[Lono: I've got some personal stuff to take care of, so I'll be away for two days.]
Lono replied, trembling with nerves, but thankfully the Chairwoman didn't ask much. Only then did she relax, standing in place and waiting for Dragonite to come pick her up.
Paldea League Headquarters.
Rika looked at the smile on Geeta's face and couldn't help feeling a little speechless.
"That silly girl has finally gotten smarter." Geeta said with satisfaction. "Let's hope there's some progress today!"
Rika: "...Chairwoman, the Levincia Gym has already received complaints from Trainers, and if those two really go well and end up dating, getting married, and having kids, I'm afraid there'll be no one left to serve as Gym Leader at the Levincia Gym."
As far as Rika knew, a sloppy attitude toward work was a very serious matter to the Chairwoman.
Yet this time, the Chairwoman's reaction wasn't at all what Rika had imagined.
Geeta just shook her head carelessly. "It's fine. These losses for now are all necessary. As for marriage and kids, Rika, you're thinking way further ahead than I am!"
Rika: "..."
Geeta said with a squinty-eyed smile: "Relax! Even if Lono gets pregnant, there's still Naoki, isn't there? How could he possibly just watch Lono waddle around with a big belly greeting challengers."
Rika was slightly stunned, and then a scene popped into her mind of Lono resting at home while Naoki brought his own Pokemon over to moonlight as Gym Leader.
But then she thought it through: with Naoki's strength, there probably wouldn't be any Trainer who could beat him and get a Gym Badge from him, right?
"But it's still way too early to be talking about that now."
Right now they still didn't know where Naoki stood. Although Lono ran off to Naoki Ranch for a few days every month under the excuse of "challenging a Trial," Naoki's thoughts were unknown to everyone.
Geeta knew full well you shouldn't pop the champagne too early. She sat in her chair, fell into brief thought, and then made a decision.
"Oh right, Rika, pass it down: everyone in the Paldea League gets the day off today. Tell them to go have a proper day of fun!"
Rika was stunned for a moment, then asked: "What about you?"
Geeta: "We're going to Porto Marinada Town together. I heard they've made a ton of preparations for this year's fireworks festival! It's definitely going to be super lively!"
*
"Thanks for the hard work, Dragonite!"
Levincia City. Looking at the Dragonite that had just descended from the sky and landed in front of her, Lono smiled and patted its head.
Dragonite wasn't unfamiliar with this human who visited the ranch often. It let out a happy roar and then crouched down to make it easier for her to climb on.
But before that, Lono opened the satchel on Dragonite's body and stuffed the gifts she'd bought into it.
Next, Lono took out a Poke Ball, recalled Bellibolt into the Poke Ball, and only then climbed onto Dragonite's back.
Thirty minutes later, Dragonite smoothly returned to the ranch.
When they landed, Naoki was in the middle of hauling cardboard boxes full of crops together with Koraidon.
Lono waved her arms hard at him from afar. "Long time no see, Naoki!"
"It hasn't been that long, has it?" Naoki's face was full of helplessness.
"Hehe!"
Naoki put the goods down helplessly and continued, "Go sit and rest in the living room for a bit first! The fireworks festival only starts at night. We can head out around six or seven."
"Then I'll be imposing!"
Naoki had originally planned to finish this bit of work and then go entertain his guest.
But maybe because the fireworks festival was being held, a lot of tourists from other places had been drawn here. All morning, he'd been receiving one Trainer after another coming to challenge the Trial.
There were even Trainers from other regions who said they wanted to see the true face of Paldea's hidden Boss and asked Naoki to use his full strength against them.
That guy was said to be the Champion of the last Ever Grande Conference, extremely powerful, with an ace Blaziken that cut down gods and Buddhas alike.
Naoki certainly didn't hold back for that.
Since these people treated him as the hidden Boss of the Paldea Region, then he might as well properly play the hidden Boss role!
So Naoki promptly switched to Koraidon and gave that Conference Champion a clean six-to-zero sweep, leaving the other's expression frozen in terror, mumbling "So strong, what terrifying strength!" as he staggered off the ranch in a daze.
Naoki: "..."
By the time everything was done, it was already six in the evening.
After a quick dinner, Naoki and Lono finally brought a bunch of Pokemon along to attend the fireworks festival.
By the time they arrived, quite a lot of tourists and Pokemon had already gathered on the beach.
There were young Trainers on their journeys, couples who had come together on dates, parents who'd brought their kids to watch the fireworks, and elderly grandpas and grandmas with equally aged Pokemon sitting on benches, gazing at the beautiful starry sky and the sea below.
Not only that, Naoki also noticed that the market in the distance had grown bigger.
From takoyaki stalls, to the Magikarp-uncle who sold Magikarp, to the shops selling Berries and handmade Poke Balls—Naoki even spotted a mysterious little fortune-telling stand among them.
A Hypno with a pendulum was using Hypnosis on the tourist sitting across from it.
And there were tons of little kids playing with Poke Ball toys.
Just like Mayor Thomas had said, this year's fireworks festival really was extra lively!
The two of them found a part of the beach that wasn't so crowded and sat down.
No sooner had Naoki plopped down than Cyclizar came running over with a rubber ball in its mouth. It dropped the ball in front of Naoki, signaling that it wanted to play.
"All righty!"
Naoki stood up, picked up the ball, and hurled it with force. Cyclizar immediately dashed off in that direction.