Previously on Galarian Days...

Zander, Wufu and Calvin are still on their way to Eternal Island, but they make a quick stop before continuing...

-

Meanwhile, Sophia has just touched back down in Circhester to prepare for work tomorrow, reentering her apartment as she said, "Well, back to the after-grind." But just as she closed the door behind her to get everything lined up, a thought occurred to her. All this time, she was just a delivery girl for a region-exclusive coffee franchise, transferring from workplace to workplace, delivering to customers upon customers, over and over again for countless days, only getting two days a week off to enjoy herself however she pleased, only to be too tired from work to try and chase after her true dream: to be a pastry chef. 

And during this whole Ratatta-race she was running, she had made not one, not two, but three friends she could tag along with on their adventures at the small price of being hit by stray frustrations from time to time, but she just left them to their own devices instead of even attempting to assist them in any way she could, no matter how small!

And for what? Just so she could continue being nothing more than a common cog in the overrated machine the Galar region calls food service.. that mostly sells caffeine?

"You know what?" she said to herself at last as she pulled out her Rotom Phone. "No! I'm not going to just go through the motions anymore! If there ever was a time for me to earn enough mettle for a promotion from secondary character to primary, this would be it!" She then pulled up the mail app and found the announcement e-mail for the Miniasma project, with the timer down to 2 days, 13 hours and 7 minutes. She then tapped the link attatched to the e-mail, and was directed to a website with the words, "Questions or comments about the upcoming Miniasma project? Enter below," above a commentary box. Once she tapped the box and the keyboard was pulled up, she entered her question...

"In the event that this project becomes so successful that the Pokemon hired for Poke Jobs are put out of work, how will they be able to provide for themselves and their Trainers?"

"Okay, bash them in their weak spot, and..." Sophia said as she scrolled down enough to hit... "Send."

A few quick seconds later, she was on a page that said, "Thank you for taking the time to send us your feedback. Please be assured that your input will be addressed at the upcoming date of the seminar at Wyndon Stadium. Look forward to it!"

With that knowledge, Sophia closed the window, shut off her device and said, "There. Now that I've planted the seed, all I have to do is wait for it to grow until the crop bears fruit. That should help me not go out like a punk." She then placed the device back in her pocket and added, "And on that note, I think I'll head down to Bob's Your Uncle for some dinner before I have to prepare for work tomorrow and turn in."

On the other side of the door, however, was a Milcery sent by the Battle Cafe as a surprise for her; one that was at her side as a silent work partner at her job, and overheard her ambitions in her comments in passing. It was about to knock on her door and change her life for the better...

But before it could even lift one of its nubs of milk to make a single tap, the door swung wide open and whacked it hard, sending it flying to the side where it crashed into the wall with a SPLAT!

On the other side was Sophia, filled with confidence that she was going to make a difference in her friends' mission, whether they knew it or not. She then walked down the steps and made her way to the best restaurant in Circhester (actually, the only restaurant in Circhester), but right before she reached the door of the establishment, she stopped and said to herself, "Wait, I feel like I forgot something..." then patted her pockets before realizing, "Oops, I almost forgot! I can't pay for my meal if I don't have my wallet! I better go back and get it."

As she turned back around, she chided herself on the way back home. "Get yourself together, Sophie! Restaurant food costs money to pay for, and you need your wallet with you at all times! Granted, you had to change pants to go to the Crown Tundra, but still! And, of course, you had time to try and make an impact on this Miniasma project, which could prove essential for the success of your friends' mission, but you couldn't take 20 lousy seconds out of your life to get your wallet out of your other pants!? Because it's not like the restaurant will let you work off your tab by making you wash their dirty dishes! That only works on TV-"

But right in the middle of her self-tirade, Sophia was right back at the stairs to her front door, but somehow, she stepped on a small patch of ice and stumbled forward...

<REWIND>

Right when Milcery's surprise visit went SPLAT, one of its bounced droplets of milk was swung forward and landed by the bottom step with a "plip." Luckily, Sophia's foot missed it on the way to BYU, but the resulting mini-puddle spent enough time on the cold pavement in the cold air of a cold town that had wintertime conditions year-round to slowly freeze over, and by the time she came back too busy bagging on herself to watch her step, it had become a patch of ice-milk.

One that she slipped on and lost her balance, causing her to wave her arms at her sides to try and get it back, but she inadvertedly lunged forward and-

PUNG!

...crashed into the guard rail with her midsection landing smack-dab on the end knob.

The hard impact knocked the wind out of her, but before she could collapse on the pavement, she grabbed the bar of the rail with one hand and had to clutch her middle with the other arm, only able to wheeze in pain. But when she stemmed her airflow to allow her vocal chords to vibrate again, she shouted, "AUGH! I got myself jabbed in the oven! That is the very definition of going out like a punk! AUGH!"

Following the incident, she decided she wasn't hungry anymore, and winced as she hobbled up the steps to go back inside and lay down so she could nurse her possible bruise... leaving poor Milcery forgotten about.