Time flew by, and half a month passed.
Caster had spent this stretch of time productively and happily. Mornings were for fishing and farming rewards, afternoons for giving his Pokémon live battle experience, and evenings for studying.
It wasn't only the Pokémon doing the learning. Caster frequently sought advice from Lorelei on training methods and battle strategy, and he came away the richer for it every time.
Of all the Pokémon, the one who had gained the most was Shellder.
The creature was sharp by nature, backed by formidable psychic power and keen perception, and so it picked up everything with startling speed. Under Slowking's guidance, it had learned a whole string of new moves, leaving Caster genuinely wide-eyed.
Among them were quite a few high-level utility moves: Block, Imprison, Magic Coat, Skill Swap, Trick Room, and more.
What was most remarkable, though, was that Shellder hadn't merely learned and memorized these techniques. Under Slowking's tutelage, it had already reached the point where it could apply these flexibly in real combat.
Even Lorelei found herself thinking that Caster's Shellder was something altogether abnormal.
Beyond Shellder, each of the other Pokémon had made their own strides.
None of it would have been possible without Caster's daily dedication at the fishing rod.
After spending five days essentially working through every species in the unfrozen lake at Icefall Cave, Caster had moved on to the Water Labyrinth on Five Island, where large numbers of Remoraid lived.
Remoraid was a Pokémon found in abundance throughout the oceans, not especially powerful on its own. Known as the Sea Sniper, it was said to use its abdominal muscles to launch ingested water from its mouth with tremendous force, bringing down prey in mid-flight. Its name came directly from that behavior.
What mattered most to Caster, however, was how absurdly wide Remoraid's move pool ran — Water, Ice, Electric, Fire — as though the creature had no idea it was supposed to have a type.
As a Water-type Pokémon, it naturally commanded a wide range of Water and Ice moves. That much was expected.
But it also had strong command of Protect, Substitute, and Double Team. Many Remoraid already knew those moves.
Most astonishing of all was that Remoraid, a pure Water-type, could somehow also learn Electric moves like Thunder Wave and Charge Beam, and even Fire moves like Flamethrower and Fire Blast.
On top of everything else, Remoraid would use its sucker-shaped dorsal fins to attach itself to Mantine and scavenge whatever scraps the larger Pokémon left behind. If a Mantine came under attack, the Remoraid riding it would join the fight without hesitation.
As a result, nearly every single Remoraid came with Helping Hand already in its repertoire.
For Caster, each Remoraid was essentially a treasure chest. No matter what move it produced, there was always something worth having.
Add to that the fact that Remoraid were individually small and existed in enormous numbers, and Caster spent many more days fishing there and only pulled back once he felt he had turned over most of what that stretch of sea had to offer.
Late afternoon.
Inside Lorelei's villa, Caster and Lorelei sat across from each other in the courtyard.
"Caster, my leave is coming to an end."
After sitting quietly for a moment with her chin resting on her hand, Lorelei delivered the news. "The League has assigned me to other duties. I'll be setting out tomorrow."
"Already? That's so sudden."
Caster was momentarily taken aback. But then he reconsidered: an Elite Four member taking a full two-week vacation outside a holiday period was, if anything, the unusual part.
"Has it really been half a month without me even noticing?"
He let out a quiet sigh.
Half a month had slipped by before he quite realized it. He had been filming fishing videos the whole time, watching his subscriber count climb steadily, and somewhere along the way he had simply stopped thinking about leaving.
If he could have kept living like this indefinitely, he would have.
Noticing his reaction, Lorelei smiled softly before standing and saying with a touch of resignation, "Honestly, I never had much enthusiasm for the Elite Four position to begin with. After all these years, I've grown rather tired of it."
"The only reason I've stayed on is because the Indigo League is so short on qualified people. If there were someone ready to take over, I'd have stepped down long ago."
In battle, Lorelei was cold and precise as ice. In ordinary life she was gentle and understated. The years spent as an Elite Four member had exposed her to too much of what lay beneath the surface of society and the League, and she was weary of it.
"Lorelei, it sounds like you're exhausted."
Caster looked at her with a quiet concern.
If he remembered correctly, she did eventually step down from the position, in time.
"Perhaps a little," she said, and sighed. Then her gaze sharpened as it turned to him. "Caster, I have high hopes for you. I hope we'll meet again on the road to the Championship."
She paused, letting the words hang in the air.
The phrase settled over him. Something about the weight of expectation behind it felt different from ordinary encouragement.
"I'll give it everything I have, Lorelei."
He drew a deep breath and closed his hand into a fist.
She had helped him enormously. Within whatever power he had, he genuinely wanted to ease her burden in return.
Perhaps sensing that the conversation was growing too heavy, Lorelei smiled and asked, "So what are your plans from here?"
"If you're leaving tomorrow, then I'll be heading out from the Sevii Islands as well. You have League business to attend to, and I still have Gym Badges to earn. After that, I want to make it into the Indigo Plateau Conference."
"'Make it in'?" Lorelei laughed and shook her head. "You really are modest."
The past two weeks had given her a front-row seat to the growth of Dratini, Shellder, and Slowpoke. Even from her vantage point at the very top of the trainer hierarchy, Lorelei found their rate of development alarming.
Take Caster's Dratini: massive in frame, physically overwhelming, brimming with energy. The creature was a genuine freak of nature. Champion Lance's own Dragonair, before it had evolved, had certainly never matched this.
As for Slowpoke, nothing more needed to be said. It was simply a monster.
Even Shellder was remarkable. Lorelei was confident that her own Cloyster, at the time of its capture, had been nowhere close to Caster's Shellder.
Taken together, her conclusion was that it was Caster himself who was the real anomaly. She had high expectations for him and had looked after him generously throughout his stay.
By her estimation, if Caster entered the Indigo Plateau Conference, he would comfortably qualify for the main bracket and safely reach the top sixteen.
After that, it would come down to fortune.
With a normal showing, she believed a top-eight finish was well within reach, and a top-four was not out of the question. Whether he could stand on the podium depended on the strength of the field that year.
"Before I leave the Sevii Islands, though, I want to make a full run at the Trainer Tower. I want to see where my strength actually stands."
Caster rose to his feet as well, his eyes burning with something eager and combative.
Lorelei's own eyes lit up at once. "Well, I have nothing pressing this afternoon. In that case, let me come along."
She had been watching Gyarados closely for two weeks without arriving at any real conclusion. A serious, full-effort battle might finally give her the opening she needed, a moment when Gyarados let something slip.
This was too good an opportunity to pass up.
"Let's go."
With that, the two set off at once, riding a Lapras toward the Sevii Islands.
When they arrived at the Trainer Tower, Lorelei's presence swept through the lobby like a cold front — trainers going quiet, turning, whispering.