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After a full night's sleep, both Liam and Delia had recovered their spirits. The next morning, after earnestly thanking the elderly couple at the Day Care, the two of them once again set out toward Goldenrod City. The journey ahead was still quite long, so they needed to depart early.
The morning sun rose and cast its light upon the land. Liam and Delia walked side by side along the smooth road. Bounding happily ahead of them was the ever-adventurous Riolu. But this time, there was a small bell tied around Riolu's neck.
As Riolu ran, the bell gave off a series of crisp, jingling sounds, filling the little Pokémon with delight.
That bell was the Soothe Bell, a rare item that could raise friendship. Liam had entrusted it to Delia, telling her to let Riolu wear it.
For Riolu to evolve into Lucario, it needed a high degree of closeness with its trainer. The Soothe Bell was precisely the kind of item that could help accelerate that bond.
Delia's next Gym challenge would be the Goldenrod Gym. If nothing went wrong, it should be a Normal-type Gym. Against Normal-types, Riolu, with its Fighting-typing, would hold a big advantage.
Although it was unrealistic to expect Riolu to evolve into Lucario before reaching Goldenrod, it never hurt to start preparations early.
Because Riolu had only hatched not long ago, it didn't know many moves yet—in fact, not even a single Fighting-type move. So… Liam took out some of his cherished Technical Machines.
After a round of study, Riolu successfully learned Protect, Brick Break, Double Team, and Shadow Claw. Though it wasn't fully skilled at them yet, using them in battle posed no problem.
From here on, it was Delia's time to shine. The road to Goldenrod would surely be full of trainers. Each battle would give Riolu valuable experience and perhaps even allow it to learn more moves earlier.
...….
"Riolu! Use Force Palm!"
"Rio!"
"Sentret!"
"Sentret, don't give up—get up, quick!"
"Sentret is unable to battle! Riolu is the winner!"
"Yay! Another victory! Riolu, you're amazing!"
"Rii!"
From morning until late afternoon, Liam and Delia walked the entire way toward Goldenrod. Along the road, Delia had fought over a dozen battles, sending Riolu out each time.
Though Riolu was exhausted now, the results spoke for themselves—it had learned three more moves, two of which were Fighting-type. Truly satisfying progress.
After finishing their last battle and saying goodbye to their opponent, Liam and Delia pressed forward, with Goldenrod City not far ahead.
Goldenrod was Johto's most prosperous city. Situated by the sea, its liveliness rivaled even Celadon City in Kanto. Two landmarks made it especially famous: the Goldenrod Gym, and the Goldenrod Department Store.
Given the time, Liam and Delia decided to head first to the Pokémon Center to rest, leaving the Gym challenge for the next day. But Goldenrod was simply too large. The downside of such a vast city soon revealed itself. Even after following their map for a long while, night had already fallen—and they still hadn't reached the Pokémon Center.
At that moment, however, a commotion erupted in the crowd ahead. Liam and Delia instinctively looked over—and saw it!
"Thief! Someone stop that man—he stole my bag!"
A shout of "Thief!" rang out from the crowd. Then, a tall man in black clothes and a helmet shoved his way through the people, clutching a shoulder bag in his arms.
"Out of my way! Don't block me! Magnemite, use Thunder Wave!"
On his shoulder was a Magnemite, which, upon hearing the order, floated up and unleashed waves of electricity in every direction.
"Aaah! I'm paralyzed!"
"Same here!"
Within moments, several unlucky bystanders collapsed to the ground, twitching violently from paralysis.
"Heh! That'll teach you to get in my way! Hm? You two up ahead—move it! Magnemite, use Thunder Shock!"
Sneering at the fallen crowd, the man turned to continue his escape. But spotting Liam and Delia in his path, he barked the warning and immediately gave another order.
"Bzzt!"
Magnemite's magnets flared, charging up electricity aimed straight at them.
"Flareon, Flamethrower!"
"Flaaare!"
Just as Liam reached for a PokeBall to deal with the thug, a low shout rang out from a nearby alley. A spiral of searing fire shot forth, engulfing Magnemite in midair.
"What! Who's there?!"
Caught off guard, the thief spun around in panic, shouting angrily toward the alley.
Clang!
When the flames faded, his Magnemite lay on the ground, charred black with spirals in its eyes.
"Hmph, trash. Flareon, use Quick Attack!"
"Flaaare!"
Though Magnemite was already down, the assault didn't stop. At another command, a flame-red Flareon, its yellow mane and tail blazing, dashed out from the alley in a streak of light and rammed its head hard into the thief's stomach.
"Ughh!"
The man was sent flying, crashing into a trash bin and spitting foam from his mouth, utterly defeated.
"Flaaare~"
"Well done, Flareon. You're such a good child."
From the alley emerged a figure holding a shopping bag, stroking Flareon's head affectionately.
"Well, well. I thought that voice sounded familiar… and it really is you. Haha, long time no see. I never imagined I'd run into you here… Max!"
As the figure stepped into the light, Liam's furrowed brows relaxed. With a smile, he pulled Delia along to greet an old friend warmly.
"…I'm kind of regretting stepping in now."
Max's fond expression froze, then melted into helplessness. In his usual cool tone, he replied to the two familiar faces.
"Hehe, don't say that—it makes me sad. We've always been thinking of you, you know. Oh! This Flareon… could it be the Eevee you had when you left? Looks like it's been trained wonderfully. Flareon, do you remember me~?"
Liam laughed, clapping Max on the shoulder as if they'd never been apart. Then he bent down curiously to greet Flareon.
"Flaaare!"
The response was a roaring stream of flames.
"Cough… so ruthless, huh…"
Charred black and coughing out smoke, Liam muttered to Flareon, his face too darkened to show an expression.
"Flaaare!"
With a proud huff, Flareon turned away, refusing to acknowledge him further. Max, seeing this, quietly raised a thumbs-up behind Flareon's back.
'Flareon—good job!'