Volo held Drifloon with one hand and a flashlight in the other, leading Lumiere through the forest at night.
He clearly had plenty of experience in the wild. Along the way, he didn't disturb a single wild Pokémon.
Lumiere soothed Rowlet in his arms and, after hesitating for a long while, decided to probe for some information. After all, someone like Volo who traveled everywhere was bound to know a great deal.
"So we're heading to Floaroma Town right now, right?"
"That's right."
Putting on an awkward expression, Lumiere said, "Floaroma Town… that's in the Sinnoh region, isn't it? I feel like I can't quite remember."
"Region?" Volo paused slightly, then quickly corrected him. "Not exactly. It should be called the Sinnoh area."
"What? The Sinnoh area?"
"Looks like your injury really is serious—you've even forgotten where this place is," Volo said, shaking his head. It seemed he'd have to cover quite a bit in medical fees.
"Sorry, I really don't remember…"
Volo sighed helplessly, then said, "Alright then, I'll only say this once, so listen carefully."
"Okay!"
"This is Floaroma Town, located in the Sinnoh area of the northern part of the Arce Region. Pay attention—there is only one region here. You have to distinguish between 'region' and 'area.' This will be on the geography exam, and you can't lose points over a single word."
"Sorry, teacher… I feel like I really can't tell them apart anymore…"
Lumiere was completely dumbfounded. Was it really necessary to split hairs like this between region and area? And what was this Arce Region supposed to be? Not Sinnoh, not Hisui, but Arce? Arceus? What's next, the Alps?
Left with no choice, Volo continued explaining, "Simply put, the continent of the Arce Region is divided by the central Coronet Mountain Range into four major areas. To the east is the Kanto area, to the west the Unova area, to the south the Hoenn area, and to the north—the Sinnoh area where we are now. That's not hard to understand, right?"
Lumiere: "..."
Let me sort this out for a moment. This is way too much information. They're all extremely familiar names, but once they're stitched together like this, I can't understand any of it.
The Coronet Mountain Range… is that Mount Coronet? Wasn't that supposed to be in the middle of the Sinnoh region? How did it—
No, this isn't the Sinnoh region anymore. It's the Arce Region. Even though it's obviously some kind of stitched-together world, there was no denying that the Arce Region existed.
And right now, he was in the Arce Region—and had even run into Volo. Since Volo was here, would there be other familiar faces as well? Like Dawn? Or Akari?
Still, despite what Volo said, Lumiere didn't completely believe him. Some things had to be verified personally.
After all, this was a villain. Even if he was a good person in this so-called Arce Region, it was hard for Lumiere to change his first impression.
To avoid raising suspicion by asking too many questions, Lumiere shifted the topic slightly and asked, "So you're still planning to take Drifloon back to the Valley Windworks?"
"Yes."
"Then why not just bring it to the child who commissioned you? That way they could be together every day."
Hearing this suggestion, Volo suddenly stopped and turned around, excitement flashing across his face. "That's a great idea! How did I not think of that?!"
"Uh…" Lumiere instinctively took a small step back.
Half an hour later, the two finally emerged from the forest. The view opened up, a gentle breeze brushed past, and before them lay a small town cradled by a sea of flowers.
It was nearing midnight. Moonlight bathed the entire town as Starly flapped back from afar and settled on rooftops to rest with their companions.
Several Cutiefly lightly tapped antennae among the nighttime flowers, producing elegant, xylophone-like tones. Together with a Kricketune, they played a lullaby that added a unique touch to the town's picturesque scenery.
"This place would be perfect for retirement," Lumiere said.
He found himself rather fond of the town's atmosphere. Perhaps one day in the future, when he was tired, he could settle down in a place like this with Rowlet and the one he loved, living a peaceful life.
But before that, there was still one very important thing he had to do…
"Well then, goodbye to you—I'm off!"
"Huh?"
Volo stared in confusion as Lumiere suddenly kicked up dust, turned into a gust of wind, and sprinted straight into the town, disappearing in an instant…
After running for who knew how long, Lumiere finally stopped in front of a small wooden building, panting heavily.
He glanced back and, after confirming that Volo hadn't followed him, finally let out a sigh of relief and sat down with Rowlet in his arms.
Looking at Rowlet blowing bubbles again, he couldn't help but sigh. A life of eating and sleeping really did seem pretty nice.
After resting for quite a while, Lumiere patted himself and stood up. It was already late at night, and most of the town's residents had gone to sleep, with only a few houses still lit.
He wanted to see if there was anywhere he could stay for the night, though the chances seemed slim—after all, he had no money and no clear background.
Walking along the small path ahead, the occasional signboard bore words that Lumiere recognized.
It seemed that not only the language, but even the written script matched that of his original world, meaning communication wouldn't be an issue.
Before long, at the bend at the end of the path, there stood a red building still brightly lit, decorated with many flowers as if to blend into the town's environment. Above the entrance was a distinctive Poké Ball emblem.
"A Pokémon Center?!"
Lumiere was instantly delighted. Although the games didn't mention it, in the anime, Pokémon Centers provided lodging for Trainers.
Even if he wasn't technically a Trainer right now—did that matter? Of course not! You never knew unless you tried!
"Welcome!"
As he passed through the automatic glass doors, a soft female electronic voice greeted him. The volume was low, likely to avoid disturbing others.
After entering and scanning the surroundings, he had to admit—the place was quite spacious, and the setup was indeed similar to what he'd seen in the anime.
Clean, polished floors, berry pots with blooming flowers placed near the entrance, and several computers on the right, likely for making calls.
Beside them was a strange white screen displaying some kind of information, though it was hard to see clearly from this distance.
On the left were many colorful sofas, their pillows covered with Pikachu and Eevee pillowcases. On one sofa, a girl in a miniskirt was resting while hugging a Bibarel.
"This environment isn't bad at all," Lumiere nodded in satisfaction.
"Chansey."
A pink, egg-shaped Pokémon wearing a nurse's cap walked up to Lumiere after spotting him, calling out cheerfully as if asking what he needed.
"So it's Chansey," Lumiere said.
He remembered that Chansey, due to its gentle and kind nature and love of helping others, was often seen assisting at Pokémon Centers.
Wild Chansey, on the other hand, were rather timid and extremely fast runners. It was said that some people, just to catch one, would deliberately injure themselves by falling from great heights—using Chansey's kindness to heal them before throwing a Poké Ball to capture it…