Officer Jenny put down the communication device and rested one hand on the steering wheel, but there was a hint of resentment on her face.
The Jenny family was a huge family built around marriage alliances. Due to their strong genes, the girls born into the family all looked almost like twins, with very little difference between them, and they were all brought into the family for training. In that sense, it was a very thorough matriarchal family.
According to the family rules, Officer Jenny was now at the proper age and needed to quickly find a powerful trainer with enough potential.
The Jenny family was relatively open-minded and allowed her to choose for herself, but the man at the very least had to be a Gym-level trainer.
Having grown up surrounded by such expectations, Officer Jenny was extremely strict about choosing a partner. She also had no interest in the men who wanted to rely on the Jenny family's support. Not one of them truly possessed Gym-level strength. Some were merely insignificant members of small families, while others were the sons of businessmen.
The core heirs of those families would never choose someone from either of the two major families, Jenny or Joy.
If she could marry the young Professor from earlier, then once he reached the Champion-level in the future, she might even be able to use his influence to become the head of the Jenny family.
With a Champion-level trainer backing them, the Jenny family could even surpass the Joy family and become a top-tier force in the Kanto region.
Vroom!
The vehicle had already entered an official League road. The small dirt road had become much smoother, while the forest had gradually turned into shrubs. Not far ahead, a dark blue-black highway had also appeared.
Officer Jenny stepped on the accelerator and bit her lip as she muttered regretfully, "What a pity. He's not the womanizer the rumors made him out to be. The intelligence from Galar must have been wrong..."
* * *
Littleroot Town.
After finishing his meal, Shiro said goodbye to Mrs. Soyln and headed to the forest east of the town to train his Pokémon.
Soyln was very curious about what the three of them had said and done in the orchard and why Nurse Joy had been the first to come out, looking as though she was about to cry…
However, those matters were rather private. After hesitating several times, she still couldn't bring herself to ask.
Birch slipped away to conduct his research after eating.
As her mother was cleaning up, Sapphire quietly sneaked out of the house. When she saw flashes of light coming continuously from the east, she naturally made her way toward them.
She was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts as she quickly moved through the familiar forest.
After walking for only a little over ten minutes, she could already see a huge black bird rapidly turning in midair. The shockwaves it created were enough to strip the branches and leaves from the surrounding trees.
One dark, agile sphere after another circled through the forest before suddenly turning into streaks of shadow and silently blending into the trees.
Flames, rocks, violent collisions...
All kinds of Pokémon and moves of all kinds of types dazzled Sapphire's eyes.
She stood there in a daze with one hand against a tree, quietly watching from beside its trunk.
Sapphire had once begged her father for a Pokémon, but he had sternly refused her. His reason was always that she was still too young and had no need for a Pokémon. Later, it became that as a researcher, she had no need to waste her time raising a Pokémon by her side.
Her parents had argued about it because of that. After one particular argument, however, her mother had silently walked away and never brought the matter up again.
Most of the time, Pokémon felt far too distant to Sapphire.
They seemed as far away as the Salamence flying in from the edge of the sky.
The sunlight shone brightly as its shadow swept rapidly across the forest.
It was not until the Salamence was only a few dozen meters away from her that its natural, violent dragon aura finally made Sapphire realize something was wrong. She turned around, only to see the Salamence diving straight toward her.
Its enormous blue body instantly blocked out the sunlight, casting Sapphire completely within its shadow.
The vicious dragon's head grew larger and larger as it approached, looking like a huge truck charging straight at her.
Salamence opened its mouth, and a wave of blood and foul stench spread through the air. The man standing on its back with his arms crossed looked down at the girl below and curled his lips into a smile.
Sapphire's mind went completely blank. Her body froze as she stood rooted to the spot.
Whoosh!
A sharp sound tore through the air from the side. Sapphire suddenly felt an arm wrap around her waist, and her vision began spinning violently. However, from the black corner of clothing she caught sight of, she could tell that Shiro had saved her.
Shiro's expression was cold as he placed Sapphire in the open space behind him and shouted sharply, "Corviknight!"
"Coooorv!"
The piercing cry drew closer. Salamence had no choice but to immediately rise and dodge, while the man on its back also jumped down onto the grass below.
The man had a strong build and was bare-chested, with only a black cloak fluttering in the wind. Beneath his spotless white naval cap was a somewhat aged face with a half-white beard.
He was none other than the Hoenn Elite Four member, Drake!
Drake waved his cloak and shouted, "Good! Salamence, use Flamethrower!"
Corviknight had the Steel type, allowing it to resist Dragon-type moves. Flamethrower, however, was a Fire-type move that could counter its opponent.
Shiro stared at his opponent and shouted without hesitation, "Corviknight, Aerial Ace!"
In midair, Salamence briefly gathered its strength before rapidly spewing out a thick pillar of fire. It was obvious that it was extremely skilled with this move.
However, the rapidly approaching pillar of fire only brushed past Corviknight. To the fast Corviknight, such an attack was simply too slow. There was no way it could even touch a single feather.
Corviknight slid through the sky in a crescent-shaped path, avoiding Flamethrower before launching an attack from behind Salamence.
'Drill Peck!' Shiro commanded with his psychic power at the same time.
Corviknight immediately began spinning in the air. Its steel beak became like a powerful drill, and even the sturdy body of a Dragon-type Pokémon could be pierced straight through by it.
Drake's heart tightened slightly. He had never expected his opponent to be this fast. Even as an experienced veteran trainer, he could barely see a trace of its afterimage.
More importantly, he hadn't heard Shiro's voice at all, yet Corviknight had smoothly followed up with another move.
'Is this the coordination built through years of training?'
The thought flashed through his mind, and he immediately roared, "Salamence, behind you! Use Thunder Fang!"
If another trainer were in this situation, they might try to make their Pokémon dodge or defend themselves. Drake, however, had always firmly believed in attacking. Either knock the opponent down first, or fall himself.
Both Pokémon were at the Elite-level, with no meaningful difference in their levels. This was exactly the kind of battle where the strength of the two trainers would decide the outcome.
Since Drake had chosen such a way to greet Shiro on their first meeting, there was no way he would surrender easily.
Blinding flashes of electricity lit up the sky above the forest.
Salamence did not hesitate for even a moment. It twisted its neck and held golden, crackling lightning in its mouth as it viciously charged toward Corviknight's Drill Peck.
At the moment Corviknight struck Salamence, Salamence would bite down on Corviknight as well.
Shiro simply watched the scene calmly.
Above them, a dazzling golden stream of light suddenly appeared across Corviknight's body.
**
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