The next day, early morning.
The sky was only just beginning to brighten.
After finishing breakfast with his Pokémon, Silas went once more to the Temple of the Sea to bid farewell to Manaphy, then officially set out on his journey back.
"Meganium, please go into the Poké Ball for now. I'll let you out once we reach the ranch."
Meganium trusted Silas completely and took the initiative to touch the Poké Ball herself.
Silas then leapt onto Tropius' back, with Grovyle and Morpeko following close behind.
"I'll have to trouble you to carry me for a while. Just keep flying straight in that direction."
"Tropius!"
Tropius flapped its broad leaf wings as they departed from the lonely island and entered the boundless ocean.
Riding on Tropius was far more comfortable than on Noivern. There was plenty of space, enough even for one or two more Pokémon without any problem. It was perfectly suited for this kind of long distance travel. After a full journey, his legs would not ache and his back would not grow sore.
The sun moved from the eastern horizon to directly overhead. After flying continuously for several hours, they finally saw the Sinnoh mainland and its iconic sacred white peak rising into the sky.
"We're almost there. Hang in a little longer, Tropius."
As he spoke, Silas fed Tropius Pokéblocks to help restore its stamina.
Tropius perked up and continued forward in the direction Silas indicated.
They arrived at Chocovine Town, where the festival was nearing its end. Compared to the day of the celebration, it was much quieter now.
Silas stopped outside town, had Grovyle follow at his side, and headed straight to the local police station.
From Officer Jenny, he learned that Cynthia had left the day after he did. It seemed she had obtained some useful information from her interrogation.
After thinking for a moment, Silas found a secluded spot and dialed Cynthia's Xtransceiver.
The call connected quickly. Cynthia and her Garchomp appeared on the screen, with what looked like a temple in the background.
"Silas, you've finished what you were doing?"
"Yes. You called yesterday. What was it you wanted to tell me?"
Yesterday he had been out in the wild, and the signal had been unstable. They had only exchanged a few words before the connection was cut off. He had only caught that it was related to the hunter organization.
Pushing aside the Garchomp that was pressing closely against her, Cynthia's expression turned serious.
"You remember those members of the hunter's union, right? From their interrogation, we learned that Hunter J escaped with her confidants to Kalos."
"What?!!"
Silas was stunned. Could she really be coming after him? Was she that vindictive?
It was not impossible.
At that moment, Silas felt an even stronger urge to return home as soon as possible.
He was worried, but not afraid.
The ranch's security was still very strong.
"I understand."
He silently committed this favor to memory.
There was a world of difference between being prepared and being caught off guard. Silas did not want any of the Pokémon at the ranch to be hurt because of this.
Not even a one percent possibility was acceptable.
The two chatted for a while longer about other matters before hanging up.
Putting away the Xtransceiver, Silas's heart was already racing homeward like an arrow released from a bow.
"Grovyle, are you hungry?"
"Grov!"
"Then we won't stop here. We'll head back to the ranch at top speed."
With that, Silas walked toward the outskirts of town. Once past the gates, he released Noivern.
For short distance travel, Noivern was more suitable.
Flying at full speed, it took less than half an hour for Silas to reach Snowpoint City.
He purchased a plane ticket and prepared gifts for the Pokémon who had remained behind at the ranch.
By the time he boarded the plane, it was already past two in the afternoon. When he arrived in Shalour City, it was eight in the evening.
Looking down from the sky, the area where the ranch was located was dark and unlit.
It seemed the little ones had listened to him and gone to bed early.
Silas felt a surge of impatience. As soon as he left the airport, he headed straight home. Once outside the city limits, he released Noivern again to hurry along the road.
As for the gifts he had brought for Siebold and Korrina, he would deliver them tomorrow. It would not be appropriate to disturb them so late at night.
From afar, he saw the ranch's fence and signaled for Noivern to descend.
Before they even landed, a sparkling, glittering glow drifted toward them.
It was Rowlet.
The light came from the Lunar Feather it carried.
Then a round, chubby figure collided straight into his arms as Rowlet pounced on him.
"Rowl!"
(Silas, you're back! I missed you so much. Everyone missed you too!)
He caught the little plump owl steadily, his hand instinctively stroking its smooth feathers, kneading its pancake like face into all sorts of shapes.
Rowlet was not angry in the slightest. On the contrary, it seemed to enjoy it immensely.
"Noi!"
Noivern gave a greeting before flying off toward the cave.
It had been gone for several days. Its scales had not been maintained in so long that it could hardly wait to enjoy the attentive care of the Carbink again.
The noise caused by Noivern alerted the Pokémon inside the ranch house.
Litten was the first to notice that Silas had returned.
With light, brisk steps, it ran toward the ranch gate. Its bright white fur glowed warmly, barely concealing its delight.
But when it saw Silas pushing the gate open and walking in, Litten abruptly stopped and pretended to stare at the wildflowers by the roadside.
Its small paws nervously scraped at the pebbles on the ground, trying its best to appear casual, as though it were merely passing by.
However, the slight swaying of its tail betrayed it. It cautiously tested Silas, hoping he would take the initiative.
After closing the gate behind him, Silas turned and immediately spotted the bashful Litten.
It clearly wanted to be close to him, yet because of its personality, Litten would never make the first move.
Just as Silas was about to step forward and pet the cat, Litten jumped away first. Its little eyes flicked toward the Rowlet perched atop his head.
"Are you jealous?"
Silas felt both helpless and puzzled.
'Cat Pokémon personalities really are hard to understand,' he thought.
He would have to comfort it later. First, he needed to settle Meganium, Tropius, and Grovyle.
As Silas walked toward the ranch house under the cover of the dark night, he did not notice that Litten was following behind him at a fixed distance, neither approaching nor leaving.
When he pushed open the door, several Pokémon inside warmly welcomed him.
He was immediately tackled to the ground by a heavy weight. Cyclizar pinned him down, its large tongue licking wildly as it shoved its head into his chest.
"Alright, alright, Cyclizar. You're drooling too much."
No matter how he tried to dodge, he could not escape. Silas smacked at it in mock annoyance.
Cyclizar did not care in the slightest. In the end, it was only with the help of the Indeedee siblings that Cyclizar was pulled away.
Even after being dragged aside, Cyclizar remained on all fours, staring intently at him.
Silas climbed up from the floor and brushed the dust off his clothes.
He felt something furry lightly bump against his leg.
Before he could look down, Litten had already leapt onto the sofa, pretending to observe his reaction.
He gave Cyclizar another annoyed knock on the head. Cyclizar grinned foolishly, making him want to knock it a few more times.
Pushing away Cyclizar as it tried once again to burrow into his arms, Silas looked at the two Indeedee.
"While I was away these past few days, thank you for taking care of everyone at the ranch."
"Indeedee," they both responded.
The siblings shook their heads. Aside from being flustered on the very first day when they had just taken over, everything afterward had gone smoothly.
The ones welcoming Silas were not only those three.
At the stairway stood another Pokémon.
Alolan Meowth leaned casually against the railing, looking over coolly.
"Meow."
After giving a single meow toward Silas, it returned to its nest and closed its eyes as if dozing.
However, it subtly shifted its position so that with a simple glance, it could see Silas sitting on the sofa, surrounded by Pokémon.
Litten crouched on the floor beside the sofa, keeping itself within arm's reach of him.
The two feline Pokémon each had completely different personalities.
(End of Chapter)