Although the Ruins of Alph were located west of Violet City, the jourhere wasly short. Sato had no i in starting a versation, but the same couldn't be said for Wester.

  "Sato, have you ever seen Unown at the Ruins of Alph?"

  Sato thought to himself—he had never eveo the Ruins of Alph in this lifetime. How could he have seen Unown? But when he g Wester's eager expression, he simply replied:

  "No."

  "That's a shame! They say Unown are even more mysterious than Legendary Pokémon! ht—Sato, have you ever seen a Legendary Pokémon?"

  "No."

  "Then what's the stro Pokémon you've ever seen? A Dragonite, maybe? Or a Tyranitar, the Desert Tyrant?"

  Sato pressed his lips together. Was Wester a chatterbox?!

  "I saw a Dragonite once—during the st Pokémon League Championship. The trainer who beat me had one."

  "…"

  "Sato, why aren't you saying anything?"

  "Try calling my name again."

  "Sato?"

  "You get it now?"

  "…Oh."

  Three mier…

  Wester couldn't hold it in any longer. "Sato, what do you think is stronger, Dragonite or Tyranitar?"

  Sato turned his head, staring at Wester. Was this really what he'd been thinking about all this time?

  "I think… Tyranitar is probably stronger," Wester tinued, pletely ign the fact that Sato never answered. He was talking to himself, having the time of his life.

  Sato looked fain and suddenly had a realization—was Wester like this because he hadn't talked enough back at the café?

  What followed was a bizarre se:

  Sato walked forward without a word, never looking away from the road. Meanwhile, Wester opped talking.

  Sato didn't stop him, but his walking paoticeably increased. Unfortunately, there was still quite a bit of distance left before they reached their destination.

  "Tyranitar has a lot of weaknesses, but…" Wester suddenly paused. "Huh? Why did you stop?"

  He turned and saw Sato walking toward a rge tree by the roadside.

  "It's noon. Are you not going to eat?"

  "ht! I got so caught up talking that I fot about lunch!" Wester grihen immediately put down his backpack.

  "I brought a lot of great camping supplies! This, this, and… oh, this too!"

  Oer another, he pulled out item after item—a table, ptes, a portable stove, a rge frying pan, cooking utensils… and even a bouquet of fresh flowers?!

  Wait… was that a mini-oven? And was that thing over there a refrigerator?!

  Was he moving houses?!

  Sato looked at his oack, which tained a single sandwich, then gnced back at Wester, who was already preparing a gourmet steak meal.

  Without hesitation, Sato put his backpack down and silently watched.

  "Just wait a bit—it'll be ready soon!" Wester said enthusiastically.

  He was now wearing a chef's apron, fully focused oeak sizzling in the pan. Seeing Sato watg, he even reminded him to be patient.

  Thirty mier…

  Sato aer sat across from each other, staring at the extravaga id out before them.

  "You always eat like this when you travel?" Sato asked, still in disbelief as he looked at the ridiculous spread that Wester had prepared in just half an hour.

  "Of course! Now, let your Pokémon out—let's all eat together!" Wester poured a gss of red wine for himself and invited Sato's Pokémon to join in as if this was a formal dini.

  Sato thought for a moment before releasing Zorua and Haunter. Larvitar was too rare to reveal, and besides—it preferred eating high-energy minerals over fancy meals.

  "Zor!"

  Zorua leaped onto Sato's shoulder, rubbing affeately against him before notig the food oable. The moment it saw the delicious spread, drool started dripping from its mouth.

  "A Zorua?! From Unova?!" Wester's eyes lit up with excitement. "I just so happen to have some premium Dark-type Pokémon food! Here, try this!"

  He cheerfully took out a tainer filled with high-quality packaged Pokémon food—the kind that screamed luxury.

  "Zor?"

  Zorua licked its lips and looked up at Sato, its eyes filled with pure, i expectation.

  "Go ahead."

  "Zor~!"

  In an instant, Zorua dashed toward the , givier a polite nod befrabbing the food and sprinting back to Sato's side. Sitting upright, Zorua skillfully used its paws to open the tainer before happily digging in.

  "Kehehehe~"

  Haunter leaned in for a sniff, then immediately wris ghostly fa disapproval. It had no i in food infused with strong Dark-type energy.

  "I have something for Hauoo! Try this!" Wester said, pulling out another he had specifically prepared fhost-types.

  "Kehehe!"

  Haunter wasn't as polite as Zorua. It simply extended a shadowy cw, snatg the right out of Wester's hands.

  As soon as the ened, a thick, purplish mist rose from within. Haunter's eyes gleamed with excitement.

  Without hesitation, it extes long, red tongue and slurped up the entire mist in one go.

  "Kehehe~"

  Landing on the grass, Haunter shuddered in delight, clearly satisfied with the rare treat.

  "Sato, take a look at my Pokémon too!" Wester said as he tossed out three Poké Balls.

  With a fsh of red light, Feraligatr, Houndoom, and Skarmory appeared on the field, each of them well-trained and physically imposing.

  Sato recalled their previous performances in battle—Houndoom and Skarmory were likely still Elite-level, while Feraligatr's full strength was yet to be determined. But if it had been held batil now, it was safe to assume that it was even stronger.

  After finishing lunch, Sato watched expressionlessly as Wester pulled out a portable dishwasher to up. At this point, nothing surprised him anymore.

  Leaning against a tree, Sato gently wiped the Egg he had been carrying. He could feel it—Spinarak was close to hatg.

  After a brief rest, the two tiheir journey.

  This time, Sato did not recall Haunter and Zorua, keeping them out as a precaution. They were moving farther from the city, and the number of wild Pokémon increased—staying alert was crucial.

  Wester did the same, keeping Houndoom at his side. But that didn't stop him from talking non-stop—except now, his attention had shifted to Haunter and Zorua.

  Before long, Zorua darted off to scout ahead, clearly fleeing from Wester's endless chatter. Like Sato, it preferred silence.

  As for Houndoom… it had long since run off in a different dire, having no iion of stig around its talkative trainer.

  Meanwhile, Haunter had found its perfect versation partner.

  The entire way, it echoed Wester's enthusiasm, unleashing a stant stream of eerie ughter.

  "Kehehehehehe~ Kehehe~ Kehehehehe!"

  Somehow, Wester tolerated it just fine. Most people would've been driven ier a few minutes of hearing "Kehehe~" o.

  Sato, oher hand, had to restrain himself multiple times from recalling Haunter just to shut it up.

  Finally, after what felt like ay, they reached the crumbling stone walls of the Ruins of Alph.

  "We should set up camp here and head inside first thing in the m," Sato said.

  "Ah, got it," Wester nodded absentmindedly—still engaged in versation with Haunter.

  Then, as if activating some kind of hidden meism, Wester pulled a full-sized luxury tent-like house out of his tiny backpad set it up instantly.

  Sato tightened his untouched backpad silently walked into the house.

  His sandwich was going to expire soon—it was now or never.