Previously on Oranges to Grapes...
Before turning in for the night, Camilla confides in her grandmother, Kotoha Otore, the status of her Treasure Hunt and what she hopes to find. When she does fall asleep, she is also visited by Terry and told the same thing Balto was...
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Meanwhile, in Zapapico (Pico's hometown, let's not forget), the Every Wich Way there was just getting ready to close up for the night, because, let's face it; who wants a sandwich during the wee hours of the morning?
Inside the building, however, was Pico's mother behind the counter... wearing a red apron over her clothes with a name tag that said Jill, so it was safe to assume that was her name. She was also clocking out for the end of her shift by tapping on the register's touchscreen, and as soon as the last tap confirmed her choice, the printer spat out her hours on paper.
"Whew, another successful shift completed," Jill said as she untied her apron... but as she was about to hang it on the allotted rack for her next work day, a voice stopped her.
"Not so fast there, Jill," a large man who approached her interjected. "Aren't you forgetting something? It's also the end of the work week, which means..."
"Right, payday. Of course," Jill said as she approached the large man, who handed her an envelope. "Thanks for reminding me why I put myself through this on a weekly basis, Louis."
"Of course," the man, apparently named Louis, said. "And it's all to help your kids get ahead in life."
"Actually, this is more for me than them," Jill clarified, "what with my daughter moved to Unova to get her masters in Pokemon battles, and my son enrolled in the Foremost World-Renowned Pokemon Academy of Paldea and all... but you wouldn't understand, you don't have kids to support."
"You're right, I don't," Louis said, "but my brothers do, and whenever they come over to visit, it can get kind of rowdy. But once they leave, I'd be lying if I said I didn't revel in the sweet boredom that followed... but felt a little lonely after the bliss wore off."
"Well, that's where you and I part ways," Jill said as she pocketed the envelope. "I'm not saying I don't love my children, but they are a lot to tolerate together or in large doses alone. And now that they're both out of the house for quite a time, I can enjoy some solitude that I was denied for so long."
"I see," Louis said with a tone that suggested a shot plan. "Well, enjoy your two days off, Jill, because come the end of the weekend, it's back to work."
"Of course, boss," Jill said as she finally exited the building. Once the door was closed behind her, she muttered to herself, "Whew, that was a close one. Now, nothing will stand in the way between me and a nice, warm, relaxing- wait, what's that twinkling in the mines over there?"
Usually, the path between Every Wich Way and the Hatsuki household was a short distance blocked from the sides by the Pokemon Center and other walls. But in the low light of Paldean nighttime, Jill could see a large but faint gray glow in the distance... a silver dome of smoky quartz over the crater where the Lurking Steel Titan's den was, as well as a second dome of sparkling, yellow topaz over the city of Levincia further down the horizon.
"What on Paldea are those domes doing over there?" Jill wondered aloud as she walked up to the Pokemon Center to investigate. But as soon as she reached the kiosk, she noticed a purple glow coming from Tagtree Thicket... and when she walked out further onto the hill, she saw the top of a third dome made of amethyst where the Navi Squad base would be. Looking up the side of Mount Glaseado, she even saw the tanzanite dome over Montenevera... and a fifth dome of aquamarine further up to the summit!
"Ay papi!"
"Jill, I wanted to give you back your-" Louis said as he rushed up to the Pokemon Center himself, but stopped when he saw the adult female lizard looking side to side on the hill with wide eyes. "Uh, Jill? Que es su problema?"
"Louis! Mira!" Jill exclaimed as she pointed to the domes she spotted to show her boss.
"What the?" Louis asked. "Are those... crystal domes?"
"Si! Cinco!" Jill confirmed, holding up a full hand's worth of fingers.
"Five of them?" Louis asked before he pointed behind her. "Does that include those two over there?"
Jill turned around, and sure enough, there were two more crystal domes further off in the distance: a ruby one over the Schedar Squad's base, and an emerald one over Artazon. "Make that... siete."
"Well, at least you calmed down enough to get out of your Spanish Mode."
"Ay, Dios mio, there goes my old habit again," Jill said. "I don't start lapsing into Spanish unless my emotions overwhelm me, but the sight of seeing things around here that out of the ordinary got me unsettled."
"No, I get it," Louis said, "this is a lot of new to throw out of nowhere for me, too."
"Anyway, sorry, Louis," Jill said. "Uh, what were you saying earlier? You wanted to return something?"
"Just this," Louis said as he handed Jill a pack of breath strips. "You left these in your apron pocket."
"Oh, right," Jill said as she took the pack. "Thank you."
"Anyway, see you in two days, again," Louis said as he walked back to town.
Jill said nothing as her boss walked away, but the sight of the domes still put her on edge. Deciding to put any queries about the domes on hold, she started back up on her walk back home, hoping that some "her time" would help her sort things out.
-
Meanwhile, back in Mesagoza, her son Pico had been long since fast asleep through the night... but his dream was starting to become... unusual for him.
In it, he was surrounded by a honeycomb sphere of hexagons of teal light. "Whoa, look at all this. Am I being contacted by some omniscient being or something?" he wondered.
"In a way," a mysterious voice answered, and with a shine of one of the hexagons, Terry appeared before Pico.
"Who are you, and why am I here?" the young lizard asked.
"In order," Terry answered, "you may call me Terry, and I brought you here to warn you of an impending crisis where Terastalization in Paldea won't work. It will happen, but if you use the item you got after you were hindered, you can avenge the region."
"Wait," Pico said as he tried to make sense of what he was told, "you mean that crystal wand I got from destroying the Diademons after I lost my tail?"
"Exactly," Terry said, pleased that he chose a candidate with sense. "And just for solving the mystery that quickly, here's more. You won't be going alone, because two more on the same path as you will join you in avenging Paldea."
"Camilla and Balto," the reptile deduced.
"Right again," Terry confirmed. "And with that, my work here is done. Fare thee well..."
"Wait! I still have questions!" But it was too late. Terry had blended into the honeycomb and vanished there, leaving Pico alone... until he woke up with difficulty and fell back to sleep to enter a different dream.
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To be continued.
