A week had passed, and through dedicated practice, Machamp had become proficient enough at driving to obtain their driver's license.
The process of getting a driver's license in the Pokémon world differed from Cole's previous life — you could take tests for each stage whenever your skills met the requirements, without time restrictions.
After getting the license, Machamp was like a child with a new toy, eagerly volunteering to drive whenever anything needed delivery from the orchard.
Having a truck and driver made many of the orchard's tasks more convenient. Cole sometimes chose to ride in Machamp's truck instead of on Captain Talonflame.
Cars were indeed more comfortable than riding Pokémon, even with riding gear installed.
During this week, Buneary had visited several times. Cole introduced it to Hatterene, and the two Pokémon hit it off immediately — Hatterene especially seemed to adore the bunny.
However, Buneary never stayed long, always rushing back and forth, showing great enthusiasm for learning.
In its words, it wanted to graduate soon so that all the Pokémon at home could enjoy the Pokéblocks it made with its own hands.
Inspired by Buneary, Hatterene began studying culinary arts independently, asking Daisy how to use the internet and learning home-style cooking systematically through online tutorials.
Though Hatterene could already cook, it had previously relied on intuition rather than formal training.
Cole insisted there was no need to work so hard, saying its cooking was already delicious and maintaining that level would be fine.
Unfortunately, no one listened to him. The Pokémon were too diligent — what a sweet problem to have!
That day was the weekend again, and with no school to attend early, the Pokémon went off to train or work after breakfast while Cole meditated in his room.
When the Pokémon returned from training outside, his meditation hadn't finished, so everyone went about their own business.
Larvitar, having nothing to do, wandered around the courtyard with its hands behind its back.
At this time, Daisy spotted it and picked it up. Though Cole couldn't really carry this little heavy one, she could lift it with ease.
Daisy bounced Larvitar a bit and asked, "Have you gotten heavier again?"
With its improved diet, Larvitar had grown noticeably heavier and a bit taller, though its weight gain far outpaced its height.
Larvitar, oblivious to its weight gain, just looked at her with innocent big eyes as if to say "What are you talking about?"
"Never mind, it's good that you're getting heavier." Daisy said, "Since you have nothing to do, why don't you watch TV with me?"
She felt lonely watching TV alone.
Hearing this, Larvitar started to struggle, wiggling its little bottom and trying to break free from her arms — it would rather walk in the courtyard than watch TV with her.
Daisy glared at it, "Don't move, we're watching TV together."
Larvitar didn't dare struggle anymore and could only nestle in her arms as they went inside, its little face puffed up in annoyance.
In the living room, Daisy took out the tablet Cole had bought for them, opened it, and curled up on the sofa to find the TV drama they hadn't finished from two days ago.
It was an idol drama featuring a small guest appearance by Diantha. Daisy had recently become obsessed with idol dramas, so they settled in to watch.
Though Larvitar watched the tablet as instructed, its thoughts drifted outside while its little claws fidgeted restlessly.
Suddenly, an image flashed across the tablet screen — the Silver Stone that it loved so much.
"Yow~"
Larvitar excitedly grabbed Daisy's arm.
"What's wrong?" She asked, puzzled.
"Yow~ Yow~ Yow~"
Larvitar pointed at the tablet, gesturing wildly with its little claws.
"Go back?"
Not knowing what had excited it, Daisy followed its instructions and scrolled back through the tablet pages.
Soon, the Silver Stone image appeared again.
"Oh, so this is what you wanted to see!" Daisy said with sudden understanding, "Let me take a look."
"Yow~ Yow~"
Larvitar nodded excitedly.
Daisy quickly read the text below the Silver Stone image and discovered it was an advertisement.
Since she enjoyed surfing the internet, they had learned to read with Cole before, and regular text reading posed no difficulty for them.
The advertisement was from a Silver Stone mine owner who was looking for trainers to explore his depleting mine. The owner promised that anything found inside would belong to the miners themselves.
The entry fee was modest — just a few hundred. Finding even a few pounds of Silver Stone would cover the cost — if you could find any, that is.
As Daisy explained the advertisement to Larvitar, its eyes lit up at the promise that "whatever is found can be taken away."
Seeing its excited expression, she asked, "You're not thinking of going, are you?"
"Yow~ Yow~ Yow~"
Larvitar nodded eagerly.
Daisy rolled her eyes, "I advise you to forget about it. That mine probably has nothing left — why else would the fee be so low? Going would be a waste."
"Yow~ Yow~"
Larvitar immediately became upset and rattled off a string of protests, clearly not believing her words.
Daisy, getting a headache from its noise, could only say, "Fine, fine, fine... I can't control you. If you want to go, go talk to Cole yourself. I'm not getting involved."
After saying this, she found their unfinished TV drama and contentedly started watching it.
Larvitar sat absentmindedly glancing at the tablet in her hands while secretly looking toward Cole's room, hoping he would finish meditating soon.
✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲
It was close to noon when Cole finally came out of his room.
When Larvitar spotted him, it immediately grabbed the tablet Daisy had left on the sofa and scampered over excitedly.
Daisy had already gone to the kitchen to help Hatterene with lunch preparation.
"Yow~ Yow~"
Larvitar stood on its tiptoes, trying to lift the tablet up to Cole, but being too short, it could only reach his knees.
Cole bent down to take the tablet.
"What do you want?" He asked curiously.
Larvitar jumped up and down, gesturing for him to look at the tablet.
The screen was already open to the Silver Stone advertisement page, which Cole quickly read.
"You want to go here?" He asked with furrowed brows.
"Yow…" — Mmhmm...
Larvitar nodded quickly, looking at him with anticipation.
"But..."
Then Cole expressed the same doubts as Daisy.
"Yow~" — Really not possible?
Hearing this, Larvitar lowered its head dejectedly.
"Well... it's not completely impossible to go..." Cole said, seeing its sadness.
The mine mentioned in the advertisement was in a small town near Shalour City, not far from Coumarine — just a bit further than Lumiose.
Shalour City was one of the oldest cities in the Kalos region, and Cole thought it wouldn't hurt to check it out. Even if they found no Silver Stone, they could treat it as a tourist trip.
"Yow~ Yow~ Yow~" — Can we? Can we? Can we really go?
Hearing his response, Larvitar's eyes lit up.
"How about this — I don't have school tomorrow, so I'll take you then."
Larvitar perked up immediately. It nodded with satisfaction, then walked away with its hands behind its back, swaying as it went.
This little one... Cole shook his head helplessly.
✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲
During lunch, Cole asked Daisy, "I'm planning to go to Shalour City tomorrow, Mom. Would you like to come along?"
"Bri~ Brio~" — I'll go, I'll go!
Before Daisy could answer, Brionne raised its flipper. It didn't know where Shalour City was or what they would do there, but following Cole was reason enough.
"Garde~ Gard~" — Honey, are you taking Larvitar mining?
Daisy quickly deduced why he was planning the trip to Shalour.
"Yeah, we'll check it out. Otherwise, this little one probably won't be able to sleep for days." Cole said with a smile.
Despite its small size, it sure had a big personality!
Larvitar ignored the teasing and focused on eating. As long as it achieved its goal, nothing else mattered.
"Garde~ Garde~" — But you might not find anything there.
Daisy said doubtfully.
Cole replied nonchalantly, "If we don't find anything, that's fine. We'll just treat it as a vacation."
Everyone had been so busy lately with the disaster situation that going out to relax would be good — a perfect chance to unwind.
"Garde~ Garde~" — Well, alright then, I'll come too.
After making their decision, Cole and the others packed their things that day. The next morning, he left the household matters to the employees and set off with Daisy and the others.
✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲
Cole took a special express aircraft to Shalour. Though more expensive than regular flights, it only took two hours to reach their destination.
With its long history, Shalour featured numerous ancient buildings and ruins. The entire city exuded a mysterious and ancient atmosphere, quite unlike Coumarine's modern style.
Upon arriving, Cole released all his Pokémon — Brionne, Heliolisk, Chikorita, and Larvitar (Daisy wasn't in a Poké Ball) — and took everyone for a stroll through the city streets.
Shalour's landmark was the Tower of Mastery, an ancient structure that, according to legend, concealed a secret capable of granting Pokémon mysterious powers.
However, no one knew what this secret actually was, as the Tower of Mastery wasn't open to the public. It belonged to Shalour Gym Leader Gurkinn, and outsiders weren't generally allowed to investigate it.
Currently, the Shalour Gym Leader wasn't Korrina from Cole's memory, but rather her grandfather, Gurkinn.
He knew that the Tower of Mastery concealed the secret of Pokémon Mega Evolution, though in the current Pokémon world, there were few discovered cases of Mega Evolution, and trainers lacked a clear understanding of the concept.
Driven by curiosity, Cole took his Pokémon to see the Tower of Mastery from the outside.
Like Coumarine, Shalour was coastal, with the Tower of Mastery standing by the sea. Without waiting for low tide, there was no way to reach it by land.
When Cole arrived, the tide hadn't gone out yet, so he could only look from afar, though Brionne and the others enjoyed playing by the sea.
Only Larvitar seemed unhappy. They had come to mine, after all, but Cole and the others were just playing around, seemingly having forgotten their main purpose.
Cole: Actually, our main purpose in coming to Shalour was sightseeing — mining was just a side activity!
If Larvitar knew his true thoughts, it would surely burst into tears.
As Cole studied the Tower of Mastery, a man approached, accompanied by a Lucario. Though balding with distinctive long eyebrows, he appeared to be in his fifties — not exactly elderly.
Cole recognized him immediately as the Shalour Gym Leader by those notable eyebrows.
Noticing the kid gazing across the water at the Tower of Mastery, Gurkinn asked, "Young man, are you here to challenge the gym?"
The Shalour Gym was housed within the Tower of Mastery — which, despite its name, was more of a sprawling castle complex than a single tower.
"No." Cole shook his head, "I'm just curious about the Tower of Mastery."
Gurkinn looked surprised at this response. Observing Daisy and the other Pokémon playing nearby, he could tell these were extraordinary creatures. He had assumed this young trainer must be here for a gym challenge!
The Pokémon's exceptional condition was evident — after all, they regularly consumed high-grade Pokéblocks made from Class A berries, and Cole helped manage their energy daily.
Having gotten his hopes up, Gurkinn hadn't expected the boy to decline a challenge.
"What a shame..." He said.
'Hm? What's a shame?' Cole wondered.
But before he could ask, Gurkinn had already walked away with his Lucario.
✲✲✲
T/N: Hey! Liked what you read? Support your friendly neighborhood translator on Patreon! Think of it as buying me a coffee... or ten!
For just $1.50 (that's less than your daily meme budget), get extra chapters! Want more? $2 gets you bonus content, $5 unlocks premium stories, and $10 makes you my hero (and gets you everything I have, including earlier acess to new books)!
That's it and happy reading! (-‿◦)
https://www.patreon.com/collection/1305384