"Prrr!" Ludicolo bounced and waved. Ye Lan had shed the awkwardness he'd had when he first set out as a trainer, and his appearance had changed a great deal, but Ludicolo still recognized the young man with the gentle smile at a glance.
"Vee?!"
Leafeon hurriedly pulled out its "Big Sis's Book of Grudges" and carefully compared its drawing of Starry Sky's Pokémon with the Ludicolo before it. At last, it reached a startling conclusion:
I made the drawing this accurate just from Big Sis's description? I even got its expression right! Am I a genius at art as well as finance?
Leafeon felt none of the tension it should have felt with Serperior about to explode at the sight of her "enemy." Its eyes shone with admiration for its own artwork.
"All right, Serperior. Ludicolo's an old friend of ours. We were partners from the very beginning, and as Big Sis, you're responsible for the first impression our whole team makes."
Ye Lan patted Serperior's scales to soothe her. He had long regretted telling his queen every detail of how he'd chosen his Starter Pokémon. Serperior had never gotten over the fact that he'd almost chosen Lotad and missed out on her. When she got moody, it was probably because she'd dreamed about it the night before.
That was Ye Lan joking, of course. He had a feeling that when he was old and Serperior brought it up yet again, it would make for a pretty funny story.
"Serp..."
At Ye Lan's reassurance, Serperior gradually calmed down.
It wasn't that she disliked Ludicolo. On the contrary, she was very fond of the helpful Pokémon and sincerely grateful for everything it had done for them when they were poor.
That top-grade Water Stone had made it possible to trade for