Departure and Plans

Yuga's words left Reggie staring wide-eyed at his friend, who wore a serious expression. He didn't know what to say for a moment.

"I'm... I'm sorry," Reggie finally managed to utter after a long pause.

Yuga smiled and replied, "You shouldn't be saying that to me."

Upon hearing Yuga's response, Reggie released all of his Pokémon, one by one, and apologized to each of them, especially to his Staraptor.

Watching Reggie regain some of his spirits, Yuga stood up, dusted off the grass from his clothes, and said, "Alright, I'm going now. Paul is still waiting for me in the spectator seats!"

Yuga started to walk away, but halfway, he turned back to Reggie and said, "Although these words may sound cliché, I still hope you remember why you wanted to become a Trainer in the first place. It has nothing to do with how strong others are! Oh, and don't forget, you still have a match for third place to compete in. Paul and I will be in the audience, waiting for your outstanding performance."

After Yuga left, Reggie continued to have heartfelt conversations with his Pokémon. They talked about his initial dreams, future plans, and the uncertainty of whether he should inherit his grandfather's Pokémon Day Care. Unconsciously, he felt a stronger bond with his Pokémon.

Because finding Reggie took some time, when Yuga returned to the spectator seats, the battle for the championship between Flint and Cynthia was already underway.

In the current match, Flint's Flareon was facing Cynthia's Milotic.

On the large screen, it showed that Cynthia's Glaceon, Roserade, and Lucario had all lost their battle capabilities, while Flint's Magmortar, Rapidash, and Steelix had also lost their ability to battle.

Melotic used a water cannon to defeat Flareon, and the light representing Flareon on the big screen dimmed.

It was clear that Flint was at a disadvantage against Cynthia, and the situation was getting worse.

Silently recalling Flareon, Flint sent out his Houndoom.

Flint's Houndoom moved swiftly on the battlefield, using cunning tactics to enhance its abilities. Eventually, Cynthia's weakened Milotic succumbed to Houndoom's powerful Night Slash.

Cynthia's next Pokémon was Azumarill, a Water-type with high resistance to Fire Pokémon.

While Cynthia's previous Pokémon had weaknesses to Fire, her later choices had a clear advantage over Flint's team. This included her ace, Garchomp, which further pressured Flint.

However, Flint remained composed on the battlefield. Unlike Reggie, who had no prior knowledge of Cynthia's strength, Flint had battled Cynthia several times before and was well aware of her abilities.

Even though Azumarill had a type advantage over Houndoom, Flint's Houndoom was one of his strongest Pokémon, second only to Flareon. After skillful tactics and previous enhancements, Houndoom managed to defeat Azumarill, albeit at the cost of fainting itself.

Cynthia's last Pokémon was Garchomp, a powerful Dragon and Ground type. This was her ace Pokémon and a formidable adversary.

At this point, Yuga also noticed that Cynthia's overall strength wasn't significantly higher than Flint's. The only exception was her exceedingly powerful Garchomp.

In this final showdown, Flint's Houndoom was at a disadvantage due to the type match-up. Still, it was a testament to their history and Flint's strategic skill that the battle ended in a draw, with both Houndoom and Garchomp losing their battle capabilities.

With this result, the championship of the Lily of the Valley Conference was decided in Cynthia's favor.

The gap between the two Pokémon was significant.

Cynthia winning the championship in this tournament was expected by everyone, and there were no surprises among the audience. Cynthia's performance in this competition had been outstanding.

Yuga could foresee that after this tournament, Cynthia, the brilliant young girl, would become widely recognized in the world of Pokémon Trainers. While Cynthia had some fame in the Trainer community before, this victory would establish her as a leader among the young Trainers of Sinnoh.

However, this didn't have much to do with Yuga and his friends.

After the battle for first and second place, there was a battle for third place between Reggie and another trainer.

After adjusting, Reggie regained his energy and won the third place in the Lily of the Valley Conference with an absolute advantage.

Yuga felt that something different might have happened to Reggie.

After the championship and runner-up ceremony featuring Flint and Cynthia, Yuga and his companions started packing up, preparing to leave Lily of the Valley Island.

Besides Yuga's group, many tourists, media personnel, and tournament participants were also gradually preparing to leave Lily of the Valley Island.

Grandpa Julian had arrived at the Lily of the Valley Island's harbor as soon as the Lily of the Valley Conference ended. He had promised to take Flint and Volkner with him and accompany them back to Sunyshore City.

Although this route was a bit longer, the kind-hearted Grandpa Julian didn't mind.

As Yuga and his friends were leaving Lily of the Valley Island in the evening, they spent the night at sea on Grandpa Julian's spacious yacht, which posed no problem.

During the night, after they had dinner, Yuga and his friends sat together on the deck, chatting.

"Now that this tournament is over, what are your plans for the future?" Yuga asked the other three.

"I'm from Sunyshore City's Gym, and I need to prepare to take over the Gym's responsibilities. I'll inherit Sunyshore Gym," Volkner spoke up first, his goals clearly defined.

Flint immediately followed, saying, "Of course, I'll continue my training. I'll defeat Cynthia one day!"

Yuga thought to himself: Achieving that might not be easy, as I don't recall you ever beating Cynthia.

After contemplating for a moment, Reggie said, "I'll continue traveling for a while. I plan to visit Kanto first, then Johto, and finally Hoenn. I'll participate in the League Championship in these places. Afterward, I'll return to Sinnoh to study under my grandfather and eventually inherit his Pokémon Day Care."

"Are you giving up on being a Trainer?" Flint asked, astonished.

Volkner also stared at Reggie in disbelief, but Yuga was confident that Reggie wouldn't give up.

"Of course not! I'll keep being a Trainer! Yuga told me that even if I can't travel anymore or inherit the Day Care, it won't stop me from being a Trainer. I'll keep working hard, and when we meet again, Pokémon battles will be inevitable! Speaking of which, we've never battled once during this tournament!"

Hearing Reggie's words, both Flint and Volkner were delighted. They promised that the next time they met, they would have an exciting battle.

Yuga also felt happy for Reggie. It seemed that Reggie had already planned his path for the future without realizing it.

Yuga knew that Reggie had been struggling with whether to continue being a Trainer or to inherit his grandfather's Pokémon Day Care.

But now, they were all adults, and no matter what path they chose, it would be an enjoyable one.