The news that Ralts's egg would hatch next week made Riku extremely excited—it even gave him a strange sense of becoming a father.
So, feeling overjoyed, he cooked a few extra dishes for lunch. Usually, when the three birds and the Red Shrimp were around, Riku was too lazy to prepare meals with care. After all, they only liked to eat large chunks of meat and gulp down soup.
But today, Riku uncharacteristically prepared five dishes and a soup.
Noticing that there was no fish, Riku sent Lapras to the seaside to catch a few sea fish. Unexpectedly, Lapras was so efficient that it even caught several large lobsters.
Combined with the Orange Archipelago's special canned food, Lorelei had a thoroughly satisfying lunch.
"Phew…"
The slender Lorelei, having eaten too much, had to loosen her belt.
"Living like this is really comfortable," she said.
"Beautiful scenery, delicious food and drinks, and the air is fresh enough. The more I talk, the less I want to leave."
"Don't!" Riku was startled.
"Miss Lorelei, no matter what, you're a Champion-level Pokémon Trainer. I can't afford to support you."
"You're not my husband—why would I need you to support me?" Lorelei was taken aback, then smiled mischievously.
"But I'm still quite happy that you have this awareness. I have plenty of money. I can support you too."
Riku hurriedly shook his head.
Of course, he knew Lorelei had money. After being a veteran Elite Four member for so many years, who would believe she was broke?
However, Riku hadn't expected that even after mentally preparing himself, he had still underestimated Lorelei's wealth.
Citrus Island had a large market.
Inside, there were various brands of clothing and jewelry from the Pokémon world, as well as all sorts of luxury goods.
Because Lorelei's clothes had been soaked in saltwater, even after Riku had taken them to the lake to wash, they remained wrinkled.
She, someone who always paid attention to her appearance, couldn't stand being so sloppy—even if she was only facing Riku.
So after lunch and a short rest, she and Riku sat on Lapras and headed straight to the Citrus Island market.
---
"This bracelet is nice. Wrap it up for me."
"Miss, this bracelet in our store uses large, crushed diamonds. Rest assured, there's a certificate of authenticity. If it's fake, we'll compensate you tenfold."
"Crushed diamonds? Then no thanks. Diamond jewelry that's not a carat or more doesn't suit me."
"Then how about this diamond necklace? Eighty-eight diamonds—each at least one carat…"
"Not bad. Wrap it up for me!"
"Five million eight hundred thousand… Miss, don't you want to think it over?"
"No need. Swipe my card."
---
Scenes like this had already happened twice in the mere half hour that Riku had been shopping with Lorelei.
She seemed to think that hundreds of thousands or even millions were nothing—she didn't even blink when spending that kind of money.
This made Riku quite curious about the income of a Champion-level Pokémon Trainer.
"Miss Lorelei, do you Elite Four members have a salary?"
Salary details were usually private, and Riku knew it was a bit impolite to ask—but he was genuinely curious.
After all, he was also working toward becoming a Trainer. If he could one day become an Elite Four member, understanding the salary might give him extra motivation.
"Why are you asking this?" Lorelei looked at him suspiciously, then smiled.
"You're curious why I'm so rich, aren't you?"
"I'm not afraid to tell you. Actually, the Elite Four's salary isn't high—just one million a year."
"That's not right!" Riku was shocked.
"I thought it would be hundreds of millions a year. Someone like you doesn't look like someone earning a million annually."
"My annual salary is only a million. But we veteran Elite Four members also hold shares in various companies," Lorelei said, suddenly taking out a Poké Ball.
"I have one percent of the shares in the Poké Ball Company of the Indigo Plateau."
"The annual dividend is a few hundred million. Nothing much."
"A few hundred million in annual dividends, and that's nothing?" Riku was speechless. But after a moment, he smiled.
"Since Miss Lorelei is a shareholder in the Poké Ball Company, I assume getting some Poké Balls wouldn't be difficult. How about—"
"What do you want to do?" Lorelei asked, speechless.
"I'm just a shareholder. I only enjoy the dividends.
If you want Poké Balls, I can buy them for you.
Although I have priority when purchasing high-grade Poké Balls, there's still a quota."
"Forget it," Riku waved his hand.
"I just wanted to see if I could use Miss Lorelei's connections to get a few special Poké Balls made for me."
"Don't tell me you're planning to capture a Legendary Pokémon," Lorelei frowned.
"For ordinary Pokémon, even basic Poké Balls can capture them. It's just a matter of success rate."
"Except for Legendary Pokémon!"
"It's definitely not a Legendary Pokémon," Riku said helplessly.
"How could those four be Legendary Pokémon?
It's just that I can't capture them with ordinary Poké Balls, so I had the idea."
"But since Miss Lorelei can't help, I won't force it."
"What kind of Pokémon is it?" Lorelei pondered for a moment.
"If they're not catchable with regular Poké Balls, they might already belong to someone—or have belonged to someone."
"You'll need to investigate that first."
Her words snapped Riku back to reality.
He hadn't even considered Lorelei's point.
Instantly, his mood grew heavy.
Although the three birds and the Red Shrimp were incredibly weak, they'd been together for so long.
Don't even mention Pokémon—even cats and dogs develop feelings.
Perhaps sensing Riku's mood, Lorelei bought him a suit to cheer him up.
When she saw Riku walk out of the dressing room with a speechless expression after changing into the suit, Lorelei's eyes lit up.
"Clothes make the man—you look much more handsome now."
"What's the use of being handsome? Suits aren't comfortable at all," Riku complained.
"My beach shorts suit me better."
"Sir, you're wrong to say that," the waiter, who had been cautiously smiling, immediately interjected.
"This suit of yours is from a famous Hoenn designer. It's a high-end custom suit, worth two hundred and eighty thousand."
"If it weren't for Miss Lorelei's status, we wouldn't have easily let you try it on."
"Wrap it up. Say less of what you shouldn't say," Lorelei glared at the waiter, who quickly took the card and scurried off to the front desk.
Don't be fooled by how easygoing Lorelei seemed in front of Riku.
Outside, her title alone as an Elite Four member was enough to terrify many.
After shopping, Lorelei also went to the Pokémon Center.
When Riku saw the high-end treatment facilities and the gentle, kind Nurse Joy, he felt that—provided there were no future emergencies—it would be more cost-effective to send Pokémon here.
After all, buying first-aid medicine at the mall cost five thousand points.
Riku could manage it once or twice, but that wouldn't work long-term.
Feebas still needed points to buy the Prism Scale.
Moreover, the three birds and the Red Shrimp usually only got into scuffles with low-level Pokémon. They weren't foolish enough to provoke powerful ones, so serious injuries were unlikely.
Just as Riku and Lorelei came out of the Pokémon Center, a familiar figure startled him.
Damn, why is May here?!
If she sees me I am so dead!!!!
---Support with power stones