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On Poni Island.
It was nearly eleven o'clock when Roy finally met the little guide who would lead them to their specific destination.
This Pokemon's personality seemed a bit scatterbrained. When it arrived, it kept turning left and right, looking extremely unreliable.
If Roy hadn't noticed that the time was almost up and guessed that this should be the Pokemon assigned to guide his group, then asked Lucario to catch it while it was hanging from a tree, they might have been waiting for who knows how long.
The Pokemon who had come to fetch them saw the legendary "noble person" and the imposing Pokemon surrounding him. Recalling its own embarrassing entrance just moments ago, it patted its white wings in embarrassment.
Its entire body was white, with light blue stripes adorning its white wings and tail feathers, giving it a distinctly oceanic appearance.
Its long beak was yellow, perfectly suited for catching fish.
Its eyes were black and elongated, which didn't quite match the "Keen Eye" ability that its species was known for possessing.
It was a Wingull, the pre-evolution of the gluttonous Pelipper.
However, in Roy's opinion, Wingull was much more attractive than Pelipper.
Pelipper's enormous mouth especially reminded him of the beer belly of a middle-aged office worker who had spent years attending business dinners.
This made Roy recall his own working days as a corporate employee before becoming a trainer.
Once again, he sighed at the thought: how could someone working a grueling schedule ever find time to be a Pokemon Trainer?
Wingull appeared rather excited and nervous. Roy wondered if being surrounded by all these large, powerful Pokemon was making it too anxious and uncomfortable.
So Roy had his team spread out a bit to give Wingull some breathing room.
After satisfying their curiosity about the newcomer, the other Pokemon retreated consciously, and Wingull's condition did indeed improve noticeably.
Wingull briefly explained the purpose of its visit, which was similar to what Roy had heard from Ribombee earlier that morning.
When Lucario and the others noticed Wingull's arrival, they also ceased their training.
They awaited instructions from Roy.
With a decisive wave of his hand, Roy recalled all of his Pokemon except Blastoise into their Poke Balls, preparing to travel to the next island.
Melemele Island, where Kommo-o resided!
Wingull also let out a cheerful cry and flew ahead to lead the way.
They soon reached the coastline. Since Solgaleo was nowhere to be seen, Roy didn't bother calling out to him.
Roy figured that when Solgaleo returned and found everyone gone, he would naturally understand that they had continued with the Island Challenge.
Another reason Roy didn't bring Solgaleo along was that the great lion's current role included responsibilities related to Alola's spiritual realm.
As for the Island Challenge itself, bringing Solgaleo would be complete overkill.
When Blastoise saw the ocean surface, he dove into the water consciously. He quite liked the water here—it was cool, clean, and deep.
Once the Island Challenge officially began, the rules would be announced as well.
Blastoise had already resigned himself to his role as the transportation Pokemon.
After all, what else could he do? To travel between the four islands required crossing the sea, not walking on foot!
He didn't know about the other trainers' teams, but in Roy's current roster, he was the only water-type capable of this task!
Blastoise had initially huffed and probably would have splashed some water in protest before diving in.
But by now, he had been completely worn down and left everything to fate.
Well, let's go. At least the water is nice.
Roy didn't realize that in just these few days, Blastoise had already staged an entire dramatic production in his mind, nor did he know when this internal theater would finally end.
Roy quickly hopped onto Blastoise's shell and gestured for Blastoise to follow Wingull.
Everything was fine at first. Roy stood on the turtle's shell, enjoying the ocean scenery.
But at some point during their journey across the sea between islands, Wingull began to appear confused and disoriented.
Roy failed to notice this immediately, and Blastoise simply followed Wingull in a daze, his mind having already wandered off to outer space.
When Roy finally caught on, it was the third time a particularly distinctive Tentacool had appeared before his eyes.
Normally, Tentacool had red, transparent orbs on both sides of its head.
However, this particular Tentacool had an additional red transparent orb in the middle of the top of its head, besides the two on the sides.
Combined with its slender shape and the orbs on either side, it looked remarkably like an emoticon face.
When Roy encountered this same Pokemon for the fourth time, he realized something was seriously wrong!
This Wingull must be leading them in circles!
Roy, who had been sitting leisurely on the turtle's shell, suddenly sat up with alarm and called out to Wingull, who was still leading the way in a confused state.
"Wait, come here first."
Under Roy's intense gaze, Wingull nervously explained that this was its first time leaving the island, so it wasn't very familiar with the route.
After Wingull admitted this, Roy had nothing more to say about the situation.
So Roy raised one arm and patted his forearm, indicating that Wingull should perch there.
Wingull hesitated for a moment but ultimately chose to land on Roy's arm.
Roy sighed helplessly. This little guy...
What could he do? Of course, he would choose to forgive it.
"Blastoise, I'm leaving the navigation to you."
Blastoise wanted to laugh loudly in the middle of the ocean, but when he met Roy's stern look, he held it back.
"Blastoise..."
Fine, fine. I'm just a tool turtle anyway.
Roy patted Blastoise's head with amusement. "Don't watch any more soap operas with Ninetales in the future!"
"Blastoise!"
Ninetales is the one who insists on watching them! I'm just forced to sit through them.
Ninetales' Poke Ball suddenly shook violently, making Blastoise feel guilty for a moment. He quickly dunked his head underwater, pretending he couldn't speak.
Roy placed one hand on the Poke Ball to calm it. "Okay, okay..."
With Roy's gentle stroking, the Poke Ball gradually settled down.
"Ninetales must be furious after hearing that."
Blastoise shuddered, and the speed of his swimming involuntarily increased significantly.
Oh no, oh no...
Without Wingull's misguided directions, Roy and Blastoise soon arrived at their actual destination—Melemele Island, not Poni Island as originally stated.
As soon as they landed, Wingull perked up considerably.
Now that they had arrived at the place where it grew up, how could it possibly not know the way!
Blastoise hunched his neck, considering whether he should retreat back into his Poke Ball.
He knew this might be his only opportunity to escape.
So, with two flashes of light, Lucario appeared to replace the massive Blastoise.
I'm leaving the rest to you!
"Don't worry."
Wingull happily flew ahead, even taking the initiative to call out to Roy and the others to follow quickly.
Roy picked up a long stick that he had found on the beach.