◉◉◉◉◉
"These are custom tour vehicles built for the park by Eevee Tech."
"The outer shell is made from a special Hardman alloy, strong enough to withstand a full-force attack from a newly born Pokémon."
"And if necessary, the high-output engine inside can push the car all the way to nearly two hundred miles per hour."
"With a real-time tracking system accurate down to a few feet, plus a specialized Pokémon repellent mist, guest safety is completely guaranteed."
Aaron delivered the explanation smoothly, like a pitch he had rehearsed countless times.
A vehicle like this was extremely important for visitors touring Blue Crystal.
After all, unlike a standard marine aquarium, the park had no thick glass walls separating people from the wildlife.
In a sense, it was basically a natural habitat.
Even though visitors were carefully screened before entering, the creatures living inside the park were still real Pokémon.
They might not be hostile toward people, but with physical abilities far beyond those of any human, even playful roughhousing done in good spirits could end badly for guests.
Even an ordinary safari park would provide vehicles with reinforced frames for visitors.
A marine park built around wild Pokémon needed something even more secure.
So to protect its guests and make sure the park could continue operating for years to come, the city's tourism department had partnered with Eevee Tech to create the specialized vehicles now standing in front of Hannah.
As curious as she was, Hannah did not waste time asking more questions.
She had already waited long enough. More than anything, she wanted to finally get inside the park and start enjoying herself.
The interior of the vehicle was not especially spacious. In fact, it felt almost cramped. Even with Hannah's slim frame, it was hard to fully stretch out.
But in sharp contrast to that was the incredible wraparound visibility.
The windows were crystal clear from nearly every angle, and even the roof had been fitted with transparent panels. Sitting inside, Hannah felt as if her field of vision had suddenly expanded.
"Hmmm..."
A faint engine hum, so quiet it was almost nonexistent, stirred within the cabin as the small silver touring car rolled smoothly out of the lot under Aaron's control.
Instead of heading toward the crowded main road, the vehicle turned through several bends and slipped into a dimly lit passageway.
Then it accelerated sharply.
A powerful shove pressed her back into the seat so suddenly that Hannah was caught completely off guard and nearly melted into the soft cushion.
In the corner of her vision, all she could see were the tunnel walls racing backward at incredible speed.
Inside the dark passage, Hannah quickly lost all sense of time.
She had no idea how long they had been moving before a tiny point of light finally appeared ahead.
The moment she saw it, her fading energy snapped back to life.
She knew exactly what it meant.
The exit was closed.
With the touring car still speeding forward, the point of light grew from the size of a grain of rice to something more like a ping-pong ball.
Blinding sunlight spilled in from beyond the tunnel, like brilliant radiance pouring down from heaven, full of promise and impossible to look at directly.
The dark walls around her gradually blurred away, and the vibrant world ahead slowly came into view.
Then at last.
With the wind roaring past.
The tunnel ended.
It felt like crossing into another world.
The steel and concrete forest of the city had vanished, replaced by an endless spread of green.
Lake after crystal-clear lake reflected the broad sky above, and surrounded by lush grasses, they looked like dazzling blue gems sewn into rich green silk.
A breeze carrying the scent of spring drifted by, bringing with it a rush of pure life.
Pokémon of every kind played and splashed across the wetlands, showing off the most innocent and natural sides of themselves.
A Psyduck sat near the edge of a lake, swaying its oversized head with a vacant expression, completely lost in whatever strange thoughts drifted through its mind.
Several Lotad floated lazily in the clear water, their bodies submerged while the broad green leaves on their heads soaked up the warm sunlight, now and then releasing tiny bubbles.
Nearby, a Lapras drifted peacefully across the open water, its songlike call soft and haunting in the air.
Hannah could only stare.
The cramped frustration she had felt in the touring car disappeared completely, and her mood opened all at once under the peaceful harmony of the scene before her.
Her thoughts fell away.
Her mind went blank.
At that moment, she did not want to do anything at all.
She only wanted to sink into nature's embrace and let that simple, primal joy of being alive wash over her.
Beside her, Aaron, seated in the driver's seat, wisely said nothing. He simply followed the preset route and drove on in silence.
Blue Crystal might have been called a marine park, but saltwater habitats actually made up only about forty percent of the grounds.
Most of the park was made up of freshwater lakes and wetlands.
To make the experience as enjoyable as possible, the people running the park had spent enormous sums of money acquiring nearly every Water-type Pokémon species available on the market.
Along with the Flying-types and Grass-types needed to complete the ecosystem, the variety of Pokémon here had become astonishingly rich.
And for Hannah, who had grown up in a major city surrounded by towers, traffic, and concrete, this was the first time she had ever stepped into anything resembling a truly wild natural environment.
She recognized almost every Pokémon she saw.
But seeing them like this, in a setting that felt so alive and untouched, was a completely different experience.
Filled with excitement and wonder, Hannah gave up trying to look composed and nearly flattened herself against the window, as if missing even a second of the view would be a crime.
Then suddenly.
In the shallow edge of a lake not too far ahead, a small blue figure caught her eye.
A round little head.
A tiny body.
A wide tail.
Big, clear eyes.
"Sobble?"
In an instant, Hannah's eyes practically turned into pink hearts.
For women anywhere between five and fifty-five, a Pokémon as adorable and cartoon-perfect as Sobble was basically a tactical weapon.
"Quick."
"Go over there."
Still staring at the Sobble off to the side, Hannah slapped a hand against the glass and urgently called out to Aaron without even turning around.
◉◉◉◉◉
~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
◉◉◉◉◉
For early access to advanced chapters on P-atreon:
P-atreon/iamxeno
(Just remove the - hyphen to access normally)
Thank you so much for your support and for reading!