The Care Room's First Guest Sneezed Three Times

Lillipup stared at the white line on the steps, its nose twitching constantly.

It smelled flour, old burlap, wet mud from the cart wheels, and the sweat in the driver's sleeves. That line smelled similar to the white powder in the training room, but the wind had blown it into crooked, winding shapes.

It did not treat the two lines as the same thing.

A-Li walked over to its side. "Don't go over there yet."

Lillipup looked up at her and remained seated.

The young driver beside the cart was frantically trying to hold shut a tear in a cloth sack. Flour leaked through his fingers, and the harder he pressed, the wider the split became.

"Stop pressing it." A-Li set down the bread basket and went to support the bottom of the sack. "Get this bag down first."

"It tore just as I reached the entrance," the driver said anxiously. "Two shops need this for today."

Pancham had already brought over a clean waterproof sheet and spread it by the roadside. Metagross extended an arm, steadily supported the flour sack, and moved it from the cart onto the sheet.

Once the tear faced upward, the flour finally stopped spilling out.

Zorua crouched on the steps, watching with fascination. With a light flick of its tail, an illusion of snow instantly covered the old street. The eaves, cart wheels, and Pancham's ears all turned white.

Lillipup lowered its head to sniff the real trail of flour, then looked toward the scentless white street.

It barked at Zorua.

The snowy illusion vanished.

"It can tell what's real?" the driver asked in surprise.

"Its nose can," A-Li corrected.

After getting permission, she led Lillipup outside. Lillipup did not charge straight along the white line. It only sniffed back and forth nearby twice. The strongest flour scent was to the right of the cart, where the torn sack lined up exactly with the edge of the cart bed.

It brought its nose closer.

Half of a bent nail protruded from the cart bed.

The driver saw it too. "So that's what snagged it."

Lillipup reached out with a paw, wanting to touch it.

A-Li stopped it in time. "It'll poke you."

It withdrew its front paw and sniffed from the side instead. Just then, the wind puffed up the mouth of the sack, sending a small cloud of flour into its face.

"Ah-choo!"

Lillipup backed away, but a second puff of flour fell from above its head.

"Ah-choo!"

A-Li hurriedly folded over the sack opening. Lillipup shook its head, and the dark gray fur around its face had already turned completely white.

Zorua watched for two breaths, then added a little white hat to it with an illusion.

"Ah-choo!"

The third sneeze startled the hat away as well.

Indeedee hurried out from inside. She first checked Lillipup's eyes and nose, confirming that only its outer fur had been dusted with flour, then pointed toward the newly opened care room.

"I'll wash it off first," A-Li said.

Indeedee shook her head and held up a bowl of water beside the flour.

"It'll turn sticky and clump together if it gets wet," Hu Liena reminded her. "Brush off the dry powder first."

A-Li nodded and led Lillipup inside.

The care room's first guest was not injured. It merely looked as though it had rolled around in a flour bin from its ears to its tail.

The moment it stepped onto the dark floor mat, it left behind four distinct white paw prints.

Indeedee brought out three brushes. The stiff-bristled brush was for cleaning the mat, the medium one could brush away the loose outer flour, and only the softest one was meant to go near its face and behind its ears.

The moment A-Li picked up the medium brush, Lillipup shrank beneath the examination bed.

It had already gone through the training room today and been covered in flour three times. Clearly, it did not want to immediately deal with another unfamiliar tool.

"I'm not chasing you," A-Li said as she sat beside the bed.

Lillipup hid even farther in, revealing only the tip of its nose.

Yue Guan passed through the corridor carrying a flowerpot. Seeing the little white ball beneath the bed, he asked, "Did it change fur colors?"

Flabébé hugged its blue flower and flew a little lower curiously.

Lillipup scooted farther inward.

"You're blocking the light," Ghost said from behind them.

Yue Guan stepped back half a pace. "I was just looking."

Duskull poked its face out from behind Ghost's shoulder and knocked twice on the doorframe.

Lillipup's ears twitched, but it did not bark.

A-Li took an old cloth from the bottom of the bread basket. It had originally been used to line the basket. Though it had been washed many times, it still carried the scents of bread, wood shavings, and her hands.

She spread the old cloth on the floor and placed the soft brush beside her knee.

For a moment, there was silence beneath the bed.

Lillipup slowly crawled out, sniffed the old cloth first, then lay down on it. It did not approach the new towel, pressing all four paws onto the thin, worn cloth.

A-Li held out her empty hand and waited until it touched her on its own before picking up the brush.

The first stroke swept lightly over its back, and a layer of flour fell away.

Lillipup wanted to turn its head, so A-Li stopped.

Once it confirmed that the brush was not pulling its fur, it lay back down.

With the second stroke, then the third, the dark gray color on its back gradually emerged. When she brushed behind its ears, A-Li switched to the softest brush and shielded its eyes with one hand so the flour would not fall forward.

Indeedee gathered up the loose flour nearby, keeping the floor dry the entire time.

Yan stood at the door with Magby. "Would a little warm air make this faster?"

Indeedee turned to look at him.

Yan glanced at the flour, then at Magby. "Forget I said anything."

But Magby was very interested in the flour. It dipped a finger into a little bit and was just about to bring it to its mouth when Yan quickly wiped it clean with a cloth.

"You can't eat this directly."

Magby looked toward the bread basket outside.

"You can eat that after it's baked."

It immediately ran over to guard the basket.

The flour on Lillipup's body was quickly brushed away. Only the gaps between its paws and the sides of its nose needed a damp cloth. A-Li wrung the cloth until it was almost no longer dripping, wiped it gently, then finished with a dry cloth.

Indeedee pushed a low mirror in front of it.

Lillipup first saw the face in the mirror, still marked by two white streaks, and immediately barked at it. The Lillipup in the mirror opened its mouth too. It froze, then walked around behind the mirror to search for its companion.

There was nothing behind it.

Zorua lay by the doorway, laughing silently, but held itself back from adding another illusion.

A-Li called Lillipup back and pointed to the sides of its nose. After looking in the mirror, it finally stopped avoiding the damp cloth and lifted its face so she could wipe the last two spots clean.

There was also a low scale beside the examination bed.

When Lillipup stepped onto it, the wooden platform sank slightly. It immediately jumped off and hid behind A-Li's legs.

"Does it need to be weighed too?" A-Li asked.

Indeedee nodded, then spread the old cloth over the scale.

Smelling the familiar scent, Lillipup placed one front paw on it, then the other. The wooden platform still shifted, but this time it did not jump away. It only turned back to look at A-Li.

A-Li crouched where it could see her. "Stand there for just a moment."

Rotom waited for the needle to stabilize, then recorded the number. Indeedee promptly carried Lillipup back onto the old cloth and gave it a tiny piece of dried Berry.

The ordinary applicant outside peeked in. "It only got flour on it. Does it still need weighing?"

"Recording it today lets us know later if it has started eating less," Hu Liena said.

"Does it need medicine?"

Xia Che leaned against the wall. "It isn't hurt. What medicine would it need?"

Indeedee closed the medicine cabinet and only drew a soft brush, damp cloth, and scale on A-Li's card. The care room could handle minor daily issues and would send injuries beyond its scope to a proper clinic. This one only needed its nose cleaned.

After finishing the dried Berry, Lillipup voluntarily went back to sniff the edge of the scale. The platform no longer moved, so it raised a paw and smacked it once, as if confirming that the thing that sank beneath it had finally learned to behave.

"Its eyes aren't red, and its nose is clear," Hu Liena said.

Eevee leaned close to sniff Lillipup, then suddenly sneezed too.

Startled, Lillipup sprang to its feet and gave its entire body a vigorous shake.

The last bit of flour immediately flew off.

The freshly cleaned floor mat was dusted white again.

Indeedee looked at it in silence.

Lillipup looked back at her, its tail wagging more and more slowly.

Pancham entered holding a broom, handed the smaller one to A-Li, and picked up the other. The two swept from opposite sides of the examination bed toward the middle, and the floor was soon clean again.

"So, how did the care room's first guest turn out?" Xia Che asked from the doorway.

Rotom displayed the record. "No injuries, three sneezes, one full-body shake, two cleanups, Rotom."

"Very healthy."

Lillipup seemed to understand. It lifted its head and puffed out its chest.

The flour sack outside had been patched up as well. The driver pulled out the bent nail, folded the tear closed, and sewed it up. The flour that had spilled onto the waterproof sheet could no longer be mixed back into food-grade flour, so he packed it into another small bag and planned to take it back to the shop for another use.

"The cart bed was the problem today," he said to A-Li. "Good thing it didn't hurt it."

Lillipup sniffed the cloth sack in his hand through the doorway, but did not approach the spot where the bent nail had been again.

A-Li shook the old lining cloth clean, preparing to put it back into the bread basket.

But Lillipup pinned it down with both front paws and refused to let her pull it away.

"You like this cloth?" she asked.

It pressed itself down even more firmly.

Indeedee brought over a brand-new, soft lining cloth and placed it beside it. Lillipup sniffed the new cloth, but still returned to the old one.

Xia Che looked at A-Li. "When you check out its place tomorrow, bring that along too."

"It's so old it's nearly falling apart."

"It doesn't mind."

Lillipup grabbed a corner of the old cloth in its mouth and dragged the entire thing into its little delivery basket.

A-Li could only spread the new cloth in the bread basket.

One basket was new and one was old, sitting side by side at the entrance. After sniffing them once, Lillipup accurately climbed into the one with the old cloth, revealing a pair of freshly cleaned eyes.

It had already chosen half of where it wanted to stay in tomorrow's little house.