Pokémon the Movie: The Journey of a Slate

Chapter 383 Quiet Dusk (Sugar!!!)

"It was a very good fight. It made me happy... ha~" After taking back the unconscious Pidgeot on the field, Xiao Jin stretched lazily. Although the final score was fixed at 2:3, there was no sign of frustration on his face. He didn't seem to care about the outcome of this battle.

"Mr. Xiaojin seems really open-minded." Mary couldn't help feeling a little weird looking at the young man in front of her. After all, his lazy look had nothing to do with the reserved image that was circulated on the Internet.

"Just call me Xiaojin... As for being open-minded?" Xiaojin put down his arms, looked at Mary with a smile, and glanced at Eslo who was doing a simple inspection of the Poké Ball next to him, "Of course I am open-minded! It's not shameful to lose to the future Battle Legend."

He paused, his smile turned cunning, and he slowly raised his hand and touched with his fingertips an extremely tiny metal protrusion on his collar. It was a pinhole camera.

Mary's eyes fixed for a moment and then she looked at Aislo, while the boy shrugged slightly, indicating that he already knew it.

"More importantly," Xiao Jin continued, deliberately dragging out his tone, his eyes flickering with a playful light, "When I think about the four guys behind me who are likely to be in a worse situation than me, I feel balanced all of a sudden, and even a little excited. Don't you agree, the ones in the camera?"

On the other side of the camera, in the Sinnoh Alliance, there is a lounge for the Four Heavenly Kings.

The air seemed to freeze in this spacious room.

On the huge tactical screen, the four people listened to Xiao Jin's final meaningful words. Although they could not see each other's expressions, they could imagine the young man's face with a mischievous smile just by imagining it.

The Insect King A Liu, who was originally holding and wiping his beloved Poké Ball, had already put down his hand. Fine beads of cold sweat oozed out of his forehead, as if he had already seen the scene of the insect swarm that he was so proud of being torn to pieces in the terrible sandstorm.

"I say..." A Liu wiped his forehead and continued, "He has already defeated Xiao Jin, so there should be no need to challenge the Four Heavenly Kings again, right?"

"Hey, I haven't spoken yet, what are you afraid of?" Super Power King Wusong pushed his glasses and rolled his eyes at the person next to him. The other person at least had some attribute advantages, while he...tsk tsk tsk tsk.

Today, Wusong came to join the other three kings for a rare occasion. Because he had previously handed a lot of alliance documents to Xiaojin to deal with, he had been a little free these days.

"Well...traditions cannot be abolished. We have to fight. As one of the Four Heavenly Kings, how can you be afraid of fighting?" The ground king Kikuno smiled kindly and took a sip of tea from the cup on the table.

"Actually, I'm quite looking forward to this battle." Fire King Daye still had that carefree look on his face. As Denji's best friend, one of the former Eight Masters, the strongest of the Four Heavenly Kings in the Sinnoh region, and someone who had met Eslo in the Reverse World before, he was undoubtedly the one with the calmest mentality.

"..."

After a brief silence, A Liu asked, "When did he come over?"

"According to what Xiao Luo said before," Wu Song recalled briefly, "it should be tomorrow morning."

"Huh? Isn't his fight with Xiao Zhulan tomorrow afternoon?" Kikuno suddenly spoke.

"..." x3

Spicy balls!

……

……

Turning his attention back to Aislo, after a brief chat, the boy nodded to Xiaojin, then naturally took Mary's hand.

"Let's go to the Pokémon Center, and then... take you to a nice place to relax." Aislo's voice instantly changed from calm to gentle, with a tenderness that was only for the girl beside him.

As separation is imminent, Aislo wants to take some time to spend with the other person.

Mary's face felt slightly hot. She looked into the boy's eyes but did not struggle. She let him hold her hand, and her cold brows softened a little.

"Yeah." She replied in a low voice and followed Aislo's footsteps.

Xiao Jin looked at the backs of the two people walking away side by side. The slanting sun cast long shadows behind them, interweaving together. He touched his chin and smiled with emotion, "It's so good to be young." Then he hummed a little tune and strolled off in the other direction.

……

After an unknown amount of time, a tranquil lake was discovered hidden under the hill behind the Pokémon Center.

At this moment, the setting sun dyed the lake surface into a piece of broken gold, and the breeze blew, rippling the waves. This place is far away from the solemnity of the Championship Road and the hustle and bustle of the Pokémon Center.

Eslo spread out a large picnic mat, with Absol and Umbreon helping him, while Marie took out a carefully prepared snack box from her space backpack. It was not energy cubes, but Galar-flavored scones and raspberry jam, as well as all kinds of candies and desserts that Eslo liked.

"Mobe~!" Eslo's Morube was rolling happily on the picnic mat. Mary picked him up with a smile and carefully fed him a small piece of scone crumbs. Soon, her little hamster also came running over to beg for food.

The rogue crocodile lay lazily by the lake, with only half of its head and eyes exposed, enjoying the coolness of the lake water. Its long tail occasionally slapped the water surface, and the splashing water sparkled in the sunset.

Cool Leopard seemed to want to go into the water as well, but she didn't seem to want to get her fur wet.

Bangilas hid in the mountain not far away. Ma was scolding Zoroark for some unknown reason. The little fox hung his head pitifully and looked around for help from time to time. However, it seemed that he had angered everyone again, and none of his friends around him paid any attention to him.

Although Mamaura was still a little tired, he was in much better spirits. He was sitting elegantly in a corner of the mat, licking the special smoothie that Eslo handed to him. Of course, he gave some to the Dark Crow next to him.

The hairy troll was still dutifully guarding a little further away, looking around vigilantly, but his tense muscles were obviously relaxed a lot. Not far from him, the turbaned gangster and the big-mouthed kid seemed to be discussing some tricks, and the poisonous skull frog was hiding aside and listening quietly.

Aislo picked up a piece of cake and took a big bite, squinting his eyes in satisfaction, "Mary, you still understand me~"

Both the taste and the perfect sweetness hit the spot for young people.

Mary snorted softly, picked up a scone, and slowly spread jam on it. "I'm worried that you won't have enough energy to fight the Four Heavenly Kings tomorrow, so I'll replenish your energy in advance."

Her words were still a little cold, but the concern in her eyes could not be hidden.

Aisiluo chuckled, moved closer, and gently bumped his shoulder against Mary's. "Don't worry, I promise to finish the battle quickly tomorrow. I still have to meet Miss Sirona in the afternoon."

The boy spoke in a relaxed tone, full of confidence.

Speaking of the afternoon, Mary paused for a moment while spreading the jam. She looked at the shimmering lake and was silent for a few seconds before she whispered, "...After you beat Sirona, I...will go back to Galar to prepare for the All-Star Game."

Eslo's chewing slowed down. He knew that this day would come sooner or later. The Galar All-Star Game was an important stage for Marie to prove herself as a trainer. He couldn't stop her, and he shouldn't stop her. But thinking of the upcoming separation and where he would go next...

Aislo put down the sandwich, reached out and gently held Mary's hand on her knee. Her hand was slightly cold, but very soft.

"Yeah, I know." Aislo's voice was a little low, with reluctance, but more of determination, "Good luck in the All-Star Game, let the whole Galar see your strength! On my side..." The boy paused, looking to the west, as if he could see through space and see the turbulent land, "I will come to you as soon as I finish dealing with things in Hoenn."

"You...eat your food first! Who knows who will go find whom later." Mary scraped the cream off the corner of Aislo's mouth with her other hand, and then rubbed it on the boy's face.

While saying this, the girl held Aislo's hand tightly with her backhand, applying a little force with her fingertips.

Everyone knows how dangerous Hoenn is now. Even though there are many powerful beings around the boy, the girl still feels uneasy because of her concern.

"...Be careful." Mary finally said only these three words, her voice was very light, but it was as heavy as a thousand pounds. She raised her head and looked deeply at Eslo with her emerald eyes, which were filled with unspoken worry and trust. "Hoenn is not like here."

Aislo felt warm in his heart and nodded vigorously.

The two were very close at this time. Mary could even count the boy's eyelashes which were like small fans. The same was true for Eslo. The girl's eyes were as bright as stars in his eyes.

The atmosphere reached this point. Mary seemed to realize something and closed her eyes shyly. However, at this moment, some discordant sounds were heard.

[Little Mary, don't worry. After all, I am here to do everything. I will take good care of Xiao Luo!] Yveltal's voice sounded very proud, but the somewhat exasperated voice of Gengar interrupted him, [Why didn't you say it earlier or later? What are you talking about now?!]

【? 】

[Relax, old lady.] Darkrai smiled and spoke in the team channel, [We've kissed before anyway, so it's no big deal if we miss this time.]

[Sigh... Fine, forget it.] Gengar's grandmother pulled Yveltal and shut up.

"..." The boy and the girl looked at each other, and everyone could see the embarrassment in each other's eyes.

To lighten the mood, Aislo picked up a scone and teased Mary on purpose, "Oh, someone made delicious scones. What should I do if I want to eat some when I get back to Galar?"

Mary blushed, glared at him, snatched the scone from his hand and stuffed it into her mouth, saying vaguely: "...If you want to eat it, learn to make it yourself! Or...I'll tell you when I go to Hoenn!" After saying that, she seemed to feel that this was a bit shy, so she turned her head away, leaving Aislo with only the red ears and slightly upturned corners of her mouth.

"Hehe~ It's a deal!" Aislo chuckled and reached out to touch Mary's hair, but she dodged him swiftly.

"Mobei!" Morube also joined in the fun, jumping onto Aislo's legs and trying to reach the small cake in his hand.

"Hey, little guy, this is mine!"

"Mobe Mobe!"

The afterglow of the setting sun gently enveloped the lakeside, and the laughter of young boys and girls and the lazy calls of elves intertwined together, forming a peaceful and warm picture.

The hairy troll looked at the fighting trainer and Eslo, and the corners of its mouth seemed to twitch upwards, and then it and Absol continued to look vigilantly into the distance.

This brief daily time is their last gentle harbor before challenging the peak.

Tomorrow, it will be the time for the youngsters to win the League Hall. But now, it is their peaceful evening.