Hearthome was a city of passion and community. The streets were clean, the volumes were soft, and the people walked around fashionably, comfortably, and together with their Pokemon in harmony.

Even the Pokemon Center seemed a little more high class here. There were elevators, accessibility aids, and even raised platforms for Pokemon to climb or perch on.

The first thing Luce does once they get a dorm room is to rest the egg and its incubator on the safest spot of the room, by the wall on the desk.

Luce settles down on the bed– and Buneary was lying over the magazines, slumped over it like a schoolgirl as it sulks over the gravure features of Keira and her Buneary, Mimi.

They were both Buneary, but they were so different.

Luce taps on the picture of Mimi, looking inquisitively at the Pink Buneary with a slight tilt of his head.

The Pink Buneary huffs dejectedly, murmuring something indecipherable about itself, sitting up.

Over on the other bed, Monferno scoffs, earning an irritated bark from the Buneary. They didn't seem like they were going to physically fight, so Luce didn't react.

Instead, Luce raises a question toward Monferno, "hate?"

Monferno nods– and then shakes his head. And then he signs, "enemy," and "not." Then he seems to think far and ffar, before settling on, "friends," then, "battle."

Battle friends?

"Other me," Monferno signs toward himself, but he probably meant the other Buneary, spoken in the perspective of the Pink Buneary, "dislikes me."

So Pink Buneary sees Mimi as a battle friend, but Mimi doesn't feel the same way. A one-sided rivalry. Or perhaps faraway admiration, a competitive streak borne of pride, but never really had any substance to begin with. This Pink Buneary was wild, after all. It had probably been jealous of Mimi for her popularity.

Even though it was shiny and all... maybe its mean streak deterred any catchers?

"What the– why did you bring it back with us?" Barry enters the room, balking. "I thought I told you to throw it out."

Buneary immediately whirls to its feet, snarling in Barry direction for all of a second before it pounces, and now Barry's the one shrieking, chased out of the room by furious bunny ear barrage.

Luce hums. Definitely the mean streak.

But that's fine.

"[You need a trainer to join a contest,]" he writes, and Buneary takes a moment out of trying to stomp on Barry's back to come by and read it.

Buneary huffs, because obviously, it knows.

But there's no one around willing to take in such a violent creature, much less after it's notoriously harassed Keira's Buneary all this while.

When Luce had brought it in, the reception actually flinched at the sight, because there were just so many Pokemon that Buneary picked a fight with, half of the population in Hearthome had been its victims at some point.

Then Luce points at himself, mouthing, "how about me?"

Buneary blinks at that.

Outside, Barry sighs, dusting himself off. "You've got to be kidding, right?"

Luce smiles. He is not.

-

-

-

"What do you mean, the Buneary's not allowed in Amity Square?!"

The receptionist holds up her hands defensively, jabbing a thumb back at the sign. It was framed like a wanted poster, except it reads NOT ALLOWED at the top, with a shaky image of the offending pink Buneary looking incredibly feral as it tries to bite off someone's hand.

"Buneary are the fiercest Pokemon in the natural wild," the receptionist says, holding up her clipboard over her front in case Buneary (who is currently very menacingly glowering at her from Luce's shoulder) tries to lunge. Which has definitely happened before. "I'm sorry, there's been too many complaints about her, and Amity Park is a place to roam, so people would like to stay safe in here."

Which made sense. 

There were certainly worse predators, but Buneary is the least trusting of the prey– its notoriously 'zero' base friendship a testament to that. It was miraculous that Luce was currently being used as her perch, rather than being mauled in the face like Barry had been.

"Argh," Barry sighs. "Alright, can she go into the Contest Hall at least?" Barry says.

"Ah, yes, as long as she is with a trainer," the receptionist composes herself to say. "But if she attacks any other trainer's Pokemon, you could be penalised or blacklisted by extension... so be careful, alright?"

"We'll try," Barry says with a groan.

Luce smiles in relief. At the very least, she can go into the Contest Hall. It's something.

Monferno, who is now holding Luce's hand (because his position at the shoulder has been booted in lieu of respecting Luce's wish to avoid conflict) growls out a warning toward Buneary, who just angrily dismisses him.

"Behave," Luce signs out.

"Behave," Monferno repeats back, then points accusingly at Buneary, shooting it like an accusation.

Buneary hisses. Monferno barks.

Instead of fighting though, they turn away with a synchronous huff, deeming each other a waste of time.

"Wow, I'm worried," Barry mutters.

The receptionist sighs. "He's the first trainer that's actually going to try taming the most notoriously delinquent Buneary in this city. I think your concern is very valid."

-

In all that's happened in his day, Luce had completely forgotten that, according to the games, his mother was in this city right now.

"And last to appeal is Contest Master Johanna and Garu!"

Needless to say, the very second they found their way into the audience halls, they both ran right up to the frontmost of the gallery.

Mom was there– and so was Kangaskhan.

"No way! Mama Johanna!" Barry cheers.

Luce hurries forward, egg in his arms, Buneary on his shoulders, and Monferno leaping up to the banister, squealing at the familiar face onstage.

Johanna was gorgeous today, preceding her age with a glamorous tailcoat over a gothic knee-length gown. It was in shades of brown and gold to match Kangaskhan, but it shone so brightly, Fantina's clothing almost paled in comparison.

Her hair was adorned with a gold-and-russet bow, matched in patterns with a cap on Kangaskhan's ear and the huge bow tied around Baby Kanga's neck.

"She's not wearing that really pretty dress," Barry says, a little disappointed. "You know, the real fluttery, glittery one she always wore last time around."

"She only wears it in Beauty and Cute contests with Nyaru," Luce explains. "Because that dress is Glameow-themed."

"She has a different dress for which Pokemon she uses?!"

"Of course!" Luce smirks, "a good coordinator always connects with their Pokemon! It's the basic standard to dress according to your performance."

Barry stares, slightly incredulous, "you're such a mommy's boy."

"Quiet!"

But what surprised Luce most of all was the presence of Fantina right beside her. If Mom was going last in the final round– that meant Mom was higher ranked than Fantina right now.

"Reversal!" Johanna declares.

The roar of a Kangaskhan reverberates across the room, the air cracking from the sheer furor surging forth. The ground shatters, and there was no way anyone could tear their eyes away from the Pokemon that caused it.

Buneary gapes at the sheer impact that blows through the hall, her eyes sparkling in a sort of overwhelming admiration. Monferno was in a similarly brimming state, cheering and whooping with so much energy he was desperate to get closer, and would if Prinplup hadn't grabbed him back before he leaped.

"What a closure! Master Coordinator Johanna and her Kangaskhan, Garu, bring the Performance judging to an explosive end!" the judge announces, and the entire hall erupts in cheers, chanting out Johanna's name.

-

"Oh my, I kind of went a little too all-out there, I'm quite embarrassed," Johanna chuckles, carefully leaving the dressing room and returning to the lobby, now properly dressed in daily clothes.

Her hair was now undone and she was out of costume– Johanna really couldn't be recognized at all. It was almost amazing how unsuspecting she looked in an apron.

"Oh, don't be!" Fantina assures, "you were amazing out there! A complete defeat for me, I'm afraid. As always, you're far out of my league when it comes to the Cool Category."

"Oh, you flatter me!" Johanna chuckles, "you know I can never get close in Smart and Beauty categories."

"Miss Johanna! It's really an honour to be the judge in your contest today," Keira bows, "you're my greatest aspiration. I'm serious!"

A little further away, Luce and Barry did not know how to approach them at all. It looked crazy over there, and they were completely outclassed.

"I keep forgetting Mama Johanna's a celebrity," Barry says.

"Me too," Luce says.

They didn't need to wonder how to approach her– because Kangaskhan walks right up to them, staring for all of a full minute before nodding and smiling, raising a hand to gently pat them both on the head to get their attention.

"Garu!" Barry turns to it.

Meanwhile, baby Kanga– Chibigaru– hops onto the incubator, observing it cheerfully as he nuzzles up to Luce's neck.

Monferno squeals, hopping off Luce onto Kangaskhan's shoulder, chittering and noisily chatting about how cool it was back in the contest, probably. Buneary was horrified at first, but eventually, she joined in too, climbing up Kangaskhan's arm to hound it in desperate fangirl mode about this and that, gesticulating widely, imitating punches and roars.

Kangaskhan looks conflicted at first, but she smiled warmly, nodding at set intervals.

"Oh, what are you doing, Garu– Luce! Barry!"

Johanna has finally noticed them, and her face bloomed as she spots them. She slings her arms around Luce first, mindful of the incubator as she cradles his head tenderly. She quickly spares an arm to take Barry into a hug too.

"Surprise, boys! Didn't expect to see me here, did you?"

"Woa-ah!" Barry stumbles, but Johanna's strong enough to keep him upright, "ah, yeah! We thought you retired, Mama Johanna!"

"I did, but since I had time now, I came here," she chuckles. "Sure feels great to stand on stage again, huh, Garu and Chibigaru? Now we just wish Nyaru could've come, too..."

The Kangaskhan hums, very pleased with her own performance. Lil' Kanga huffs, proud.

"Fantina, Keira! Come, I'll introduce you," Johanna beams when her contest pals come up to them in curiosity. She holds her sons by the shoulders, bringing them to her side. "This is Luce, and this is Barry."

"You two are the ones that helped me earlier!" Keira brightens up. "You're Johanna's children? No way, what a small world!""Ah, as a token of my appreciation..." Keira reaches around her pursues, before handing Luce a small jar of Glitter Powder. "Here you go, I'm sure it'll come in handy."

Luce smiles in gratitude.

"Small world indeed," Fantina says.

Barry flusters, "Ah no, Mama Johanna raised me half of the time but she's not my mom–"

"I'm surprised you know them," Johanna chuckles. "Up to some heroics again, boys? Ah, what an adorable little Buneary," Johanna cradles Buneary right off of Kangaskhan's arm, holding it up like a tender specimen. "Nice to meet you, sweetie."

Buneary yelps in surprise– along with the entirety of the contest lobby, seeing the woman just pick up the violent creature like that– but one look at Johanna's smile and Buneary sits down, meek and appreciative.

Barry balks. "As expected from Luce's mom, she's got the same magic power..."

"Speaking of which, what's that egg? And is this the Chimchar from back then," Johanna spins her attention around to the other Pokemon, "Oh! Piplup evolved too! And is that a Psyduck? Oh! Staravia, that sure brings back memories! And a Ponyta– oh Barry dear, what happened to your leg?"

They spent a while catching up after that.

-

Mom decided to go home right after all the debacle, surprisingly. There were errands to do at home in preparation for the Late Autumn Festival and all, so this had just been a short trip. She promised to come back completely into the Contest World soon and went off.

(She also gave them a lot of stuff, including a tuxedo, accessories, berries, poffins– Luce and Barry were exhausted by the end of it.)

"Now I'm tired," Barry sighs, sulking face first into the bed with Monferno imitating him at the side.

Buneary raises a fist, punching upward in a sort of resolve.

Luce nods, knowing that it really wanted to get started with training for the contest now. Watching all of that go down must have renewed its resolve tenfold.

"Well, for now, let's find out what category you're best for," Barry says, getting up. When Buneary gives him a confused look he clarifies, "you want to compete with that other Buneary, but you don't have to do it in the same category. You're definitely not a Cute."

Buneary bristles, ready to pounce again– but Barry keeps talking.

"Didn't you see Mama Johanna and Miss Fantina? They're specialized in different things, but they're still incredibly friendly rivals," the word rival catches her attention. "It's only a fair fight if you're both doing what you're best at, after all."

Buneary looks down, considering that.

And then, with a resolve in her eyes, she pumps a fist in determination, shouting out a call to indicate she was willing to try, at least.

-

Alright, so the Buneary's a complete natural at battles.

Mom brought Luce a castanet, so he didn't need to use the Soothe Bell as a metronome anymore. And Buneary got the hang of the rhythm system in mere minutes, and then began fighting in incredible synchrony with Luce's orders.

"This is up, this is down, twice for left, twice but quicker for right– Luce are you sure these subtle noises are alright?" Barry says slightly exasperated.

"It's like Morse Code," Luce signs, tapping out three quick clamps, followed by two louder ones– and Buneary yells out an affirmation, throwing forth a Rock Smash right onto the enemy Bidoof, taking it right out.

Buneary lands on the ground, arms crossed in pride.

"...I don't even know what to be more surprised about, the fact that Buneary got a hang of it faster than Spitfire, or the fact that you apparently taught it Rock Smash in one night."

"Fighter."

"Huh?"

"I'm naming her Fighter."

"Ah. Are you even listening to me?"

Monferno is brooding, sitting by the side with the egg incubator, using Ponyta as a couch, and Staravia is perched beside them on a rock.

Buneary makes her very huffy way up to Luce's side, and Luce crouches down, smiling widely as he applauds in approval. Buneary nods, because yes, praise her, she is awesome, the awesomest bunny around.

(But when Luce tries to pat her on the head, she curls away and hisses sharply. Oh well, baby steps.)

"Alright, I guess you're entering her in the Tough contest," Barry says, pinching the bridge of his nose in defeat. "I'm going to make poffins, then. Good luck on the dance and Performance portions, you two."

"Thank you for your service," Luce signs, and Buneary calls out two words that almost cheekily sound like a sarcastic thank you.

Barry decides he's not going to retort to any of that. He simply waves dismissively and makes his way around on his crutch, with Prinplup and Psyduck following along slowly.

Luce hums, and when he tosses Buneary an oran berry– Buneary slips on the way to catch it, dropping it. She lets out a startled yelp.

Barry stops abruptly, turning to look.

Buneary groans, and she stands up, reaching down to pick up the Berry again– but she doesn't manage to get it into her mouth– her hand slips right around the curve of the berry when she raises it, and it pops into the air, soaring for all of a second before it bonks her on the head on its way down.

In frustration, she swings a fuzzy foot to shout and kick at it– but she also completely misses, losing her balance– and then she lands with her center of gravity on the berry and she stumbles right over it, whirling into the ground with a startled yelp.

"...Luce," Barry says, wary.

Luce has no idea what to say to it, because now Buneary was barking at the Berry like it was her mortal enemy, kicking it into the air, far away– only for it to hit a tree, ricochet in the other direction, and crash right into the back of her head to knock her to the ground.

"I..." Barry had to cover his mouth and bite his lip shut because he couldn't not laugh. "I think– I think you've gotten yourself a Klutz Buneary."

Luce buried his hands into his face. 

He didn't think the ability was literal.

-

Fantina watches them from afar. She'd come to the Pokemon Center to heal her Pokemon after a Gym Challenge, but Luce and Buneary's training in the backyard catches her attention.

"Impressive, isn't it?" the Nurse Joy tells her, "they've been at it all morning. Word's spread all over town about how we've finally found someone our local troublemaker doesn't immediately punch out of the city."

"They've been at it since yesterday," an Ace Trainer says. "Trust me, there have been punches. The boy's not getting angry, so Buneary's probably just feeling bad about it."

Fantina hums, impressed.

"No one's ever been patient enough to work with Buneary, but I suppose all it takes is a little bit of determination, huh..." she smiles. "What happened to his other friend?"

"He got kicked out of the Poffin House, so he went to Amity Square," a Picnicker chuckles, holding an armful of yellow Poffins for her Kricketot. "He's giving away all of the Poffins he deems as failures, so you should go too before he stops making them!"

"He got kicked out? Why– Ah, because everyone was lining up for free Poffins."

"Failures?" Fantina says, "but those look like they're at least Level 10!"

"He's trying to go for at least Level 20, I think?" the girl says, "Either way, more for us, right, Crikey?" her Kricketot shrimps happily.

"They're planning on winning the Normal Rank Tough Contest tomorrow," a Battle Girl says, "I think the whole city's gonna want to watch, at this point!"

"Tomorrow?!" Fantina gapes. "That's Johanna's child alright... are they sure though?"

It was surprising, but Fantina couldn't help but adore that a whole lot. One child with a whole lot of Willpower, the other with enough Knowledge even in the technical aspects...

"Lady Fantina," there's Gym Guide Jim, entering the Center presumably in search of her, "you've got a call from Byron of Canalave."

"Oh? That's a rare caller," she says, getting ready to return.

Byron lived in the corner of Canalave and all, so he usually wasn't the spreader of information. He must be spreading news that came from Roark, then.

-

("Oh, Roark wants me to look after the Pokedex Holders when they come into my city? Well, sure if I feel like it... hold on, what did you just say their names were?")

("...no, there's no problem about it. No, none at all. Absolutely not, yep. Actually no I'm losing my mind you are not right here just telling me that these kids, Johanna's kids, are crazy, passionate, and ambitious, and they're taming our feral Buneary, and they're also Pokedex holders?!")

-

-

-

While all that went on, Dawn arrives at the bustling green city of Eterna. It's late evening, since she took long detours to catch Pokemon along the way.

"Hi, Mister Rad Rickshaw, right?" she barges into the store (the Youngster squeaks at the loud entry) and walks right up to the man, bowing lowly. "My name is Platina Dawnes! Please call me Dawn, I'm a friend of Barry and Luce, I really really have to thank you for the bike you so kindly gifted to me, no amount of gratitude is enough–"

"Calm down, calm down, missy! You're going too fast. I didn't hear half of it and I literally have my head under some precarious engine right now, give me a minute!"

-

"I see, so they made it safely to Oreburgh and are on their way to Hearthome now," Gardenia chuckles. "But to think their third friend's a girl! Do you got a better head screwed on than them?"

They're seated by the huts of the plaza, drinking very bitter herb tea with some traditional sweet rice cakes.

Dawn beams, unfazed by the tea as she cheerfully shares some bites of her food with Clifford the little Cleffa. "I sure hope so– the boys are quite the reckless bunch, aren't they? Have they told you about how Luce broke his arm on his first day yet?"

"I'll do you one better– they infiltrated the Galactic building and Barry jumped off the second floor," Gardenia sighs. "If I didn't see it, I fear what would've happened!"

The gossip sessions were wild. Mister Rickshaw and Roy, the random teenager that knows a lot about inscriptions, stood at the side, baffled.

Dawn's Abra was floating about, playing touch the foot with the two Clefairy. Turtwig was sleeping on the side with Gardenia's Pokemon, and Shinx was running about everywhere, exploring every inch of the huts before climbing up the Pokemon Statue to perform an intensive inspection.

"Speaking of which– hear this!" Gardenia sighs, apparently close enough with Dawn now to just rant to her like old girlfriends, "it's only been a few days, but the entire Galactic Corporation moved out of their building!"

"Huh?! After they went through so much trouble to enforce it and all?" Dawn gapes.

"Yeah, it's completely empty! Signed the town leaving notice and all, so no one's there anymore, though they still own the building," Gardenia sighs. "I don't understand them at all! They make so little sense."

Rickshaw and Roy sigh at that as well.

"Speaking of which," Rickshaw turns to the trainer, "did you ever find out if that Key was relevant to the building?"

"The key... oh this one?" Roy digs around his pockets, finds a whole variety of scrap paper, his Poke Ball, a badge– ah, there it is, "well, I couldn't find that Jupiter lady, and none of the grunts gave me anything other than robot answers, so I never got the chance to ask if this was theirs to return it to them. So I still have it."

"Well, you found it behind the Eterna Galactic Building, so we're pretty sure it comes from them, at least."

It was shaped like a top, orange, with a face drawn on it.

"Well, it literally says 'Secret Key' on it," Rickshaw says. "Who knows. Maybe it opens some kinda hidden room, like a whole spy movie kinda schtick."

Roy snorts. "No way."

They lift their heads to see both Dawn and Gardenia staring at them, eyes twinkling in curiosity and so much, so much mischief.

"A Secret Key that might open the door to a hidden, secret agent room?" Dawn asks, sounding enthralled.

"That sounds amazing!" Gardenia stands right up. "Only one thing to do, boys and girl!" she cheers, "let's go infiltrate the Galactic building!"

Rickshaw sputters. "Miss Gardenia, NO! Did we learn nothing?!"

-

In the end, Roy and Rickshaw fervently disallowed Gardenia and Dawn from going, because it was dangerous. Instead, the men went in, because Roy was a veteran trainer and Rickshaw knew his way around somewhat.

There was no one in that building anyways, so it would just be a quick look in and out.

"Geez, they're so stingy," Gardenia pouts. She has Cherubi on her shoulder.

"Well, it's fine isn't it?" Dawn says, clutching Cleffa (who was too scared to follow Rickshaw back into the building of trauma, so Dawn was babysitting) in her arms, with Shinx following along by her feet. "I have quite the agenda in town, so it's nice that I'll be able to have you to show me around."

"You're very optimistic."

"I get that a lot!"

Gardenia sighs, walking her into the forest. Being a forest-girl, she loved the forests at night. It was cold, soothing, and sang with the slumber of the greenery.

Cherubi was riding on Shinx's back while little Cleffa sat on Turtwig's shell, slowly scooting along. Gardenia climbed trees, showing Abra some sights from the treeline.

Dawn followed along, catching Pokemon she found along the way. It was honestly amazing how she wasn't tired yet, simply obsessed with filing up the pages of her Pokedex with Capture Data.

"I help my Father with his research all the time," she says, "it's quite fascinating to find new Pokemon, isn't it?"

"Well, as long as you're enjoying yourself," Gardenia says. "You looked through all the Honey Trees, too."

"They were all Male Combees, so I'm thinking of going back one more time later... huh?" Dawn lifts her eyes, squinting a little into the forage– "hey, Miss Gardenia, is that a light? It's further into the forest so it's not a building from the town..."

Gardenia freezes, cringing back with a fumbled, "oh– uh," she turns away from there, "Wow, I wonder what it is. Anyways, don't you think it's getting a little late now, how about we get back to the city..."

"Ohh, it looks like a haunted house!"

Gardenia whirls around, horrified to see Dawn has made it all the way into the clearing in the distance, within sight of the Old Chateau.

At least, as far as the plants were concerned, Gardenia was fine in the forest at night.

"Nooo, Dawn, please no!" Gardenia wails, clinging onto Dawn's arm, "anywhere but here! I was trying to avoid this place for a reason!"

"What are you talking about, these kinds of places usually have super rare Pokemon, especially those that only show up at night!" Dawn beams, "are you scared, miss Gardenia? Even though you brought me into the forest this late?"

"I'm okay with grass type Pokemon and the plants," Gardenia hisses, "man-made structures, I am not! This place is a horror movie incarnate! You're going to be the dumb one that dies first in the movie, Dawn!"

Dawn beams, "awesome, ghosts don't exist and I'm not in a movie, so I'm going in!"

"Are you sure we're not in a horror movie, Dawn?! What if we are and we just don't know?!"

"Take care of Clifford and Bonsai for me, I'm going in with Kazza and Tempest," Dawn says, picking up her Shinx and calling her Abra back. "I'll be back in maybe an hour! Wait for me please!"

Turtwig croaks out some sort of affirmative, and Cleffa waves as best as his little stubby hands could. Cherubi hops back onto Gardenia's shoulder, looking incredibly frantic, also terrified.

"Nooo, Dawn!" Gardenia cries, but she's running right off, completely thoughtless. Gardenia sobs louder when Dawn doesn't even look back to address her dramatics.