Emil's knees very near gave in when Nerissa gave him another 'friendly' slap on the back, all the while sounding almost [i]proud[/i] of her crazy antics. He swore, this woman would be the death of him one day. Why did he have to get stuck with the difficult females? Not that... there [i]was[/i] any other kind of female in his book. Either way, he was just about to straighten his back and give the woman a stern talking to, when Stella finally made her way to the scene as well. Unlike he and Nerissa however, she seemed to be in absolutely no rush; she was walking calmly and with style with a fan in hand, like she had just been taking a casual stroll around the city. Emil found it rather impressive and at the same time, somewhat infuriating; if she could truly afford to take this contest so lightly, it must have meant she was practically swimming in money.

Wait... what, was he talking about? This 'contest' wasn't official, and there was absolutely nothing the others could do if the loser of it would simply refuse to hold their end of the bargain. All she'd need to say was 'no', and his hopes of winning some free merchandise would be ruined. And considering her attitude towards the race, it was very likely. How foolish of him to think otherwise.

As she reached the two, the girl pair immediately launched into an argument. What it was about, Emil had no idea, as he spent the entire time being fanned to high heavens. Stella's sudden act of kindness had come unexpected, but definitely not unwelcomed; the boy was almost leaning in towards the fan to get the maximum use out of it, and part of his brain was already wondering how many manliness points he'd be forced to sacrifice if he bought himself a fan to carry around as well. He still didn't particularly appreciate being called a 'poor dear' though - that was rather condescending of her. 

But she had a fan. He didn't care right now.

Well, not until she handed him his badge and he realized he hadn't picked it up after his win. Staggering, Emil quickly snatched what was his from her hand and stuffed it inside his jacket in embarrassment. How... utterly discomforting! He actually forgot his badge. That had to be a mistake unpreceded in the field. And she was... [i]taunting [/i] him about it too. Curses.

She stopped fanning eventually, and proceeded to confirm that yes, she was indeed paying for the balls they were about to buy. Emil raised both his gaze and brows in surprise. She was surprisingly nice, all of a sudden. Had she been stung by something on the way here? Before he could ascertain that in any way, Nerissa had already rushed past him, grabbed the other girl and, with a beckoning hand for him to follow suit, disappeared inside the mall.

Emil groaned and jogged to follow before Nerissa'd hog everything useful and use up all their prize money.

-

Emil took a moment to just look around as the trio reached the second floor of the mall. Unlike what he'd expected, the department store wasn't that crowded. Sure, there were a bunch of people gathered around the area, especially around the cashiers, but the crowds were nothing compared to the ones outside. Rather curious, considering a lot of people had been flowing in steadily since morning. Perhaps the majority had already done their shopping, then? Or perhaps the guards scattered about the floors keeping lines and gatherings in check had something to do with it? He didn't know and couldn't hazard a guess, but he never said no to organization.

"Hey, c'mere, before you go thinking of bailing out on our wager!" He suddenly heard Nerissa shout, and instantly brought a hand to his ear. Some of the guards turned to eye at them as if to assess if they were there to cause trouble, and Emil did his best to hide his face as he hurried to the older girl's side.

"I would recommend keeping down the volume," he reprimanded as he reached her, allowing his hand to fall back to his side. "Gaining a negative reputation this early on in our journey is hardly favorable. Now, what is it you wanted to-"

His sentence got cut off by sheer amazement as he followed Nerissa's gaze to the display windows in front of them; rows and rows upon Pokéballs, all brand new, shiny and in mint condition, just waiting for a buyer. And these weren't any ordinary brand of balls, either. No, the shop seemed to hold even the most elusive of balls, from Luxury ones to Dive, Heal and Dusk ones. There was even a handful of Master Balls set on display in beautiful, dark wooden cases atop the others. Goldenrod definitely was something else.

Emil glanced at the counter behind which the cashier looked at them with amusement, and then back behind them. There wasn't that big a line waiting to pass... so he could probably take his time, and - no. No, efficiency above all else. Time was money. Right.

"Im... impressive," Emil commented as nonchalantly as he could as he walked in front of the capture devices. "Now then, what do I need..." While he did favor some designs over others, to him a Pokéball's worth was determined solely by its success rate in capturing Pokémon, and so he let no other attribute factor in on his decisions. He picked few of most kinds he believed would come handy from different kinds, while staying away from the pretty yet relatively useless Luxury and Premier balls. Once he believed he was done, he stepped aside to let Nerissa choose and glanced at Stella as if to silently ask if the amount he'd picked was okay. He didn't want to abuse his win [i]too much.[/i]