When she heard that question, the girl's face showed a flicker of reluctance. But soon after, she seemed to firm up her resolve and nodded. "I'm sure."
"Rawr!"
Bagon, however, shook his head vigorously, clearly unwilling to be separated from the girl in front of him.
Seeing this, the girl—now known as April—looked pained. Then she leaned in and whispered, "Be good, Bagon. Once I shake off those bad people, I'll come back for you!"
Bad people? Kawaki was a bit surprised.
But as soon as Bagon heard her words, it grew even more anxious.
Kawaki noticed its emotions rapidly shifting from gloomy to nervous and worried.
"It's really worried about you," Kawaki remarked, surprised. After a moment's thought, he asked, "Just now, I heard you mention 'bad people.' What happened?"
April looked at the man across the counter, recalling the way he had treated his Pokémon over the past couple of days and how he'd rescued that Zigzagoon. After hesitating, she finally opened up:
"Actually… Bagon isn't my Pokémon."
Kawaki raised an eyebrow, signaling her to continue.
"My name is April. I'm a trainer who set out from Littleroot Town. Not long ago, while traveling through a forest, I stumbled upon some Pokémon hunters capturing wild Pokémon there."
"Bagon was one of them… I used my Beautifly to put the hunters to sleep with Sleep Powder and quietly freed the trapped Pokémon."
"After that, I've been on the run with Bagon. Because he's so rare, the hunters refuse to give up and have been tracking us nonstop. We finally shook them off near Meteor Falls yesterday, but somehow… they always find us."
As she spoke, Kawaki suddenly had a thought.
He quickly picked Bagon up from the backpack. Under April's puzzled gaze, he carefully examined its body.
Sure enough—he soon found a small tracking device hidden in an inconspicuous spot.
April's expression darkened.
Kawaki said, "Just as I suspected. There's a tracker on Bagon."
"No wonder!" April looked stricken. No wonder the Pokémon hunters kept finding them no matter where they went.
Hunters like those weren't something a single girl could handle. After a moment's thought, Kawaki asked, "Why didn't you report them to the police? I happen to know Officer Jenny over in Fallarbor Town. She might be able to help."
"I did report it," April said, shaking her head. "Back in Rustboro City. But those hunters are like ghosts. As soon as they realized I'd called the police, they vanished without a trace. Officer Jenny looked for days but found nothing."
"She can't stay by my side forever, and I can't just camp out in one city. I'm on a journey to collect gym badges."
So her only option was to secretly leave Bagon in someone else's care and lure the hunters away on her own.
But now, that plan was clearly off the table.
The tracker meant those guys would be here soon.
"There is a way," Kawaki said, holding the device. He couldn't just stand by and let a kid face Pokémon hunters alone.
"Huh?" April blinked.
There were two options.
One: attach the tracker to a flying-type Pokémon and send it off—over the sea or somewhere far away—to mislead the hunters.
Two: use the tracker as bait and work with law enforcement to ambush and capture them.
And considering that those hunters would likely just keep catching Pokémon if left unchecked...
Kawaki didn't hesitate. He turned and dialed the police station in Fallarbor Town.
This world's laws were harsh when it came to Pokémon hunters.
They directly violated the values of every major Pokémon league.
If caught, a hunter could be sentenced to anywhere from ten to fifty years in prison—or even life, depending on the severity.
After a few rings, Officer Jenny answered the phone.
"This is the Fallarbor Town Police Station. I'm Officer Jenny. What's your emergency?"
"Sis Jenny, it's me—Kawaki. I've got a trainer here being tracked by Pokémon hunters. They put a tracking device on her Pokémon, and I think the hunters will be here soon."
Officer Jenny's tone turned serious at once.
"Keep yourselves safe. I'm on my way!"
She hung up, jumped on her motorcycle, and tore off toward the daycare.
Kawaki turned to April. "Officer Jenny is on her way here now."
"I'm so sorry!" April bowed deeply. "I've caused you so much trouble!"
"No need to apologize," Kawaki said with a smile, then turned to look at Bagon.
Realizing it wouldn't have to be separated from April after all, Bagon's joy visibly skyrocketed—along with its mood and even its friendliness toward Kawaki, jumping from 0 to 20.
Then a new notification popped up in Kawaki's vision:
[Bagon's mood increased. Joy +130! You received Bagon's gift: "Bagon's Habitat."]
[Bagon's Habitat: A place where dragon-type Bagon live in the wild. Moved by your actions, Bagon has revealed this habitat to you as a gift.]
And that wasn't all. Another message followed—this one from April.
[April's mood increased. Joy +70! You received April's gift: "Affinity with Dragon-type Pokémon."]
[Affinity with Dragon-type Pokémon: You are naturally gifted at bonding with dragon-types. They will warm up to you more easily. April was so grateful she gave you this innate talent as a gift.]
Kawaki: "???"
He stared at Bagon joyfully cuddling up to April, the two of them clearly thrilled to be safe, then looked at the messages in front of him—completely stunned.
Bagon's habitat... affinity with dragon Pokémon?
Kawaki's mind began to race.
He remembered—among the Mega Stones Steven had given him, there had been one for Salamence.
Could it be…?
Could he really end up with a dragon-type partner capable of Mega Evolution?!