"Sorry, Shopkeeper, we're late."
Ajak, accompanied by his Childhood Sweetheart, rushed into the Breeding House and apologized to Lucas, who was sitting in the lounge area drinking tea.
Lucas stood up from his seat and shook his head, indicating it was fine.
He then asked Gengar to call Swampert and Quagsire over.
Soon after, Swampert and Quagsire appeared before everyone, and Swampert handed a pokémon egg to Ajak.
Ajak took the pokémon egg and inquired about its health. Lucas put on a stethoscope and examined it right in front of them, concluding that the egg would hatch into a very excellent Mudkip.
Ajak nodded happily and handed the egg to his Childhood Sweetheart.
Seeing them dusty and sweating profusely from their journey, Lucas asked them to sit in the lounge area and rest for a while.
Ajak didn't stand on ceremony. He sat down with his Childhood Sweetheart, took the sparkling water offered by Gengar, and gulped down a large mouthful.
His Childhood Sweetheart also seemed to be an outgoing girl, as they drank water in almost the exact same manner. They were originally supposed to come yesterday, but they had only messaged Lucas yesterday saying they couldn't make it back in time and asked if they could reschedule.
At the time, Lucas was busy dealing with the sale of pokémon eggs and was overwhelmed, so he agreed.
Early this morning, the moment the Breeding House opened and he sat down to rest in the lounge area, they arrived.
"Take a moment to rest first. You haven't gone home yet, have you?"
Ajak nodded and set down his cup.
"Aran and I rushed back all the way from Eterna City. As soon as we reached Sandgem Town, we hurried straight toward the Breeding House."
Aran? Was his Childhood Sweetheart's name Aran?
"Eterna City?"
Lucas repeated.
Eterna City seemed to be where the Grass-type Gym was located, and the Gym Leader seemed to be Gardenia.
"We just finished challenging the Eterna City Gym."
Aran wiped the sparkling water from the corner of her mouth, took over the conversation, and said with a generous smile.
After speaking, she took out a green badge.
Lucas was curious. "May I see it?"
Aran paused, then generously handed it to Lucas. Lucas took it and examined it.
Made of metal, its appearance was clearly the symbol of the Eterna City Gym. Gengar and the others also crowded around, curiously looking at the badge.
Shauna stared intently at the badge.
Lucas placed it in his palm, held it up for Shauna to look at closely for a moment, and then returned it to Aran.
"The challenge for the League Conference just started not long ago, and you already earned a badge. That's impressive."
Lucas praised them genuinely.
When challenging a Gym, the Gym Leader selects their team and adjusts their performance based on the challenger's materials, experience, and Pokémon.
Therefore, being able to obtain a badge means they are considered relatively powerful among many Trainers.
Aran put away the badge and smiled happily.
"Aran's strength is very high, so I'm not surprised that she could get a badge."
Ajak spoke up at this moment.
"Oh, come on. Ajak, your strength is clearly greater than mine; you just don't want to challenge the Gym."
Aran pouted and muttered.
Lucas looked puzzled.
"Ajak, you don't plan on challenging the Gyms? Or participating in the League Conference?"
Hearing Lucas's question, Ajak scratched the back of his head and gave a simple, honest smile.
Then he shook his head. "I don't have much interest in Pokémon battles. Even going out to travel, I was just afraid Aran would be too lonely or in too much danger alone, so I traveled with her."
Having unexpectedly been fed a mouthful of PDA, Lucas felt his teeth ache slightly.
"Then do you want to become a Breeder? Or perhaps a Coordinator?"
Ajak shook his head.
"I'm just traveling with Aran. Wherever she goes, I go. I like seeing different Pokémon and traveling to different places to eat more delicious food—of course, while staying by Aran's side."
I shouldn't have asked.
Lucas was speechless.
However, their relationship was truly enviable.
"Ajak is just too kind-hearted. Often, things have nothing to do with him, but he always butts in."
Aran complained to Lucas.
"Even this time with the breeding, we could have chosen another Pokémon for him, but he insisted on fulfilling his wish to breed him a Mudkip."
Ajak listened to Aran's complaints with an awkward smile but didn't interrupt her.
Hearing Aran's words, Lucas couldn't help but laugh and say, "But you didn't refuse either, did you? In fact, you seemed quite supportive."
Aran blushed, then continued to complain: "I only did it because I didn't want him to be embarrassed outside."
Lucas shook his head, smiling. The sickly sweet smell of romance.
"Doesn't this just prove that Ajak is a very loving person? I bet you like this aspect of his personality too."
"Well, that's true."
Aran said, and then, as if remembering something, she glared at Ajak beside her.
"Shopkeeper, you don't know, but because of this personality of his, he almost didn't make it back this time."
After saying that, she pinched Ajak with her hand.
Ajak shrank his head back, afraid to speak.
Lucas was confused, looking at Ajak, who was huddled up and silent, feeling quite puzzled.
"What happened?"
Aran recounted the story to Lucas: "Originally, after we finished challenging the Gym and received your message, we were preparing to come back. On the way, he heard someone say there was a place that was extremely hot, and a Pokémon covered in flames had occupied the area, causing great distress to the local people. He then wanted to go check it out and see if he could help resolve the situation for them."
"When we got there, we found many Trainers surrounding a bird Pokémon covered entirely in flames. We even recognized the clothes some of them were wearing."
Aran lowered her voice and said, "They seemed to be members of Team Galactic."
Team Galactic? Lucas frowned.
The villainous organization of the Sinnoh region, an evil group advocating for the overthrow of the Pokémon world. Their leader seemed to be named Cyrus.
Later, he controlled Dialga and Palkia, and eventually seemed to get lost in Giratina's Distortion World.
A bird Pokémon covered entirely in flames? Moltres?
Why would Team Galactic be capturing Moltres? Shouldn't their target be the deities of space and time?
Before he could speak, Aran continued: "After Ajak told me to call the police, he followed them himself. By the time I arrived with the police, he had nearly been burned to death by that Pokémon."
Thinking of this, Aran fiercely pulled Ajak's ear.
"He only needed to wait with me for police backup, but he insisted on sneaking after them when I wasn't looking."
Ajak didn't dare say anything else, only hurriedly begged for mercy.
"What happened next?"
Hearing Lucas's question, Aran stopped her actions, glanced at Ajak, and indicated that he knew the specifics.
"I secretly followed them and discovered they wanted to use some kind of device to control that Pokémon. Just as they were about to succeed, I secretly destroyed the device. They were enraged and chased me frantically. I ran everywhere until I heard Aran arriving with the police. When the Team Galactic members realized the police were coming, they did something that caused the Pokémon to go berserk, and then they all retreated."
Ajak recounted the details of the incident: "After that Pokémon went berserk, it started destroying surrounding buildings and attacking other people and Pokémon. To prevent further destruction, I engaged it in battle. That Pokémon was too strong; all my Pokémon together couldn't defeat it. If Aran hadn't arrived just in time with Gym Leader Gardenia, I might really have died."
Even now, Ajak felt a chill recalling the incident, since he had nearly died.
"Hmph, so you know that much.
Aran snorted angrily.
Ajak quickly went over to comfort her.
Meanwhile, Lucas was frowning deeply.
"Shopkeeper, do you recognize that Pokémon?"
Ajak saw Lucas's expression, exchanged a look with Aran, and asked.
Lucas nodded.
"If I'm not mistaken, that Pokémon is Moltres, one of The Legendary Birds."
"Moltres?!"
Ajak and Aran exclaimed in surprise simultaneously.
"The Moltres from legends, whose flames can burn everything?"
Ajak muttered to himself, "No wonder it was so powerful."
"Did all those Team Galactic members get away?"
Hearing Lucas's question, Ajak snapped out of his thoughts and shook his head.
"No, some were arrested; only a small number escaped."
"What about Moltres?"
"After Gym Leader Gardenia battled it for a while, it flapped its wings and flew away. We don't know where it went."
Moltres, Team Galactic, Lugia's promise.
Why am I suddenly getting a headache?
Lucas felt a little uncomfortable.
"Did Gym Leader Gardenia report this to the Alliance?"
Ajak nodded. "The Alliance said they would send someone to investigate the situation, probably an Elite Four."
"We just don't know which Elite Four it will be. If it were Elite Four Aaron, that would be great."
Aaron?!
The Bug-type Elite Four using Bug-type Pokémon to battle the Fire/Flying-type Moltres?
How confident!
Noticing that Lucas's expression was worsening, Ajak asked timidly, "Shopkeeper, is the situation very bad?"
Lucas shook his head, then nodded.
"It's not necessarily terrible. The Moltres incident itself is manageable, but the main issue is Team Galactic's involvement. Those extremists from Team Galactic are the most dangerous element."
Ajak and Aran nodded in agreement, acknowledging that Lucas was right.
So many disasters in the Sinnoh region often involved Team Galactic.
Lucas thought for a moment, took out his phone, and prepared to ask Cynthia about the Alliance's arrangements.
He saw Lucian's chat window, thought about it, and tapped on it.
Lucas: Regarding the Moltres incident in Eterna City, which Elite Four did the Alliance send?
Lucian was standing atop his Bronzong, heading towards Eterna City, when he suddenly felt his phone vibrate. He took out his phone and saw the message from Lucas.
Lucian: ?!
How did he know Moltres appeared in Eterna City? And how did he know the Alliance dispatched an Elite Four?!
Lucian: ----
Seeing the familiar ellipsis, Lucas immediately knew who had been sent.
Lucas: Work hard on your overtime, Elite Four Lucian.
Lucian: ----
Putting away his phone, Lucas noticed Aran and Ajak were watching him.
After thinking for a moment, he smiled and told them, "It's fine now. Elite Four Lucian is going."
"So it's Elite Four Lucian."
"Ah?! It's not Elite Four Aaron after all."
Ajak: ----
Lucas: ----
Are you afraid he won't die fast enough?
Lucas stood up and escorted them out of the Breeding House.
Finally, he instructed them: "Be careful recently. Since you disrupted Team Galactic's plan, there's a chance you might face retaliation. If anything seems wrong, call the police and tell me."
Aran and Ajak nodded, feeling warmth in their hearts.
"Thank you, Shopkeeper."
"You're so handsome, Shopkeeper."
Ajak: ----
Watching their retreating figures, Lucas returned to the lounge area, his brow deeply furrowed.
Seeing this, Shauna quietly stood by, not daring to disturb Lucas's thoughts.
Although she didn't understand what they were talking about—Galaxy Rainbow, or the bird covered in fire—she could tell that the matter was very important.
So she wouldn't bother Lucas now.
....
Power Stones PLZZZZZ
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