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'An expert!'
That was the unanimous thought running through the minds of all the Trainers in the waiting hall after seeing the match result. Almost instinctively, everyone turned their attention toward where Sato had been sitting.
But at some point, Sato had already left his seat—he was no longer in the waiting hall.
"That guy had a Natu with him. It probably used Teleport to take him away. Just now, both he and his Pokémon suddenly vanished."
A girl seated next to Sato's original spot swallowed nervously under the curious gazes of others and explained somewhat tensely.
—
Meanwhile, Sato was already in line at the boarding counter. After about seven or eight minutes of waiting, he successfully completed check-in and received his boarding pass, then boarded the plane without issue.
"Wow, what a coincidence! I didn't expect us to be on the same flight—same seats, even. Hello, expert! I'm Solidad Fujiwara, a Coordinator from Pewter City. Your predictions earlier were incredible! You should've seen the faces of all those people waiting for you to fail—they were stunned."
Sato had only just taken his seat when a girl with crimson hair in a long white dress arrived and sat down beside him, speaking with cheerful surprise.
'Solidad, also from Pewter City like me… Hmm, that face looks familiar. Coordinator… Oh, I remember now. She's the one who eventually becomes a top-tier Coordinator and even wins the Grand Festival in the Kanto region.'
Hearing the girl's excited voice, Sato opened his eyes in surprise. After seeing her face, he felt a strong sense of familiarity. With a bit of thought, he quickly recalled her identity.
She had appeared in the third generation of the anime (Pokémon: Advance Generations, Episode 180). A Coordinator from Pewter City, and an old acquaintance of Drew's.
However, in the anime, only her first name was revealed—her surname wasn't mentioned.
Sato had grown up in a village near Pewter City and lived in the city itself for several years, so he was quite familiar with the local powers there.
Among them, the Fujiwara family was one of Pewter City's most renowned. As the backbone of the city's mining industry, they owned nearly half of the local mines.
Since this girl named Solidad Fujiwara was from Pewter City, it was likely she had some connection to that family. But judging from the fact that she was flying in a regular economy seat, she probably wasn't from the main branch—perhaps a side branch instead.
Still, it was also possible that Solidad was from the main branch but had been raised with strict discipline. She might've developed good habits from a young age, unlike a certain spoiled heiress Sato knew, who was arrogant and rude.
Regardless of whether she was from the main or side branch, Solidad was someone worth befriending—especially since she would one day become a top-tier Coordinator and was now taking the initiative to speak to him.
"Is that so? What a coincidence indeed. I'm from Pewter City too. My name's Sato. I'm a traditional Trainer. Pleased to meet you."
With that thought, Sato smiled with polite warmth and replied to her in a tone laced with a trace of a local Pewter City accent.
Clearly, meeting someone from your hometown while away was a pleasant surprise. Having grown up in Pewter City, Solidad instantly recognized Sato's authentic local accent.
Her smile brightened even further, and her wariness toward Sato lessened significantly. Her gaze became noticeably more friendly.
Solidad was obviously not some overly naïve girl—traveling far from home on her own proved that. Although Sato's accent helped lower her guard, she still maintained a healthy sense of caution.
After some light small talk and mutual introductions, Solidad didn't continue the conversation. Instead, she pulled out a book on Coordinators and began to read.
Seeing this, Sato didn't try to initiate further conversation either. He understood they were just casual acquaintances at this point. It was enough to establish familiarity so that things wouldn't be awkward if they met again later.
However, while Sato wasn't interested in getting closer just yet, his Pichu had different ideas.
The moment Sato stopped chatting, Pichu gave him a sly grin, then flew off his head and landed gently on Solidad's right shoulder. It nuzzled her cheek affectionately, using Charm—a move devastatingly effective on anyone with a soft spot for cute things.
And no human female, mentally sound or not, could resist the adorable pleading of a Pichu.
Solidad, being perfectly healthy and emotionally stable, was no exception. Her heart melted instantly under Pichu's Charm, and she was immediately taken in.
Before long, Pichu had achieved its goal—lying blissfully in Solidad's arms and occasionally snuggling into particularly soft areas of her body.
Sato, upon seeing this behavior, immediately broke into a cold sweat and went speechless.
He didn't consider himself someone with questionable tastes, so how had this little rascal he hatched turned out like this?
In Special, Gold's Togepi had a personality very similar to his own. Clearly, the theory that Pokémon hatched by Trainers tend to share their personality wasn't entirely accurate.
Well… perhaps it was accurate in general. But Pichu wasn't originally hatched by Sato.
Pichu had, in fact, gone through three different hatchers. The first was Kris's father. The second was Kris herself, who eventually gave the egg to Sato. He was the third and final caretaker—but evidently, the earlier two had a stronger influence on Pichu's personality.
Because of Pichu's playful interruption, the distance between Sato and Solidad closed once more. They began sharing bits of their travel experiences, and the conversation flowed with ease.
"Oh right! That reminds me—I actually have a pretty good-quality Moon Stone. It's been with me so long I nearly forgot about it."
"Mr. Sato, weren't you looking for a high-quality Moon Stone to evolve your Nidorino? Take a look—see if this one works. I got it from a Clefable I helped after saving a Clefairy at Mt. Moon."
"If you're satisfied, you can just buy it at market price."
When Solidad heard that Sato was looking for a good Moon Stone to evolve his Nidorino, her eyes lit up. She quickly pulled out a stone that looked rather ordinary—almost like something you'd find by the roadside—and smiled as she offered it to him.
Sato, seeing her generous offer, simply smiled. He hadn't really expected much—he was only interested in Moon Stones of the highest quality. If it wasn't top-tier, he had no intention of using it.
But Moon Stones of that caliber were extremely rare. Even the massive one protected by the Clefairy clan at Mt. Moon wasn't guaranteed to be of supreme quality.
So, in Sato's mind, the best he could expect from Solidad's stone was high-grade—nothing more.
Yet when Solidad handed him the Moon Stone, the words he'd intended to politely refuse with instantly caught in his throat. His eyes locked onto the stone in her hand, filled with disbelief.