"Today's battle taught me a great deal. Thank you very much for your guidance, Mr. Liam. I hope I'll have the opportunity to battle you again in the future."
After the battle was over and she had restored her Pokémon's strength, Cynthia gave Liam a slight bow.
"Sure. If we get the chance, we definitely will. Actually, Ms. Lan, you're already very impressive. I believe you'll become a very powerful Pokémon Trainer in the future. When that happens, let's have another battle."
Liam smiled as he replied.
"Mm! I'll definitely make it happen! Thank you for taking care of me throughout this journey, Mr. Liam. I'll be going now. I hope you have a wonderful time in Unova. Goodbye!"
Cynthia nodded firmly, then bid Liam farewell with a sunny smile before turning around and leaving.
However, just as she stepped out of the Pokémon Center, she suddenly stopped.
Then she abruptly turned around and spoke with a faint smile.
"Oh, right! I already know your name now, Mr. Liam, but I still haven't properly introduced myself. That would be terribly rude of me, so I might as well introduce myself now."
"My name is Cynthia, and my hometown is Celestic Town in Sinnoh. If you ever go to Sinnoh, Mr. Liam, you absolutely have to let me know. I can be your guide when you get there. Mm, that's all! Goodbye for now, Mr. Liam. I'm sure we'll meet again someday~ Bye-bye~ Hehe~"
With that, Cynthia quickly spun around. Her waist-length ponytail swung high into the air, and accompanied by laughter as clear as silver bells, she gradually disappeared into the distance.
"…I already knew your name. It's hard not to with that lineup of Pokemon, you know? Hehe. Mm, I'm sure we'll have another chance to meet in the future."
Watching her retreating figure disappear into the distance, Liam smiled and muttered to himself.
Time passed quickly, and before long, evening had arrived.
After having dinner with N, Liam went to find Nurse Joy.
"Nurse Joy, I'd like to take the helicopter heading to Lentimas Town Airport tomorrow. Could you arrange that for me?"
Liam asked Nurse Joy politely, a confident smile on his face.
Then—
"No."
Nurse Joy firmly shook her head.
"…Hehe. May I ask why not, Nurse Joy?"
Liam noticed the barely suppressed laughter on N's face beside him. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly, but he maintained his smile as he continued asking.
"Because there's only one helicopter flying to Lentimas Town Airport tomorrow, and all the reserved seats have already been booked. I'm terribly sorry, but there really isn't anything I can do."
Nurse Joy wore an apologetic expression as she explained.
"…"
This was quite troublesome.
Although Lentimas Town and Undella Town weren't particularly far apart, transportation between the two places was not especially convenient. After all, a range of mountains lay between them.
If they were somewhere else, Liam probably wouldn't have bothered asking. He could simply have had Garchomp fly him there.
However, because there was an airport nearby, the relevant authorities had expressly prohibited people from entering the airport on flying Pokémon. This was both for the safety of the aircraft and for the safety of the Pokémon themselves.
"Is there really no other way? What about the day after tomorrow? I can wait a day if necessary."
Liam figured that if there was no other option, he could simply wait a little longer.
"Unfortunately, there aren't any flights scheduled for the following few days either, so we haven't made any arrangements. I'm really sorry."
Nurse Joy shook her head again.
Liam: "…"
For a moment, Liam had no idea what to do. Frowning, he turned around and prepared to find another solution.
But just as he turned—
"Beep beep beep~"
The communication device on the counter suddenly rang.
Nurse Joy hurriedly picked up the receiver.
"Hello, this is the Pokémon Center. This is Nurse Joy speaking. How may I help you?"
"Hmm? Kui! Uh, sir? May I ask what this is regarding?"
"…I see. Alright, I understand. That's no problem."
"Yes. Goodbye."
After a strange conversation, Nurse Joy put down the receiver and turned toward Liam.
"That was a passenger who was originally scheduled to take tomorrow's helicopter. He said something came up and he won't be able to take it after all. So there's an empty seat now. Sir, would you like to take it?"
"Huh? What a coincidence! There's a seat available?! Haha, that's wonderful! I'll take it. Thank you, Nurse Joy—and please thank that gentleman for me as well."
Hearing that a seat had suddenly become available, Liam was overjoyed and immediately accepted.
Thus, early the next morning, Liam brought N to the helipad behind the Pokémon Center.
However, just as he was about to board the helicopter with N, a crew member stopped him.
"Sir, there's only one seat available now, so you can't bring this child aboard."
The helicopter crew member spoke to Liam.
"Uh… I can have him sit on my lap. He won't take up an extra seat. Is that still not allowed?"
Liam frowned.
"Please don't make this difficult for us, sir. Not only would that make it impossible for us to guarantee the child's safety, but it could also pose a risk to the other passengers. We simply can't take responsibility for that. I hope you understand."
The crew member looked troubled as he explained.
"This…"
After hearing that, Liam hesitated. He lowered his head and looked at N beside him before—
"Alright. In that case, I'll just—"
"Wait, you big bad guy!"
N interrupted Liam before he could finish.
"Big bad guy, you go by yourself. I'm fine. You'll be back soon anyway. I'll just go back to the room and rest."
N patted Liam's leg, wearing an expression that clearly said he could manage on his own.
"But…"
"Ugh! You're so troublesome! I'm not talking to you anymore. I'm going back to sleep! You woke me up so early in the morning. Don't you know kids need lots of sleep to grow taller? I'm not waiting for you. I'm going back."
N interrupted him again before turning around and running back toward the Pokémon Center.
"…"
Liam watched N run away. A faint smile eventually appeared at the corner of his mouth, and he shook his head helplessly before boarding the helicopter.
Finally, the helicopter took off.
Its enormous rotor blades whipped up powerful gusts as it slowly lifted from the ground and climbed into the sky, before rapidly flying in the direction of Lentimas Town.