Preparation Before the Cinnabar Gym

"Express delivery?" Aisha held his mobile phone and listened to the information described by the express delivery company on the other side of the phone, and said, "Or is it an urgent express delivery?"

"Uh... three?"

Instructor Ai was a bit puzzled.

He wondered who on earth would send himself an expedited express.

"Well, send it to Cinnabar Island, I'll be over there in the meantime, and take the express shipments on the way... good."

After leaving the address to receive the shipment, Aisha hung up the phone.

The efficiency of the courier service industry in this world was very fast, because of having a highly efficient and low-loss labor force like Pokémon.

Therefore, even if right now, those three express shipments were still being held at the customs office in the Kanto region, but as soon as he said that the place of receipt was on Cinnabar Island, they would be delivered very quickly.

It might even be possible to arrive at Cinnabar Island one step ahead of oneself.

"What on earth?"

Aisha was still puzzled by this matter.

After thinking about it and not being able to figure it out, Instructor simply didn't think about it.

Anyway, after arriving at Cinnabar Island and unwrapping it, one would know everything.

"Ai-chan, what's wrong?"

Lorelei walked over and smiled as she inquired about Aisha.

"Nothing." Aisha waved her hand and said, "I came for a couple of deliveries, and the courier company asked me where the delivery should be sent, so I told them to send the stuff to Cinnabar Island... after all, it's time for me to challenge Blaine's Cinnabar Gym after I stay over here for a few days to finish Azumarill's special training."

"Oh~"

Lorelei nodded thoughtfully.

She then gave a regretful expression and sighed.

Lorelei was already working on casting a sword for Aisha from unmelted ice.

Unfortunately, the idea of casting the sword itself was also an idea that came to her on a whim, and Lorelei herself wasn't a weapon master, so she didn't know anything about sword casting at all either.

If it was just a matter of making ice into the shape of a sword, Lorelei could do it with a wave of her hand.

However, she had worked with Bruno for so long that she naturally knew that the weapons of the martial arts were more than just "shapes".

The business of making swords has a lot to offer.

Lorelei knew nothing about it.

She was also unwilling to fool Aisha with inferior products...

After all, the matter of forging a sword for him was something that Lorelei herself had initiated in order to see the elegance of Instructor Ai fighting with a sword.

"Sister might have to let you down."

After going through some ideological struggle, Lorelei, who has always been good-looking, finally told the truth in front of the person he admired, saying: "In a moment of impulsiveness, promised to forge an ice sword for Ai-chan. However, in fact, sister doesn't know how to forge swords at all, she has no idea at all. Even if she has high-quality materials such as Never-melt Ice, the last two experiments were a complete waste of materials."

The more Lorelei spoke, the more she blushed, and in the end, her voice was already like a fly.

Obviously, she was ashamed of herself for having made a promise and then reneging on it.

"Uh?"

Aisha froze.

He hadn't expected that Lorelei would agonize over this inexplicable promise.

When it came down to it, he himself hadn't actually cared about her wanting to forge a sword at all.

Because, no matter what, there wasn't a sword that would be more suitable for his own use than his own Chien-Pao...

Lorelei was completely giving herself a hard time.

Instructor Ai himself was indifferent...

"Such a thing is nothing."

Aisha revealed a gentle smile and comforted the downcast Lorelei in front of her, saying, "Elite Lorelei doesn't have to care either, there's no need to take it to heart."

"Very gentle, Instructor Ai."

Lorelei wiped the non-existent tears, and then, obediently embraced Aisha, who was comforting her, into her arms.

"Eh?"

Feeling a fragrant wind coming from his face, followed by a large soft thing against his face, Instructor Ai's brain immediately went down.

Lorelei had one hand on his waist, one hand on his head, and pressed it directly on top of her chest, so even Aisha, who had always been clear-headed, was confused.

"Hey~"

Where Aisha couldn't see, Lorelei revealed a wry smile.

Her segment was much higher than the sisters Instructor Ai had seen before.

Since, in a short period of time, the path of sword casting was not going to work.

Then, she didn't dwell on these things, and decisively used this issue as a springboard, taking the opportunity to draw her relationship with Aisha a little closer was the right thing to do.

Those who dawdled when chatting and didn't dare to say one more word to show their feelings, or those who only dared to give a kiss even if they had made up their mind to show their feelings...

Lorelei could only say that they deserved to be defeated dogs.

Anyway, she had already won the hemp.

"Umm~"

Lorelei stuck just the right point and let go of Aisha.

Then, without waiting for Aisha to react, she immediately changed the topic, following Aisha's previous words, saying, "Cinnabar Island... It's quite a distance away from Seafoam Islands."

"Like this~"

Lorelei smiled at Aisha.

"She is not an irresponsible woman~" She raised a finger, put it in front of her red lips, showed a playful smile, and said: "Since, sister brought you from the coast of Fuchsia City to Seafoam Islands , then of course I can't help but take you the rest of the way."

"Anyway, I don't have much to do." Lorelei spread her hands.

She had all but forgotten that she only had the time to give Aisha a ride to Seafoam Islands after she had pushed off her job of escorting Hunter J to Lance.

Lorelei smiled like a crumb of earth and said, "Then, it's happily decided that after Ai finishes her Pokémon special training in Seafoam Islands, it's still up to me, sister, to send you to Cinnabar Island!"

"Uh..."

After saying that, she didn't care what Aisha's expression was, and walked towards the cave in Seafoam Islands in a happy mood, deciding on the itinerary behind her without any further ado.

Behind her, she left behind Instructor Ai who had a complicated face.

"This is really... worthy of the Ice Witch." Shaking his head, Aisha was also impressed by Lorelei's recklessness... or should I say, at the whim of her heart, and felt a pang of helplessness.

"What's wrong with the Kanto Elite Four..."

Aisha spat out.

By today, one had sort of met them all.

An Ice Witch who acted as she pleased and didn't listen to other people's ideas.

A fighter who was full of muscles and bent on honing his martial arts.

A spooky elder who is as dangerous as she is unpredictable.

A dragon envoy who once intended to destroy the world, but now has a strong sense of justice like a rampage.

These are the Elite Four of Kanto, dangerous people per capita.

However, they were friendly towards themselves.

"Fortunately, not enemies."

Shaking his head helplessly, Aisha also followed Lorelei's lead and walked into the cave of Seafoam Islands.

Azumarill was still in special training over there, so he had to keep a bit of an eye on it.

In addition, there were other Pokémon that could use the environment of Seafoam Islands for some special training.

...

"Lorelei."

Bruno called out to Lorelei.

"What's up... ha~" Lorelei yawned, and didn't move a bit with her makeup case to touch up her makeup, not even rewarding Bruno with a look.

"You like that kid a lot?"

Bruno inquired, frowning.

Although he was teased as a fool with a head full of muscles, Bruno wouldn't be able to be this Fighting type Elite Four if he really didn't think about anything but cultivation and sparring.

He just didn't care about those meaningless things.

During this period of time, he had more or less watched Lorelei's interactions with Aisha.

Regarding Lorelei's unusual enthusiasm, Bruno felt extreme doubt.

She was too enthusiastic.

Passionate was unlike her.

Bruno had worked with Lorelei for so long that he was naturally aware of Lorelei's character that once she fell in love with something, she would do whatever it took to take it into her hands.

However, even when facing Articuno, Lorelei had never lost her temper.

This time, she made an exception...

Bruno had never seen Lorelei behave like this before.

"Could it be that you're in love with that child?" Bruno's brows furrowed even tighter as he said, "But, you clearly know that he is the one that Elite Summer is in love with, and, you haven't even known him for two days... Lorelei, there should be a limit to your nonsense."

"Huh?"

Lorelei was at a loss.

She couldn't understand what Bruno was saying at all.

"Oh..." After a moment, Lorelei shook her head in a bit of amusement.

She understood.

Bruno was afraid that he thought she had fallen in love with Instructor Ai, and that was why she had done something so large-scale.

But, in reality, Lorelei knew very well that she still didn't have any admiration for the boy, at least today.

"Don't worry about it, Bruno."

Rubbing her brow a bit helplessly, Lorelei also realized that she had acted, a bit too much.

She spoke up to explain, saying, "I feel the same way about him as I do about Articuno, you don't have to worry, it's just that I don't quite grasp that distance without ever being in a relationship with someone... that's my problem at this point, I'll try to handle my behavior towards Pokémon and towards people."

"...I hope so."

Bruno looked at Lorelei for a long time before helplessly raising his hand in surrender.

Within the Kanto Elite Four, Lorelei was the one that's the biggest problem child.

It was clear that she was no longer a little girl, yet, her mind was like her appearance, not having gone through the baptism of the years, she still looked like she was following her heart.

"Hey."

Bruno sighed.

He did cherish Aisha as a rival, so he didn't want Lorelei to mess around.

However, Lorelei's decisive apology this time was out of Bruno's expectation.

He remembered that when Lorelei had made a mistake in the past, no matter if it was really wrong or not, she would more or less mouth off for a while.

This time, why did she admit her mistake so decisively...

"Hah~"

Lorelei twisted her head to show a bad smile.

The Ice Witch's dictionary didn't have a word for "correction".

Admitting her mistakes with an open mind and not changing them was her code of conduct.

"Hmm..."

Tapping her slender jade finger on her straight chin, Lorelei looked at Aisha, who was directing her Pokémon to exercise on the floating island in the distance, with eyes full of interest, and couldn't help but reveal a touch of ambiguity as if she was looking at a cute little animal.

Earlier, she subconsciously treated Aisha the way she treated a cute Pokémon.

Unfortunately, that child wasn't a Pokémon and couldn't be her Pokémon.

Hmm... or, she could be Aisha's Pokémon?

Didn't that kid say he lacked an Ice-type Pokémon?

"Eh?"

Lorelei's eyes lit up.

She seems to have come up with a very interesting maneuver.

...

"We're about to challenge the Cinnabar Gym on Cinnabar Island," Unaware of what strange thoughts Lorelei had gotten into her head, the present-day Instructor Ai was still reckoning with the Cinnabar Gym Challenge.

He looked over to his Pokémon.

Everyone was also enthusiastic in their own way.

"Hmm~"

Instructor Ai nodded in satisfaction.

He pulled out his cell phone and pulled up the intelligence files done against Blaine during this time.

That old man was also a good player of Sunny Day team, however, his Sunny Day teams were in a different direction from Erika's Sunny Day teams, focusing more on having Fire-type Pokémon violently bombard and annihilate with the effect of the Fire-type move's power boost under the Sunny Day's enchantment.

"Against the Fire-type gyms, Water-type Pokémon are naturally the most important fighting force." Aisha looked towards Azumarill and said, "Azumarill, this is your first Gym Challenge after evolving, make sure to fight beautifully for me."

"Lu!"

Azumarill nodded firmly.

It clenched its fists, and the inside of its eyes flickered with warlike flames.

Azumarill, who had been tempered by Poliwrath for some time and had played a serious high-end game, now had a much more fervent need for the Gym Challenge.

"Hmm... of course it's still the effect of attribute restraint that's more important."

Instructor Ai's eyes then flowed over the other Pokémon, finally choosing Larvitar.

Not only was this child two times resistant to fire, the rock and ground attribute moves also had a restraining effect on Fire-type Pokémon.

Although it was said that it was highly likely that Blaine's output hand would be taken away by Blaine's output hand with a single Solar Beam under a Sunny Day.

However, Larvitar could also be extremely useful if it defended against that hand of the opponent.

"Lar?"

Larvitar froze.

Then, it revealed a very surprised expression.

":ar?"

It stretched out its little finger and pointed at itself, as if it was asking for confirmation from Instructor Ai.

"Yes, you were sent out to fight this time." Aisha smiled gently.

"Lar!"

Larvitar was instantly overjoyed, and its cheering appearance amused the surrounding partners.

"As for, the last candidate..."

Meeting everyone's expectant gazes, Aisha was stumped.

One thing was for sure, Blaine was also worthy of being one of the strongest within the eight gyms in the Kanto region.

His Pokémon boxes were deep, and his sparring style wasn't set in stone, so it wasn't surprising what Pokémon he would pull out in response to the battle.

In terms of quality, Instructor Ai wanted to leave Charmeleon as the last Pokémon to prevent Blaine from pulling out Grass-type Pokémon that could also enjoy the benefits of Sunny Day Team, such as Vileplume, and to prevent the opponent from targeting his own Azumarill and Larvitar to death all at once.

Still... it wasn't easy to say.

"Let's talk about it then, it's still early anyway."

Everyone wasn't in a hurry.

They knew that Instructor Ai, who was a trainer, had a lot of things to think about, and couldn't arbitrarily arrange the selection of the Pokémon that would go into battle.

"Me-ta..."

Sshiny Metang took the lead and left the scene.

The Fire-type gym that was fighting this time, it was possible to pick anyone but it.

"Splash!"

Shiny Metang re-entered within the turbulent river.

The dark river within the Seafoam Islands not only had a rapid current, but the river water was even cold and piercing.

This was a very good opportunity for the shiny Metang to exercise.

"Roar~"

"..."

Following that sound, shiny Metang turned its head in a rather speechless manner, and saw Charmeleon, which was a Fire-type Pokémon, soaking in the icy river.

"Roar!"

Feeling the sight of shiny Metang, Charmeleon also revealed a heartless smile.

The exercise of the glacier was also an excellent workout for its body, willpower, and even the power of its flames.

As for safety... ever since Charmeleon had taken Victory Flame, its body had been strengthened, the low temperature of the glacier was not a threat to Charmeleon nowadays, and even swimming was not a problem if it paid more attention.

Instructor Ai even teased him, saying, "If you continue to work out according to this trend, your trait may become 'Water Absorb'."

"Me-ta..."

Within the tone of shiny Metang's voice, there was a rare dash of emotion.

It was envy.

It also envied that Charmeleon had obtained a secret treasure of Victory Flame's magnitude.

However, envious as it was, shiny Metang wasn't jealous.

It knew that Instructor Ai's character was one that dipped in and out of the rain.

If Charmeleon had something, it definitely wouldn't lack its own share.

"Boo?"

On the shore, Eevee circled Azumarill with a curious face, surveying its new body.

Heh, grew up.

"...Lu."

Azumarill meets Eevee's gaze a bit helplessly.

It feels like you're thinking of something really rude.

"Boo~eee~"

Eevee, on the other hand, smiles and waves its paw.

No, it's not~

But...

"Boo~"

Looking at Azumarill's "huge" body of one meter and three meters, and then looking at itself, who wasn't even half a meter after landing on all fours, little Eevee still showed an unhappy expression.

All of its former playmates who were about its age had grown up.

Only it was still a small child...

Such a feeling was still upsetting.

"Lu~" Azumarill could see Eevee's thoughts as well.

It gave a bad smile and picked up Eevee in a hug.

"Lu~"

Azumarill lifted Eevee up.

Up, up, and away~

"Boo?" Eevee froze, and then it was blushing up to its ears.

"Boo! Ee!"

Eevee used Flail, and after a minute, Eevee collapsed.

"Eee..."

Eevee gave up resisting with a sad face after realizing that its power wouldn't be able to break free from Azumarill's monstrous power anyway.

It felt that after Azumarill evolved, not only did it have more power, its personality had also changed for the worse.

The naive Marill from before was gone, and it could no longer bully it by itself.

"Boo~"

Eevee burst into tears.

Its youth was over.