After carefully calculating it, Liam realized that it had been almost five days since he left. He wondered how things were coming along on Giovanni's end during that time.
"Beep~ Beep~ Beep~"
After making the call, all he could hear through the communicator was the monotonous ringing tone. Even after more than a dozen rings, there was still no response.
"Hm? That's strange. Could it be because it's already too late?"
Since the other party wasn't answering, there was nothing Liam could do. He guessed it was probably because it was already so late.
"Alright, forget it. I'll call again tomorrow."
After waiting for several more rings and still hearing nothing but the same tone, Liam reluctantly decided to hang up.
But just as he was about to put the communicator down—
"Beep~ Hello…"
The screen of the communicator suddenly flickered, and Giovanni's figure appeared on it.
Liam: "…"
"Hello? Oh, Little Liam. Ah, I finally got the chance to get some decent sleep, and then you woke me up again. Tell me, what happened this time?"
Giovanni's voice sounded weak. He looked as though he had barely woken up, and his eyes were practically unable to stay open as he spoke to Liam.
Liam: "…"
Liam was completely speechless as he stared at the figure on the screen.
The normally imposing Boss Giovanni was wearing yellow pajamas decorated with Pikachu patterns, along with a Pikachu-shaped nightcap.
Liam felt as though ten thousand Pikachu had just raced through his mind.
"Ahem. Well, I'm about to arrive. I just wanted to ask if the tracker has arrived yet?"
Suppressing his overwhelming urge to comment on Giovanni's current appearance, Liam finally stated the reason for his call.
"Oh, the tracker. Yes… everything's already prepared. But I remember the flight is tomorrow afternoon, so it'll probably arrive the morning after tomorrow. Yaaawn~ I'm so tired. When the time comes, just go to the airport and contact the person delivering it using the Black Vortex Mask."
Giovanni was clearly exhausted by now. He was practically lying across his desk, speaking with his eyes closed as he yawned.
"Uh… alright, I understand. Let's leave it at that for now. Get some rest."
Having learned the exact timing, Liam didn't want to disturb Giovanni any further. He nodded and ended the call.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. It won't arrive until the day after tomorrow. Hmm, that's fine too. I can use this time to get some rest. It's late. I should go back and sleep."
After ending the call, Liam didn't linger and quickly returned to his room to rest.
...…..
The next morning, under bright sunshine, Liam was deep in a pleasant dream when a knocking sound woke him up.
"Who is it?! Doesn't anyone have any consideration for other people?!"
Liam finally understood how Giovanni had felt when he had been awakened from his sleep the previous night.
Still thoroughly annoyed, Liam got out of bed and opened the door.
"Good morning, Mr. Liam!"
Cynthia was already dressed and ready to leave. She greeted Liam with a bright, sunny smile.
"…Ms. Lan, is something wrong?"
Liam looked at her with half-lidded, exhausted eyes and asked weakly.
"Hehe~ I'm here to say goodbye, Mr. Liam. I'm about to go to my uncle's place."
Cynthia spoke with a hint of reluctance.
"…Oh. Give my regards to your uncle."
Liam's eyes were still half-closed, and his response was rather perfunctory.
"Mr. Liam! We're saying goodbye this time, and who knows when we'll be able to meet again! So…"
Cynthia's face suddenly lit up.
"Let's have a battle!!"
She swiftly took out a PokeBall, stepped backward, struck a rather strange pose, and shouted at Liam with an imposing expression.
"…Huh?"
Upon hearing her words, Liam slowly opened his already puzzled eyes wider.
A little over ten minutes later, Liam and Cynthia were standing at their respective positions on the open battle field at the Pokémon Center.
N was still sleeping in, so he hadn't come along.
"Yaaawn~"
Still somewhat sleepy, Liam covered his mouth with his hand and yawned. He looked completely uninterested.
Cynthia on the opposite side was the exact opposite. She looked positively eager to battle.
"First, let's go over the battle rules. Since you're my senior, Mr. Liam, you'll have to go a little easy on me."
"For this battle, I'm going to use my entire team, so it'll be a 5-on-5 Pokémon battle. Since Mr. Liam is the defending side, you aren't allowed to switch Pokémon."
"But as compensation, I'll let you choose your first Pokémon to battle! Go, Roserade! I choose you!"
Cynthia rattled off an entire set of rules on her own and then sent out her first Pokémon.
She threw her PokeBall, and a white light emerged. Roserade appeared on the field, holding two roses in its hands while its body swayed slightly.
"Oh, got it. Then it's my turn. Come out, Volcarona!"
"Volca~"
Liam also sent out Volcarona.
"Eh!! Mr. Liam, how can you do that?! Using Volcarona is totally unfair!"
Cynthia glared angrily at the Volcarona flying around the battlefield. Its typing completely countered her Roserade, and she puffed up her cheeks as she complained.
"…Alright, I'll use someone else."
Liam paused for a moment after hearing her complaint, then nodded and raised the PokeBall, preparing to recall Volcarona.
But just then—
"Wait! Never mind! Hmph! I'm going to become a Champion! How can I back down just because of a little type disadvantage?! Don't switch, Mr. Liam! Let's start right now!"
Cynthia suddenly seemed to have reached some kind of epiphany and loudly stopped Liam.
"…Alright, then. You attack first."
Liam paused again. In the end, he slowly lowered his hand and smiled at Cynthia.
Cynthia didn't hesitate and immediately shouted her command to Roserade!
"Then we won't hold back! Roserade! Use Petal Dance at full power!"
"Ying ying ying~~"
As soon as Cynthia's voice fell, Roserade rapidly began spinning in place!
As it spun, countless pink flower petals continuously flew from its body, gathering into a massive storm of petals that swiftly surged toward Volcarona!
"…Volcarona, use Heat Wave!"
"Volca~"
The instant Liam gave his command after seeing the incoming storm of petals, a scorching wave of heat suddenly surged from beneath Volcarona's wings!
The Heat Wave, mixed with fiery embers, collided head-on with the storm of petals in midair!
Almost instantly, the storm created by Petal Dance was completely torn apart by the searing heat. The petals continuously blackened, turning into charred fragments that scattered into ash.
The next moment, the Heat Wave broke through the remnants of the Petal Dance!
Under Roserade's horrified gaze, the scorching attack slammed directly into its body!
"Rose!!"
As the Heat Wave struck, Roserade cried out in pain and was sent flying backward. Its body spun through the air before crashing onto the ground.
By the time it landed, Roserade's entire body had been blackened, and it was clearly no longer capable of battling.
"Roserade!"
Cynthia stared in astonishment at Roserade, which had been defeated in a single attack. After standing there stunned for a moment, she finally came to her senses and hurried over to it.