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After Takeshi fled like the wind, Liam quickly dressed himself, placed the dark green Pokémon egg on the bed, and carefully wrapped it with a warm quilt.
Then, he turned around and returned the completely drained Weavile—who looked like it had just survived an intense battle—into its PokeBall to rest, before hurrying out to meet the reinforcements from the organization.
Liam didn't bring anyone else. He left the waterfall base alone and headed swiftly down Mount Silver.
The snowy Mount Silver was still just as desolate as before. Liam ran all the way to the base of the mountain, where he soon spotted a convoy of five transport trucks racing toward him. It had to be the Rocket Team reinforcements.
Standing atop a rock at the base of the mountain, Liam waited silently for the trucks to approach. Before long, the convoy seemed to spot him and sped up, stopping just short of the mountain trail, directly in front of the rock where Liam stood.
"Vortex! Long time no see!"
As the first truck stopped, the door opened, and a purple-haired beauty jumped out from the passenger seat, waving warmly at Liam.
"Uh... It's only been less than two weeks. That's hardly a long time. So you're leading the team this time, sister Miyamoto?"
Liam leapt down from the rock, visibly surprised to see Miyamoto. As the captain of Giovanni's personal guard, shouldn't her job be protecting him? Why was she here?
"Heehee... I know what you're thinking. You think I'm not doing my proper job, right?"
Clearly reading Liam's expression, Miyamoto laughed as she addressed him.
"Uh... What? No way... Hehehe..."
Having his thoughts seen through, Liam scratched his head awkwardly. Thankfully, the Vortex mask on his face hid his embarrassment.
"I am Giovanni's personal guard. I answer only to him, and his order was for me to assist you. So yes, this is my job!"
Miyamoto continued to smile as she spoke.
Liam gave a small nod in response and released Arcanine, mounting up before turning back to Miyamoto.
"Sister Miyamoto, I'll guide you in. It's freezing out here—let's get into the mountain quickly."
With that, Liam led the convoy swiftly back to the waterfall base.
Then... they ran into Takeshi. After hearing the cause of the scratch on Takeshi's face, Miyamoto burst into laughter, shaking with mirth. Takeshi, red-faced, could only look away in embarrassment.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, more than half a month had passed. Now, with only three days left until the start of the Kanto League Tournament, Liam had decided it was time to return.
"Take it easy on the road. You've still got plenty of time, so no need to rush. Once you make it to the finals, I'll make time to come see you compete."
Takeshi spoke as Liam got on his Bike.
"Takeshi's right. There's nothing to worry about here anymore— everything's running smoothly. I'll also take good care of your Rapidash. I'll train it into the strongest Rapidash and return it to you then."
During his time at the base, Liam had entrusted Rapidash to Miyamoto. However, Miyamoto had already used a Moon Stone to evolve her Nidorina into Nidoqueen, and insisted she couldn't accept more gifts from Liam. No matter what, she refused to take it, ultimately agreeing only to care for Rapidash until it was fully recovered before returning it to him.
Liam nodded with a smile. Then, he patted the lively little creature on his shoulder and, after saying goodbye to the two, sped toward the Indigo Plateau.
On Liam's shoulder, a tiny Larvitar looked around excitedly at the ever-changing scenery. One of its little pointed hands clutched Liam's now longer hair as it chirped repeatedly.
"Larvi! Larvitar!"
"Hehe, Larvitar, what do you think? Isn't the outside world beautiful? Way better than that endless stretch of white in the mountains, right?"
One hand on the handlebars, Liam used the other to gently support Larvitar's tail as he smiled and spoke.
This Larvitar had hatched just three days ago—from the dark green Pokémon egg Liam had obtained. Still small and light compared to its mature 72-kilogram form, the newly hatched Larvitar bounced up and down on Liam's shoulder.
Its pale green rocky skin was hard to the touch, so Liam nicknamed the little one 'Pebble'.
...…
Pokémon: Larvitar
Type: Rock/Ground-type
Species: The Rock Skin Pokémon.
Ability: Guts
Nature: Carefree
Gender: Female
Moves: Bite, Leer
Egg Move: Iron Tail
Base Stats Total: 300/300
HP: 50
Attack: 64
Defense: 50
Sp. Atk: 45
Sp. Def: 50
Speed: 41
Evaluation: Excellent! Though still in its earliest stage, and not particularly outstanding in any area yet, it shows tremendous potential. A great power builds within its body, awaiting the day of its evolution. Highly recommended for focused training.
...…
As a future desert tyrant, Larvitar and its middle form Pupitar weren't that strong initially. Only upon evolving into Tyranitar would its terrifying strength truly emerge.
For now... Liam decided it was best to let Larvitar be a quiet little mascot. After all, she'd only just been born—throwing her into battle so soon would be too cruel.
But now Liam had another concern...
Larvitar was so adorable—would she once again awaken Delia's overflowing maternal instincts? If Delia asked to have her... should he give her up or...?
Liam fell into deep thought...
On his shoulder, Larvitar noticed that her trainer had stopped paying attention to her after only two lines of conversation. Puffing out her cheeks, she suddenly opened her mouth and bit Liam's ear in a huff.
"Ow ow ow ow ow!!"
In an instant, Liam's scream echoed across the sky...
...…
After more than two days of travel, Liam finally arrived once again at the Indigo Plateau. The entrance, now swarming with crowds many times larger than before, was buzzing with activity.
Liam stowed away his Bike, tidied up his clothes, brushed the dirt from his outfit, and, with Larvitar chirping excitedly on his shoulder, squeezed his way into the crowd toward the Pokémon Center.
After a tough squeeze inside, Liam wiped the sweat from his brow and approached the front desk. He forced a smile—one that didn't quite reach his eyes—as he addressed the familiar "black-hearted" Nurse Joy.
"I'd like to register my battle Pokémon."
The Joy behind the counter smiled with professional charm upon seeing Liam. She reached out and took the seven PokeBalls and ID card he placed on the tray, then turned to slot them into a machine behind her while inserting his card into a nearby slot. Seconds later, the machine completed the registration of Liam's Pokémon.
She returned the balls and the card, still smiling, and said,
"Sir, the Nurse Joy you met before is currently handling other duties. I'm a temporary replacement brought in from another location~"
"Ah... uh... I'm sorry..."
Hearing that, Liam froze for a moment, then quickly retracted the cold edge in his eyes and awkwardly apologized before turning around and fleeing in embarrassment.
What he didn't see was the sly smirk that spread across Nurse Joy's face the moment his back was turned.