"Where is Professor Oak? When is he arriving?"
That was the sentence Wayne had heard most over the past two days.
His family and the Breeding Center staff alike were all eager to meet the famous Professor Oak, barely able to contain their excitement.
Wayne himself was looking forward to it too, but he would not dare ask the old man directly.
As a dutiful grandson, how could he take anyone else's side?
His grandfather was the greatest — that was simply the way of things.
Even his father, Leon, had let him down by joining the chorus.
Fortunately, the old man wasn't particularly upset. He simply gave his son a firm scolding and left it at that.
"How could Professor Oak possibly come while the finals are still ongoing?"
The old man's temper had softened considerably from his younger years, especially since arriving at the Breeding Center. He smiled far more often here than he ever had back in the countryside.
Leon scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, that makes sense."
Professor Oak's arrival in the middle of the Breeder Competition would inevitably draw unwanted attention. As for the scolding — Leon was well used to that.
The competition was only three days away, but Wayne showed no sign of nerves.
His assigned theme was "sweet," which almost certainly meant working with Berries, with root vegetables like beets being a much less likely possibility.
None of it gave him cause for concern.
So he continued refining his squirrel-shaped Mandarin fish and his chopped chili fish head — two dishes that demanded nothing more than patient, repeated practice.
There was no shortcut. Just as the old man had told him: it's not ready yet. But with enough practice, there comes a moment where everything clicks, and suddenly it works.
Wayne was serving two dishes at lunch and two at dinner, day after day, to the point that the staff had begun having conversations entirely about fish.
His cooking was genuinely delicious — no one could argue otherwise — but even the best dish loses its charm when it appears at every single meal.
So when the day came for Wayne to head out, he received a rather enthusiastic send-off.
"Go out and get some fresh air!"
"You always cook better after a proper break!"
Wayne looked around at the eager faces.
Why are you all so keen to get rid of me?
He went along with it regardless, blending in with his father without any noticeable awkwardness — something that still baffled most people who witnessed it.
The day after the round of sixteen, accompanied by the quiet murmurs of surprise from the staff, Steven Stone made another appearance at the Breeding Center.
It wasn't an unannounced visit. Wayne and Steven had arranged it beforehand.
They were heading to Floaroma Town to bring Shaymin home.
Security around Floaroma Town had been tightened since the incident, but Wayne still wanted to go and see the place for himself.
After Shaymin finished playing hide-and-seek with Eevee and Turtwig, Wayne crouched down and scooped the small Mythical Pokémon into his arms.
"Shaymin, come on. I'll take you home."
"Shaym~"
At the word "home," Shaymin's bright green eyes blinked slowly as it looked up at him.
"If you wanted to go back, why didn't you say something?"
(You were busy... Shaymin can play by itself.)
It wasn't that Shaymin had been desperately missing Floaroma Town — but it was, after all, its home.
Steven offered a quiet smile. Hello, Shaymin.
(Hello...)
Shaymin could sense the calm and sincerity in Steven's spirit, though it remained a little shy about it.
The idea of Steven joining them had come up casually. Wayne had mentioned the trip in passing, and Steven had expressed interest. It made sense — Wayne was more than capable of protecting himself at this point. Lucario had already reached Master Rank, and he could Mega Evolve Metagross when needed. With Steven alongside him, the margin of safety widened considerably. Wayne was glad to have him.
"We're heading out, then. We might not be back today."
The old man gave a nod. "Just make sure you're in Hearthome City for the competition the day after tomorrow."
Fumie smiled at Steven. "Steven, I'm counting on you to look after him."
Steven replied evenly, "Please don't worry."
He didn't think Wayne needed looking after — but it was the right thing to say.
Two Metagross rose into the sky, with Drakloak and Dragapult flanking them on either side.
The three Dragon Scales that Shiny Rayquaza had given Wayne — the last one had already been consumed by Drakloak. Its skill level had reached Intermediate Professional rank, a meaningful step forward.
This was, in a sense, Drakloak's opportunity. The Dragon Scales were only of use to Drakloak and Dragapult in the first place. According to Rayquaza, once all three scales were fully digested, Drakloak would be ready to evolve.
Wayne wasn't going to rush home to watch it happen. Pokémon evolving mid-journey or even mid-battle was entirely normal — they were not fragile creatures.
Floaroma Town lay directly north of Jubilife City. Metagross adjusted course northwest and set off at a comfortable pace.
Wayne held Shaymin in his arms as they flew, and after a moment of thought, asked:
"When you went to the Mirror Cave a couple of days ago — did you end up in another world?"
Steven exhaled. "It wasn't what any of us had imagined. Black City had fallen."
Wayne's expression tightened. "Fallen? Do you know why?"
"We didn't have time to find out." Steven shook his head. "The buildings had already crumbled. Moss and vines had taken over — clearly abandoned for a very long time."
He paused before continuing. "We were attacked when we tried to move beyond Black City to keep searching. You would have heard about that from the group chat."
Wayne nodded. "We could have pressed further," Steven said, "but given the nature of the Mirror Cave, we decided it was wiser to pull back."
It was the right call. If the Mirror Cave were to collapse with them still inside, there would be no coming back.
"How is the League handling the Mirror Cave situation?"
Steven considered for a moment. "Still under discussion. Sealing it off and posting a guard are certainly on the table. No one has confirmed any person or Pokémon crossing over to our world through the Mirror Stone yet — but we can't afford to be careless."
It wasn't just people they needed to worry about. Based on what Wayne and Steven had already observed through their own experiments, Pokémon could potentially pass through Mirror Stones as well.
If it had been Pokémon that brought Black City to ruin, and those same Pokémon discovered the Mirror Cave and found their way here — the consequences could be severe. Precautions were necessary.
By the time they had talked it through, Metagross had already cleared the northern outskirts of Jubilife City and reached the coastline to the north.
"This is where Shaymin and I first met." Wayne gave Steven a brief account of what had happened.
"Shaym!"
The memory stirred something in Shaymin — not just the fear of that day, but also the warmth of meeting Wayne and Lucario for the first time.
Steven pressed two fingers to his temple with a slight frown. "Pokémon hunters are a problem in every region."
The value of rare Pokémon was simply too high. It drove people to take extraordinary risks, and even with law enforcement doing their best, it was impossible to stop every poaching group. With organized networks operating behind the scenes, the problem had only grown worse over time.
That was part of why Lance had been pushing so hard to expand the investigator teams and step up enforcement across the board. But the hunters were elusive — they had stealth ships and moved unpredictably. The best anyone could do was wait for them to show themselves and respond quickly.
By the time the conversation wound down, Metagross had descended toward Floaroma Town, coming to a stop in a wide open clearing.