Pokémon XD: Narrated Gale of Darkness

Chapter 6

"Nice men are gone. Let's go to The shop now, big brother!"
"Jovi?" A woman's voice sounded. "Is that you Jovi?"
"Oh! Emili and Acri!"
"Jovi!" Emili cheered and ran towards her friend. Both girls held hands, jumped up and down and giggled.
"So it was you, Jovi, being harassed by that big, strange man." Acri had joined them. "Were you okay?"
"Yup! Strong people helped us. Big brother was there too, so nothing bad happened."
Acri smiled in relief.
"Jovi came here on an important visit. Big brother is Jovi's assistant today!"
Acri looked at Michael. "Oh, you must be Jovi's brother Michael. I'm glad we finally met!"
"Yeah, it's nice to meet you too."
"I'm Emili. Hi, Jovi's big brother!"
Michael smiled friendly. "Hello, Emili."
"Jovi has been a very nice friend to my daughter Emili." Acri said.
"That's good to hear. Hey, do you maybe know something about those men from just now?"
"That elderly gentleman's name is Mr. Verich. He comes here by boat with his two assistants occasionally. There's something mysterious about him, don't you think?"
"I don't know. Haha. Who knows."
"He's supposed to be fabulously wealthy. Rumors like that give me shivers! I'm hoping to become a novelist. Whenever I come across anything mysterious, I try to imagine a story around it. Anyways, Emili and I should be going. Be careful in this town. There are lots of rough customers about."
"Bye-Bye, Jovi!" Emili waved at her.
"Yup. See you, Emili!"
"Bye, miss." Michael said when they went home. "Now, where was the Parts Shop again?"
"This way!"

---

"Huh? No-one behind the counter?"
"Hi, did you want something here?" A man in captains outfit asked from behind them.
"Yes. Where's the owner?"
"The shopkeeper's out right now. He said something about having to go out to Dr. Kamin...uh...what was it now? Well, to that doctor's manor is where he went. He said his grandson Perr will be back from repairing the rotating bridges, so I'm supposed to mind the shop until then. But I don't know where anything is or how to ring up a sale or anything, however. I have no clue what to do!"
'That's a bummer...' Michael thought to himself.
"I suppose it doesn't matter, though. It's really quiet here. I'm getting awfully bored, really. If you'd like, how about you help me while some time away? I've got a tale to tell that you may find interesting."
"Oh, why not. Maybe that Perr guy will return by the time the tale's over."
"Yay, story time!" Jovi cheered.
"When I was younger, I sailed all the world's seas as a navigator. Our world is huge! And this huge world is filled with an incredible profusion of Pokémon. Of all the Pokémon in our world, the one that I found the most interesting is Eevee. Now, Eevee is a unique Pokémon. To my knowledge, it can evolve into five different kinds of Pokémon, you see."
"Whoaa. Really?" Jovi said completely indulged in the story.
"My Eevee can really do that?"
"Oh? You say you're raising an Eevee? What a fortuitous coincidence! While I sailed, I studied Eevee quite exhaustively. As a result, I obtained five items that are the keys to Eevee's evolution. This must have been meant to happen! In that case, let me commemorate this occasion by giving you one of these five items."
"Wait, what? You want to give me one?"
"Yes! There's no need to be shy about it. Go ahead! Choose one!"
The captain opened a small box, revealing 3 stones and 2 shards.
"They are so pretty!!" Jovi's eyes were shining because of what she was seeing.
'So Umbreon, Vaporeon, Umbreon, Jolteon and Flareon will be the choices to get... uhh..'
After a moment of thinking, Michael made up his mind. "I'll pick this one. Thank you." He said as he took a hold of the Thunder Stone.
"Good choice. That will let it evolve into a Jolteon. It's easy to use. Also, just like your Eevee, it's invaluable!"
"You're so lucky, big brother! Jovi wants something too!"
"Maybe another time. Let's go look for that shopkeepers grandson."
"Aww.. okay..."

Outside, the rotating bridges started moving. A guy with a beanie on his head - around the age of 17 - passed them.
"Whew... that settles that! All fixed!"
"Hey, is that your shop there?"
"Huh? ...You want to talk to me? ...Yeah, the Parts Shop is ours."
"Okay, good. Where's the owner himself? We came to retrieve an important item. A Machine Part, I believe what it was called.."
"Where's grandpa? You need a Machine Part? ...He's gone off to Dr. Kaminko's..."
"We've heard something like that, yes."
"Arrrgh!" The guy kicked a small rock away. "When my grandpa gets excited over some mechanical thing, he's off like a shot. Never mind the shop or his grandson, me."
"Uhh..."
"I'll find that Machine Part you need. Can I get you to come to our shop?"
Michael nodded, not knowing how to respond to him and followed.
"Man, Grandpa should be so lucky to have a caring grandson like me looking after him."

At the shop, he apologized. "Sorry we were out. A Machine Part, you said, right?"
"That's right."
Perr opened the vault behind the counter. He searched between the secured items to find the necessary one. He grabbed it and locked the vault again. "Here it is. This is it. Here you go!" Perr said as he handed over the Part to Michael.
"Thank you."
"It's a rare item, that Machine Part. It took a while to get the order in. How's your Director, Professor Krane, doing?"
"Well..." Michael explained what had been happening to Perr.
"Hah?! The HQ Lab's Director was abducted by some goons with Shadow Pokémon?!"
"Unfortunately, yes." Michael sighed.
"Oh, man... I've been through something like that before, but who would've thought it'd happen again?"
"You have?!"
"Yeah. I hope the Lab Director's found. I'll be rooting for you, so don't give up."
"Wait, no further explenation?"
"Just go deliver that Part to the Lab. Tell them it came from Perr."
"Fine."
"Okay, see ya."
"Bye-bye!" Jovi waved at Perr before following her brother, exiting the shop.