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The bespectacled Zorua with dark gray fur and blue highlights, whose name was Chris, gleefully shouted “I still can’t believe we’re in Paldea!” as he scampered across the boardwalk past an inviting beach under the shimmering Mediterranean sun.
He had flown in together with his closest friends from the distant land of Crystalga, and they included: his big sister, Chrissy the Zoroark, who was distinguished by her blue scarf and her highlights that looked just like those on Chris’ coat; Chrissy’s best friend, Ashley the Braixen, an otherwise-ordinary-looking Pokémon who was rarely spotted without her pink scarf; and Ashley’s little brother, Zeke the Fennekin, who continually insisted on going out into the world wearing his red cape in case he suddenly gained superpowers.
It was the height of summer, and there were tourists everywhere, from every corner of the globe, on the quaint little sun-drenched island that was renowned for its beaches and its electronic dance music scene. Not all the tourists were humans; plenty of wealthy Pokémon were there, too, along with a sprinkling of rich monsters from far beyond this planet.
Everything cost a lot on the island, but fortunately, Chris had plenty of money. Not only had Chris’ latest book received a rave review from New Bark Town Magazine, which helped it outsell everything else he had written, but the exchange rate between the Paldean euro and the Crystalgan dollar had been very favorable to tourists.
“It’s amazing to think that we would not be here if the Zoruopolis Chamber of Commerce had not bought us round-trip air tickets and paid for our stay in a guest house,” Chris observed, as they strolled past the crashing surf and frolicking bathers.
“Yeah! They were stupidly generous,” Chrissy replied, as she unwittingly crushed a broken sand dollar under her foot. “Then again, we did save Zoruopolis from being totally burned to the ground by Infernus, so I guess those rich businessmen wanted to thank us for protecting all their hard work."
“Now there’s a name I would love to forget,” Ashley chimed in, as she delicately avoided the splintered sand dollar. “Infernus. Ooh, that creature was vicious, he was. I’m so relieved he's gone from the world. He nearly killed you, Chrissy, and I just don’t know how I’d go on without you.” She tenderly wrapped her tiny arms around Chrissy as they continued to walk, and Chrissy affectionately placed one of her giant arms around Ashley.
Chris and friends were approaching an ice cream cart at the end of the boardwalk, when Zeke exclaimed, “Hey, I want one! Ashley, can we please have some ice cream, pretty please?”
Ashley laughed heartily, as she reached for her purse. “Of course, we’re on vacation, we can do whatever we want!” She looked inside, and her face fell. “Oh, dear, I should have stopped at the ATM in the hotel lobby. I only have three euro-coins left. Chrissy, could I borrow some money from you?”
Chrissy snorted with delight. “Ashley, I’m treating everybody to ice cream! We can each have sundaes with all of the toppings if we want!” She pulled out a hundred-euro note to underscore her act of financial bravado.
“¡Buenos tardes! Who wants to order first?” The vendor, who was standing with his cart under a brilliantly colored beach umbrella, took a much keener interest in the quartet of fox Pokémon now that Chrissy had money in hand. He was a beautifully tanned man who was nearly as tall as Chrissy and had a grandiose handlebar moustache. The man was wearing a crisp white shirt with a black bow tie, and his muscular hands spoke to a previous career spent aboard a fishing vessel.
“All right! I want a scoop of strawberry ice cream with chocolate syrup and rainbow sprinkles!” Zeke eagerly placed his order first, shouting up from the sand, and the man obliged, putting the ice cream in a sturdy paper bowl with a bright teal plastic spoon.
“Well, then, I think I will have one scoop of vanilla ice cream topped with butterscotch!” Chris placed his order next, as Ashley took Zeke’s order from the vendor and handed it to Zeke, who wasted no time filling his mouth with oversized bites of ice cream.
“Give me a big waffle cone with three scoops of chocolate ice cream,” Chrissy said, as she took Chris’ order in another paper bowl with a bright pink plastic spoon, and handed it to Chris, who also began eating, but more slowly than Zeke.
“May I please have a small waffle cone with two scoops of orange ice cream?” Ashley politely asked, as Chrissy took her cone and started eating with gusto as little bits of waffle splintered and fell upon the sand. Meanwhile, Zeke squealed because he gave himself brain freeze.
The ice cream vendor smiled, and said, “Sorry, señora, I am all out of orange for today.”
“What about grape?” Ashley was still hopeful she could try a distinctly Paldean flavor.
“No, señora.” She would not give up.
“Hmm . . . what about . . . dulce de leche?”
“A fine choice! I can get that for you!” It was just as Paldean as orange or grape, so Ashley was happy. The vendor prepared the last cone, and handed it to her. Then he turned to Chrissy, who was already a third of the way through her cone. “Twenty-three euros, por favor.” She presented the hundred-euro note to the vendor. “Would you happen to have three euro-coins, señora?"
“I do!” Ashley emptied her purse onto the counter, delighted that she could help make change. The vendor put the money away in a zippered leather pouch, then gave Chrissy four twenty-euro notes.
“¡Muchas gracias!” The four said together.
“De nada.” The vendor gave a slight bow, as Chris and friends walked toward a pair of weather-beaten picnic tables that had been bleached by the elements (no umbrellas protected them). Hardly any words were exchanged as they devoured the rest of their ice cream. Then, after Chrissy put the empty bowls in the trash can, she declared:
“That was great, but now I need something to drink! All that chocolate ice cream made me really thirsty! Does anybody else want anything?”
“Sure!” Zeke piped up.
“Me, too!” Ashley interjected.
“Do you think the ice cream man has something besides water?” Chris wondered aloud.
“Well, let’s find out,” Chrissy replied, and they all walked back to the vendor’s cart. Now it was Chrissy’s turn to be adventurous and try something authentically Paldean: while the other three got plain, still water, Chrissy purchased a bottle of grape-flavored sparkling water. Of course, Chrissy did not know she was buying sparkling water; she thought she purchased grape soda!
Chrissy greedily swilled her sparkling water as they all stood in front of the cart enjoying their liquid refreshment. Her thirst was so great it was only after she completely drained the bottle that she realized the water had precisely no sweetness. “What’s wrong with this stupid soda? There’s no sugar in it at all!” Chrissy looked at the label on the bottle, but she could not decipher the Paldean text.
“That is because it is not ‘soda,’ señora. It is sparkling water!” The vendor was at once pedantic and compassionate. “Grape sparkling water is, however, a very Paldean beverage.” This knowledge was little comfort to Chrissy; to add insult to injury, she let out a noisy but involuntary belch. The vendor remained dignified, as did Ashley, but Chris and Zeke were too young to restrain themselves from laughing.
Fortunately, Chrissy joined the boys in laughing at her innocence. She placed her hand over her face in embarrassment, blue claws splayed over her red eyes, as she continued to laugh. Half a minute later, she recovered, then set the bottle on the counter. Chrissy licked her lips and said, with eagerness and sincerity, “There is still so much I have to learn about Paldea!”
“Then you had better start exploring,” the vendor cheerfully replied. “If you are finished, you can place your empty bottles in the blue can.”
“¡Gracias!” Chrissy expertly lobbed her bottle into the blue can from a distance, and it hit the bottom with a satisfying thud. After that, she took the empty bottles from Chris, Zeke, and Ashley, and threw them into the can in the same way. Then they all began walking across the open beach.
Soon, Chris and Zeke could not restrain themselves from playing tag while the girls continued walking deliberately across the beach. Meanwhile, the ice cream vendor was gazing out at them, curious and intrigued, while he was cleaning his workspace. Those four are no ordinary tourists, he thought, as he wiped the countertop. May they have many extraordinary adventures together. He kept wiping.