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"Faster! Faster! Don't stop! The next town is just ahead—push through in one go!"
On the road from Lavaridge Town to Rustboro City, the first town along the way was Verdanturf Town. It wasn't very far from Lavaridge.
After finishing his communication with Delia and retrieving his fully recovered Prinplup, Liam released all of his Pokémon and began a full-on endurance training session!
During his call with Delia, Liam had already sent over his injured Vibrava for her to take care of. So now, he had six Pokémon with him.
"Grrraah!!"
With the wind-speed shoes on his feet, Liam sped forward at incredible velocity!
But even faster than him—was Garchomp!
After their battle with Rayquaza, Garchomp was extremely dissatisfied with its own performance. So it had voluntarily come out to train itself.
At this moment, Garchomp had special weighted gear attached to its limbs, neck, and tail—six adjustable ring weights in total. Each one weighed 100 kilograms, adding up to a terrifying 600 kilograms overall!
And yet—even under such a burden—its speed still surpassed Liam's!
Garchomp moved like a low-flying supersonic jet, racing just above the ground, whipping up fierce currents of wind wherever it passed.
Meanwhile, in the sky—
"ROOOAR!!"
Aerodactyl was also accelerating continuously high above!
This encounter with Rayquaza had placed enormous pressure on it as well. Now, it carried four weights while circling above Liam, pushing its limits in flight.
Aside from Garchomp and Aerodactyl, the remaining four Pokémon followed behind Liam.
Closest to him was Prinplup.
As always, stubborn and unwilling to give up, Prinplup was already panting heavily—but it still pushed forward step by step, doing its best to keep up.
Just slightly behind Prinplup was the new addition—Kirlia.
Kirlia's stamina wasn't great, but its speed was decent. Having survived in the wild, it had developed a solid physique. Its long legs moved rapidly, sweat dripping from its face as it struggled to stay right behind Prinplup.
Behind them came Electabuzz..
Electabuzz still looked as indifferent as ever. Its natural speed and endurance were excellent, so keeping pace wasn't difficult at all. It followed casually, almost leisurely.
At the very back of the group… was Zorua.
"…."
Liam had already noticed something was off. After running for so long, Zorua still looked completely listless.
Finally, Liam slowed down and stopped. Watching the others run past him, he crouched down and gently stopped Zorua.
"Zorua? What's wrong? Tired? If you're tired, come back and rest."
Liam spoke with a gentle smile.
"Wuu…"
But upon hearing this, Zorua drooped its ears immediately. Its head lowered, letting out a sad whimper.
"Hm? What's wrong, Zorua?"
Concerned, Liam picked Zorua up and held it in front of him.
"Wuu… Master… do you think Zorua is useless? I couldn't help at all in the battle… and you even got hurt because of me… it's all Zorua's fault…"
Zorua didn't dare look up. Its large eyes filled with guilt as tears began to gather.
"What are you talking about! Our Zorua is amazing! Without you, how could we have reached the mountaintop so easily? That was all thanks to you! As for that battle—you don't need to blame yourself. Even Garchomp lost, didn't it?
So don't be sad. Let's train hard together and get stronger! Next time we meet that big guy, we'll beat it until it runs away crying! What do you say?!"
Liam smiled brightly as he comforted it.
"Wuu…"
His words clearly helped. Zorua's expression softened—but something still seemed missing.
"Hehe! Take this—tickle attack!"
Seeing Zorua still not fully cheered up, Liam suddenly grinned and began tickling its belly!
Caught off guard, Zorua burst into laughter instantly, its little legs flailing wildly in the air as a tear rolled down its cheek.
"Heh, that's more like it! A smiling Zorua is the real Zorua! Alright—let's go! If we don't catch up, those guys will disappear! Move out!"
Satisfied, Liam placed Zorua on top of his head, then kicked off the ground—
WHOOSH!
He shot forward like a gale!
"Wuu—hehehe! Master, I understand! I'll train too! I'll get stronger—and protect you! Hehehe!"
Clinging to Liam's head at first, Zorua quickly jumped down and started running again. Within moments, it caught up—and even overtook Liam, racing ahead with cheerful cries!
"Haha! That's the spirit, Zorua! Let's race! First one to the next town wins! I'm speeding up too!"
Liam increased the output of his wind-speed shoes. Stronger bursts of air blasted out—his acceleration surged!
In moments, he overtook Zorua again….. and soon spotted Electabuzz lazily trailing behind.
"Hehe…"
A mischievous grin appeared on Liam's face.
Without slowing down, he rushed past Electabuzz like a whirlwind. But as he passed—
SMACK!
A crisp sound echoed!
Electabuzz froze in place, clutching the back of its head in shock.
Looking up, it saw Liam not far ahead—grinning and making faces at it.
"ZZZAA!!"
"BOOM!!"
With an angry roar, Electabuzz erupted in white light—using Quick Attack!
It shot forward like a bolt, trailing white energy, charging straight at Liam with pure fury!
"Oh crap—run!!"
Mission accomplished, Liam turned and sprinted away at full speed!
Electabuzz chased closely behind, electricity surging wildly around its powerful arms!
Not long after, Liam caught up with the others again. At this point, Kirlia was reaching its limit—its speed noticeably slowing.
Seeing this, Liam ran up beside it…
"Kirlia! What's wrong? Can't keep going? If you give up like this, little Ralts will be disappointed!"
The moment those words landed.. Kirlia's entire demeanor changed.
Its drooping head snapped up—pink flames seemed to ignite in its eyes!
"Kirlia!!!"
With a shout.. Kirlia surged forward again, bursting ahead as if injected with new strength!!