The two of them walked through the streets of the Azoth Kingdom, roads that were built with various mechanical gears and contraptions. Their wandering eventually led them to a dessert shop.
"This one looks good. Let's rest here for a while."
"We can finally rest." Silas quickly wiped the sweat from his forehead. Shopping with a girl was truly exhausting.
"All the luggage was carried by Cyclizar and Dragonite. What are you tired for? You promised to accompany me for the whole day."
Diantha pouted in dissatisfaction while quietly placing a finger at Silas's waist.
"Walking is tiring too… ah…"
Silas inhaled sharply. A hand had grabbed the soft flesh at his waist, and when he looked up he saw the faint smile at the corner of Diantha's eyes.
The words he had been about to say immediately changed direction.
"Not tired. Not tired at all. I am completely fine."
After glancing around, Silas casually pointed ahead and suggested, "There is another gift shop over there. Do you want to take a look?"
"Hmph."
Diantha nodded in satisfaction but waved her hand with a smile.
"You might not be tired, but I am. Let's rest first."
"Phew."
Silas quietly sighed in relief.
Sure enough, no matter how you looked at it, nothing was as adorable as soft and fluffy Pokémon.
He reached up and pinched the cheeks of Cinccino, who was secretly laughing on his shoulder, pulling the little Pokémon into his arms and kneading its face into a flat pancake shape.
This was revenge for the little traitor who had been watching his suffering with amusement.
They sat down at a table on the terrace. Since they had ordered quite a few desserts, they had to wait for a while.
Holding a cup of black tea, Silas observed this mechanical city that had existed for over a hundred years with great interest.
No matter how he looked at it, the so called mysterious technology that people praised seemed suspiciously similar to steam technology.
Of course, in the Pokémon world steam could indeed be considered mysterious technology.
After all, this was a world where magical creatures called Pokémon existed.
With Pokémon around, ninety nine percent of humanity's technological problems could be easily solved.
Something like boiling water with a boiler looked incredibly primitive compared to what Pokémon could do.
"Mysterious science is not just referring to these gears and machines."
Diantha spoke up.
"I heard there are scientists here researching artificial Mega Evolution."
"Hopefully."
Silas paused for a moment, trying to recall memories from his previous life that had grown increasingly blurry.
The Mega Evolution wave was definitely not something pleasant.
Shaking off his thoughts, Silas released the Alola starter Pokémon from the Poké Balls at his waist.
"Here. This spicy dessert is for Litten. This sweet one is for Popplio. Rowlet, this portion is yours. No fighting over them."
"Meow~"
Litten circled around Silas and rubbed against him affectionately before lowering its head and licking the dessert with its pink tongue.
Morpeko, Cyclizar, and the others nearby also received desserts that suited their own tastes.
Only after making sure everyone was happily eating did Silas finally sit down and begin enjoying his own portion.
The taste was indeed very good.
However, before he could take more than a couple of bites, a drooling little glutton appeared beside him.
Morpeko had already devoured its own dessert in huge bites. The bowl had been licked so clean that it practically shone.
Silas took out a tissue and wiped the ring of cream around Morpeko's mouth before shaking his head.
"No more. Eating too much cold food will give you a stomachache."
"Morpe!" (I will not get a stomachache. Silas, I can still eat!)
"Even if you can eat, the answer is still no."
Silas firmly refused.
Morpeko could only sit there drooling as it watched everyone else eat.
Popplio noticed this and immediately decided to cause trouble.
Holding her own dessert bowl, she loudly praised every bite she took.
"Lioo~!" (The cream is so fragrant and sweet!)
"Lioo!" (Big sister Cinccino's dessert smells delicious. It also tastes great too!)
Not only that, Popplio even deliberately waved her dessert right in front of Morpeko's nose.
This teasing continued several times until something unexpected happened.
After being tricked four or five times, Morpeko suddenly made another attempt to grab the dessert. Popplio dodged again and laughed happily.
But Morpeko suddenly launched a surprise attack and swallowed the remaining dessert in a single bite.
After licking the cream from its mouth, Morpeko grinned mischievously.
"Morpe!" (Little sister Popplio's dessert is really delicious!)
As expected, the two Pokémon immediately began chasing each other around the table.
Popplio was furious.
Half of her dessert had been eaten by that bad mouse.
Looking at the now empty bowl, Popplio froze in place. Her round eyes filled with tears.
The next second she burst into loud crying while repeatedly slapping the ground with her flippers.
"Liooo! Popplioo!" (My dessert! My ice cream!)
Morpeko grinned and approached, licking its paws while poking Popplio playfully.
Popplio smacked it away with her tail. Before Morpeko could react, she placed the empty bowl upside down on its head and then rushed straight into Silas's arms.
Popplio was furious.
With tearful eyes she looked up at Silas and complained pitifully about Morpeko.
Catching Popplio, Silas gently tapped her nose.
This little troublemaker was also partly at fault. She had insisted on showing off the dessert right in front of Morpeko.
"Alright, stop crying. I will buy you another one."
"Morpe!"
Morpeko immediately rushed over in protest. If Popplio got another dessert, it wanted one too.
"I will only buy one more. The two of you can share it."
Diantha watched the two little troublemakers amusingly and called over a waiter, ordering two more cream puddings.
Immediately, Morpeko and Popplio abandoned Silas and ran happily to Diantha's side.
"You two really…"
Silas rolled his eyes helplessly.
He then picked up Litten, who had been rubbing against his leg, and placed the little cat in his lap.
Sure enough, cats were still the most obedient and adorable.
At that same moment, inside the dessert shop's kitchen, one portion of cream pudding suddenly disappeared.
The chef scratched his head in confusion. Unable to find the reason, he simply made another portion.
On the roof of the dessert shop, Zygarde on its ten percent forme blinked its eyes while licking its lips.
'The taste was not as good as it had imagined. It could not compare with the fruit and berry platters made by that human.'
Since Silas had promised to accompany Diantha for the entire day, he truly spent the whole day wandering around the Azoth Kingdom.
By the time he returned to the Pokémon Center in the evening, he was so tired he did not even want to move.
Meanwhile Diantha looked completely energetic as she held Cinccino and chatted with Nurse Joy.
Silas forced himself to gather some energy and walked over.
It turned out they were talking about Cinccino. The little Pokémon's ability to distinguish between different Nurse Joys had already spread throughout the Kalos Joy family.
Because of this, the room fee for Silas and Diantha that night was waived.
Well, as long as Nurse Joy was happy, staying at the Pokémon Center for free every day would not be a problem.
After a comfortable night of rest, the two of them ate breakfast early the next morning and checked their luggage.
After saying goodbye to Nurse Joy, Silas and Diantha set off with their Pokémon.
The Nebel Plateau was not very far from the Azoth Kingdom, but there was a large uninhabited area between them.
"Noivern and Dragonite, I will be counting on you."
Technically they did not need to go so far. The meteor shower could also be seen from within the Azoth Kingdom.
However, if they wanted the best possible experience, they needed to go somewhere open and unobstructed.
With the help of their Pokémon, they quickly left the city behind.
Soon they arrived at the remote Nebel Plateau.
From afar they could already see the landmark of the plateau, two enormous trees whose branches curved together like an archway.
Within the hazy white mist, rare birds such as Swablu and Natu flapped their wings as they flew past.
Within the dense treetops, Leavanny and Masquerain hid among the leaves.
Near the lake in front of the giant trees, Wooper and Lotad quietly slipped beneath the water and disappeared.
The Pokémon living in this place secretly watched the sudden arrival of three enormous and intimidating newcomers.
(End of Chapter)