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[Look at that beautiful sunset. The orange sun hunkering down on the horizon, its reflection glittering on the surface of the salty sea, the sound of Wingulls flying overheard in search of dinner. There's nothing Lance has missed more about being back on Earth than this, other than his mom, of course.]

Hey guys?

[But watch as he ruins it by pulling the gear away from the gorgeous sight and pointing the camera to a round hump in the water closer to shore. It's a fine hump. A very fine purple hump with blowhole up top where, as if on cue, water sprays out and the hump rolls over to reveal the face of a whale that looks all too pleased with itself.]

So I ran into this Pokemon just now and it's okay and all... I mean, the 'gear says it's a Wailmer, but something's wrong with it. It doesn't look like the one in the picture. Is something wrong with it? Is it sick? Do Pokemon get sick? Do we have to vaccinate our Pokemon like we have to do dogs? Because man, I am not ready for some vet bills, let me tell you.

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[DID SOMEONE MENTION WHALES

It is a very excited Armin that answers.]

You don't need to worry, it's not sick at all. Your Wailmer is what we call 'a shiny'. It happens in every species of pokemon. For some reason, there are some members that have different colours than the norm. It is incredibly rare, and it is probably genetic to some degree, as dedicated breeding can occasionally lead to a pokemon passing on that trait. You're really lucky. Finding a shiny pokemon in the wild is really rare.

[A soft, happy noise.]

And it's a Wailmer too. I've never even seen a shiny one before. Aren't they incredible? Is it a boy or a girl? Where did you catch it?

[SOMEONE DID MENTION WHALES.]

A shiny, eh? Sounds special. I'd rather have special than potential patient zero on my hands.

[Lance flips the camera around to face him and welcomes Armin with a giant grin. Someone is really feeling himself, as if all it took to catch a shiny was to show up and look pretty.]

I was using one of the rental Lapras to get back to One Island and I ran into it right as I got off-shore. And it's a boy. I think. Pretty sure it's a dude.

[The Wailer groans or moans or whatever the heck that sound it makes it, confirming Lance's guess.]

Sounds like a dude.

Incredibly special. Most people will go their whole lives without ever seen a shiny, let alone catching one. I've been here nearly two years and I only found one in the wild. That you saw one this soon after coming here, and a rarer species like a Wailmer at that, is extremely lucky.

Totally lucky. But think about it. He probably saw me surfing along and said "I wanna be with that cool guy. Let me make this is lucky day." Could you blame him?

[Yes. Yes, everybody could. They'd also check the Wailmer for brain damage.]

Rarer species? You mean not everybody goes out surfing for one? Even a regular one?

[Granted, who really goes out looking for a whale?]

[People on whale-watching tours, of course!]

Some species of pokemon are more common than others. For example, Magikarp can be found almost everywhere. They are pretty hardy and produce eggs quickly. But there are also some other species of Pokemon that only live in one particular area or don't produce eggs very fast so that keeps their numbers low.

Wailmer and Wailords aren't as rare, as say, a Lapras, but they aren't very commonly seen either. Which is a good thing, in a way. They require a tremendous amount of food every day. If there were too many in one location, they'd go hungry.

Edited (spelling is my nemesis ) 2018-07-14 12:21 (UTC)

Oh, Lapras are the ones you're trying to repopulate, right? I saw your post, but I really didn't have a way to help you with that.

[Though if his luck keeps going the way he hopes it's going, maybe he'll run into one to lean Armin for MOAR WATER BABIES.]

This guy's an absolute unit, so I guess most of my paycheck is going in his stomach, isn't it?

[Time to start shaking down little kid trainers like Keith does!]

That's all right.

[Armin wasn't expecting help from Lance. He was still too new. The chance of him having a Lapras was just... really minimal.]

There is a chance of that. To be honest, part of the reason I let mine swim freely in the ocean. They are very capable of feeding themselves if you'll let them.

[And it doesn't hurt Armin's wallet as much that way.]

[He probably could just poke his head out of the house and yell across the beach, but hey. This is less shout-y.]

I think it's like Blue.

A "shiny"? But see if you can get Armin to confirm it. I don't think it's sick, though.

[Less shout-y and less fun. Come on, Shiro.]

Blue's a shiny? Why didn't you tell me that?

[His biggest fan is an awesome rare variant! And that day, Lance's ego grew three times for no good reason.]

And yeah, he just did. He seems really excited about it for some reason, though.

[Lance you know he's the fun police.]

I forget? A lot of times? I don't see many other Gallade, honestly.

[When you don't have any around to remind you, it's easy to forget not all the Gallades in the world are blue.]

Armin loves Wailmer. And Wailords. They're his specialty, aside from water pokemon in general.

[And also boring. Very very boring.]

Now that you mention it, I don't think I've seen another one either.

[In his defense, Lance hasn't really explored the rest of the world aside from a few other towns on his way to meet up with Hunk, so any chances of running into Gallades are far and few and non-existent.]

Oh, cool. I'll ask him for training tips then. Wish I knew someone who knew some training tips for Miltanks, but I guess we can't have it all.

I've seen their other version. But not them.

[The ones with the dresses. He wonders a little why Blue didn't end up that way. But his pokemon might get offended over that kind of question, unfortunately.]

You could just ask the 'gear network. Someone's bound to know something.

[Who knows? If you make his hero the messenger of that question, Blue might not get offended.]

And make it seem like I can't control my Pokemon? Hard pass.

[But Lance... you can't control Kaltenecker. That's the whole problem!]

Lance, there's nothing wrong with asking for help. People here do it all the time.

[Plus, yeah, you can't handle that cow.]

Pokémon do get sick, which doesn't involve vet bills by the way, but that's no illness. It just means you're just very, very lucky.

[Lance audibly sighs because who knows what getting a sick whale treated would cost. Starmiebucks doesn't pay that much!]

I guess the hot nurse who doesn't care about anybody but Pokemon takes care of that, right?

[Someone's a little salty she didn't response to his cornball pick-up lines, but it doesn't last long.]

So I heard! Maybe I should hit up a casino and try my luck even farther. I always wanted to be a high roller.

[Suck to be you, Lance. Some "concerned parents" made them get rid of the slots at the Game Corner, so no rolling anything for you.]

Along with her fifty equally married to the job cousins, yes.

[Might as well destroy his hopes before they can rise.]

Might work. Or it might be a sign you've just used up all your luck for the year, but you can't tell until you try.

They look the same and act the same. You'd think there'd be at least one who's gone rogue. Maybe they're all just clones like some bad sci-fi flick.

[Oh, don't worry. Lance knows he's out for failure. That's why he's the way he is.]

Aw come on! It can't be for the whole year. I just got here!

Clones, the results of some weird breeding project, normal women who received advanced cosmetic surgery... who knows? This place sometimes has weird job requirements.

[Such as the very common 'no job requirements'.]

Welcome to this world, then. Even if that was a year's worth of luck, you'll be fine; your Pokémon have their own luck and you can't die anyway.

Or aliens. Aliens are always a possibility.

[In some of case, you've seen one, you've seen them all.]

I can't die? [Now he's going to be even more reckless than usual. Thanks, bud.] What about the Pokemon?

Everyone that's not human tends to become so around here, actually. Unless they're alien Pokémon.

[Alien Pokémon are always an option.]

That's... tricky. I've never seen or heard of a Pokémon dying no matter what kind of attack hit them, but at the same time they have graves in Lavender and tons of Ghost-types, so...

Finally! A pokemon with a decent sense of color!

Congratulations to you.

Eh, blue's more my style, but hey, purple still matches. At least it's not like poop brown. I'd have to reconsider my entire wardrobe for that one.

[Oh god, he's going to start posting outfits of the day that go with his Pokemon, isn't he?]

Ah, I must say. Blue is rather fetching a color. Perhaps I'll add it to my potential list of hair colors.

But if it's wardrobe you're interested in, might I assist?

That's a shiny, dude.

Like my Umi. Most Tentacruel aren't green and purple, but Umi is. It's actually pretty rare to run into one in the wild!

Not sure why they call them shinies when they're just a different color, but I'm not giving it back!

Where'd you'd find Umi?

Cause they're special, so they're shiny.

The islands. I wasn't even looking for a new Pokemon, but we ended up together.

Oh, what a cute whale! It's so round! [She likes cute things, okay.] And it looks like you lucked out, it must be one of those shiny Pokemon that are really rare.

[The Wailmer hears the compliment and begins rolling over and over in the water, spraying water every time his head resurfaces. It's literally a living water feature.]

I did! I don't even know what Pokemon god I please today, but I'm totally gonna repeat every step I made.

[That's not how it works, dummy.]

Well, apparently there are legendary Pokemon that some people think are like gods...maybe they're the ones that made it happen. [She's half joking about that, but after what Armin told her about legendaries, she can't help but wonder.]

I hope I can find a shiny Pokemon too someday! Maybe if I'm really lucky, I'll be able to breed one.

Like everyone's been saying. That's a shiny. Sometimes you just catch one if you're lucky.

I've got a shiny Yamask.

What's a Yamask?

[Sure, he can just look it up in the Pokedex, but Alex is a girl and Lance grabs every opportunity to talk to one regardless of the topic.]

Ghost pokemon. Just a second....

[And she'll pull out a pokeball and a shiny version of the Yamask appears.]

Lance, meet Calvin Gilbert. Found him in the ruins of Alph.

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