Saffron Gym — Reception Room
Sabrina stared at Gardevoir, who was sitting quietly beside Elias, and couldn't help but grit her teeth.
The more she thought about the mess she'd just made of herself in front of her, the more she wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear.
Still, anger aside—seeing the person she'd longed for day and night appear before her again—Sabrina's heart was full to the brim with joy.
If not for the certainty that Gardevoir would get in her way, she'd have thrown herself into Elias's arms already.
"So you really died once… and then came back to life because of some special reason?"
She asked while mentally replaying Elias's earlier explanation.
"Yeah," Elias nodded. "You could say that. The process is… kind of complicated."
As he spoke, he rubbed his temples.
Explaining the whole simulator thing? Yeah, no idea how to start that one.
Fortunately, the Pokémon world had two perfect scapegoats: Celebi and Arceus. Whenever in doubt, blame one of them.
Sabrina nodded, seemingly satisfied.
She still had a lot of questions, but they didn't matter anymore.
To her, Elias coming back safe and sound was all that mattered.
"You're not allowed to do anything that dangerous again!"
She crossed her arms, her tone serious.
Then she shot a glare at Gardevoir.
After all, the reason Elias had ended up in danger in the first place… was to help cure her.
Strangely enough, Gardevoir didn't talk back this time.
Instead, she lowered her head slightly, almost as if she agreed with Sabrina for once.
"Don't worry. I won't," Elias replied softly.
At the same time, he slid one arm around Gardevoir's shoulder and added gently:
"Besides, Gardevoir's so strong now, it's hard to get into danger even if I wanted to."
"Right, Gardevoir?"
And he wasn't exaggerating.
With his current team, unless they ran into something on the level of the Sinnoh Creation Trio, he really didn't have much to worry about.
Hearing that, Gardevoir perked up again.
"Garde!"
She placed her hands on her hips and lifted her chin with pride—her way of confirming Elias's words.
Sabrina watched the scene and reluctantly nodded.
In her eyes, Gardevoir was the biggest danger.
But... when it came to external threats, she was also the most reliable shield.
As they chatted, Elias's stomach suddenly growled.
A glance at the time reminded him: he'd come straight here after getting off the train. He hadn't even eaten dinner yet.
"Sabrina, mind if I use your kitchen?" he asked.
She blinked, then, as realization dawned, a gleam lit up in her eyes.
"You're going to cook dinner?"
There was a hint of excitement in her voice.
Years might've passed, but she hadn't forgotten what an amazing cook Elias was.
No joke, she could live off the Pokéblocks he made for an entire day and still crave more.
Her cheeks flushed a little as she added, abandoning any semblance of pride:
"I—I'm a little hungry too. Make me a portion while you're at it."
"…If it's not too much trouble for you, that is."
Anyone could see that last part was just a fig leaf for her pride.
Elias found it amusing and was about to agree—
But Gardevoir suddenly slapped her hands on the table and stood up.
He turned toward her in confusion, only to find her big, teary eyes staring up at him as she tugged gently on his sleeve.
"Garde~ Gardevoir! (Since you've already seen Sabrina, shouldn't we be heading back?)"
"Gardevoir! (If we don't leave soon, we'll miss the train.)"
As she spoke, she pulled out her phone and showed him the electronic ticket.
One hour until departure.
Elias: ?
His head itched. Was he growing new brain cells?
So Gardevoir had really planned to let him just get a quick glimpse of Sabrina and then dip?
"Sabrina, don't let her push you around like this!"
"Alakazam, [Psycho Cut]!"
Sabrina had finally had enough. She waved her hand, ordering Alakazam to attack.
Only...
She clearly underestimated the power gap between Alakazam and Gardevoir these days.
In just one round, Gardevoir had pinned Alakazam to the ground with sheer psychic force, completely immobilizing him.
"Garde~"
Gardevoir let out a disdainful snort.
---
Meanwhile, aboard the high-speed rail
Lance, too, was on the verge of growing a few new brain cells.
As planned, he'd gone to meet the so-called "key individual" alongside Gengar.
Now, they were traveling together toward Saffron City by train, having agreed to team up.
Everything had gone smoothly so far—except for one little thing:
That "key individual" turned out to be...
Latios.
Lance glanced sideways at the Legendary Pokémon now chatting casually with Gengar and twitched.
Can someone explain to him why the League's "important contact" was a literal Legendary Pokémon?
And not just any Legendary—but a Dragon-type one.
Dammit. His hands itched. He really wanted to catch it.
On the other end, Latios had lost count of how many times he'd felt the burning stare from the red-haired human next to him.
He narrowed his eyes and scooted further into his seat with visible disdain.
The only reason he agreed to go to Saffron with them in the first place was because—
First, it was the necessary transfer point if he wanted to reach the Johto region.
But more importantly—
He had sensed the source of the Infinity Flute's melody. The one that had been playing again and again these past few days—
Was right in Saffron City.
A cold smile crept across Latios' face.
Looks like they know my travel plans pretty well. Afraid I wouldn't hear it, they even ran all the way from Johto to Kanto to play it here.
Fine.
This time, he was going to find out who had been faking the Infinity Flute's melody—
Trying to trick his pure-hearted sister into coming.
Just as that thought crossed his mind, Latios' communicator pinged.
He opened it—and sure enough, it was from Latias.
[Brother, did you find the source of the flute yet?]
Exactly what he expected.
Even though Latias had said she wouldn't believe it, she clearly hadn't stopped thinking about it for a second.
Glancing at their estimated time of arrival, Latios replied:
[Almost there.]
[Don't worry. Once I find the fraud in Saffron, I'll share my view feed with you—so you can watch him get absolutely wrecked.]
Hitting send, Latios gave a cold chuckle and tucked his device away.
A sharp glint flashed at the corner of his lips.
---
...
Huh. You really stuck it out all the way to the end.
Didn't think you had the patience. Guess I was wrong.
WiseTL's the one who actually made all this come together. I'm just here putting a bow on it… or, well, shoving it in a backpack and calling it a day. Same thing.
If you had fun, you know what to do:
👉 [patreon.com/WiseTL]
Heads up—Patreon's 50% off for all tiers during May. So if you were on the fence? Now's the time.
And if you're the social type, there's a Discord too. Pretty decent spot to hang out—no battles required.
👉 [discord.gg/wisetl]
Alright. That's enough standing around. Go on—before you make it weird.
—Leaf