe he just looked like him. I started to remember something, but then I couldn't really grasp it.”
“Maybe if you met him, he might jog your memory more?” Rosa suggested. “Although, I wouldn't know who her father is. Might be able to ask Bianca about that, if she'd tell us.”
“It's a long shot, I think, but if we get a chance maybe,” he said, then sat back in the couch.
“Are you gonna be okay?” she asked.
He nodded. “I think so, since I caught it in time. Give me a moment to rest and I think we can keep going.”
While he rested, she checked on her email and did some other things online with her Xtransciever. Another person on the Harlequin Hunt came in, getting the same spiel about the Medal Office from the harlequin (although not about the vending machines; that had probably been a chance that she had sprang on to continue advertising for her employer). When he was ready to move on, the closest one was the one back on Port Street, past the Passerby Analytics building and the hotel. This signal was coming from the Unova Pokemon Battle Company.
The lobby of this place looked much like the one in the other building where the Medal Office was, except that on all of the walls, there were posters for various Pokemon battle groups. The Unova Pokemon League, the Battle Subway, even something calling itself a Triples Enthusiasts Club, there were many groups being advertised. Most prominent, there was an oversized poster for the battle company itself. 'Challenge us and help improve the wonderful products we make for you!' was what it claimed.
The harlequin here was with three small monkey Pokemon, playing games and doing tricks with them. When the chime came, the three monkeys hooted and began dancing about. The harlequin turned around. “Who's come looking for me? Is it you, pretty little miss?” He made an exaggerated bow, nearly touching his feet with his hat.
Giggling, Rosa shook her head. “No, it's him.”
He straightened up and saluted Nate. “Oh, I see. You're a lucky fellow to have her.”
“We're not dating,” Nate said, smiling in amusement at how often this was happening today.
Grinning back, the harlequin put his finger to his rubber nose. “You might want to make your move soon, since a lovely lass like her isn't going to stay single for long. Now then, you have found me at the magnificent Battle Company!” He gestured to the poster, quickly mimicked by his monkeys, who had all gotten on the back of one of the couches. “They make many great things that can be used by and on Pokemon in many situations, helping them out and making things more fun. They also make handy things for Trainers, like handy apps and references. Did I say handy twice? Sorry, but you know, everyone has two hands! Being handy twice is great!”
Rosa laughed at that, but Nate just smiled. “It would be.”
The harlequin bowed again. “Being that they make many good things, they are always looking to improve. And so, to this end, on several days of the week, Trainers are welcome to drop by and challenge available employees. Impress enough of the staff and you might even face the unusual CEO of the company, said to be one of the best Trainers in all of Castelia. Maybe later you can come drop in on them, but today, you are on the hunt! And so, here is your magnificent medal for finding me!” He then passed over a medal to Nate, identical to the other two, but red in color.
A battling company sounded interesting, like a place that could be used for training. While battling wild Pokemon helped their own become better, facing other human opponents, especially those that studied battling as their jobs, would help the two of them improve as well. But like the harlequin said, they were on a hunt today and with three found, it would be nice to get it done quickly and try for the special prize.
Following the signals, they came upon more skyscrapers as well as a row of cafes that were preparing to serve lunch. Some of the smells coming from them were delicious, reminding them of how much biking they'd done this morning. But they decided to go check out the next harlequin location before getting lunch.
As indicated by the statues outside, the building was an art museum. The harlequin here was busily making scribbles on a large drawing pad near the entrance. “Oh, hello there cutie,” she said as both of their Xtranscievers chimed. “Welcome to Studio Castelia, a wonder of a building. Down here is a public display of local artists, from the wonderful Burgh to up and coming stars in the art world. It's free to look around, but if you want to pay a bit, you can go upstairs to see displays of many more works of art for a cultural experience... or date.” She winked, but kept talking before they could interrupt. “Further up is an art school, if you feel creative yourself. I don't go, but I’ve got talent, don't you think?” She showed off the page which had a weirdly distorted face sticking its tongue out at them. It was so scribbly that it went beyond childish into straight up weird.
“Talent for something,” Nate agreed.
The harlequin giggled. “Oh, you're such a flirt. Okay, here, this is your lovely medal for finding this place of lovely culture.” She then produced a yellow medal and handed it over to Nate. “Be sure to take a moment to look around. You might find something of interest.”
After putting the medal with the others in his bag, Nate decided to look around. Rosa was already looking at some of the paintings. She pointed him to one. “Look, it's Keldeo.”
Interested, he looked at the picture. It was a Pokemon that seemed to be frolicking in a river underneath a waterfall. Keldeo seemed to be a cross between a tall long haired dog and a short pony, with white fur over much of its body, but a long wild mane of white, blue, and red hair over its forehead and down the back of its neck, which continued on down its tail. A pale blue crystal horn came out from the middle of its forehead; water droplets flew off of the horn as it played in the water.
“That's quite a painting,” Nate said, looking into the Pokemon's eyes. He could almost see its personality just in the image, a Pokemon that was playful and impish but one that could turn out to have deadly skill if the need for its power was there. “It... fits Keldeo well.”
“Do you know about him?” Rosa asked. She looked down, touching the sword necklace she seemed to be wearing daily now.
“I can think about him,” Nate said, rubbing his forehead. It was throbbing again, but passed quickly. “It was in some books at the school. He is loyal, honorable, and noble like all of the swordsmen guardians of the land. But, where the others keep Pokemon safe from humans and rarely trust humans, Keldeo is not as reserved as the others. He will jump in if he witnesses a human abusing a Pokemon, but he will just as quickly jump to the defense of a human that is being abused.”
“Yeah. I hope we do get to meet him.”
Nate chuckled. “Of course; he's of your favorite type.”
She laughed. “Not just that, but it is a plus! I have this of his; I keep thinking maybe...” she drew the tiny sword out of the case quickly, but then it turned out to be not as tiny as before. Rosa held up the longsword in front of her. “All right, I got it to work this time!”
“Where did you get that sword?” Nate asked, staring at it in disbelief. Sure, one could make items appear and disappear in this world with their item storage technology, but this clearly wasn't the same thing. He'd seen the toothpick sized sword before.
“My parents gave it to me,” she said, turning it around and looking back at the painting. “Apparently they met Keldeo once.”
An idea came to him, so he looked around. Most of their Pokemon had gone back into their Pokeballs while they were biking, but Argent and River were still out and about. “Have you tried to give that to River? Or one of your other Pokemon? If that belongs to Keldeo, and if what Meloetta said was right, maybe bringing it into contact with them will reveal their true self.”
“I thought of that, but they won't take it from me,” Rosa said. River even shook her head to the suggestion. Then Rosa focused on the sword a little longer before it turned tiny again. “I'm not even sure how to use this, but it must be able to do something more, I think.”
“Odd. We might want to look into it.” Then he pointed out a sign he'd noticed. “It looks like the current show is about local legends of Unova. There might be other pictures of interest here.”
“Oh yeah,” she said, so they looked further into the gallery.
Most of the paintings were of the legends about Pokemon, but there were some other myths on display. On the back wall, there were three paintings that stood out to the two of them. They were of the three legendary dragons of Unova. Not only that, but they were very recent, depicting them with their modern day partners. Hilda was with Kyurem in a snowy area, a guy named Hilbert was with Reshiram in a rocky mountainous area, and the former leader of Plasma N was with Zekrom in a forest opening.
Rosa pointed to the two latter paintings. “See these two guys? They were crowned the Kings back then, before they were recognized as heroes. Not only that, but they turned out to be brothers. Twin brothers, just like in the old legends about the twin heroes that originally made Reshiram and Zekrom what they were.”
“That's spooky,” Nate said. “Is Hilda related to them?”
She shrugged. “I don't think so. I hope not, anyhow, because there were rumors going around that she was dating or in love with one of them. Although, maybe that was like what's going on with us, just rumors because they were all friends. I did hear from them when they talked on TV that they were all friends, even though the way things were made N an enemy of the others.”
But seeing those paintings didn't trigger any connection for Nate, not like seeing the picture of Keldeo earlier. Since they were both feeling hungry from biking around all morning, they headed across the street to find something to eat. The street was starting to get more crowded, so if they wanted to find a table, they would need to do so soon before the major lunch rush came.
Once they had eaten, Nate searched for the last harlequin signal. It led them further away from the ports, into the center of the city. And it was quite a nice center, a round open plaza that was limited to pedestrians and bikes. There were clusters of trees and flowers, a large fountain in the center, a grouping of various vending machines, benches, picnic tables, and what seemed like a natural stage in a raised area around the fountain. On the fountain's edge, there was a harlequin dancing around in a goofy way for a small audience.
“This is the place!” Rosa said, pointing to the fountain. “I mean, where Hilda made fun of Ghetsis. Maybe you'll see that.”
“Maybe,” he said, looking around. “I shouldn't get the harlequin's attention unless I'm sure I won't see something. But then,” he paused. “I don't feel like I did when I entered that lobby.”
After a moment, they went closer to the fountain. Still not seeing anything, it almost startled Nate when the app beep with the harlequin's. She was balancing on one hand. “Oh-ho-ho, it seems I have to do my job now!” she said, elegantly flipping herself back to her feet. “Whoooo's my visitor?”
The people who had been watching her started to move on, so Nate and Rosa were able to come forward while walking their bikes over. “That was me,” he said, putting the kickstand down so he could let go of the bike.
“How nice! Welcome to Central Plaza!” She clapped her hands and twirled around. “Okay, I'll tell you about it. Castelia is built like a circle, from the formation of the docks to the northern edge of the city. And Central Plaza is the center hub of everything, the second that has ever been! It is a beautiful plaza where many people gather for celebrations, Pokemon battles, and contests. You should come every day and see what's going on!” The harlequin made a grand sweeping bow.
“What do you mean by the second hub?” Nate asked.
She tapped her head before standing back up. “At one time, Castelia was a smaller circle. The first hub was also the place where the city was founded, where the founder had the magnificent idea of building a magnificent city. If you want to go on a hunt for the foundation plaza, it could be a bigger hunt than searching for us harlequins.” The harlequin nodded, then pulled a blue medal apparently out of her ear. “Hey, even if I'm in an obvious spot, you found me well! So here, take this metal.” She tossed it over, then pointed to a street they hadn't explored. “Oh, and and a free tip cause I’m nice! There's a video game company down that street. They're pretty cool, because they sponsor a free and public battle dojo for all sorts of Trainers to train themselves and their Pokemon. Not only that, but they have this awesome virtual reality machine running. I saw it the other day, and wow! I really wanted to be there, but the office told me to be here. Have a good one! Castelia, Castelia, here we go!” She then made a hurried spinning dance around the edge of the fountain.
“Oo, I wonder if I can get some karate practice in,” Rosa said, looking back at that street.
“Or maybe find someone who can tell you how to fight with that sword?” Nate suggested, putting this medal with the others.
She shrugged. “Well there's no reason to be actually fighting, so a sword's actually kind of worthless outside of historical value and sport. This one might be worth something for it's connection to Keldeo, but not as a weapon.”
“By that reasoning, wouldn't knowing karate be good primarily for sport?” he asked. It was a curious thing about this world. He'd read news websites most evenings, but there was never talk of wars or riots.
“No, it's a whole lifestyle!” she said, grinning.
As that was the last of the harlequins, he and Rosa headed out to bike back to the hotel. The harlequin there was juggling the jingly balls next to the entrance to the diner. “Hello, it's one of our happy players,” he said. “Did you have a good time seeing the sights and sounds of Castelia City? More importantly, did you get all five metals?”
“I have them,” he said, pulling them out of his bag. “That was kinda fun, certainly informative.”
“Great!” The harlequin looked at the five, then pulled out a wad of confetti to throw over them. “And you have won! Fun fun, and you even got done before dinner, got done first! Which means, I get to take the tracker off your bike, and you get the extra prize package. Wah-la!” He then handed over a red box topped with a gold bow before going to make the bike Nate's fully.
Thinking that a clown's gift wouldn't be simple, Nate carefully checked the lid. It popped off as soon as it was touched, letting off another puff of confetti and bopping Ruby in the head. Inside, there were five Great Balls, a small bicycle pump, a bicycle repair kit, bungee cords, and a coupon for a free Casteliacone.
“And now, the bike is yours!” the harlequin said, coming over while idly tossing the tracker device. “Enjoy, and be sure to explore our beloved city even further. Castelia City, Castelia City, here we go!” He danced off while waiting on the next contest participant.
“Thanks!” he called, then turned to Rosa. “This'll be a big help, especially if we have a lot of ground to cover.”
She smiled. “Yeah, since we're going to go all over Unova. That's great!”
-+-
After finishing the harlequin hunt, Rosa and Nate decided to look around for the Pokecenter and any stores that might be of use to them. As the sun began to set, the Xtransciever they had found last night rang again. “Good evening,” she said, struggling to recall the guy's name for a moment.
But once he spoke, she remembered that it was Curtis. “Evening, Rosa,” he said, his voice sounding rough and tired. “Sorry, I was planning on meeting up with you in Castelia, but I kept forgetting to call and ended up in Driftveil with some friends.”
“That's okay,” she said. “I wouldn't have been able to answer for most of the day. Are you getting a cold? You don't sound that well.”
“I don't think it's a cold. I hope not; it should just be my voice getting hoarse from work today. Things went on longer than expected and it was rough. They brought me out here to go to a club and scout out, um, a business.”
“Are you old enough for that?” Nate asked, as he was close enough to hear.
“Well, technically no but I, uh, we can usually get in. Who was that?”
“Oh, that's my friend Nate,” Rosa said. “This is the guy who owns this, Curtis. He called me this morning.”
“I see,” Curtis said.
“Still, that doesn't sound like a good idea to be talking on the phone if your losing your voice or something. You should probably do something more relaxing.”
“And drink some hot tea with honey and a bit of lemon juice in it,” Nate suggested. “Or pineapple juice. Those would be better on your throat.”
“I suppose you're right,” Curtis said, oddly sounding relieved to be told not to go out with his friends. “Thanks for the concern. They've been bugging me to do things like go to nightclubs and such to unwind, or so they claim. But I'd rather be out fishing. I don't know if I have my gear here.” There were sounds like he was searching a bag.
“Fishing sounds like fun, but I've never gotten to do it,” Rosa said, glancing back at the shirts on sale that she'd been looking through. But it didn't hold her attention as much now.
Sounding more enthusiastic, he said, “It's a great thing, even times when nothing bites. When you get something, it's so exciting to battle against the catch to reel it in. I let the Pokemon I hook go most of the time, and the regular fish too unless I plan on cooking them. More about the fishing than the fish... ah yes, here it is. Don't have any bait, but I'm sure I can pick up something.”
“And some hot tea or something so you feel better,” she reminded him.
“Yeah, that too. I'm sure I can give the others the slip. Hey, if you can get a ferry up the river, maybe we can meet up.”
“I don't know,” Rosa said. “We've been biking around Castelia pretty much all day, so if I stop to sit for a while, I might fall asleep.”
“That's too bad,” he said, sounding disappointed. “We'll try again tomorrow, since I'll be back in the city then. Take care, Rosa.”
“You too Curtis,” she said.
