PHOTO REEL (4)

 

  

The little woman hurried onto the bus, clasping her hands together when she saw the enthusiastic young man already taking a picture of his Prinplup. "It is nice to have a souvenir!" she exclaimed, setting her handbag down in the row in front of Rowan and taking a seat at the window herself. "This is Petalburg City Hall! It is not so special," she admitted, "Sometimes, I go to work here." Between the Visitor's Center and filing paperwork for the city, Michi kept herself busy.

The bus began to move, turning between tall, polished buildings and making its way towards the freeway onramp. "Downtown Petalburg was not so..." Michi made a futile "tall" gesture towards the fourteen-story buildings, "...when I was a child! There were only rice fields. But this is only a small area."

She continued to point out little cafes and recommended a local hostel as the bus made it onto the onramp and merged up and over the city, providing a spectacular view of the ocean. "Ahhh! Isn't it nice?" Michi sighed. "This is Petalburg Harbor, to the right."

Wingull perched in rows along the railing, and a cluster of bright blue Cramorant stood at the edge of a pier, their wings half-spread and drying in the sun. "Across the bay you can visit the Seaside Park!" Michi explained, flipping to a page in the tour pamphlet to show Rowan the fields of starry, pale blue blossoms in the spring. "There are many flowers, and an aquarium also! It is good for weddings, I think." 

> WINGULL
> CRAMORANT
> PRINPLUP
> SKIP

PHOTO REEL (3)

 

  

"Yes! The weddings are very beautiful!" Michi said enthusiastically, warming to her favorite topic. She'd married her husband in a chapel, as was tradition, but at least one of their many vow renewals had occurred at the Seaside Park. The park mostly attracted tourists, but it was still a beautiful place to visit on a nice day.

The bus continued past the cluster of Cramorant and across the bridge, stopping at a toll booth before proceeding along the coast. A thin strip of manmade beach took up the right side of the highway, while the left was taken up by a huge, copper-topped arena. 

"We are passing Yahoo!PetalDome," Michi said, pronouncing the name completely sincerely. "There are many baseball games there! Oh, you can see the players!" Michi pointed, drawing Rowan's attention to a group of players in white-and-yellow uniforms. "Do you know? Our home team is the Petalburg Pelipper! They are a strong team. Last year, they won the KJHS Tournament," she said, referring to the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh Baseball League.

The men were laughing, practicing their pitches towards a catcher Machamp in a similar jersey. The fighting-type was wearing two pairs of baseball gloves and seemed to have no trouble catching the missiles and hurling them right back. Off on the sidelines, a group of people in Pelipper mascot costumes seemed to be coordinating a cheer practice.

The bus paused at a traffic light, allowing them more time to watch the team practice and potentially snap photos. "This team has the most mascot characters in all of Hoenn!" Michi piped up brightly, showing Rowan another page in the pamphlet with a group of 7 posing, anthropomorphized Pelipper people.

"There is the Pelipper Family! Paul is the main mascot, but that is his girlfriend, Penny. She is not his wife," the gym leader explained, lowering her voice. She gave a secretive giggle. "His wife disappeared... but their children are still OK! There is Paula, Perry, and Patrick. And Pappy, grandfather." Michi pointed them out individually. "Also, they have a pet. This is Pelli-kun." That one was just a real Pelipper with a dog collar. Michi beamed. "Which do you like?"

> MACHAMP
> PELIPPER
> PRINPLUP
> SKIP