"I really didn't expect, Mrs. Fujino, that you would be able to hook a Wailord."
After Rhys docked the boat at the shore, he walked out of the cabin and said to Lucas, who was standing at the edge of the deck lost in thought.
"I didn't expect it either—to think that a Pokémon like a Wailord could actually be dragged out by a person."
Lucas shook his head.
The Wailord left in the end. After all, for such a large Wailord, releasing it seemed to be the only option.
"Gothitelle."
Let's go, time to go home.
Gothitelle called out to Lucas, who was lost in self-doubt.
"Coming."
Lucas replied, then looked at Rhys. "Sorry for the trouble today, thank you very much."
Rhys laughed after hearing this. "It's nothing at all. I had a very fulfilling day today, especially with that fishing rod—it felt great. I've decided, I'm going to buy one when I get home."
Rhys clenched his fist, his eyes filled with longing for a new fishing rod.
"I support you. In that case, I'll head back to the Breeding House first."
Lucas patted Rhys on the shoulder.
Rhys nodded. "If you want to go fishing at sea again next time, remember to tell me. I'll captain the boat for you."
"Sure."
Lucas mounted Ninetales and caught up with Gengar and the others.
Looking at the buckets in the hands of Gengar and the others filled with edible fish, and then looking at himself—having not caught a single fish all afternoon—Lucas fell into confusion.
Why couldn't he catch any fish?
Logically speaking, he and Gengar and the others were in the same area, so how could he not have caught a single fish all afternoon? He didn't even catch a Magikarp.
Could it be that his own kingly aura had scared all the fish in the sea away? Causing them to be too afraid to bite his hook?
At that moment, Lucas almost asked Lugia to come over and help him hang a few fish on his hook, but considering he might get beaten to death by Lugia, Lucas cancelled that idea.
No, I must try again tomorrow. I refuse to believe that someone can fail to catch fish every single day!
Gothitelle, floating to the side, saw Lucas lost in silence. She handed the bucket in her hand to Lucas, and under Lucas's confused gaze, she said faintly: "Gothitelle."
It seems you went easy on us again today. Even just between us, I could beat you twenty to zero.
Lucas: ——
"I wasn't afraid of discouraging you guys, so I went easy on you."
Lucas grinned and spoke without hesitation.
Gothitelle clicked her tongue.
He's only tough in the mouth.
Lucas: Mind your own business!
Returning to the Breeding House, Lucas lay in Ninetales' arms, feeling exhausted.
"Ninetales, why do you think I can't catch any fish—?"
Lucas asked for comfort in Ninetales' arms, looking a bit aggrieved.
Ninetales was just about to comfort Lucas when she heard him continue, "Do you think they feel my aura is too strong, and they're afraid to eat my bait? No, I should say they're afraid to come near my area. Otherwise, why is it that wherever I go, there are no fish—?"
Ninetales: ——
"I think that's exactly it. Otherwise, it doesn't make sense. Sigh, as expected, I'm still too powerful—so powerful that even the fish in the sea are afraid of me."
Hearing Lucas start to brag about how amazing he was, Ninetales just shook her head, closed her eyes, and gently covered her ear holes with her ears.
Looking at him like this, he clearly didn't need anyone's comfort; he could convince himself on his own.
Seeing Lucas continue to blabber on and on, Ninetales shoved her tail directly into Lucas's mouth, physically interrupting him.
"Shh."
Shut up.
Lucas: "Mmph——"
After doing all this, Ninetales yawned. Looking at Lucas, who was constantly wriggling on her body, she raised her tail high, preparing to slap him, but then remembered he hadn't caught a single fish today, so she gave up.
Forget it, let him be for a while.
"Lucas."
Lucas, who was closing his eyes and wriggling, swinging Ninetales' tail back and forth, heard Diantha's voice. He opened his eyes and found her and Gardevoir looking at him, trying to hold back their laughter. Lucas coughed twice, his face flushing red. He sat up, tensed his face, and looked at Diantha. "What's wrong?"
Diantha also coughed twice, calmed her mood, and then looked directly at Lucas, saying seriously: "Let's battle."
As soon as she finished speaking, the surroundings instantly went quiet.
Lucas looked up at Diantha. "Huh? Battle with me?"
Diantha nodded seriously. "Although you defeated Cynthia, I still want to experience your strength firsthand and see if your strength is worthy of us entrusting Cynthia to you."
"Besides, I also want to gain some insight into the strength of the second Champion of the Sinnoh region."
"So that's how it is——"
Lucas looked straight into Diantha's incredibly serious eyes. Under her gaze, he nodded slowly. "Sure."
Lucas stood up, standing together with Diantha opposite him, giving her his most respectful reply. "I will use my strength to show you whether I am that person worthy of being entrusted."
"Additionally, I will defeat you, without mercy."
Lucas chuckled, then clenched his fists.
Beside Lucas, the lying-down Ninetales opened her charming eyes, her gaze becoming incomparably cold. To the side, Lilligant still wore a smile, Gothitelle was expressionless, her leek broken into several pieces by her grip. Gengar revealed a mouth full of white teeth, hanging his usual smile. The four-armed powerhouse clashed its fists together, erupting with a powerful sound wave.
"Woohoo~"
Latias glided back into the Breeding House.
Looks like I came back just in time.
Staraptor stood on a tree, nonchalantly grooming its feathers.
It really is—completely different from the usual state.
Diantha felt the suddenly changed atmosphere of the Breeding House and couldn't help but say in her heart.
This pressure was actually making it hard for her, a Champion, to hold up.
But so what—I am also a Champion, the Champion of Kalos.
Diantha's eyes also became sharp.
"Huh? Is Uncle going to battle Sister Diantha?"
Shauna asked curiously.
Tomoyo beside her pulled her hand and leaned close to her ear. "Quiet."
"Oh."
Shauna nodded sensibly.
"It just so happens there is still some time before dinner is ready. How about using this time before dinner?"
Diantha suggested.
"No problem."
Lucas shook his head, then continued: "However, if I battle you, we don't have a suitable venue here. It's still quite dangerous without safety measures. I'll ask Professor Rowan of Sandgem Town to see if there is a suitable battle venue there."
Diantha nodded gently.
Seeing this, Lucas took out his rotom phone and dialed Professor Rowan's number.
"Hello? Lucas? Why did you call me suddenly? Is something the matter?"
Professor Rowan's serious voice came from the rotom phone.
"Professor, I have something I would like to ask you. Do you have a suitable battle venue there?"
"A battle venue? What kind?"
"A battle venue that can support a battle between me and Diantha."
"You and Diantha—Champion Diantha of the Kalos region?"
Professor Rowan's voice was somewhat surprised.
"Yes."
"I see—if it's a battle between you and Champion Diantha—that would be a battle between Champions? A normal battle venue is indeed hard to support it. However, I happen to have a suitable battle venue here. Do you want to use it?"
"Can I?"
"Of course you can. When?"
"Can it be now?"
"So urgent? No problem. You can just come over directly. I'll have the assistants at the Research Institute clear the venue."
"Okay, thank you for the trouble."
After Lucas hung up the phone, he looked at Diantha. "Done."
"Then let's set off now."
"Yeah."
Lucas nodded, raised his hand, and a Distortion Channel appeared inside the Breeding House.
Lucas went in first, followed closely by Diantha.
She was already immune to Lucas being able to open a Distortion Channel; after all, Cynthia often mentioned this matter.
"I want to go too."
Shauna dragged Tomoyo and rushed in.
Mr. and Mrs. Fujino looked at each other and followed inside.
Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy, and Nina, who hadn't been seen for a long time, were confused, but they still followed.
The main point was to follow the group immediately.
This resulted in all the staff of the Breeding House leaving their posts.
Alcremie ran out of the Breeding House, hugged all the wooden plaques, then hung up the "off duty" sign, closed the door of the Breeding House, and finally ran into the Distortion Channel.
The Distortion Channel was specially maintained by Giratina for Alcremie.
Alcremie: I want to go over and see too.
Giratina: Okay~ (in a cutesy voice)
Walking out of the Distortion Channel, they appeared right in front of Professor Rowan.
Professor Rowan was startled by Lucas and the others who suddenly appeared. After calming down, he looked at Lucas. "You guy, remember to say hello in advance next time."
"Um—I think I said hello, right?"
Lucas said weakly.
Professor Rowan: ——
"I mean, don't open the Distortion Channel directly in front of me next time. I'm old, it's easy to get scared."
Professor Rowan said irritably.
"Oh, oh, oh, you mean this. No problem."
Lucas nodded quickly.
Professor Rowan looked at Lucas. "But you guy, to actually gain the favor of Giratina and also obtain the ability to open the gate to the Distortion Channel—that really is—unbelievable."
Lucas always felt that Professor Rowan's gaze at him was full of danger.
"Actually, it's not exactly gaining the ability to open a Distortion Channel."
Lucas explained, "This is actually an agreement I made with Giratina. I solved the issues between the Distortion World and the real world for him, and he will open the gate to the Distortion World for me when I need it, allowing me to freely enter and exit the Distortion World. Every time I open a Distortion Channel, I actually have to ask for his permission."
Professor Rowan said "Oh." "I see. So that means it's equivalent to authorization on the internet?"
"Yeah, pretty much."
Lucas said.
Diantha was entering the Distortion World for the first time. She observed it for a while inside before walking out of the Distortion World.
"Champion Diantha, long time no see."
Professor Rowan greeted Diantha.
"Professor Rowan, long time no see. How have you been?"
"Hahaha, everything is good. Ever since Lucas came here, I've had it much easier with many things."
Professor Rowan thought about this period, where he didn't have to work so hard to solve those things, and even his hair had turned a little blacker. Professor Rowan was in a great mood.
Now, whether something happened in Twinleaf Town, Sandgem Town, or the surrounding areas, Officer Jenny would just tell him and then go find Lucas for help. His Research Institute could use more time to conduct research.
"How does it feel to come out of the Distortion World?"
Lucas asked Diantha. Diantha thought for a while and expressed her opinion: "Chaotic, disorderly. The rules inside seem to be the opposite of our real world. The sky is under our feet, the ground is above our heads, and the atmosphere is very oppressive."
"Because that is the Distortion World, the reverse side of our real world. Therefore, the rules inside are opposite to our real world, but the two worlds are tightly connected."
Professor Rowan explained simply.
"I see. So no matter which world is damaged, the other will be affected?"
Diantha nodded thoughtfully. "But there really are legendary Pokémon in the Sinnoh region. I always thought that the Dragon of Time, Palkia, the Dragon of Space, Dialga, and the Master of the Distortion World, Giratina, that Cynthia often mentioned, only existed in myths."
"Anything that has been recorded has a reason for its existence."
Hearing this sentence from Lucas, Diantha looked at Lucas. "Cynthia's opinion is not much different from yours."
"Otherwise, how could they be together, right?"
Professor Rowan patted Lucas on the shoulder and laughed loudly again. "When I first met Lucas, I knew he would definitely become a guy worthy of Cynthia, just didn't expect it to be so fast."
"I heard Cynthia mention the big events in the Sinnoh region. Thanks to you, Lucas."
Diantha expressed her sincerest gratitude to Lucas. "If it weren't for you, I guess she would have paid a heavy price."
"Um—shouldn't be, right? After all, Ash is there—"
"Speaking of which, it seems the Kalos region is quite good."
At this time, Nina, who had followed, suddenly spoke. "After all, there are rarely legendary Pokémon causing trouble there."
No legendary Pokémon causing trouble in the Kalos region?
"The Kalos region—I remember it seems there was an incident where the life of a certain region was all absorbed."
Lucas said: "It seems to be the commotion caused by the legendary God of Destruction, Yveltal."
"Yveltal?"
Nina asked doubtfully.
Lucas shook his head. "It's nothing, these are just the Kalos region myths that Cynthia mentioned to me. It is said that Yveltal is the master of destruction and death, and Xerneas is the master of life and restoration. In addition, there is the God of Order, Zygarde."
"I see."
Nina nodded.
Diantha and Professor Rowan looked at each other and did not speak.
After all, for Pokémon Professors and Champions like them, it is better not to let the public know about these legendary Pokémon matters.
"Speaking of which, Sister Nina, why are you here?"
"Reese, Linnea, and I just arrived at the Breeding House and saw you guys coming over. Out of curiosity, we came over too. But I heard you are going to battle Miss Diantha, is that right?"
"Yeah."
Lucas nodded.
"Then can we watch the battle? We guarantee we won't disturb you."
"No problem."
At this time, Professor Rowan joined the conversation. "If you didn't mention it, I would have forgotten the reason you came over. The battle venue is already prepared. Let me take you there."
"Thank you for your trouble."
"Sorry to trouble you, Professor."
Professor Rowan waved his hand. "I haven't watched an exciting battle for a long time. This time, it's perfect to watch it on the spot."
Arriving at the battle venue, Professor Rowan introduced it briefly. "There are no buildings around here, and no Pokémon. It's perfect to use as a venue for your battle. As for the viewing place, we can just watch from there. There is a protective shield there."
Professor Rowan pointed to a place.
Lucas and Diantha both nodded.
A full-force battle between Champions has great destructive power, so usually when they battle with full force, they look for a relatively empty, remote place, or a special battle venue; otherwise, it is easy to cause unnecessary damage.
"Then I'll be thick-skinned and act as a referee for you."
Professor Rowan volunteered, stepped onto the battle venue, and Lucas and Diantha also stepped up.
Lucas's Pokémon were all recalled into their Poké Balls by him, so the only people watching from the sidelines were Professor Rowan's assistants, the people from the Breeding House, and Mime Jr. and the others.
Lucas and Diantha stood on the battle venue, looked at each other, and then said together.
"Let's battle, Lucas (Diantha)."
***************************
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