Then he returned to his pre-booked hotel room, the sun had already sunk below the horizon, leaving only a faint touch of orange-red in the sky.
As soon as Lionel put his things down, his phone vibrated repeatedly. Two messages popped up on the screen, from Wallace and Steven respectively.
Wallace: "Today really gave me a huge surprise."
"In a bit, I'll organize and send you some of my insights on raising Milotic. I hope they'll be useful to you."
"Your idea of pausing the rain to freeze it into ice sculptures and interacting with the audience was truly stunning. I'm very much looking forward to your performance in the upcoming Grand Festival."
Attached at the end was a cute sticker of a Milotic blowing bubbles.
Lionel replied with a smile: "Thank you, Senior Wallace. I also want to thank you for the Prism Scale you gave me before—"
Immediately after, Lionel clicked on Steven's message: "I took some time to watch your performance. Milotic was great."
"By the way, when will Beldum be able to perform on the Pokémon Contest stage? You'll have to design something good for it; it definitely can't be worse than Milotic's 'rain control' idea today."
Lionel couldn't help but laugh when he saw the message.
Actually, he already had ideas for Beldum's performance, but he needed to wait for it to evolve to better showcase the effects he had in mind.
Lionel's fingers tapped quickly on the screen, explaining in detail his thoughts on Beldum's future performance—
Far away in Mossdeep City, exploring a cavern, Steven was sitting on a flat rock, holding his phone and looking at the text Lionel sent.
The more he read, the brighter the smile on his face became. Even the Metagross beside him curiously leaned its head over, staring at the screen with its ruby-like eyes.
"This idea is fantastic! Hahaha, I'll be waiting for the day it performs in a Pokémon Contest."
Steven murmured to himself, his fingertips tapping out a reply on the screen.
Just then, a call display popped up on the phone, with the contact name "Devon Corporation - Mauville Branch."
Lionel pressed the answer key, and a gentle male voice came from the other end: "Hello, is this Mr. Lionel? I'm Eric, the manager of the Mauville Branch of Devon Corporation. We met a few days ago."
"Oh, I remember. What's up? Is something the matter?"
Lionel asked.
"It's like this. Regarding the ore and rare metals for Beldum, I pushed for them this afternoon, and a new batch has been delivered to Mauville City."
"I originally wanted to send them over today, but it's late now, and I was afraid of disturbing your rest. Would tomorrow morning be convenient for you?"
Eric's tone was very polite.
"Tomorrow morning is fine. Sorry for the trouble."
Lionel replied.
"No trouble at all, no trouble at all!"
Eric quickly said: "Actually, there's one more thing I'd like to ask of you."
"I'd like to invite your Milotic and Tyrantrum to film a new set of commercials for the Dive Ball and Nest Ball."
"I wonder if you have time tomorrow afternoon?"
"The filming won't take too long, about two hours should be enough."
Lionel was stunned for a moment. As expected of the manager of Devon Corporation's Mauville Branch, his business sense was indeed sharp, immediately seizing the hype brought by Milotic's evolution.
"I'm free tomorrow afternoon. It can be arranged."
Lionel agreed after a moment's thought. After all, they were immediately sending another batch of resources for Beldum. It was just cooperating to film a short video; it would be over the top not to agree to this small request.
"Thank you so much! Then, after we deliver the materials tomorrow morning, we'll confirm the specific details of the filming with you?"
"Sure."
Hanging up the phone, Lionel slumped on the sofa, looking at the colorful neon lights outside the window, and sighed softly: "It looks like I'll have to stay in Mauville City for another day."
Originally, Lionel's plan was to set off for Mt. Chimney tomorrow at noon after the Pokémon Contest ended today, but now it seemed the trip had to be delayed.
Lionel picked up his phone, opened the map software, and re-planned the upcoming route in detail.
Staying an extra day was fine; he could use this time to let Milotic familiarize itself with its newly acquired skills and organize the training insights Wallace sent.
As the night grew deeper, the hustle and bustle of Mauville City gradually settled down.
After washing up, Lionel lay on the hotel bed, recalling the scenes from today's Pokémon Contest—these images flashed through his mind like movie clips.
The next morning, the first ray of sunlight passed through the gap in the hotel curtains, casting a long, thin spot of light on the floor.
When Lionel woke up, his phone screen was lit, and the email from Wallace was sitting quietly in his inbox.
Clicking on the attachment, inside were detailed records regarding Milotic's cultivation.
Lionel read it word for word twice, extracting the key content into his memos, intending to slowly adjust the training plan later based on Milotic's condition.
At exactly nine in the morning, the staff from Devon Corporation appeared on time at the hotel entrance, delivering the ore and rare metals Beldum needed.
Looking at this new batch of ore and metals, according to the Beldum training manual Steven had sent before, after devouring these, Beldum should be about to evolve.
The afternoon commercial shoot was arranged by the lakeside near the Power Plant on the outskirts of Mauville City.
The lake water here was crystal clear, and the shore was lush with vegetation. Milotic stretched its body in the water, its tail fin flicking lightly to create strings of water droplets; the scene was agile and beautiful.
Tyrantrum, on the other hand, showed off its physique next to the rock scenery on the shore. Under the photographer's guidance, it sometimes raised its head and roared, and sometimes stomped the ground in a show of power, vividly displaying its majestic and overbearing side.
Beldum would also come to cause a bit of trouble, curiously joining the filming. Its adorable appearance formed a sharp contrast with Tyrantrum's sharpness, making the staff on-site unable to help but laugh.
The entire shoot went much smoother than expected, finishing successfully in less than two hours.
The extra day Lionel spent in Mauville City finally came to a warm conclusion amidst the playfulness and laughter of the Pokémon during the shoot.
The next day, before leaving Mauville City to set off, Lionel made a special detour to the snack street in the city center and bought all the delicious snacks he could find.
Sizzling Volcano Sausages, fragrant Rice Cakes wrapped in seaweed flakes, and Voltorb Mochi—a large bag full of snacks was carried in his hand, emitting an enticing aroma.
At the starting point of Route 111 above Mauville City, Lionel mounted Tyrantrum. The shadows of the man and the dragon were stretched long by the sun, moving slowly on the road.
Tyrantrum moved its thick limbs, stepping forward steadily along the road.
At first, the roadside was covered in patches of green, but as they went deeper, the green gradually faded, turning into barren land with sparse shrubs, and finally, even the shrubs were rare, leaving only exposed sand and stone.
Sitting on the broad back of the dragon, the sound of the wind whistled past Lionel's ears, carrying the unique dry air of the desert.
—
Tyrantrum's strong hind legs stepped on the soft sandy ground, its wide soles acting like natural cushions, steady and firm, with almost no bumps felt.
In less than half an hour, the The Ren-Sheng Family's house appeared in view.
"Uncle Victor, Marina!"
Lionel jumped down from Tyrantrum's back and waved the bulging snack bag in his hand.
Victor and his wife were organizing tools in the yard. Hearing the voice, they immediately came out to greet him in surprise.
Marina even hopped in front of Lionel like a cheerful little rabbit, her eyes sparkling: "Brother Lionel! I saw Milotic in the livestream; it's really so beautiful!"
"Here, I brought you some snacks from Mauville City. Give them a try."
Lionel handed over the bag and then released Milotic with a smile. Milotic popped out from the Poké Ball, lightly controlling the water vapor to circle in the yard.
Marina carefully reached out her hand. As soon as her fingertips touched Milotic's smooth body, Milotic affectionately rubbed its head against her palm, causing the young girl to let out a series of crisp laughs that echoed in the yard.
Lionel chatted with the The Ren-Sheng Family for a while, talking about the interesting events at the Mauville City Pokémon Contest, and also listened to them talk about the interesting things they had encountered with Trainers recently—
After bidding farewell to the The Ren-Sheng Family, Lionel continued to ride Tyrantrum deeper into Route 111.
The route ahead gradually became clear, splitting into two paths at a fork:
One was heading further up Route 111, crossing the edge of the desert and bypassing the famous Steel Valley, which would lead to Fallarbor Town north of Mt. Chimney.
The other did not go through the desert, but headed towards Route 112 on the right, crossing over Mt. Chimney to reach Lavaridge Town on the southeast side of the mountain.
Lavaridge Town is a famous hot spring town. The hot springs in the town have a natural sulfur smell that can relieve the fatigue of travel, making it the first choice for many Trainers to rest midway.
Besides that, it is also the location of the Fire Gym.
The original Gym Leader was Moore, one of the former Hoenn Elite Four.
This Trainer, known for his steadiness and strength, has now stepped down from his position as an Elite Four member and spends more time teaching his granddaughter how to raise Pokémon. The Gym has been inherited by his granddaughter, Flannery.
Lionel chose the second route.
Starting from the foot of Mt. Chimney, he would explore the mountain bit by bit, taking a good look at this famous active volcano in the Hoenn region, and finally descend the mountain from the east to arrive at Lavaridge Town.
With Tyrantrum and Milotic by his side now, he could handle the rugged terrain and various situations he might encounter when crossing the volcano.
Mt. Chimney, also known as the Chimney Volcano, is one of the two volcanoes in the Hoenn region.
Although it is an active volcano, it hasn't had a large-scale eruption for a long time; only the summit is constantly emitting billowing magma and thick smoke.
There are rumors that the magma lake at the summit was once the residence of the earth god Groudon, and that there are also crisscrossing Underground Path caves hidden within the mountain, where it's said one can still see magma that hasn't completely cooled in the depths.
This attracts countless Trainers to come and explore.
Lionel was also very curious about this volcano and could now explore it properly.
After about two hours of travel, Tyrantrum carried Lionel to the foot of Mt. Chimney.
Looking up, the majestic volcano pierced into the clouds, the top surrounded by gray smoke, which was particularly prominent in the clear blue sky.
The air was filled with a faint smell of sulfur, carrying a unique scorching breath.
Lionel jumped down from Tyrantrum's back and cast his gaze toward this silent volcano, his eyes full of expectation.