Seeing Diancie's complete lack of hesitation, Diantha's face showed a trace of helplessness.
Well. She couldn't be blamed now.
She'd already negotiated with the head of a criminal organization—verbally and emotionally.
If the Ultimate Weapon still ended up being activated after that… then it wasn't because this Champion hadn't tried.
"If the King of Kalos from a thousand years ago heard this conversation, he'd probably be so jealous he'd cry."
Setting aside her role as Kalos's Champion, Diantha smiled and tried to lighten the mood.
But she did mean it.
That King of Kalos couldn't be called unlucky—after all, he'd met a Floette kind enough to be like that.
But as a Trainer…
Anyone would probably rather have their Pokémon be like Diancie.
Right or wrong, she would stand by their side—brave, and unshakably firm.
"I have other things to do."
"If you want to catch suspicious people, Team Rocket in Kanto seems to have sent a group of executives over recently. You can go arrest them."
Diancie stood and looked at Diantha as she spoke.
Clearly, she didn't want to put Diantha in too difficult a position.
"Okay… I understand."
Diantha froze for a moment, then nodded as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
The Carbink clan's intelligence network reached everywhere; it wasn't strange for them to know something like this.
If anything…
Quite a few of Diantha's achievements over the past years had been built on the intelligence Diancie provided.
"Oh, right. Remember to send me the location where you're going to capture Yveltal."
As if something occurred to her, Diantha reminded Diancie.
She wasn't planning to send anyone to stop her, but she at least needed to evacuate the people who already lived nearby.
Thankfully, the place where Yveltal slept was usually deep in the forest.
This time was no exception—it was again in the forest's core region.
Given how vast Kalos's forests were, all she needed to do was station people around the perimeter and keep anyone from wandering in.
After Diancie left, Diantha stared into her coffee and drifted into a daze.
"Elias…"
The name slipped from her lips in a low murmur.
...
"Elias?!"
Seeing Elias suddenly appear in the settlement, Irida covered her mouth, delighted.
"You're finally awake?"
She leaned in, eyes bright with curiosity.
Then she seemed to remember they were outdoors, with plenty of people watching—and that she still had to maintain a leader's dignity.
She straightened at once, cleared her throat, and said, "It's good that you're awake…"
Seeing how full of energy Irida was, Elias smiled, relief settling in his chest.
It seemed nothing major had happened while he was in the Simulation.
If there was one major thing…
Elias glanced at the turtle-neck sweater he'd deliberately chosen.
He'd only just noticed. It was hard to imagine how Gardevoir had managed to leave such dense marks.
"Gardevoir~"
Catching his glance, Gardevoir's face flushed. She reached out and lightly patted him.
It wasn't like she'd done it on purpose…
By the time she came to her senses, it was already like that.
Following Irida, they soon arrived at Irida's house.
Palina seemed to have gotten the news early; she was already waiting inside.
When she saw Elias, she let out a small breath of relief.
"Cyllene and the others are still with the Galaxy Expedition Team, but I already sent someone to pass along a message."
Irida turned to Elias and explained.
Elias nodded.
That was one downside of the Hisui Region—communication methods were nowhere near as convenient as modern communicators.
"Elias… are you leaving?"
After hesitating for a couple seconds, Irida asked first.
She knew he couldn't stay in Hisui forever.
But the thought of Elias leaving again still filled her with a hard-to-name ache.
Seeing her like that, Elias guessed she'd forgotten their earlier promise.
"Didn't we agree you'd come back to the modern day with me for a visit?"
He looked at Irida as he asked.
"Huh?"
Hearing him bring it up again, Irida blinked, stunned.
"R-Really? We can? But isn't that…"
After she recovered, she swallowed, her expression turning restless with excitement.
She'd always thought Elias had only said it back then to comfort her.
After all…
"Time travel has to be hard, right?"
Thinking about the centuries between Hisui and the modern era, she asked carefully.
"Hard?"
Seeing how nervous she was, a smile tugged at the corner of Elias's mouth.
In his mind, Dialga's timid, obedient look floated up.
...
In the end, the discussion naturally concluded with Irida grinning ear to ear, pumping her fists in excitement.
Palina looked steadier on the surface but the flicker of exhilaration in her eyes still gave her away.
Still, with some matters in the Pearl Clan left to handle—and with the message not yet delivered to Cyllene—
After talking it through, Irida ultimately decided they'd go to the modern era in two days.
"Then… see you in a few days?"
Elias waved to Irida.
He had to return to the modern day first.
Given how rushed Cynthia had looked, and with Diancie still not found...
He needed to handle the urgent business first.
"Okay—"
Irida drew the word out, her tone full of reluctance.
But thinking about seeing him again in a few days brightened her mood a little.
After saying goodbye to everyone who came to see him off, Elias made his way to where Dialga was waiting.
Seeing only Dialga there, he frowned slightly.
"Where's Palkia?"
"Why don't I see it?"
Elias looked at Dialga, puzzled.
If he remembered correctly, both Pokémon had been waiting here.
So why was only Dialga left?
"Gardevoir~"
At his question, Gardevoir leaned close to his ear and whispered an explanation.
It was simple—Palkia had gotten into an argument with Giratina.
Giratina had dragged it into the Distortion World, and the two Pokémon were probably fighting again.
Elias: …
If they could mess up even a simple guard duty like this, he didn't have much to say.
Besides, traveling through time was Dialga's job anyway. Whether Palkia was here didn't really matter.
The only thing that couldn't be controlled was the landing point once they crossed over.
But Dialga lifted its head proudly, promising it wouldn't send Elias too far off course.
Judging by the look of it, it was brimming with confidence in its own experience.
---
T/N: hello i am back from japan, and i am sick heres some chapters i remembered you guys exist
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