In a certain dense forest outside Goldenrod City.
As azure spiritual power surged.
A person with three Pokémon suddenly appeared here, startling the nearby Wild Pokémon.
But soon they reacted, and a few brave Spearow were the first to launch an attack.
However, before they could touch the seemingly fragile human, a Beedrill quickly folded a few times in the air and knocked them down one by one.
It was, of course, Natsuhiko and his three Pokémon who appeared here.
Somewhat surprised by the surrounding environment, he got a general idea of his current location.
"So the underground tunnel just now really leads to Goldenrod City?" Natsuhiko murmured in a low voice.
He remembered here; it's halfway from Goldenrod City to Dark Ruins.
Abra clearly couldn't use Instant Movement to bring them back to the ruins, yet it penetrated through the thick ground to the nearest point where its spiritual "anchor" was located.
This outcome further confirmed what Little Monk Ann Ci had said about the underground tunnel connecting to Goldenrod City's underground.
Silently standing, letting Beedrill defeat the nearby Wild Pokémon intent on approaching one by one.
"Togepi!"
Togepi spun around, its eyes full of little stars, looking around.
Is this the outside world? Is this sunlight?
The tiny one seemed to have arrived in a whole new world, where everything was fun.
Carefully approaching a bush, it picked a leaf, hesitated a little, and then put it in its mouth.
The fresh, bittersweet taste didn't make it dislike, instead, it happily squinted its eyes.
This is the taste of outside food.
So delicious!
When it wanted to pick another leaf to taste, it was stopped by Abra.
"Abra."
Back home, there's even tastier food.
Abra didn't bear any grudges, nor did it mind Togepi's mischief, instead, it showed an elder's demeanor.
Even though it was younger than Togepi.
"Togepi..." Togepi nodded its head repeatedly.
Yes, yes!
It still remembered the Energy Block that Beedrill shared with it earlier.
"Abra."
Then why don't you let go of that big leek on your shoulder, the taste is strong.
But Togepi held the leek tightly, unwilling to let go.
Soon.
Beedrill cleared the nearby Pokémon and returned to Natsuhiko.
"Let's go, we're going back."
Walking while pulling out a phone, dialed Flint's number.
After waiting for a long time, just as Natsuhiko was about to give up, the call finally connected.
"Natsuhiko?" On the other end, Flint's hesitant inquiry came.
"It's me." Natsuhiko said calmly.
"Great, you're still alive!"
Immediately followed by a long sigh of relief, some subtle movements paused.
"Alive?"
Hilona's cool voice also came through the phone.
"Where are you? We'll come to get you." Flint said again.
Natsuhiko looked around and said after a brief pause, "No need, because of some special reasons, I'm now very close to Goldenrod City."
"Goldenrod City?"
"Some things can't be explained in a moment, you guys come back, I'll go back first, take a rest, and meet again at the Elite performance match."
"...Okay."
After asking some more questions, the phone was hung up.
Pocketing the phone, Natsuhiko raised his head, looking at the sunlight shining through the mottled leaves, let out a long breath.
Although Flint and Hilona were still looking for him, it touched Natsuhiko slightly.
But through this exploration, he understood one thing.
The gap between him and Flint, Hilona is still too large, faced with the same collapse, they did well without getting stuck in a bind, while he needed Abra to exhaust all its spiritual power, Beedrill to get injured just to barely get rescued.
He had thought that going out with Flint and Hilona meant safety is guaranteed, enough assurance.
Facts proved that when truly facing a huge threat, the only ones who can save and protect themselves are themselves and their Pokémon.
Now he and them are still people from two worlds.
Whether in terms of personal strength, identity, or resources, it's the same.
He needs to make dangerous attempts for a Dark Stone, while perhaps all they need is a phone call to get what they want.
"Still too weak..." Natsuhiko shook his head silently.
"Abra——"
"Togepi——"
Seemingly sensing Natsuhiko's heavy mood, Abra gently tugged at the hem of Natsuhiko's clothing.
Togepi came in front of Natsuhiko, stuck out its tongue and made a face.
Seeing their expressions, Natsuhiko's heavy expression instantly smoothed, revealing a smile.
"Don't worry, I'm not wallowing in self-pity, I'm just stating a current fact."
It's just a fact, nothing bad about accepting it.
Admitting your deficiencies allows you to better and more accurately find the direction of progress.
Beedrill silently followed behind him without expressing.
Among the three Pokémon, Beedrill was the one who understood Natsuhiko the most and had accompanied him for the longest time, it knew that with Natsuhiko's personality, he would never give up, more likely feeling the pressure.
But pressure, well, overcome it and you can get through.
Isn't this how they got through before?
With so many things now compared to the past.
After playing with Abra and Togepi for a while, Natsuhiko put them away.
Looked back at Beedrill.
No need to say much, the momentum between the one person and the Pokémon, smiled at each other and walked towards Goldenrod City.
This time's harvest, is quite bountiful.
...
...
Returned to Goldenrod City.
Perhaps because there was a negative reaction caused by the Forest Patrol's actions earlier, or perhaps no clues were found at all, this time Natsuhiko was not checked for Pokeballs.
Originally, he planned to discreetly return using Abra's Instant Movement.
Took a taxi home.
On the way back, you can see Goldenrod City, which had been slightly desolate, lively again.
The fallen leaves on the road were cleaned up, more pedestrians appeared, with somewhat real or fake smiles on their faces.
From street posters, repeatedly saw the promotion and advertisement for the upcoming Elite performance match.
The performance match between two of the current Elite Four of the Kanto Region, Ice-type Elite Uncle Liu and Ghost-type Elite Agatha, was drawing nearer.
It should have been a very good thing.
But with Natsuhiko's understanding of the underground tunnel, a layer of shadows was cast over his understanding of this matter.
Always felt the Elite performance match is just a cover, only to hide some things that may cause panic.
"There are still a few days left, not long but should prepare more things."
Sitting at the dining table, opened the computer to create a new document on Togepi's cultivation, and made some minor adjustments for Beedrill's and Abra's cultivation according to this incident.
"There are many things to learn, training for Beedrill's 'Direct Charge Drill' and 'Smack Down' techniques should be scheduled, Abra mainly concentrated on training spiritual power, Togepi now mostly plays an auxiliary role..."
"Beedrill's strength is at Senior Level, hope for obvious progress in a short time is not big, focus on basic mastery."
"Abra just hatched, but already has Qualified Level strength, short-term sprinting should reach Excellence Level."
"Togepi is Excellence Level nearing Senior Level, but its foundation is weak, crossing this step requires accumulation, can't rush."
"I also have many preparations, making Energy Blocks can now be put on the agenda, but need a basic set of equipment, which can be purchased in regular stores."
"Taking advantage of the recent paper's heat not yet cooling down, I need to prepare the next one while the iron is hot, striving to obtain a genuine Bachelor's degree after three papers, at least have a legitimate reputation."
"Dark Stone can temporarily not be dealt with, its target is too big, easy to attract unnecessary attention, others can be sold, exchanged for some suitable resources or manuals."
"..."
Just as he was about to write more.
The door was knocked.
"Abra." Sitting on the ground, Abra called out to Natsuhiko.
Is it that Gastly again?
Though having someone deliver a pillow when wanting to sleep is indeed nice, this feeling of being quietly observed, really doesn't feel right.
Natsuhiko nodded to Abra.
A letter slid in through the doorgap.