Chapter 213: What, Are You Going to Kneel Down and Lick the Floor Next?

The video continued playing.

A golden ring appeared in the middle of Avignon Town’s plaza.

Hoopa’s head was the first thing to poke through. It looked left and right before floating all the way out, planting its hands on its hips.

"Ta-da-da-dah! Hoopa Navigation has arrived at the destination! Zero accidents, zero delays, zero complaints during this trip. Don’t forget to leave a five-star review, dear customer!"

"Hoopa, keep your voice down! Don’t bother everyone!"

After Elaria stepped out of the ring, she noticed all the strange looks being directed their way and hurriedly grabbed Hoopa, pulling it into her arms.

Ruri, meanwhile, looked around at their surroundings before placing her hands on her hips.

"This town isn’t exactly huge, but it isn’t small either. How are we supposed to find him?"

"Leave it to Hoopa!"

Hoopa somehow pulled out a small megaphone from who-knew-where.

It took a deep breath and shouted at a deafening volume—

"UNCLE STEVEN——! YOUR DAUGHTER SAYS COME HOME AND REVIEW YOUR PAPERWORK——!"

The moment Hoopa finished shouting, every Fletchling perched on the clock tower took off in fright.

An old man who had been dozing on a nearby bench was jolted so violently that he sprang upright, sending his dentures flying straight out of his mouth—

And directly into the fountain beside him.

"MY TEETH——!"

The old man collapsed over the edge of the fountain in despair.

Elaria snatched the megaphone out of Hoopa’s hands, her face turning bright red.

"Hoopa!!"

"Hoopa was just trying to improve efficiency."

Hoopa innocently rubbed its hands together.

"Even if my dad heard you shouting like that, he still wouldn’t come out."

Ruri poked her slightly chubby cheek.

"How about this? Let’s ask around at the nearby gemstone shops first. From my experience, places like those are guaranteed to have traces of my dad!"

As it turned out, Ruri’s judgment was correct.

After two hours of searching, the two girls stopped in front of a tiny shop at the very edge of town.

The shop didn’t even have a sign, and its entrance was so narrow that only one person could squeeze through sideways.

Ruri reached out and pushed open the door.

A rush of cool air greeted them.

Behind the counter stood an entire wall of display cabinets filled with uncut gemstones of every color.

But neither Elaria nor Ruri was looking at the display cases.

Because right in front of the counter—

A man in a silver-gray suit was leaning over it with his hands clasped together, letting out a desperate plea straight from the depths of his soul.

"I’m begging you——just let me see that pink diamond one more time! Just once! I’ll leave right after! I can have my Metagross repair your roof for you! If that’s still not enough, I can even work here as a free employee for an entire day!"

The shopkeeper was an elderly man with graying hair.

At that moment, he was clutching the safe behind him with both hands, wearing the expression of someone who had been cornered in an alley by a bandit.

"Mr. Steven, you’ve already looked at it six times! Every single time, you say you’ll only look once, but then you refuse to leave afterward! Yesterday, you pestered me from two in the afternoon all the way until eight at night! I couldn’t even run my business properly!"

[VIP Chat Group]

[Leon]: You’re even selling out Metagross just to get another look at a rock? Steven, do you have any dignity left?

[Steven]: How is that possible? I might like stones, but I still have principles, okay?

[Metagross]: Meta. (Suspicious stare.)

[Steven]: Metagross, why are you looking at me like that?! Haven’t I treated you well enough?!

[Diantha]:@Steven, next time you come to Kalos, let me know beforehand. I’ll help you contact the museums. As long as the price is right, their collections can be loaned out.

[Steven]: Really?! Thank you, Sister-in-law! Long live Sister-in-law!

[Wallace]: You changed your tune pretty quickly, Steven.

[Steven]: Sister-in-law is willing to help me contact museums. What’s wrong with calling her Sister-in-law? Isn’t that only natural?

[Asher]: Weren’t you just defending yourself in the group chat? How did you immediately switch sides the moment you heard there were stones to look at?

[Steven]: Dignity is secondary when stones are involved.

[Asher]: So you finally admit it.

[Steven]: ...

[Skyla]: That’s amazing, Master really is Master. He hasn’t even regained his memories yet, and he’s already coordinating this well with Asher.

[Lucian]: Looking at what all your Champions are like, I’m suddenly starting to think Cynthia is actually pretty reliable. At the very least, her image is never going to collapse.

[Flint]: True.

The video continued playing.

Ruri stared at her biological father leaning over the counter with his hands clasped together, looking like he was only one step away from dropping to his knees before the shopkeeper.

The corner of her mouth twitched.

"Dad."

Steven froze mid-motion.

He slowly turned his head—

And saw his own daughter standing there with her arms crossed, staring at him with undisguised disdain.

Steven immediately stood up, brushed the dust from his suit, and cleared his throat, attempting to salvage at least some of his dignity in front of his daughter.

"Ruri, Elaria... What are you two doing here?"

"What are we doing here?"

Ruri crossed her arms.

"Dad, didn’t you tell me before you left that you’d ’be back after a three-day business trip’? It’s already been seven days. Do you have any idea what I’ve been through these past seven days?"

"Ahem."

Steven straightened his tie, trying to rebuild his authority as a father.

"Ruri, didn’t your grandpa already say you could handle the company matters? Besides, Devon Corporation is doing better and better these days. Doesn’t that just prove you’re perfectly capable of handling things on your own? Keep it up. Dad believes in you."

"Hah?"

Ruri took a step forward.

"I’ve already been handling your paperwork for more than half a month. Dad, if you still don’t come back, I’m putting all your collectibles up on secondhand websites and using the money to give the employees their year-end bonuses."

Steven’s face instantly turned white.

"My precious daughter, let’s talk this through. Whatever you do, don’t touch the stones."

"Then come back to work."

"Oh, my little angel, can’t you show your poor dad some mercy?"

Steven raised both hands in surrender.

"I really can’t go back this time."

"Why?"

Steven reached inside his suit and pulled out a crumpled photograph, slapping it down on the counter.

"See this? I took this five days ago inside the mine behind town! Look at that luster! That crystalline structure!"

Steven pointed at the photograph, his voice growing more excited with every word.

"This isn’t an ordinary diamond. These are traces left behind by Diancie! It has to be somewhere nearby!"

Ruri leaned closer and glanced at the photograph.

Then she looked back up at her father’s bloodshot yet somehow still sparkling eyes.

"Dad, can you please have a little dignity? Diancie might be mysterious, but do you really need to reduce yourself to this?"

"You child, why can’t you understand me?"

Steven snatched the photograph back and pressed it against his chest.

"Diancie is the princess of the Diamond Domain. The diamonds it creates are the absolute finest from every possible perspective! If I could see it with my own eyes——"

"What, are you going to kneel down and lick the floor next?"

Ruri delivered the finishing blow without the slightest change in expression.

"Dad, I’m begging you. Even if Mom doesn’t care about this stuff, could you at least think about Grandpa’s dignity? Last time you embarrassed yourself, Uncle Wallace recorded it and posted the video in the League group chat. Grandpa was so angry after finding out that he didn’t eat for three days."

Steven pressed the photograph against his chest.

Burning in his eyes was an almost boundless devotion toward Diancie.

"Ruri, you don’t understand. Diancie isn’t an ordinary Pokémon. It’s a living diamond, a walking miracle, it’s——"

"An old friend Daddy knows."

Steven’s passionate speech came to an abrupt stop.

His mouth was still open—

But it was as though someone had pressed the mute button.

He slowly turned his head toward Elaria, who had raised one hand with a completely innocent expression.

His lips trembled for a full three seconds.

"Elaria... What did you just say?"

"Diancie."

Elaria tilted her head.

"Daddy said he’s known Diancie for a really long time. He also said Diancie has a very nice personality, but she’s a little socially anxious and doesn’t like meeting strangers."

The photograph slipped from Steven’s hand.

Plop.

It landed on the floor.

Steven raised his head toward the ceiling and shouted in a voice filled with unimaginable grief and betrayal—

"BROTHER ASHER! YOU’VE KEPT ME IN THE DARK FOR SO LONG!!"

...

TL: Steven has never experienced such betrayal.