"Huh! Trainer Silas, you actually came to Snowbelle City."
Silas had just handed over his trainer ID when the Nurse Joy from the Snowbelle Gym looked at him with a surprised expression that clearly showed she recognized him.
"You know me?"
Silas looked slightly puzzled as he spoke. At the same time, he took out the Poké Ball containing Giant Dragonite and placed it on the small cart beside the Chansey.
"I am the younger sister of the Nurse Joy from Shalour City. Trainer Silas, can you really not tell the difference?"
Nurse Joy puffed up her cheeks slightly and pretended to be annoyed.
Silas thought silently in his heart.
Quick, someone call the ancestor Brock.
There were two truly mysterious families in the Pokémon world. One was the Joy family, and the other was the Jenny family.
Aside from themselves, it was almost impossible for outsiders to tell them apart.
Because of that, many trainers believed that Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny had mastered some kind of shadow clone technique.
Before Silas could answer, the Cinccino sitting on top of his head carefully observed Nurse Joy for a moment before calling out.
"Cin! Cin!" (Beautiful and kind big sister, your hairpins are different. Also your bangs are one centimeter longer!)
"What an adorable Cinccino. You noticed the difference immediately. So cute."
Nurse Joy revealed a warm and friendly smile. She reached out and gently pinched Cinccino's soft cheeks before taking out a piece of candy to feed it.
The human and Pokémon played together for a short while. Soon after, Nurse Joy had to return to her work and left first, while Silas brought Cinccino to sit in the nearby rest area.
Cinccino peeled the wrapper off the candy and happily placed the sweet into its mouth.
It let out a satisfied little sound while swinging its tiny feet joyfully.
At that moment Silas stared seriously at his little mouse.
He suspected that Cinccino had somehow been possessed by Brock.
He reached out and poked and squeezed Cinccino's body, examining it carefully.
There was nothing unusual.
Cinccino burst into giggles from the tickling and quickly peeled another candy to feed Silas as if begging him to stop.
The candy tasted sweet in Silas's mouth as he asked curiously.
"So how did Cinccino tell the difference between the Nurse Joys?"
In the entire Pokémon world, this was a skill that only Brock had truly mastered.
Cinccino had candy in its mouth and began gesturing with its little hands while making muffled sounds.
"Cin Cin~~"
Silas slowly understood what it meant.
"You smelled it? You recognized her by scent?"
He looked at Cinccino with a strange expression.
That was a little too... perverted.
He had never expected this from Cinccino.
So you are actually this kind of strange little mouse.
"Cin!"
Noticing Silas's strange gaze, Cinccino's cheeks immediately puffed up like buns.
It climbed all over Silas and started scratching him angrily.
"Hahaha!"
Silas was forced to laugh while quickly apologizing.
"My fault! My fault! I apologize to Cinccino, hahaha!"
Cinccino stood with its arms on its hips angrily.
It was not a pervert.
Afraid that Silas had misunderstood, the little mouse tried to explain again.
"Cin~~"
It turned out that because of Cinccino's special ability, its body produced slightly different scents every day. Over time its sense of smell had become as sensitive as a Growlithe's.
It could detect extremely subtle differences in scent. Combined with its careful observation, that was how it distinguished between the two Nurse Joys.
"I see. I wrongly accused Cinccino."
Silas gently pulled Cinccino into his arms and apologized sincerely.
The little Pokémon's anger came quickly and disappeared just as fast.
Soon it was already acting spoiled in Silas's arms again, rolling over to reveal its soft belly and asking Silas to rub it.
While massaging Cinccino's stomach, Silas began thinking about his next plans.
After challenging the Snowbelle Gym, only one gym remained.
There was definitely not enough time left in July.
Some of the cranberries and peanuts on the ranch were almost ready for harvest, and he would not have much free time.
After finishing the harvest, he would also be leaving with Diantha a few days later. His schedule was already completely packed.
It seemed the final gym challenge would have to wait until August.
"Trainer Silas, your Dragonite has fully recovered."
Nurse Joy's sweet voice suddenly sounded beside him.
Silas came back to his senses as Chansey handed a tray toward him.
"Thank you."
After thanking her, Silas picked up the Poké Ball.
Inside the ball, Giant Dragonite lay comfortably in a relaxed posture.
It seemed Giant Dragonite had really enjoyed the full healing treatment.
After saying goodbye to the Snowbelle City Nurse Joy, Silas released Giant Dragonite outside the city.
"Draa~!"
Giant Dragonite stretched its body and lowered its head toward Silas.
"Did you like it?"
Silas patted Giant Dragonite twice before climbing onto its back.
Giant Dragonite smiled shyly and flapped its small wings before nodding lightly.
"Next time I will take you to experience something even better. We will go to a hot spring."
"Draa~!"
Giant Dragonite responded excitedly.
With Silas clapping his hands as a signal, Giant Dragonite took off into the sky. It followed the route they had used earlier, avoiding the airspace above the city while flying quickly along the most efficient path back to the ranch.
At that moment Cinccino, who had been tightly wrapped inside Silas's coat, poked its fluffy head out.
"Cin!?"
Silas gently squeezed its ears and explained with a smile.
Giant Dragonite also pricked up its ears to listen.
"Hot springs are even more comfortable than bathing. After soaking in one your entire body feels relaxed and all your fatigue disappears."
"And when you soak in hot springs there are also lots and lots of delicious food…"
After hearing Silas's description, both Pokémon became extremely tempted.
Giant Dragonite let out an eager roar, while Cinccino scratched Silas's chest and demanded that he must take it along.
"Behave yourself, or I will not take you."
While they were chatting, Giant Dragonite never slowed down.
Soon the Tower of Mastery standing in Shalour City appeared in the distance.
Giant Dragonite sped along Route 12.
Before long the coastal ranch came into view, along with a small delivery truck parked near the entrance.
Gario had arrived to collect goods.
Giant Dragonite descended smoothly at the gate as Silas signaled for landing. Silas jumped down from its back.
"Gario! How is today's collection going?"
"Oh, Silas!" Gario handed a full crate of farm produce to the nearby Diggersby while glancing curiously at the large Pokémon standing beside Silas.
"This is… a new Pokémon you caught? It looks strangely familiar."
"This is Dragonite. A dragon Pokémon that flies extremely fast."
"Oh! Dragonite! How did I forget." Gario slapped his forehead awkwardly. "I heard there is a famous Dragonite mail carrier working for the Paldea postal service."
Silas placed Cinccino down and let the little Pokémon run into the ranch to play.
Before leaving, Cinccino did not forget to hand a piece of candy to Diggersby.
Silas's gaze followed the movement and landed on the driver's door of the truck.
Large black letters were written on a red background.
[NO DRIVING FOR Diggersby!!!]
"So... it got caught again."
When Silas asked about it, Gario's face instantly darkened.
Almost everyone who saw him asked the same question, so he had to patiently explain it over and over again.
"A few days ago Diggersby was caught driving without a license. They said the truck will be returned once Diggersby's driver license is issued."
"I see."
Silas nodded in understanding.
Diggersby's obsession with driving was really serious.
Preventing a Pokémon like that from touching a steering wheel was practically the cruelest punishment in the world.
No wonder Diggersby looked so depressed.
"Oh right Silas, your ranch grows peanuts too, right?"
Silas nodded.
"You can wait a few more days before harvesting them. The peanut prices have been very unstable recently and fluctuate a lot."
"Alright, I understand."
After receiving today's payment from Gario, Silas put it into his pocket and walked toward the ranch.
As soon as he arrived, Cyclizar stared at him with a resentful look.
When it noticed Silas looking back, it angrily turned its head away, clearly jealous.
"Cyclizar, do you remember what I said last time?"
Silas walked over and forcibly turned Cyclizar's head back toward him.
"Cyc!"
"You are the ace of the team. How can you be used for ordinary tasks like that, right?"
Cyclizar thought about it seriously.
A huge smile immediately appeared on its face.
In the next moment it pounced forward and knocked Silas onto the ground.
Sure enough.
In Silas's heart, the one he loved the most was still it.
(End of Chapter)