"There's no other choice. I'll have to find this Wingull's Trainer first," Steven said with determination.
Steven carefully picked up the unconscious Wingull and examined it thoroughly. After his inspection, he found that it had only been knocked out by the impact of the wooden ball. Its wing had taken some damage during the fall, but the rest of its body appeared to be unharmed.
Steven pulled out his PokéNav and opened up the Hoenn Region map display.
However, the map's current level of detail was insufficient for his needs. It only showed the general locations of major cities and towns. Individual houses built out in the wilderness were typically not included in the standard mapping system.
"I guess my best bet is to head to Petalburg City first and ask around there," Steven decided.
He packed up his belongings and prepared to set off with the injured Wingull cradled carefully in his arms.
A few hours of walking wouldn't be enough time for Steven to actually reach Petalburg City, so he decided to travel along the coastline instead. This route had an added benefit—he could show Skarmory the beautiful sunset over the ocean when evening arrived.
Besides, the weather today was absolutely perfect. The sunset view was bound to be spectacular.
Before long, the Wingull in Steven's arms began to stir and wake up groggily.
"Oh? Hello there, Wingull," Steven greeted gently. He thought for a moment about whether to use the name written on the note, but decided against it.
After all, he wasn't familiar with this Pokémon. That name was probably a personal nickname given by its Trainer, and it would feel strange using it without permission.
"Wooh!" The startled Wingull immediately began flapping its wings and struggling frantically in Steven's arms.
However, with its injured wing, the Water-and-Flying-type couldn't get airborne at all.
"Hey, don't get excited. I'm not going to hurt you," Steven said softly, offering a gentle, reassuring smile to calm the panicking Pokémon.
Seeing the genuine, sincere expression on Steven's face, the Wingull quickly stopped its struggling and simply stared up at Steven with wide, curious eyes.
Indeed, even Pokémon couldn't completely resist Steven's naturally handsome appearance. In any world, an attractive face seemed to put others at ease.
"Do you remember where your home is?" Steven asked hopefully.
Now that the Wingull was awake and conscious, Steven wouldn't have to waste time going all the way to Petalburg City just to ask around for information about its Trainer.
"Wooh~" The Wingull nodded its head and pointed straight ahead with its good wing.
"Understood. Just let me know when we need to change direction, okay?"
As they walked, the sun gradually began to set lower in the sky, and dusk started to fall over the landscape.
An orange-yellow glow spread outward from the distant horizon where the sea met the sky, painting the clouds in brilliant colors.
Steven decided not to continue his journey just yet. Instead, he sat down on the sandy beach and released Metang, Skarmory, and both Beldum from their Poké Balls.
They would all admire this sunset together as a team.
The Wingull nestled in Steven's arms shook its head slightly, glancing up at Steven's serious, contemplative expression. This kind of scenery was completely ordinary and commonplace for a Wingull that flew over the ocean every day. It couldn't understand why this human would be so utterly captivated by something so normal.
"It's just like the color of a Fire Stone," Steven murmured in a daze.
He was reminded of the beautiful Fire Stone specimen in his collection. When you looked closely into the Fire Stone's interior depths, the warm glow was equally mesmerizing.
Perhaps this appreciation for natural beauty was exactly why he was so fascinated by rare stones and minerals.
The twilight sunset didn't last very long. Soon enough, Steven stood back up to continue his journey along the coast.
After walking for about half an hour, he spotted a brightly lit wooden house in the distance, standing alone near the shoreline.
"Wingull, is that your home?" Steven asked with curiosity.
A wooden house with bright electric lights? Had someone actually moved a generator all the way out here just to build a house in the wilderness?
"Wooh!" The Wingull nodded enthusiastically, recognizing its home.
"Alright then, let's pick up the pace!" Steven said with renewed energy.
He immediately hopped onto Metang's metallic body, using his Pokémon like a hoverboard to glide quickly across the ground.
Within just a few minutes, he arrived directly in front of the wooden house.
Knock, knock, knock—
Steven gently set the Wingull down on the wooden porch, then raised his hand and knocked firmly on the front door.
After knocking several times and waiting patiently, no one came to answer the door.
Steven walked over to one of the windows and peered inside carefully. Although all the lights were on inside, illuminating the interior, the house appeared to be completely empty.
"It looks like your Trainer went out to search for you since you haven't come home for so long," Steven said, glancing down at the Wingull with a helpless expression.
"Wooh?" The Wingull tilted its head to one side, staring up at Steven with a confused look.
"Well, there's no other option. I guess we'll just have to wait here until they return," Steven decided.
He released all his Pokémon into the open space in front of the house and began preparing dinner for everyone.
He also prepared some nutritious Pokémon food and energy cubes specifically for the Wingull. After going so long without eating anything, the poor thing's stomach must be rumbling with hunger.
"Wooh!" The Wingull ate happily, clearly enjoying the meal.
However, it kept glancing over at Metang and the two Beldum with a puzzled expression. Why weren't they eating any food? They were just holding onto some kind of stone and seemed completely satisfied with that.
By the time Steven had finished cooking his own dinner and eating his fill, the owner of the wooden house still hadn't returned home.
Feeling bored while waiting, Steven sat down on the wooden porch and watched Skarmory and Metang playing a game where they tried to keep the wooden ball in the air using only their heads.
The Wingull eventually just laid down directly on the wooden planks of the porch and began snoring loudly, having fallen fast asleep.
Fortunately, after waiting another half hour or so, a figure finally emerged from the darkness in the distance.
An elderly man, well past his prime years, walked anxiously toward the house with hurried steps.
"Little Wingy!" The old man's eyes immediately locked onto the Wingull sleeping peacefully on the wooden porch.
Tears of relief and joy welled up in his eyes as he rushed forward. He carefully picked up the groggily awakening Wingull and began rubbing his weathered cheek affectionately against its feathers.
"Thank you so much for bringing Little Wingy back home safely," the old man said immediately, turning to face Steven with genuine gratitude.
"Uh... it's really nothing, honestly," Steven replied with an awkward smile on his face.
After all, he was actually the one responsible for causing Little Wingy to be unable to return home in the first place.
"Thank you from the bottom of my heart. It's so late at night, and you've been waiting outside all this time. Please, come inside and sit down," the old man insisted, immediately opening the wooden door and gesturing for Steven to enter.
Steven glanced over at his Pokémon, who were still playing around without a care in the world. None of them had any sense of the situation! He had no choice but to accept the invitation and walk inside.
As soon as the old man entered his home, he immediately grabbed a bottle of Potion from a shelf and sprayed it carefully on Wingull's injured wing. Then he wrapped the wing gently with a clean bandage.
Although Steven privately felt the treatment wasn't strictly necessary—after all, it was just a minor impact to the wing that would heal on its own after some rest—he kept quiet. Potion was highly effective on external injuries anyway, so it certainly wouldn't hurt.
"I haven't properly introduced myself yet. My name is Hachi. I truly don't know how to thank you enough for this kindness," the elderly man said warmly.
Hachi prepared a cup of hot tea and brought it over to Steven with shaking hands.
"It's really fine. Actually..." Steven accepted the tea gratefully and proceeded to explain the entire story of what had actually happened.
"So that's how it all happened," Hachi said, nodding with understanding. Despite learning the truth, he still smiled kindly and said, "Even so, thank you for bringing Little Wingy back home to me. Little Wingy's injury was simply an accident, nothing more. It's not serious at all."
"Phew..." Steven let out a long sigh of relief, feeling the tension leave his shoulders. It seemed Hachi was quite an understanding and good-natured person.
"I'm just an old man now, so I don't have much to offer as proper thanks. But I wonder—would you be interested in taking a trip out to sea with me?" Hachi asked.
"Don't let my current appearance fool you. When I was young, I was a sailor who traveled and adventured across all Seven Seas!" Hachi declared proudly, straightening his bent back slightly.
Steven's gaze drifted over to a photo frame sitting on a nearby shelf. The photograph showed a strong, muscular man in a crisp sailor's uniform, full of youthful vigor and confidence, with one foot boldly planted on a ship's railing.
"Grandpa Hachi, I was actually wondering if you could take me to Dewford Town?" Steven asked hopefully.
"Are you planning to challenge the Dewford Gym?" Hachi didn't immediately agree to the request. Instead, he asked with curious interest.
"Yes, that's right. I'm a Pokémon Trainer who just recently started my journey," Steven confirmed.
Hachi fell silent for a moment, appearing deep in thought. His eyes remained fixed intently on Steven's face, studying his features carefully.
This intense scrutiny made Steven increasingly uncomfortable. Sure, his face was perhaps a bit more handsome than average, but there was no need to stare quite so intensely, was there?
While thinking this, Steven's eyes wandered back to the photograph on the shelf.
Wait... no way. But now that he looked more carefully, there was definitely a resemblance...
Hold on, what exactly was he getting worried about? It seemed old man Hachi didn't have any other Pokémon around the house besides Little Wingy. So even if the elderly man did have some kind of strange attraction to him, Steven wasn't particularly scared! He could handle himself.
"That..." Hachi began to speak.
"No!" Steven suddenly shouted loudly, cutting him off before he could finish his sentence.
"What? You look so incredibly similar to Joseph. I thought you might be Joseph's son. It seems I was mistaken about that," Hachi said, looking slightly confused by Steven's outburst.
"Huh?" Steven's eyes widened in shock.
He definitely hadn't expected old man Hachi to actually know his father too. What were the odds of that?
So Hachi had just been comparing his facial features to someone from his past. Realizing this, Steven's face flushed bright red with embarrassment at his own assumptions and overreaction.