"Did you get our allowance?"
Faced with Jirachi's question, Celebi waved the three hundred bucks that Julian had just given it, proudly saying, "Julian said we've been quite well-behaved lately, so today he specifically gave us an extra hundred."
The two little ones received a daily allowance of one hundred, which they could spend as they pleased.
"Julian really is a good person."
Hearing that, Jirachi happily narrowed its eyes into crescent moons and gave Julian a "good guy card."
"Here, for you."
Celebi handed Jirachi one hundred bucks and then put two hundred into its own little backpack.
Jirachi happily accepted its own hundred, seemingly not noticing that Celebi had pocketed the other two hundred.
"Let's go, it's Crazy Thursday today—half-price at Old Man Ken's."
"Mhm."
Jirachi nodded vigorously.
"With three hundred bucks, we can eat so much!" Jirachi said innocently, completely unaware of Celebi's slightly strange expression.
Just as the two were about to head out, Jirachi suddenly said, "Wait, I'll bring Nebby."
"Why bring that little burden along?"
Celebi asked in confusion.
"I told it yesterday that I'd take it out for good food today."
"Julian won't agree."
"It's fine. Julian is in the backyard, and Nebby is sleeping on the bed. We can sneak it out without him noticing."
Jirachi looked very pleased with its own cleverness.
Since Nebby was still in its infant stage, it needed a lot of sleep every day, basically spending almost its entire time sleeping.
When Jirachi picked up Nebby from the bed, the little one was still fast asleep.
"Let's go," Jirachi said.
Celebi nodded helplessly, thinking to itself that with another mouth to feed, the extra hundred bucks it had just pocketed would likely have to be spat back out.
It could only hope that Nebby would not eat too much.
As for whether Celebi had considered that Nebby might not eat junk food like Old Man Ken's—in its view, no Pokémon could resist Old Man Ken. If there was one, a cup of milk tea would surely win it over.
There were many Old Man Ken's stores in Lake City, with branches all over the world.
Celebi and Jirachi chose the store located in the city center. This store was the largest in Lake City, and both little ones agreed that its food tasted the best.
Why did they thought this way? Because they had tried every single store in Lake City and concluded that the one in the city center tasted better than the others. So, whenever they craved fried chicken, they almost always came here.
Since the two little ones were frequent visitors to the store, they were considered regulars. It was nearly noon now, and the place was already packed.
However, there was still a small table left—though it was clearly not suitable for humans to sit at. On this table sat a small sign with pictures of Celebi and Jirachi on it.
Many customers in the store glanced outside from time to time, looking at the table.
In fact, quite a few were waiting for Celebi and Jirachi. After all, they had been here so often that people had figured out their patterns.
Basically, as long as it was Crazy Thursday and they were free, they would come by.
The timing wasn't fixed—sometimes it was in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon, and occasionally even in the evening. There was even one time when they showed up right at midnight on Wednesday night to eat.
So whether you got to see Celebi and Jirachi depended entirely on luck.
And because of this, Thursdays at this store were especially lively, even attracting many tourists from out of town.
The fact that one was a Mythical Pokémon and the other a Legendary Pokémon was enough to draw crowds on its own. And to top it off, they both belonged to Julian, the Champion.
"They're here! They're here!"
A sharp-eyed customer spotted two small dots flying toward the store from afar.
A few seconds later, Celebi and Jirachi appeared, with Jirachi holding Nebby in its arms. And just like that, Nebby made its first public appearance.
"What Pokémon is Jirachi holding? It's so cute!"
"Another unknown Pokémon—as expected of Champion Walker!"
"That little one is still sleeping even as Jirachi is carrying it around."
"It can sleep through all this noise… Could it still be in its infant stage?"
People around whispered among themselves, but no one went to disturb Celebi and Jirachi.
Everyone here abided by an unspoken rule: you could take photos, you could talk, but you must not go up and bother Celebi and Jirachi.
"Let's order quickly!"
Celebi called out. Although the staff couldn't understand what it was saying, they were already familiar with the routine. Soon, a menu filled with fried chicken and burgers was placed in front of them.
Nowadays, scanning QR codes to order and pay was already mainstream. However, the allowance Julian gave today was in cash, not a digital transfer, so they had to order this way.
"This, this, and this—I want three of these."
Celebi held up three fingers.
"This, this, and this—I want four of these."
Jirachi held up four fingers.
"The Coke should be iced."
"Two large portions of fries."
"I want ten fried chicken drumsticks."
"Jirachi, there's a new item today!"
Celebi's eyes lit up as if discovering a new continent.
"Really? Let me see."
Looking at the new Pineapple Burger listed on the menu, Jirachi said, "I want six of these."
"There's a new fries flavor too."
"Then hurry up and order."
"Should we cancel what we ordered earlier?"
"No need, I can finish it."
"There's also a new ice cream flavor."
"Then let's get six of those."
"Why are there so many new items this time? Good thing Julian gave us an extra hundred."
"Alright, that's all for now. We'll see later."
Celebi patted the menu to signal the order was complete.
The staff nodded and headed toward the kitchen. As they passed the manager, they whispered, "Manager, they ordered nearly four hundred bucks worth today."
"Did Champion Walker give them four hundred in allowance today?"
Exactly how much daily allowance the two little ones received had long been revealed by Celebi on its own social media.
"That should be it, Champion Walker can be quite generous occasionally."
The manager nodded seriously.
Julian's stinginess towards Celebi and Jirachi was a topic of amusement not just in Drakoria but around the world.
After all, if anyone else had Pokémon like these, they'd be treated like royalty—pampered with the best food and comforts. Who else would restrict their allowance like Julian?
"Alright, go ahead and prepare. I'll keep an eye on things here," the manager said.
The staff nodded and entered the kitchen, where the crew immediately got busy.
Celebi and Jirachi's combined order totaled over forty items. Under normal circumstances, that amount would be enough to feed more than a dozen adults.
The staff were already used to Celebi and Jirachi's appetites. With appetites like theirs, it was almost a shame they didn't compete in eating contests.
"You can take photos, but make sure to turn on the beauty filter and pull the slimming effect to the max."
Celebi pulled out a piece of paper from its small backpack with these words written on it.
"Hahaha, sure thing!"
"So cute!"
The surrounding customers all laughed.
*****
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