Archive of Our Own

It’s not like someone could ever get used to it,

…you know?

Maybe a pilot could slowly forget the whirring

“hum”
of the jet engine they pilot.
They’d have so many other things to handle all the while,

the calm focused relay of information from
ground control
the various lights and radars splayed out across
their screen

they probably all fade into the 
background eventually.

Maybe a construction worker could forget the incessant

clangs

and

bangs and

beeps

of their workplace.

Those automatic saws, powered by batteries into wailing
their relentless warcry out into the open air,

or those large
specialized vehicles’ signals sounding

with the rhythm of country crickets

as they back up,

or the occasional grunt of people and Pokémon
as they pick up a particularly heavy set
of building materials

things like that

it must all be 
overlooked eventually,
right?

Would Diamond ever…

feel that way for this crowd?

Certainly not soon.

It grows over time; too unpredictable for the brain to drown out as unimportant
in a sea of other senses.
First a chuckle. Small as his friendship with Pearl was weak;
weak as their friendship was quiet without Platinum.

But they grew,
became louder, almost in para
                         llel with each other.
It’s funny how that happens.
Maybe he should help Pearl make a gag out of that.

Maybe Pearl would call that a funny coincidence, but Dia was sure it was from all
their hard work.

Speaking of Pearl,

Speaking of Pearl!

Psst!


The boy in question was


Pssst! Pearl!


Lost in thought somehow


Take a bow, it’s the end of our set!


Seems like he just spaced off
after delivering his last line


“Oops, sorry, Dia!”


Step one, Grab hands,
Step two, throw your arms up, into the sky,

just as usual, come on

Step three, bend way down
and smile at the stage.
Bear with the noise of the crowd, it’s okay not to get used to it.
                             Why would you want to get used to it?









The applause faded out until it only belonged to one person.
Lady stood backstage

(What did Pearl call it? Something like… ‘vomitorium’? …That was it.)

with a dignified

yet enthusiastic
grin plastered on her face.

“That was wonderful, you two!” She cocked her head to the side as she greeted them.

          “Thank you~!” Dia beamed back.
“Thanks a bunch, Lady!” Pearl responded.

As if on reflex, Pearl also bashfully ruffled his own hair in a cartoonish manner.

(With body language as animated as that,
He really was built for the stage.)

Knowing Pearl, he probably would’ve returned the compliment with something like
Well, you guys’re part of the talent here too, y’know! if he had the chance to,

…before Platinum ushered the conversation forward.
“Anyway, why did you ask me to book this venue, Pearl?” she inquired.
“The architecture here is quite a bit higher class than the more contemporary places you
prefer to do shows at.”

“Oh, that’s just ’cause this’s a talent
show, after all! The stage has to be huge
to let all kinds of people participate, not
just manzaishi. …But I like to think it’s
this fancy ’cause we’re moving up in the
world, though!”

“Well, if you think so,”

Dia said,

“…then it’s
gotta be true!

…

…By the way, Pe——”

“——SHHH!”

Another performer
backstage cut in before
Dia could continue
talking.

Back onstage, there was another round of
applause rising in volume. It muffled the
stranger’s sentence, but the trio could still
figure what they were saying from context.

You’ll have time to talk after the show’s
over. Just wait a bit.

“Right, sorry…!”
They all mouthed back.

Time passed.


The three of them sat backstage far past the end of the show,
talking between themselves for over an hour.
At one point, a custodian on duty noticed they were still around, even though she had
locked the doors already.

“I don’t mind it if you three stay here, just let me know when you plan on heading out
so I can lock up again behind you, ’mkay?” She suggested casually. They nodded their
heads together in response.

Time passed.


It was 15 minutes or so after the run-in with the janitor
when one of Dia’s Poké-Balls rustled inside his backpack,
which was leaning neatly near Platinum’s feet.

Dia could guess what that meant.

“…Oh yeah… It’s already pretty late… Don’t worry, everyone,
I’ll make you something for dinner,

we’ve just gotta leave here first.”


“Speaking of ‘here’——”

Diamond probed, his memory of the
question he meant to ask earlier
having been jogged,

“——what was the matter near the end of the set, Pearl?
You seemed distracted… overwhelmed by the crowd, maybe…?”

“Not really… Maybe you didn’t look out at them during our set,
but there really weren’t that many people out there, Dia.”

“Is that really true?” Platinum chimed in. “It was pretty loud from here!”

Dia added,
“They must really like your jokes, then!”

“Y-you think so? Well,

That’s all thanks to you two, really.”

(See? Of course he cares.)

“No way! You aren’t giving yourself enough credit, Pearl! There’s”

——Dia stretched his arms

W i d e  o u t

Above his head——

“…so, so much you do to help us out——”

“——No, really! I’m serious.”

…

Okay, maybe this is a bit more than showing he cares.

“I don’t even know where I’d be if you weren’t
 helping me along the way… Sure, I write
 a lot of our set, but… Dia, you’re
 the one who’s better at selling
 them once we’re performing…
 and you’re the one who’s
 able to find all our
 venues, Lady, and
 if we couldn’t
 do all that
 I dunno
 if I
 ——
 ”
 
 

Dia had rarely
seen Pearl get
like this

But it’s
understandable
that someone
who’s so
excitable
would get
equally as
agitated from
time to time

By now Dia
knew how to
help him out


“Trust us, Pearl! You——”

*clack*

Irony always strikes at the worst times.

Rotom was always the most impatient
of Dia’s Pokémon.

It was also

fittingly

the hungriest
at this moment.

It was also
even more fittingly

the only member of Dia’s team

to have a whole bunch of food

sitting outside its Poké-Ball

right at that moment.


And
it was also
most fittingly of all

swaying Dia’s backpack

back

and

forth

to get it to fall over
with enough force

to press the button on the outside
of its Ball all the way down

letting it out
for a
hearty
feast

on the thoughts of
the three trainers
in front of it.

“…Oh, hello, Rotom! How did you manage to——
Wait, what’s that move you’re usi——”

“…Uh-oh.”

Chef Diamond has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? No?
Well, it might just feel that way to me since I’ve earned it.

The certificate helps, too,
its illustrations of berries serving as border
frames
in each corner of the document.
Well, the “Hearthome Culinary Academy”

part feels a bit too grand for me, but
still

It’s all worth it to sign my name
In the blank space next to the word

“CHEF”

CHEF  Diamond   

Hanging outside the kitchen
I can’t help but be proud of that

Right, right
Can’t be lost in thought.

Recipes, recipes.

Making recipes that both people and Pokémon can eat is difficult
But it’s what I set out to do, so I can’t lose faith now.

This one I’m coming up with now is a stir-fry that’s supposed to be a
blend of a bunch of different equatorial countries’ styles.

That’s what I’m trying, anyway.

But I’m stuck on the garnish.

or the spice?

or maybe something else?

Something like cinnamon might do the trick…
Oops. The flavour is ruined by the aftertaste. Now I know what not to
try next time, but I gotta think of something to fix the batch this
time around…

Should I just offset this by adding more veggies to the mix?
…No, not without knowing for sure that’ll help.



Hmm… What else could I possibly think of…?
This is probably the twelfth idea I’ve come up with,

and I’m running out of them——
At least ones that are safe for Pokémon to eat, too.

What else could I try?
If I earned that certificate, I should be a good enough
cook to figure this out! I believe in myself! You can do
it, Diamond! Hip-hip——

Hold on.
It’s right in front of me! The berries on the certificate——

They’re cornn berries.
Cornn berries are dry on their own, but cooking them
into a dish should produce a slightly sour sting, and a wonderfully
savoury aftertaste.
Savoury enough, in fact, to offset the cinnamon.
And they’re safe for consumption by Pokémon!

It’s ironic that it was staring me in the face for so long,
but it’s

perfect!

Adding this
to the

dish

will
make

it

a

hu

ge

s

uc

c

e

s

s

“Ugh…”

If the pilot got airsick,
or the construction worker noise-sensitive

maybe this is what it would feel like

maybe that’s a poor analogy
but the long and short of it is
waking up from a Dream Eater-induced vision doesn’t feel great

“…Guys?”

It’s pretty odd that, even though it was only a hallucination,

Dia’s eyes still needed to adjust to daylight,

as if he was leaving a dark room.

“Right here… oof…”

The voice came first, then sight followed.
Pearl was right next to Dia,
rubbing his temples in discomfort.

Platinum was a few feet away.
“…She’s still out of it,” Pearl said, noticing where Dia was looking.


Rotom, humorously, was next to her, passed out on the floor after its three-course meal.

“Man, I know the lil’ thing’s a rascal, but this’s a new record for it…” Pearl quipped.
It was a half-assed attempt to regain some composure.
“…What exactly was that move, anyway? It knocked me out clean…”

“Well…”

It was an odd instance of Dream Eater.
Normally, the dream you aspire for would be stolen away. But for these three, their
number-one goals in life were more or less reached. To take those away wouldn’t
cause much inside their mind, since they’d come right back to them in reality once
the effect wore off.

But for the duration, they must have seen where they could be in life if they hadn’t
followed that dream.

That was Diamond assumed, more or less.
He phrased it a bit more casually, but he hoped got the gist across.

“…and I was a chef, I guess.

I was making recipes, mostly. It was fun!



…W-what’s wrong, Pearl——”

“That’s upsetting…”
Platinum’s voice rang out.

“…Oh! Lady’s up! …How’re you feeling?” Dia asked, apprehensively.

“Physically, I’m doing fine.”
“Great! I’m glad you’re okay, Lady——”
“I’m not feeling the best, though. Not after that.”

“What’d you see…?”

“Something I felt anxious about for a while until I ran into the two of you.
 …
 I just… sat sheltered at home the whole time.”

“What do you mean?”

“My apologies… I didn’t explain myself well, did I?
I don’t know how best to describe it, but… if I hadn’t
left the mansion and met you two, I might have just lived
at home and stayed in my younger sister’s shadow…

…for long enough to make me truly miserable.

When I was younger, I spent much of my time researching things in the Berlitz library,
but even still,
my sister quickly surpassed me academically

because she had street smarts that I lacked.

So, the reason I set out on a journey was to change that about myself——

——I was… unconfident in myself at first, however. I was afraid I might stumble into
  something I wasn’t prepared for; something I wouldn’t know how to handle on my own,

So, evidently, there was a very real chance I might not have mustered up the courage to
leave… and if that happened, I’d be more than disappointed with however my daily life
turned out——I know that for certain.”


“…You think that’s bad…?” Pearl spoke up.

The way it was phrased,

Diamond and Platinum both

expected him to explain his troubles right away,


But Pearl just stayed silent,

staring at the floor
as if he was reading it



“What, exactly, did you see?”

Platinum broke the dead air

Pearl thought to bring the silence back
for only a moment

before giving in,

meekly,


with only a word

“It’d be best just to say——”

I… I didn’t have a single other thought in my head about

what else I could do with myself!

What if it means I don’t have anything else I could do?!

If… if the three of us hadn’t

ever

met up,

th-     
then…”




“Oh, okay, I see!”


“…Huh?”

“I get what you’ve been worried about now!”
Dia replied matter-of-factly.

“But…

Well,

…I think you’re thinking about it all wrong, is all!
Just because you couldn’t think of something doesn’t mean you wouldn’t be great at
anything else at all! I mean, think about it——

You helped Rayhiko make up with its pride!
That’s not something anyone could do,
especially with wild Pokémon!

You were the one who thought up such great choreography
when we had that contest in Hearthome!
With such a short time frame!

And most of all, you helped Lady train for her gym battles!
Thanks to you, she passed with flying colours every time!

…So there’s so many things you’re already amazing at! But y’know, you just didn’t think
of them in the moment, ’cause of how much you care about manzai.

That’s why you’re so good at what you do, I think——because you care about it so much!

That’s why you’re our leader…”

Dia paused for a moment, then giggled.
His hand landed on Pearl’s shoulder.

“…Our tsukkomi!”

Pearl stood in silence for a moment
staring back at Dia with wide eyes

before looking down at the ground.
His hair hid his eyes from Dia’s sight,

but gravity pulled just one tear down his cheek.
Dia could see it
disappear into the corner of his smile

“You’re right… I’m such a moron…”
“No, silly! I’m the boke, that’s my job!”

*Snrk*


“…Pff…pfftheeheehee…!”

“…Sorry… I couldn’t stop myself…”


The two looked back at a teary-eyed Platinum.
The sudden, awkward mood shift made all three of them break into laughter, after a pause.

“No, no, it was a great punchline, really!”

Pearl managed to breathe out,
recovering from the past few minutes.

“We should write it down. Can I write it down?”

“Heehhee——S-sure!” Diamond responded. “…It could use a bit of workshopping, though!”

“Really, whoever said improv was the worst form of comedy, y’know?” Pearl added,
fully throwing them into a proper laughing fit.



Dia would probably remember this moment
even more than he did the talent show prior,

he guessed.

As much as the life he envisioned might have been fun,
he didn’t regret where he was now.

Because moments like these,
Because moments like these,

were what made it special
were what made it worth paying attention to
until everything else
all fades into the background eventually

He never wanted to get used to it.