Steven woke up in the afternoon.
To avoid insomnia at night, Steven forced himself out of bed.
At this time, most of the Pokémon were already awake.
Except for a certain Piplup that was still sound asleep on the bed.
After freshening up, Steven prepared lunch for his Pokémon—though perhaps "afternoon tea" would be more accurate at this hour.
After returning the drowsy Piplup to its Poké Ball, Steven took his Pokémon to train in the wilderness.
When passing by the Mauville City Gym, he noticed a sign on the door that read: "Gym Leader out, not yet returned."
After last night's events, Steven noticed his team training with even greater intensity.
Steven put on his Macho Brace and chuckled helplessly.
"I didn't expect I'd have to use this myself."
As soon as he put it on, Steven felt his body become incredibly heavy, and his movements became sluggish.
After Steven had trained for twenty minutes, during the rest period, Piplup rubbed its eyes and emerged from its Poké Ball.
"You sure can sleep," Steven said with a helpless smile.
He retrieved the prepared energy cube container and handed it to Piplup.
"Piplup~"
Piplup happily accepted the container and popped the energy cubes into its mouth one by one.
Soon after, it rested against Steven with a small, full belly.
"Don't lean on me—I need to continue training too," Steven said with a chuckle, gently pushing away the full-bellied Piplup and letting it rest against his backpack instead.
Piplup watched everyone training and felt the food in its belly beginning to digest.
It found an Ice Stone and a Water Stone in the bag, then waddled off to find a place to train on its own.
After a day of rest, Steven landed at Mossdeep City on a flight from Mauville City.
Steven returned to the familiar city and took a deep breath of Mossdeep City's air.
It was still the same familiar feeling.
It felt as though he had just begun his journey yesterday.
He couldn't believe four months had passed in the blink of an eye.
"Metagross! Let's go home!"
"Metagross!"
Steven sat on Metagross as it swiftly weaved through the streets.
Piplup opened its mouth wide, letting the wind blow into it.
At the same time, it made a drawn-out "Piplup~" sound.
Steven was amused by Piplup's antics and chuckled softly.
The surrounding crowd gradually thinned, indicating they were getting closer to Steven's home.
When Metagross stopped in front of a luxurious villa, Piplup's eyes widened and its small mouth hung open.
Scanning from top to bottom, Piplup gazed at this villa that was even larger than Professor Rowan's laboratory.
It truly shocked Piplup beyond belief.
Steven gently patted Piplup's head, making it close its mouth.
"Let's go inside and take a look."
Steven pushed open the door and led the inexperienced Piplup into the villa.
The first thing Piplup saw upon entering was the living room sofa. It took a running start, leaped into the air, and landed on the sofa.
"Piplup?!"
Softer than a hotel bed?!
Piplup even started bouncing on the sofa like a trampoline.
"Everyone, come out!"
Steven released all his Pokémon and began introducing them to his home.
"This is the home I've lived in since I was little, where I've lived with Metagross..."
Clang—
Steven suddenly paused, then shouted frantically, "Stop it, Aggron!"
Aggron had shattered the glass case and taken out the ore displayed inside.
This was the highest quality ore that Joseph had carefully selected for display in the living room.
The main purpose was to create a pleasant atmosphere for anyone who saw it.
Aggron's open mouth paused mid-bite, then it carefully placed the ore back in its original place.
It looked exactly like a child who had done something wrong.
Steven looked at the big guy acting remorseful, and he smiled wryly while patting its steel body.
"You can't eat these. I'll find you some tasty ones later."
"Aggron..."
I understand...
Steven remembered there were some slightly lower-grade ores in his basement that Aggron could sample.
Steven planned to stay in Mossdeep City for ten to fifteen days to improve his Pokémon's strength.
Here, Steven had access to the best resources to help them train.
With his family's financial resources, he could extensively acquire Rare Candies.
However, consuming too many wasn't beneficial for Pokémon.
Their strength might appear to increase, but power gained through external means couldn't compare to those who trained properly—they might not even be able to defeat Pokémon at a lower level.
Strength could be stabilized through consistent training, but if they kept relying on items... even the most skilled trainers couldn't help them.
However, the effect of one Rare Candy was equivalent to someone else's efforts over an extended period.
The backyard of Steven's house was spacious enough for the Pokémon to play around freely.
The house was regularly cleaned by staff, and the refrigerator was stocked with fresh ingredients.
On the second day, training officially began.
After Steven met his self-imposed training goals, he would go inside the house to polish the black stone he had purchased at the Lilycove City department store.
Then he would start working on his Pokémon research proposal.
Just as the plan was progressing steadily, Cynthia's call notification appeared on his Pokégear.
"Steven~"
Something's wrong—this is wrong!
It's ten times—no, twenty times wrong!
"W-what's wrong?"
"How could you not tell me about such an important matter?!"
Huh?
Steven was confused.
Did he have another scandal?
Steven quickly minimized the research proposal, opened his browser, and searched for trending news in Hoenn.
He quickly scanned through, but there was no hot news about him and Wallace's friendship?
"W-what's up?"
"The Hoenn League official announcement stated that you and Wallace went straight to Mt. Chimney and stopped Team Magma's terrifying plan!"
Cynthia said angrily over the phone.
Hmm...
So was Cynthia angry because he and Wallace were together?
Or because he didn't tell her about such an important matter?
"Ahem..." Steven lightly coughed twice into his fist, explaining, "The situation was urgent at the time... so I didn't have time to tell you."
"Then you should have told me afterwards!"
Listening to the girl's caring words, Steven smiled slightly.
The concern Cynthia showed felt warmer to Steven than that from Wallace.
"Achoo!"
Wallace, far away in Ever Grande City, suddenly sneezed, muttering in confusion, "Who's thinking about me again?"
"Is it Winona?"
Steven said gently to Cynthia on the phone, "I know. I definitely will next time."
"I didn't encounter anything dangerous this time either."
Under Cynthia's repeated reminders, Steven put away his Pokégear with a smile on his face.
His relationship with Cynthia, though seemingly very close, still had a barrier between them.
To say it was thin—it would break with a gentle touch.
To say it was thick—it was quite substantial.
Their agreement was to definitely become Champion, so before fulfilling that agreement, Steven did not intend to break through this barrier.
Speaking of the order of events, although the Ever Grande Conference was held earlier than the Lily of the Valley Conference, if Steven didn't immediately choose to challenge the Champion's throne, Cynthia would also have a chance to ascend to the Champion's position before Steven.
"Metagross."
Metagross: (Determined stare)
I won't lose to that Garchomp.
"That's true..." Steven chuckled softly.
"I won't lose to Cynthia either!"