Looking at the little girl in front of him, Natsuhiko suddenly felt a sense of familiarity.
Slowly, he remembered.
Acerola!
A future captain on Ula ula Island in the Lalola region, and during a period after the league settled, became one of the Alola Region's ghost-type Elite Four, around the time when Master Ash started his journey!
Acerola's father was the owner of this Marie Library.
And when Acerola was free, she would work part-time as a librarian here.
A girl who has a deep relationship with the current Ula ula Island overlord, Morden.
It's said.
Acerola was able to become one of the Elite Four thanks to Morden's recommendation.
Natsuhiko's mind quickly flashed through the details about the girl in front of him.
After a slight daze, he gave her an apologetic smile.
"Sorry, I forgot to mute my phone, I'll be quick."
Then he answered the call.
And the voice on the other end was Hilona's.
"I heard..."
Natsuhiko interrupted Hilona, half-covering the phone, whispering, "I'm in the library right now, I'll call you back later."
Upon hearing he was in the library, Hilona realized she was being inconsiderate.
She quickly said, "Okay."
Then hung up the call.
Acerola looked at Natsuhiko, her cheeks still puffed, clearly not pleased with his behavior.
"Buyi~~"
At this moment.
The Eevee, who was curled up and sleeping on the chair, was also disturbed by the phone's sound.
It stretched long, shook its ash-grey soft fur, and groaned softly.
With a gentle leap, it jumped onto the table.
Affectionately, it licked Natsuhiko's palm.
"Eevee!"
Seeing the adorable Eevee, Acerola's eyes immediately lit up, momentarily forgetting Natsuhiko's earlier phone call behavior in the library.
Acerola is a girl who loves Pokémon a lot.
Whenever she has time, she goes to the House of Ether to play with the Pokémon living there.
Despite her child-like appearance, she's actually much older than she looks; when she became one of the Elite Four, she was eighteen or nineteen, yet still looked about the same as now.
A little girl who never grows up.
If there are some children who enjoy listening to stories in the library, Acerola would warmly tell them stories.
She's likely quite strong at the moment.
"Buyi?"
Eevee tilted its head, blinking its big sparkling eyes, curiously observing the little girl with a slightly flushed face, looking very excited.
"Uncle, is this your Eevee?" Acerola asked.
Natsuhiko's forehead showed a faint line.
As long as she doesn't call me uncle, everything is fine.
Otherwise, wouldn't that mean I'm in the same generation as Morden, that slovenly, lazy guy?
But Acerola didn't care what Natsuhiko thought and excitedly said:
"Eevee, they're really rare to see in the Alola Region; I've only seen one in the House of Ether, but its color was a bit different from this one."
Acerola blinked her curious eyes.
At this time, the Alola Region isn't completely open, so Eevee is indeed rare.
Natsuhiko gently stroked Eevee's fur.
"Buyi~~"
Eevee squinted comfortably, unconsciously lying down on the table.
"So cute," Acerola's small face was red, with her girlish heart instantly captured by Eevee.
She thought for a while, then called towards the corner of the bookshelf, "Little Mimikyu."
Acerola summoned her Pokémon.
A Pokémon that looked a lot like Pikachu in appearance, but with noticeably darker hues, with an overall gray-white coloration.
Upon closer inspection, it seemed like someone had intentionally doodled a Pikachu image on a piece of cloth, its head tilted, with one large and one small eye, and a little flower tied on one of its ears.
But in fact, at the "Pikachu" abdomen position, there were two small holes, inside pitch-black.
Mimikyu!
Ghost-type and Fairy-type Pokémon!
Its true form is hidden beneath the Pikachu-style cloth, peering outside through the two small holes.
Also, Acerola's Mimikyu.
It's a Shiny Mimikyu!
It floated straight over from the air.
Natsuhiko remembered that Acerola's Mimikyu was a true ghost.
"This is Little Mimikyu, isn't it cute too?"
Acerola said proudly.
Seeing another Pokémon appear, Eevee initially thought it was a Pikachu, happily hopping over to greet it.
But upon approaching, it realized.
It's not a Pikachu at all.
"Buyi!!"
Its fur all stood up in an instant, leaping backward, directly shrinking into Natsuhiko's arms.
Peeking out its two little eyes, slightly scared, fixating on Mimikyu.
Seeing Mimikyu, Natsuhiko wasn't too surprised, just a bit curious.
Nobody knows what Mimikyu looks like beneath that cloth.
Natsuhiko is quite familiar with Mimikyu as a Pokémon.
Because this kind of Pokémon consistently occupies the top three usage spots on the Pokémon battle ranking.
The combination of Ghost-type and Fairy-type attributes makes them very marketable.
Most importantly, Mimikyu possesses a unique trait called "Painted Skin," allowing them to evade one attack.
It's a very unique Pokémon.
Natsuhiko smiled and patted Eevee on the head, "It's Mimikyu, also a kind of Pokémon; Eevee, you're being rude."
"Buyi?"
Hearing this, Eevee slowly poked out its head, seeing Mimikyu just standing there motionlessly, its fears gradually dissipating a bit.
It quietly moved back onto the table.