Chapter Text
The town was lively enough to make Kaleb suspect something was going on. And sure enough, the closer they got to the central square, the more obvious the festival became. Lanterns of every color hung above people’s heads, smells drifted up from the stalls, and a tide of people and Pokémon flooded the plaza.
“Huh,” the boy commented, looking around with a smile. “Did you know they were celebrating something here?”
Phantump shook her head softly. Of course not, what would she know? Kaleb was her only source of information about the world.
“Well, since we’re already here, do you want to take a look around?”
The Pokémon nodded once, floating closer to him, as though afraid of getting lost in the crowd, or perhaps just wanting to stay near him.
So Kaleb started walking, with Phantump beside him. They began browsing the stalls, the items laid out across them, or overhearing the conversations between passersby and vendors. An Onix towered in front of them behind her trainer, but Kaleb and Phantump’s only response was to dodge around her and continue on their way.
To their left, surrounded by a group of people, a juggler entertained his audience alongside his Mr. Mime, whose hands created invisible barriers. Phantump stopped, her large eyes fixed on the performers. Kaleb walked a few more steps before realizing his companion wasn’t following him, and a small smile spread across his face when he saw what had caught her attention.
“Mr. Mime have always creeped me out,” he murmured when she returned to his side, letting her enjoy the show. “Imagine running into one in a dark alley and having it stare at you with that smile.” Phantump didn’t even turn toward him. “Hey, are you listening to me?”
She nodded again and pointed at the juggler, indicating that he was the reason for her interest. Kaleb chose to watch the man, who was acting… well, for a children’s audience. Some kind of clown or circus performer without much talent, focused on entertaining kids, who seemed to be the ones most invested in the act. Alongside Phantump, who couldn’t take her eyes off his movements as though they were advanced magic. Like when Kaleb cut fruit into uneven little pieces.
The performance ended, and the man, with a flourish, removed his hat to receive whatever generosity his audience felt inclined to offer. Kaleb was already turning away when he felt a tiny hand tug at the shoulder of his shirt. Phantump, obviously, pointing at the performer with her free arm.
“No, I’m not paying for that, it was kinda lame.”
But Phantump refused to give up, waving her little arm and pointing at the performer more insistently. Her eyes moved from Kaleb to the man’s hat, then back to Kaleb again as she tugged on his shirt once more. Yes, for someone so quiet, she always made herself perfectly understood.
“Fine, here,” he sighed, rummaging through his backpack until he pulled out a coin.
Phantump took it and floated toward the performer, dropping the coin into his hat with great solemnity. The man looked surprised, though he smiled at her, which relaxed Kaleb a little.
Until she floated higher, and instead of returning to her partner, moved toward the spot where the juggler and Mr. Mime had performed.
“What’s she doing now?” Kaleb muttered, weaving around several people to follow her.
Phantump was stretching out her limbs, feeling around with her little hands for the invisible box Mr. Mime had pretended to be trapped inside.
“Phantump, it wasn’t real,” Kaleb whispered, not wanting to draw even more attention than they already were, with a Phantump fluttering around empty air and trying to touch something that didn’t exist.
The Pokémon looked up at him and pointed toward the place where the “box” had been.
“Mr. Mime was acting. He’s a mime, there isn’t and never was a box.”
Phantump floated upward, closer to Kaleb, and pointed toward the same spot again, though this time the gesture was smaller, more hesitant. Like a question. Kaleb gave her an indulgent smile.
“Yeah, it was a performance, it wasn’t real,” he explained patiently. “He was pretending to be inside a box to entertain people. But hey, the fact that you believed it says good things about Mr. Mime, right? Means he was pretty convincing.”
Phantump nodded seriously, agreeing that yes, Mr. Mime was an excellent actor. But at least she finally let the box issue go, following Kaleb once again as he walked away from the performance area.
He guided her toward some food stalls, buying whatever had caught his partner’s eye the most: some sort of flower-shaped stuffed pastries that ended up smearing all over Phantump’s little hands. Once she finished her snack, she waved them insistently in front of Kaleb until he pulled out water and several tissues, cleaning them until they looked as spotless as before.
Or almost spotless, because while the boy was putting the tissue pack away, she lifted one hand toward him again, showing him the crumb of pastry still stuck there.
“You can absolutely clean that off yourself,” he told her with an amused sigh, though he still brushed the crumb away with his thumb, finally getting her to lower her little arms, satisfied with the result.
Truthfully, after that, Kaleb felt like there wasn’t much else to do in town. They kept walking between the stalls only so they wouldn’t miss any, since they were already there, but somehow the festival had become even more crowded.
At one point, someone passed beside them and bumped into Phantump, who, after wobbling in the air, placed both tiny hands on her companion’s shoulder and pressed herself against him. Kaleb clenched his jaw.
“Come here,” the boy murmured, extending his fingers toward her and pulling her to his chest, his palm resting against Phantump’s ghostly torso as he kept her close and made sure no one else stumbled into her.
Kaleb had been annoyed, that was true. She was a small Pokémon, people should be more careful, not bumping into innocent ghosts who get amazed by mediocre performances.
Tch.
At that moment, Kaleb decided to leave the festival. They’d seen enough already, and so many people and Pokémon were starting to overwhelm him.
It wasn’t until the crowd finally thinned out ahead of them that the boy moved his hand away from his companion’s chest, letting her float beside him again instead of protected against him.
“Should we go? It’s getting too noisy here anyway, and with the festival there probably won’t be many rooms available either.”
Phantump nodded, as always content to keep moving whenever he suggested it.
Her compliance melted Kaleb a little.
They were near the edge of town when something else caught Phantump’s attention. Like before, she stopped, staring fixedly at something in a shop window. Kaleb had to walk closer and follow her gaze to understand what it was: a doll, something like a plushie, very small, small enough to fit easily in the palm of his hand.
“You want that?”
Another nod from Phantump.
“Don’t you think it’s kind of ugly?”
She shook her head vehemently.
“You’re being really spendy today, huh? Fine.”
He decided to go into the shop with her, which at least happened to be empty except for the owner behind the counter.
Phantump didn’t hesitate, floating toward a shelf lined with plushies and choosing the small one she had spotted from outside. It reminded Kaleb of a Maushold, the tiny ones that appear when Tandemaus evolve.
Honestly, the things this Pokémon got attached to…
But he was worse for allowing it, and for not putting up any resistance. Phantump could be very persistent, he thought while paying for the silly little plushie. Those big, deep eyes, those short little arms, that serious but adorable face… all of them were weapons Kaleb simply didn’t have the shield to defend himself against.
And he probably didn’t care that much either, he admitted to himself as they walked out of the shop, because seeing his partner holding the plushie between her little hands, with that quiet happiness of hers, felt far more comforting than traveling halfway across the world but without her.