My Name is Marcus: Sweet Scent

VI. Rigged

"Ready? 3, 2, 1, cheese!"

Cinderace, clad in the ensemble he picked out from the boutique in addition to the leather jacket his trainer had picked out for himself, posed for a photo between two small children - a boy and a girl. He gave a wide grin as he extended an arm out, sticking his middle and index fingers upward into a V-shape, prompting the two kids to imitate him and do the same.

"Oooh, that's a good one!", the children's mother exclaimed as she looked at her camera. "Alright, kids, let's get a move on. We need to get over to the bumper cars before the park shuts the ride down!"

"Yeah!", the kids excitedly agreed as they ran back to their mother's side. "Thanks again for the picture, Cinderace!", they called back. "You're the coolest Pokemon ever!"

Cinderace smiled brightly at the children as he waved goodbye.

Marcus, Marnie, and Morpeko sat on a bench nearby, watching the scene play out before them. Marnie and Morpeko were splitting a moderate-sized tub of popcorn while Marcus slowly snacked away at a bag of cotton candy.

"Huh... guess he got to do that photoshoot after all, huh?", Marnie remarked.

Marcus smirked - his ace-Pokemon's sense of people skills never ceased to amaze him. "I'm gonna have to get another leather jacket now", he added with a chuckle. "He looks better in that one than I do, and he knows it."

The late hour had not slowed the heartbeat of the city, which continued to persist from corner to corner, and the Wyndon Park fair grounds to the northwest of the city square were no exception. From the many thrill rides positioned across the park, to the myriad of games dotting the site, to the massive ferris wheel, which rivaled even the Battle Tower in its height as it challenged the skyline itself - people from all across the city, maybe even all of Galar and beyond, flocked across the red-brick paths of the park in droves to take part in the many attractions and activities it had to offer.

The young champion and gym leader sat across from a row of carnival game booths on a quieter end of the park - not necessarily devoid of traffic, but much less hectic than the rest of the site.

"I'm still blown away that I never noticed this place before, even after all the time I've been spendin' back n' forth from here n' Spikemuth", Marnie remarked as she held out an open handful of popcorn kernels for Morpeko. "Has this place really been here the whole time?"

"Well, yes and no", Marcus answered. "I mean, yeah, all the stuff's been here and all, but the park itself is usually only opened on the weekends during this time of year." He smirked at her. "Plus, would you really have taken the time to come out here during the Gym Challenge finals if you knew this place was here?"

She gasped lightheartedly. "What're you sayin', Marcus?", she asked sarcastically. "What, you think I'm some kinda prude who don't know how to have a good time?"

"I never said that", Marcus responded with a grin, "Although, you did agree to spend the evening hanging out with a loser like me, so..."

"You're such a dork", she tittered as she jabbed lightly at his arm before reaching for another handful of popcorn. "I'll have ya know, I'm a riot when I wanna be."

"I don't doubt that at all, really!", Marcus replied with a chuckle, taking a handful of cotton candy into his mouth and letting it melt on his tongue. "Alright, I'm curious now", he said. "What do you like to do for fun?"

"Whaddaya mean?", Marnie asked with a puzzled look on her face. "You oughta know that by now, we've been friends for months now." She handed a few more kernels to Morpeko, who proceeded to inhale them with gusto. "I mean, ain't we havin' fun right now?"