"Are we going now? Hmm… I suppose we can, but how are we going to get there?"
The ponytailed girl (Lan) pondered Liam's words for a moment before asking.
"If we want to reach Undella Town in the shortest possible time, naturally we'll have to fly. We can just have our Pokémon carry us there."
Liam spoke to the ponytailed girl while packing up their belongings.
"Fly at night?! Wow! That sounds like it'll be really fun! As it happens, I brought a Pokémon that can fly, so let's get moving!"
She enthusiastically agreed with Liam's suggestion, her eyes shining with excitement as though she could hardly wait.
A few minutes later, the three of them had finished packing and were standing outside the train.
"Come out, Togekiss!"
"Togeki~"
The ponytailed girl quickly took out a PokeBall and excitedly tossed it high into the air. As the PokeBall opened, a Togekiss appeared beside her. Most of its body was white, with red and blue markings on its chest and head.
The moment Togekiss appeared, it affectionately rubbed itself against the girl. She immediately wrapped her arms around Togekiss's neck and refused to let go, clearly very close to it.
"Oh, Togekiss. That's quite a rare Pokémon. Hmm, flying with Togekiss shouldn't be a problem at all. In that case, it's our turn. Come out, Garchomp!"
Togekiss was indeed a fairly rare Pokémon. However, Liam had more or less already guessed the ponytailed girl's background, and with her family circumstances, having a Togekiss wasn't particularly surprising.
(Note: Yes.. you guessed it right. It's Cynthia. As for the name 'Lan', it is taken from the Chinese version of her name - Zhulan '竹兰' with the 'Lan '兰' meaning 'Orchid.')
Liam quickly released Garchomp as well.
"Garchomp!!"
With a mighty roar, Garchomp appeared in a flash of white light. Garchomp had been slightly depressed over the past few days. Looking up at the moon, which was no longer perfectly full, it let out a low, gloomy growl.
However, the moment Garchomp appeared, the girl's face became filled with astonishment!
"This is a Garchomp! Oh my gosh! This is the first time I've ever seen a white Garchomp! Wait! Not the first time! A white Garchomp? I think I've seen Garchomp somewhere before… Liam? Garchomp! Liam! From Kanto! Ah!! Mr. Liam! You're the Champion from Kanto! You're Champion Liam?!"
The ponytailed girl could no longer contain her excitement and shouted at Liam.
"Huh? You recognized me? Hehe, Garchomp, looks like you're actually somewhat famous."
After being recognized, Liam made no attempt to hide his identity. Instead, he reached out and patted Garchomp on the head, teasing it playfully.
"Garchomp… Garchomp."
Garchomp rolled its eyes at Liam after hearing that, then lowered its head and gently bumped him with its forehead as revenge.
"Oh my gosh! I can't believe I actually met the Champion I admire most today! I'm so lucky! I'm sorry, Mr. Liam! I'm really sorry I didn't recognize you right away!"
The ponytailed girl hurried over to Liam and bowed deeply in apology.
"Hey, it's really nothing. It's perfectly normal. You don't need to apologize."
Liam waved his hand dismissively, clearly accustomed to such things.
"Mhm! Thank you for forgiving me, Mr. Liam!"
"Actually, I'm a Trainer too! And my goal is to become a powerful Champion just like you, Mr. Liam! Oh, right! Let me show you my partners! Come out, everyone!"
After learning Liam's identity, the girl became extraordinarily excited. She completely forgot about their original plan to get moving and, without a second thought, took out four more PokeBalls and quickly opened them.
Four flashes of light appeared, and four more Pokémon materialized beside her.
"Gabite~"
"Rio~"
"Ros~"
"Piplup?"
The four Pokémon were a Gabite with a notch missing from its dorsal fin, an energetic-looking Riolu, a Roselia holding two roses in its hands, and finally, a somewhat clumsy-looking Prinplup.
The moment Gabite appeared, it noticed Garchomp standing nearby. Upon suddenly seeing another member of its evolutionary family, Gabite became extremely excited and happily ran over to Garchomp.
Then—
"Gabite~"
"Garchomp…"
"Gabite!"
"Garchomp…"
The large and small Dragon Pokémon began chatting with each other, taking turns responding as though having a proper conversation. They seemed to get along very well, and even the gloomy expression in Garchomp's eyes seemed to ease somewhat.
After releasing all of her Pokémon, the girl 'Cynthia' looked at Liam with a confident gleam in her eyes.
"Mr. Liam, these are my partners. Togekiss was given to me by my father, and it has helped me a lot. I caught Riolu and Roselia myself. Prinplup evolved from the Piplup I received as my starter Pokémon from Professor Rowan. As for Gabite, I hatched it from a Pokémon Egg when I was little. It eventually evolved from Gible into Gabite, and now into the Gabite you see here."
"I've watched some recordings of your battles, Mr. Liam. Those battles inspired me tremendously. Especially your Garchomp—the strength it possesses fascinated me deeply! Garchomp really is the strongest Pokémon! I believe that my Gabite will also become incredibly powerful one day, just like your Garchomp!"
Liam: "…"
Looking at the girl brimming with enthusiasm, Liam was slightly speechless.
However, he already knew what achievements the girl would accomplish in the future. She would become a Champion herself, achieving something that was in no way inferior to his own accomplishments. Liam believed that the road ahead of her would be a bright one.
The full moon had passed only a day ago, so although it had been a full moon very recently, the moon in the sky was already no longer perfectly round.
Beneath that moon, Garchomp carried Liam and N through the night sky, while Togekiss carried Cynthia.
The evening breeze of early summer brushed against their faces. It was slightly cool, but by no means cold.
Togekiss was reasonably fast, but compared with Garchomp, there was still quite a difference.
Therefore, to accommodate Togekiss, Garchomp didn't fly at its maximum speed either.
Liam had already determined the direction of Undella Town using his navigation map. Since there was no need to make turns while flying and they could simply travel in a straight line, it took less than an hour before Liam could see a city along the coastline in the distance.
That had to be Undella Town.
Because Cynthia had delayed them for a while earlier, by the time Liam arrived at the Pokémon Center in Undella Town with a drowsy N and Cynthia, it was already nearly ten o'clock at night.
Nurse Joy came out to open the door wearing her pajamas. Although she desperately tried to suppress the irritation on her face, she still maintained her professional smile as she registered two rooms for Liam and Cynthia.
Afterward, Cynthia, who was also somewhat exhausted, politely said goodbye before returning to her room to rest.
Liam, meanwhile, first took N to his room and put him to bed. Only then did he quietly return to the Pokémon Center's lobby and dialed Giovanni's communicator.