"You can't be serious!" Constance gasped. Almost simultaneously, Magi's barbels reached his ajar mouth, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets as he stared hard at the Emolga and zir trainer.

"Hah!" Addy laughed and held a hand to her mouth. "I don't pull legs."

Constance shook her head when Icarus tucked zir petite legs into zir chest and did a somersault in midair, almost colliding into a branch of a nearby tree standing tall at the entrance of the route onward to Mt. Moon. Sparks crackled near zir cheek pockets, forcing Magi to drop his barbels in fear. She hoped this was the Pokémon's way of playing peek-a-boo.

Brushing her hair to one side, she averted her attention to the girl. "That was a really good joke. Starting out on a soul-searching journey because of relationship issues!"

Addy held her ground with a vehement nod along with a tight squeeze of her eyes. "He said I loved myself too much. He said I need to evaluate myself and see if he's still important to me!"

"If he's still important to you!" Constance tossed her head backwards. "And is he certain you are important to him? Is he evaluating himself?"

"I don't know," Addy mumbled. "Absurd, huh?"

Constance didn't know who was absurder, the self-centred prick or the pliant girl. Men, especially those like her son, were like tides, high when the moon was full, all bright and exposed, and low when the moon was in quarters, trying her best to hide away. Attention must be delivered to him, or he would be so despondent as to claim the moon so self-absorbed and unwilling to show herself completely, a half-hearted presence that would wound the machismo.

What did these young people know of soul anyway? Just because you knew of the Soul Badge or obtained it after thrashing about in Koga's Gym didn't make you any more qualified in understanding the soul than anyone else.

To fill in the silence, Constance spike again, "I don't Bayleef you! If someone said such a thing to you, you should dump him immediately! Who cares if he's handsome or skilful? Personality is the only thing that matters."

Addy shook her head. "He's a hotshot. It wasn't easy to gain his trust back, ya know?"

Constance gulped. Her youth wasn't wasted away in such complicated affairs. She never liked to dilly-dally. Was this the raw power of the generation gap?

Though, her bewilderment was soon given a Seismic Toss when she watched the girl win battle after battle alongside Icarus against the feisty trainers littered across the route. One was a stalker from Viridian Forest who just loved to bug her, a few others accidentally locked eyes with her after mistaking her to be a daughter or cousin or long lost sister from a land far, far, away, and another was a picnicker who suddenly confessed she was lesbian and that Addy met her criteria of "a cool, sharp-tongued trainer whom she felt she might have a certain chemistry with". Addy's heart skipped a beat after hearing such sweet words.

What followed nearly rent her heart asunder-the picnicker had thought Constance was Addy's grandmother and asked if she could date Addy, if she was Addy's type, if her Pikachu and Emolga looked adorable together and was the perfect sign the girls were compatible...

With flushed cheeks, Addy pulled Constance by the sleeve as they fled from the scene, much to the picnicker's dismay. Perhaps she truly wasn't Addy's type, or she had been too straightforward and caught Addy off guard. Still, she was certain the grandmother-granddaughter pair would return for her once they have cooled down and thought long and hard about her confession.

The encounter furnished Addy with a new thought: was she really in love with her boyfriend? Might she have suppressed her feelings for the same sex due to heteronormative codes? She needed to know.

Seeing how the girl reacted, Constance grew convinced that the younger generation was not so different after all. This ignited a new topic for conversation.

As they passed by a verdant cliff, Constance patted the tub to ensure Magi wasn't too distraught from the rapid increase in pace. Seeing as he was smiling eye to eye, she removed her other arm out of Addy's grasp and halted in her tracks.

"Is this the first time someone confessed their love for you?"

Addy flinched. "Of course not! What am I, ten?" She crossed her arms and Icarus mimicked her, adding a stink eye for flair. "I'm seventeen." Then, she deflated and the Emolga inched closer to her shoulder with a concerned gaze. "But yes, the first time. I always make the first move anyway."

Constance nodded. "Why didn't you take a picture of her?"

"I'm not interested."

Constance glanced at their surroundings, checking that the picnicker did not hide in a bush or had spies tailing them. She heaved a sigh of relief when there was none.

"But you're reflecting now," Constance stated. "Admit it, she's helped you understand yourself a little. Maybe you are bi."

Addy frowned and skipped over a pebble, then warned the woman of one that was a few inches away. "Maybe. But she's too talkative. I need my privacy."

"Right." Constance giggled. "She must be an up-and-coming reporter. Maybe that's why she picnicks. She can glean info easily without suspicion."

Addy shrugged, then cocked her head slightly. "Did you just say 'info'?"

Constance pointed out an Ekans passing by before Addy stepped on its tail. "Something wrong?"

"N-Nothing."

Addy wondered if Constance was secretly a millennial parading as an old woman. Constance assured her she wasn't that sort of person, and it was more unlikely she were a Ditto or any other Pokémon capable of Transforming into something or someone else. The duo carried on their conversation, still going strong and in circles, till they reached the Pokémon Centre situated just outside the entrance of Mt. Moon.

"I don't Bayleef you!" Addy screeched as the glass doors slid open, earning looks of annoyance from the few who just woke up with sketches on their faces after sleeping during a Jigglypuff's live concert.

Constance pursed her lips when Icarus taunted her with what seemed to be an attempt of giving her the finger. Was it truly alright to have them tag along in her sacred journey?

Nurse Joy raised her voice to get their attention, greeting them with drooping eyelids while trying to get the ink off her face, but the ink used Conversion and became obstinate smudges. The various syllables of her rehearsed lines were meshed together, making it sound like goobledygoo. However, thanks to Constance's recent experience in two other branches of the Pokémon Centre, she found herself very qualified to teach Nurse Joy how to speak her lines with exacting standards. Nurse Joy even expressed her immense gratitude to the older woman and suggested healing Magi and Icarus for free. Besides that, she offered free meals and accomodation for the night, though judging from Addy's stoic mein, they must be below expectations and thus unsatisfactory.

If only relationships were not transactional! Nurse Joy hoped this would be the case one day, and pled that Jirachi would fulfill this simple wish of hers.

However, she was soon shoved aside when a man donned in a brown vest swivelled his cap and slid to the front of Constance and Addy with arms wide open, nearly smacking the rod dangling from his back.

"You must be here for the legendary Pokémon I have specially reserved for you!" The twig in his mouth shifted uncomfortably as he chewed his words. The man winked. "Have you brought your granny here to make a bargain?"

Constance raised her hand, about to protest, when Addy shielded her and pointed to the tub, saying, "We already have a Magikarp. Ya see it?"

The salesman didn't take long to recover from his fazed state and beamed. "Well... The more the merrier, right?"

"No!" Both Constance and Addy shouted, causing heads to turn their way, making the salesman put his sweaty palms in his pockets.

When he again showed his hands, he shrugged. "I don't do refunds if this is a complaint."

To prove his point, a pack of teenagers stampeded into the Pokémon Centre lugging Magikarp in their arms, each Magikarp seeming more done with life than the other, their eyes rather glazed and their barbels limp. Neither one had any pride of the crown they wore, as if it were electroplated or a mockery of their being kings and queens of vulnerability. Magi never expected such profound jadedness to exist among his species-he thought boredom was a human thing.

The angry mob made themselves comfortable with their malignant dissonance, taking care to make themselves heard. Everyone else appeared to be accustomed to this scene, engaged in their own chatter or meals or music, except Constance, Addy, Magi and Icarus who knew no better.

"Refund us!" They chanted and made their advances. The salesman waved his hands in the air to conduct them, but this choir proved too tone-deaf to care about him. Constance and Addy scanned their surroundings as Icarus hung onto Magi's tub to prevent zirself from being knocked left and right by sweaty elbows and ignorant bodies.

"Shut it!" The salesman dropped his hands and silence cut the Pokémon Centre like he was the puppeteer, the Mon mere marionettes. "I! Don't! Do! Refunds!"

Welcome to the eruption of laments where a hardworking salesman's voice is drowned out, wherein a successful business pitch must see through its vibrations.

"But Magikarp is weak!"

"But you lied to us!"

Here, you will see the true nature of humans. Humans in their habitats-denial, fear, anger.

"Conman! We will report you to Officer Jenny! We have done it and we! Will! Do! It! Again!"

"Liar liar pants on fire, curse you forever to be a crier!"

Emotional humans. Malingering humans. Critical humans.

"Adults nowadays..."

"Weak! You said a strong Pokémon!"

"I can't use a Magikarp in a Tough contest!"

"Arceus shave us!"

Arceus? Only Magikarp can save you now.

If you haven't figured, this tale aims to glorify The Fish Which No One Wants To Acknowledge. You know what else people deny? Truth.

That's right. Truth and Magikarp are synonymous. Because there is a deep truth in this Pokémon few have come to notice.

Allow our spokesperson to enlighten you.

Constance stepped between the two parties, her companions in tow. With arms outstretched, she hurled her voice across the space, and everyone froze, wondering what this old woman had to say that might be so important.

"Paying for a Magikarp is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard, worst than all the discounts and promotions in the Poké Marts."

A thunderous round of applause met her statement, only to subsided when her lips parted once again. The salesman placed a finger on his lips but she paid him no mind, for her back was facing him and she had no eyes to entertain him. This was a nightmare, the start of a revolution against him. Soon he will be in debt.

"You don't have to pay for a Magikarp. They are everywhere. I got mine from scuba diving."

The people were more impressed with how someone so feeble can engage in an intense activity and claiming it without a break of a sweat.

Before she could go on, the salesman halted her by raising his voice. "Just because you brought an elderly woman doesn't mean I'll give in to your granny. You psychos!"

The teenagers were apparently disheartened, lips flopping like a Stunfisk.

"Yes!" Constance cried. "You psychos!"

None knew whose side she was on now.

"Magikarp is not a weak Pokémon," she said with her chest puffed up. "My Magi defeated a Snorlax and a Muk. My Magi saved that Jigglypuff over there."

She pointed to the fluffball who scurried over to her side and uncapped the marker to draw the sequence of events that occurred in Viridian City.

The witness had testified and the judges were somewhat convinced.

To strengthen her argument, Constance tapped the counter and requested for the specific footage from Viridian's Pokémon Centre. Nurse Joy complied with a smile.

It was one thing to battle, and another to watch yourself battle. Constance never knew she was so ballsy and she never knew Magi was so dashing. She never knew she hated the sliminess of Muk.

"As you can see," Constance said, "it is you who are blinded by your prejudice, and for some of you, your superiority complex."

Addy stepped in, much to the woman's surprise, and the girl felt more shocked than she had ever been. "Yeah. Ya people need to go search ya souls."

How very qualified of Addy.

Disbelief mingled with the truth before naked eyes. Sight before perception was too common, so some time was taken to make the necessary adjustments to wholeheartedly believe in the evidence presented.

Eventually, the crowd relented and took in Constance's words and deeds. Especially the salesman who crept to a corner and dialed someone on the phone, whispering about Constance's whereabouts with a twinkle in his eye.

Addy patted Constance on the back. Icarus celebrated with Magi by doing somersaults in the air and underwater respectively. The mob dispersed with much satisfaction and Addy grew more certain that Constance must be her mentor, and thank the heavens they met.

Yes, Constance will be the one to help illuminate her path to growth. But Addy did not yet know how to return the favour, not when Magi had the chances to even prevail over Icarus. If not protection, what else could she provide the woman?

"Company," she murmured to herself. "Ya need friends. Young friends."

So it was decided that Addy will learn to be a good friend and person while Constance will learn more about what it means to be young, and come to accept all that she once denied. One step at a time, of course.

This would start the next day when they strolled into Mt. Moon, hoping to see the Dragon's Gate.