So it was now that Josephine was cruising towards the Las Vegas Strip, her eyes shining with wonder and desire at the neon lights.
In the back seat, Gloria rolled her eyes, her face buried in a book about Las Vegas' history. "You know, Josephine, you got lucky last year. They say the house always wins."
"House didn't beat me."
"It will. You realize that these places couldn't stay in business if the odds were 50/50, let alone in your favor? Keep playing, and you're bound to lose."
"Only if I'm unlucky. And I feel like pressing my luck."
"Don't say I didn't warn you."
"C'mon, Gloria, loosen up."
"Hey, I'm just looking out for you."
"Ugh, I know, but..." Josephine sighed. "You know something? Everyone in our family has changed except you."
"What? What are you talking about?"
"Sarah found herself, and helped us change job classes. And since then, she's matured and grown a lot as a person. I've gained confidence in myself. Ariel's gotten stronger after being tempered by trials like The Society. Mom was freed from Tiamat and found her calling as a baker... and a mechanic, and a theme park owner... sheesh, she does a lot. And Dad... well, he was DEAD! But you're the same old stuffy boring Gloria."
"I resent that." Gloria huffed. "I opened my own library."
"You always wanted to do that. That's not a change."
"I became a summoner!"
"That hasn't changed who YOU are, sis."
"Well, so what? Maybe I like being boring." Gloria said, looking back at her book. "I mean, someone around here has to keep a cool head. You guys are rowdy enough, but this city is like a drug. Especially for you. This family needs a designated driver."
"That's Dad's job. C'mon - you're young, you're experienced, and you're frittering away the best years of your life doing nothing but reading!"
"Reading is fast becoming a lost art. Someone needs to preserve the traditions of the past."
"Okay, look. A couple years ago, Ariel took me to the ZFS King of Beasts to help me come out of my shell and stop caring so much about stupid shit like dress sizes and magazines. Now it's my turn to help someone."
They came to a stoplight. Josephine grimaced briefly at the line of traffic in front of her, but then took the opportunity to turn her head to look at Gloria, and jabbed a finger at her.
"You? You're gonna have fun in Las Vegas."
"I had fun last year."
"You didn't even scratch the surface of the Vegas experience. Well, no more. You're going to see the shows."
"Well, okay."
"And you're gonna gamble."
"Ugh... Must I?"
"And eat at the Heart Attack Grill."
"You wouldn't."
"I would. Gloria, you're getting the full Vegas treatment this year! And you can take that to the bank!"
"The only things I'll be taking to the bank after this are an IOU and raised cholesterol..."
Josephine shook her head, chuckling, and then heard someone honk their horn at her. She hurriedly looked back at the road and saw the cars moving, and the Blue Falcon lurched back into motion. With one hand on the wheel, the chemist flipped on the radio, looking for a station...
-----
"That was Electric Zoo! Thanks for listening to Radio Candy!"
DJ Candy reclined in her chair, cheerily talking into her headset. She'd started radio broadcasting during some of her club nights, and it was proving fun for the young music lover.
"Next up, I got a request from a local! 'Dolby' wanted to hear "The Other Side Of Life" by The Moody Blues! Here y'go, Dolby!"
Candy put the song on, smiling and nodding her head to the beat as she deactivated her mic. "Huh." she said to herself. "This old stuff's not bad."
-----
"She's playing it!"
"Yeah, big deal. This isn't enough, Dolby. You know that."
"It's enough to keep me going for a while. Thousands of people in this city are listening to Radio Candy right now."
"We need more than that, Dolby. We can't settle for anything less than a complete shakeup of the scene. This is serious. Our lives are at stake! You can't putter around with this weaksauce life support for much longer!"
Dolby cringed, her orange eyes flickering. "S-sorry... I know."
"Dammit... I shouldn't be getting so mad at you. You ARE trying to help. I understand. It's just..."
"I know. I don't want to believe we have to resort to something so drastic. Are you sure there's no other way?"
"You heard the egghead the other day. This is our only chance. He ran the numbers."
"R-right."
"I'm sorry, but... I don't see any other way."
-----
Edea stared as Stormtrooper B wheeled in another stack of crates full of supplies. "Geez, B, what's with all the shipments? This is twice what I usually get."
"Haven't you been watching the calendar?"
"Not really. It's always warm here, so I don't really keep track... Wait! Are you saying...?"
"Yep! It's almost May! Two weeks to go! And you know what happens then..."
"Oh boy. Business is about to pick up." Edea smiled. "I missed having the kobbers around. I guess it really says something when even a city like this feels kinda ordinary without them whooping it up."
"Well, I've been having fun!" said Gamble Man, strolling over. He tossed a casino chip up and down in one hand. "I've done it - I've played at every casino in the city and the strip!"
"Did you win anything?" asked Trooper B.
Gamble Man continued tossing the chip. "You're looking at it!"
"...You won one chip out of all those casinos?" Edea frowned.
"It's worth 5 dollars!"
Edea rolled her eyes. "Wow."
"Well, it could have gone worse." Trooper B shrugged. "He could've gone bust."
"Well, thank goodness that didn't happen. Last time he went bust it took hours to clean the rugs."
-----
"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuugh."
For most people, working as a stage magician in Las Vegas would sound like an exciting and fun job. And for Sumireko Usami, it was! That is, until she'd met the kobbers, and ever since then everything else had felt so dull by comparison.
"SO BORED." she said, sprawled out on her bed. "Is it May yet?"
She reached blindly at her nightstand and groped until she could pick up her tablet. She woke it up and stared at the clock. Nope, still April.
"UUUUUUUUUUUUUGH."
-----
"Mr. Dr. Helios, sir!"
Helios stared as Karin scrambled towards him, nearly slipping twice on the hospital's smooth white tiled floor.
"One title is fine, thanks. What is it, Karin?"
"It's almost 1 PM, sir, and no injections have been administered!"
"No injections were needed today."
"What?!" Karin recoiled in shock. "Surely that's not possible?!"
"It's very possible. No one needed medicine via syringe today. Sorry!"
Karin wilted like an abandoned potted plant.
"Oh, come on, now. Don't you remember anything I've taught you? There's a lot more to caring for patients than jamming them full of needles, you know."
"Oh, right, yes! Like autopsies!"
"Nobody died today."
"FIDDLESTICKS!"
-----
"Sarah? Sarah! Tell it again!"
Molly bounced up and down on the seat in the airship's cabin. "Tell me about Las Vegas again!"
Sarah laughed and shook her head. "I just did an hour ago, silly!"
"One more time, please?!"
"Okay, okay... Las Vegas is a bright, busy city full of lights and sounds. It's like a party 24 hours a day! There are games and shows and lots of my friends are going there, and so will we in just two weeks!"
"It's gonna be so much fun!" Molly squealed. "I can't wait!"
"But remember," Sarah said, her expression sobering, "It's also dangerous there for kids. So you have to promise me that you'll always stick with me or Alex, or anyone we say is okay. Okay?"
"Okay!"
-----
"Gourgeist, guess where we are going."
Viola placed her hands on what you could generously call the shoulders of her Pokemon, Gourgeist. "We are returning to the King of Beasts once more. And Tenshi will be there."
Gourgeist giggled. Her owner was so silly. As if Gourgeist didn't know all this stuff already.
After Tenshi confessed that she, too, loved Viola, their dynamic had never been quite the same. They were a little more affectionate here, a little more close there. Sat closer together. Went on dates. Visited each other's homes. And Viola loved every minute of it.
She had the sense Tenshi didn't much care for Viola's house, though.
Preparation for the Pokemon League was going well, but Viola had heard very little about the league's upcoming grand opening. It was odd that they were keeping people in the dark about it... but there was no sense worrying. Viola wanted to defeat the League, but she wasn't really in a hurry.
In the meantime, Vegas was calling. And maybe the hex maniac could even find a new Pokemon ally there...
-----
"...and a toothbrush, and a comb, and tweezers-"
"BOOTLER! Please! We have packed quite enough for Las Vegas."
"You never know when you'll need a can opener!"
"BOOTLER."
-----
"I still can't believe the kobbers were so quick to accept us." said Tron Bonne to her friend Seaport Hime. "I mean, we hated their guts... or, well, I did."
"I'm g-glad they did, though..." said the giant but shy girl meekly. "Especially now that the Neo Kobbers aren't a thing anymore..."
"Yeah, pretty much." Tron sighed. They'd almost completely disbanded, with only a few close friends still maintaining a connection. She knew Rex was still around in Vegas somewhere, and Sara made regular appearances at the Black Magic Bakery. And Stonewall and Bastion worked at VEW. It was pretty much just those six, now. The rest had either died or left save General Gordon, who wasn't very sociable, instead choosing to patrol the desert with the Gotengo most of his waking hours.
Tron had plans this year for her robotics studies. She especially looked forward to how the latest revision of Nightmare was going to perform...
-----
"So... Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, North America, Planet Earth. It's apparently a pretty big deal."
"Yeah! Hey, you've been to Earth before. What was it like?"
"Everyone was scared of me, so it kinda sucked, but they have pretty forests. I want to give them another chance."
"OOOOH!"
"What?"
"Look, look at this! LOOK AT THIS!"
"What, a hotel? There's like a hundred damn hotels in that city."
"BUT LOOK AT THE NAME!"
"...The King Of Beasts?
Oh no.
Oh god fucking dammit. Not again."
"YAYYYYYY"
"Is it too late to go to, like, Idaho or something?"
"NOPE!"
-----
"All right, kid, this is it. The mission we've been training you for."
"..."
"Don't disappoint me."
"...I will not fail you, sir."
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