"Excellent! Just like that, look at the camera, and hold still!"
"Click!"
Inside the Burned Tower, David, who had somehow pulled out a camera, was taking pictures of Zorua and his Pokémon.
Although the interior of the Burned Tower was empty, only the ruined walls left after the great fire remained. The once magnificent decorations, solemn statues, and ingenious murals had all disappeared.
But relying on the few remaining traces, David and his Pokémon were still able to glimpse its former glory.
David even saw a mural on one of the walls, depicting the ancient Johto people worshipping Ho-Oh and Lugia.
Even in its dilapidated state, it still exuded an ancient, mysterious beauty, which is why it was chosen as a filming location for movies and TV shows.
"Let's go, Zorua, it's time for us to head back too."
After taking the photos, David said to Zorua.
After spending nearly two hours exploring from the bottom floor to the top, and then taking photos to mark their visit, it was already around 5:30 PM. The sun was setting, the sky was darkening, and David and his Pokémon planned to return.
They didn't plan to stay overnight here. After all, this place only preserved some cultural relics—after visiting, there was nothing worth staying for.
Originally, David came here with the intention of seeing if he could find any clues about the three Legendary Beasts.
Although he didn't find any, spending an afternoon up close in this building, which he had only seen in games before, was still a worthwhile experience.
However, it was time to leave.
If they waited until it was completely dark, it would be too dangerous to cross the wilderness to return to the city.
Although this place was not too far from the city, the cautious David still didn't want to take that risk.
Mounting their bicycles, David and his Pokémon embarked on their return journey. However, none of them noticed the fleeting ripple in the shadow behind David.
It seemed something followed them back to Treasure City.
The next morning, David left the hotel and boarded a train to Panyun City.
There lay David's second goal for this trip—the Umbra Gym, which, like the Blazing Gym before it, was a Tier-1 Gym.
Before this winter vacation, David had set a small goal for himself: to obtain the intermediate badges from four Tier-1 Gyms during the holiday.
It wasn't that he didn't want to collect all eight—it was mainly because the winter vacation was too short, only about a month, and he also had to reserve time for the New Year.
Tier-1 Gyms are few in number and scattered. Generally speaking, within a province, there are only two or three at most, and sometimes only one.
If he really wanted to collect all eight Tier-1 Gym badges, he would probably have to travel through three or four provinces, and David didn't have that much time!
It wasn't impossible to achieve, but it would be too troublesome and tiring, and he didn't want to turn a good holiday into that.
In Sol Province, where David was currently located, there were only these two Tier-1 Gyms, so he naturally wouldn't miss this convenient option.
Otherwise, he would have to travel to another province.
Because there was a distance of over a thousand kilometers between Panyun City and Treasure City, there was no thought of cycling or walking there like in the anime.
To be honest, with his limited time, if he were to travel entirely by walking or cycling, he would probably only be able to visit a few cities around Treasure City this winter vacation, at best.
"Ugh~"
"The Cloudspire Alliance is really too big!"
David yawned, lying somewhat listlessly in his seat, thinking.
Knowing he would be on the train for a long time today, David and his Pokémon played Pokémon Smash Bros. until three in the morning last night before resting.
Anyway, once he was on the train today, he would have plenty of time to rest.
Cloudspire on Earth was once one of the largest superpowers in the world. In the Pokémon world, due to the existence of Secret Realms, it was many times larger.
A large area is good, but travel is too troublesome. Fortunately, this world has developed many incredible technologies because of Pokémon—otherwise, even going out would be inconvenient.
"It seems I still need to catch a Pokémon that can be a mount!"
David sighed. In many wild areas, the use of transportation tools is quite inconvenient, and this is where the importance of a Pokémon mount becomes evident.
The three Pokémon he had already caught were all humanoid in shape. The only one that could barely be considered a "transportation tool" was Kirlia, who could use Teleport.
But Kirlia at this stage obviously couldn't achieve the super-long-distance teleportation of her mother.
"It's decided—the next Pokémon will be chosen with this goal in mind!"
David secretly decided in his heart that his next Pokémon must be one that could serve as a mount.
You know, his father and sister often didn't take any transportation—they would just ride their Dragonite directly to wherever they wanted to go.
No matter how far the distance, they enjoyed riding Dragonite through the sky for a journey.
It was not only cool and convenient but also incredibly fast.
Dragonite's speed allows it to circle the Earth in sixteen hours. Few Pokémon can match Dragonite in long-distance flight.
Its figure, flying at extreme speed over the sea, was even called the "Guardian of the Sea" by the sailors who witnessed it.
As the saying goes:
A quick glance,
And it circles the world—
That's Dragonite!
"I will definitely catch a Flying-type Dragon Pokémon too!"
He also wanted a Pokémon that could fly! However, David didn't expect that what he said at this moment would soon become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Among his Pokémon, only Zorua was still nestled in his arms, asleep. Lucario and Kirlia were also sleeping in their Poké Balls.
Last night, he had a rare opportunity to drag Lucario along to play games. Because Lucario was very happy after evolving, he didn't continue training.
Instead, he chose to "indulge" himself and play games with David and the others.
At this moment, all three Pokémon were extremely sleepy, and David himself was no different.
Checking the time, David set an alarm, chose his favorite music, put on his Bluetooth earphones, and closed his eyes.
It was still early—he planned to catch up on some rest first.
Suddenly, after an unknown amount of time, a series of urgent jolts woke David from his sleep.
The force of the train's emergency stop now acted on the tracks, emitting a heavy metallic grinding sound.
"What happened?"
Startled awake from his sleep, David quickly removed his earphones and eye mask, took out his Poké Balls, and released Kirlia and Lucario.
Zorua, who was nestled in David's arms, also instantly woke up.
What's going on? Why did the train stop so suddenly? In this day and age, surely no one in the Pokémon world would still hijack a train, right?
Just as David was muttering about what had happened, preparing to leave the compartment to check, amidst the commotion of passengers in the aisle, a female voice suddenly rang out.
"Please remain calm, everyone. The train has encountered an emergency situation and needs to stop temporarily for handling. Please rest assured, all passengers—the train will ensure everyone's safety."
"Repeating, please remain calm for now…"
After the train made an emergency stop, the attendants on board began to enter the carriages to calm the passengers.
"Miss, excuse me, what exactly happened?"
David opened the compartment door and asked the attendant who came to inform them of the situation.