After dinner, the three of them settled down to rest. The night passed quietly.
Yuuto slept soundly, but Delia and Misty tossed and turned for a while, their minds still replaying the image of that impossibly gigantic Pidgeotto. It wasn't until the middle of the night that they finally drifted off into a hazy sleep.
Early the next morning, they packed up camp and set off once more toward Pewter City. They were already very close now. The wild Pokémon along the route grew fewer and farther between, but Yuuto refused to waste a single second.
He squeezed every last bit of experience out of every encounter, issuing crisp, efficient commands that turned the road into a sweeping grind.
Pikachu's cheeks crackled with electricity. A single precise Thunder Shock charred an ambushing Rattata, leaving it smoking and unconscious on the dirt.
Pidgeotto was even more dominant. It barely needed direction. Its razor-sharp eyes scanned from high above, spotting every hidden creature in the grass or behind rocks. Then it dove.
Its massive wings whipped up a violent airstream. One Hurricane attack swept the battlefield in a wide, devastating arc. Most "experience packages" barely had time to strike a pose before they were blasted sideways, slamming into tree trunks and boulders with swirling eyes.
The efficiency was terrifying.
Yuuto relaxed and enjoyed the ride while his experience points skyrocketed.
By the time the gray-white, rock-hewn outline of Pewter City finally appeared on the horizon, the system prompts chimed in perfect timing.
[Pokémon: Pikachu, LV21 → LV22]
[Pokémon: Pidgeotto, LV22 → LV24]
Pikachu had climbed steadily. Pidgeotto, however, had jumped two full levels.
The super flight berry hadn't listed any direct battle-strength increase, but for Yuuto's exceptionally talented Pidgeotto—Ability: Big Pecks and a natural preference for aggressive, charging combat—bigger simply meant stronger. The added mass, wingspan, and raw impact force turned it into a living wrecking ball against low-level wild Pokémon. Its fighting spirit burned hotter than ever, and its leveling speed reflected it perfectly.
Yuuto checked the team panel and nodded in satisfaction.
He looked up. Pewter City stood right in front of them—built against the mountains, every building constructed from the same heavy gray-white stone quarried locally. The entire city felt solid, grounded, and completely different from the lush greenery of Viridian City.
"Ooh~ We finally made it to a real city!"
Misty stretched with a huge, satisfied yawn, her beautifully curved body arching in the morning sunlight, full of youthful vitality.
"I can finally take a proper, long, hot bath!"
After days of camping and forest travel, the quick rinses in streams had been barely enough. A real shower sounded like heaven.
Delia let out a soft sigh of relief as well.
"Finally… I can buy some new clothes."
Her voice carried a faint, almost imperceptible note of shyness.
"Eh?" Misty's eyes sparkled at the word "shopping." She immediately scooted closer. "Sister Delia, you like shopping too?"
The girl's natural love for fashion and browsing lit up instantly.
"Uh… yes, I suppose I do quite a bit!" Delia answered with a slightly flushed smile, keeping it vague.
In truth, the "clothes" she wanted weren't outerwear at all.
They were underwear.
She had made a serious miscalculation before leaving. Thinking that Misty's constant presence would limit intimate moments with Yuuto, she had only packed three spare pairs. In reality, the forest journey had given them fewer full nights together than she expected—just one secret, heated kiss and a handful of more conventional touches.
But she had badly underestimated Yuuto's mischievous creativity.
There had been moments she still couldn't believe even after reading romance novels. Once, while the three of them sat eating together, Yuuto had quietly slipped his foot under the table and teased her in ways that left her desperately trying to keep a straight face so Misty wouldn't notice.
Other times it was a "casual" brush of his fingers across her backside as he walked past, or a sudden, daring move in the shadow of the tent during night-watch handovers. Each incident left her heart racing and her panties soaked.
Three pairs had been nowhere near enough.
Thankfully they had crossed a river midway through the journey, giving her a chance to wash everything and hang it on her backpack to dry. But the thought of running out of clean underwear again made her cheeks burn.
If they hit another long stretch without water… would she have to keep wearing the same dirty pair?
Or… go without any at all?
The second option sent a fresh wave of embarrassed heat through her.
*Go without? That would just make it even easier for that bad guy to cause trouble… Absolutely not!*
She made up her mind right then.
*This time in the city, I'm stocking up. At least five pairs… no, seven!*
Her ears turned scarlet at the thought.
Misty, completely unaware of Delia's internal whirlwind, happily launched into a conversation about which clothing stores had the best styles and which ones were having sales.
Their voices floated lightly ahead—soft, fragmented, and full of girlish excitement.
Yuuto walked half a step behind, eyes scanning the surroundings while he mentally planned his Pewter Gym challenge. Fighting with a type disadvantage meant both Pidgeotto and Pikachu could see action. Especially with Pidgeotto's new colossal size, there were all kinds of creative ways to handle Onix.
He was still running through strategies when—
Within the range of his Aura sense, a figure that had been perfectly still and blended into the rocky roadside suddenly shifted.
A slightly hoarse, tired voice called out with a hint of desperate hope:
"Buying rocks?"
"Yikes!"
Delia and Misty jumped. Misty actually yelped and grabbed Delia's arm.
They turned to look.
A man sat on a low rock ledge beside the path, wearing a dusty gray hat and dirt-stained clothes. His face was unshaven, and his whole appearance blended so perfectly with the gray-white stone behind him that no one would have noticed if he hadn't spoken.
"Mister! Is it fun hiding there and scaring people?" Misty snapped, still clutching Delia's arm.
The man scratched the back of his head and let out an awkward laugh.
"Ah? Hahaha, sorry about that! I didn't mean to scare anyone."
He sighed, eyes showing clear exhaustion and a touch of dejection.
"It's just… it's been a long time since I made a sale. When I saw people coming, I got a little too excited."
Now that they looked properly, he appeared to be around forty. His features were rugged under the messy beard and weary expression. His eyes darted away, avoiding direct contact for long.
An old cloth was spread on the ground in front of him, covered with rocks of various colors and shapes—ordinary pebbles and mineral specimens, nothing obviously special.
A down-on-his-luck rock peddler.
That was Delia and Misty's immediate impression.
But Yuuto's eyebrow twitched.
The moment the man spoke, a clear system prompt rang in his mind.
[Ding! Quest triggered: Wake up Brock's father—Flint—and make him return to the Pewter Gym to fulfill his duties as a father.]
[Quest Reward: Everstone—The Pokémon carrying it will no longer evolve, but can break the Evolution Lock and master skills only available after evolution.]
*Flint? Brock's father?*
Yuuto suddenly understood why the man looked vaguely familiar. Beneath the unkempt beard and tired eyes, the features did resemble Brock. This version, however, was a far cry from the reliable, reformed Flint he remembered from the anime.
As for the reward—an Everstone that prevented evolution while allowing access to post-evolution moves…
Yuuto couldn't think of an immediate use, but anything the system offered was high-value. It would definitely prove useful later—maybe for a special capture or an unorthodox battle strategy.
He accepted the quest without hesitation.
Showing a calm, friendly smile, Yuuto stepped toward the rock stall.
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