After saying goodbye to Zoroark, Liam and N left the Lostlorn Forest.
Without Zoroark's illusions confusing them anymore, the real path out of the forest and the system's navigation map quickly reappeared before Liam's eyes. Earlier, because Liam himself had been deceived by the illusion, even the navigation system had appeared false to him. Now that those obstacles were gone, he and N soon made their way out of the Lostlorn Forest.
Once outside, they were not far from Marvelous Bridge.
As they walked, Liam took out the scroll Zoroark had given him and examined it.
[Ding!]
[Ancient Skill Scroll: Snarl]
[Using this scroll allows certain Pokémon to learn the Dark-type move Snarl.]
[Uses: Unlimited.]
[Evaluation: Extremely valuable. Its archaeological significance exceeds its practical value.]
As expected of a technique gifted by Zoroark—it was unmistakably a Dark-type move.
Meanwhile, the Pokémon Egg N had received had also been confirmed to be a Zorua Egg.
Wrapped carefully in the breathable cotton cloth Liam had prepared, N cradled the Egg in his arms. His eyes never left it, and the smile on his face never faded. It was obvious that he truly adored the little Egg.
"N, you have to take good care of this Pokémon Egg. Make sure it hatches safely and grows up healthy."
Liam put away the scroll and gently rubbed N's hair.
N answered with unwavering determination.
"Yes!! I definitely will!!"
...…..
Because of the delay in the Lostlorn Forest, by the time Liam and N reached Marvelous Bridge, the sky had already grown dark.
With no choice, Liam decided to camp beside the bridge.
By the time he had finished pitching the tent and preparing dinner, night had completely fallen. The only light remaining came from the full moon hanging high in the heavens.
After dinner, Liam and N returned to the tent to rest.
The top of the tent was made of transparent material, allowing the moonlight to pour directly inside and illuminate Liam's face.
N was still hugging the Zoroark Egg, gently stroking it over and over, seemingly believing that doing so would help it hatch sooner.
Liam could only smile at N's innocent behavior. He didn't say anything. After all, enjoying the experience of waiting for an Egg to hatch was part of the journey.
Time slowly passed.
The sound of the river flowing beneath the nearby bridge drifted into their ears, while the bright moon continued to shine overhead.
Although it was already deep into the night, Liam still couldn't fall asleep. Perhaps the moonlight was simply too bright.
N, on the other hand, was already fast asleep.
Curled on his side, he hugged the Egg tightly, with a tiny trail of drool at the corner of his mouth.
Feeling just a little envious, Liam carefully climbed out of the tent and walked over to the riverbank.
He sat down on a large rock beside the water and looked up at the moon, unable to stop a faint homesickness from welling up inside him.
"..."
He missed Delia.
"Whoo..."
Just as thoughts of Delia filled his mind, a chilly breeze suddenly swept across his back!
Liam shivered involuntarily.
Turning around, he saw a little girl dressed in a white dress standing behind him with a cheerful smile.
"Hm? Little girl? It's dangerous to be out here all alone this late. Where are your parents? I think you'd better head home."
The girl before him wore a flowing white dress. Her long black hair reached her waist, fluttering gently in the night breeze.
Neatly cut bangs framed an adorable face.
She wasn't wearing any shoes. Under the moonlight, her small bare feet looked almost translucent.
With both hands clasped behind her back, she skipped happily over to Liam.
"Hey, Mister... are you a Pokémon Trainer?"
The little girl paid no attention to Liam's earlier question. Instead, she leaned forward innocently and asked with sparkling eyes.
"Hm? Yes, I am. What's the matter?"
Liam smiled and nodded.
"Yay! That's wonderful! Big Brother! Mayoi is a Trainer too! And Mayoi is really strong! Let's have a battle! If Big Brother wins, I'll give you a reward! How about it? Will you?"
After hearing Liam's answer, the little girl became visibly excited. Her large eyes blinked expectantly as she looked at him.
"Uh..."
Liam hesitated.
He glanced around, but there wasn't a single sign of the girl's family nearby.
"Hm? Big Brother... you don't want to battle Mayoi?"
"Waa... that makes Mayoi sad..."
Without receiving an answer, Mayoi lowered her head sadly.
"Ah, no, no, that's not it. It's just... it's already really late. My partners are all asleep. How about we battle tomorrow instead? You should go home, get a good night's rest, and tomorrow morning we'll meet here and battle. How does that sound?"
Seeing the little girl looking so dejected immediately threw Liam into a panic.
He quickly stood up, waving both hands while cold sweat formed on his forehead.
But the instant he finished speaking, Mayoi suddenly lifted her head!
And in each of her hands, she was holding a PokeBall!
"Hehe! I don't want to wait until tomorrow! Come out, Kadabra! Use Psybeam! Lampent! Use Night Shade!"
"Kadabra!"
"Lampent~"
Two flashes of light burst from the PokeBalls.
A Kadabra and a Lampent appeared instantly.
Without the slightest hesitation, they immediately followed Mayoi's commands and launched their attacks straight at Liam!
"What?!"
Boom!!
Although Kadabra's and Lampent's attacks came without warning, Liam's reaction speed was more than enough to dodge them.
The only problem was that he wasn't wearing his Swift Shoes at the moment, making his evasive maneuver considerably more awkward.
Two explosions erupted beside him as Liam rolled across the ground to avoid the attacks.
Looking up, he saw that Kadabra and Lampent had no intention of stopping.
Instead, they were already gathering energy for another round.
Liam frowned and shouted,
"Garchomp! Empoleon!!"
Flash!! Flash!!
At Liam's call, two PokeBalls inside the tent burst open.
Two beams of white light shot through the tent's partially opened entrance.
The instant they landed, they took the forms of Garchomp and Empoleon.
Seeing Liam under attack, both Pokémon immediately exploded into motion at top speed.
"Graaah!!"
The faster of the two was Garchomp.
Its body transformed into a streak of white light, arriving in front of Liam in the blink of an eye.
It crossed both forelimbs before itself. A brilliant green Protect barrier instantly enveloped both Garchomp and Liam.
Boom! Boom!!
At almost the exact same moment, Kadabra's and Lampent's attacks arrived.
Both attacks slammed into Garchomp's Protect simultaneously—
—and were completely blocked.
"Empo!!"
Meanwhile, Empoleon—whose movement on land was much slower—opened its beak.
A brilliant beam of icy energy erupted forth.
Ice Beam blasted across the ground, instantly freezing a long path of ice stretching from Empoleon all the way to Kadabra and Lampent.
The next instant, Empoleon leaped onto the ice.
Sliding at incredible speed across its self-made frozen path, it reached Kadabra and Lampent almost instantly, just as they finished launching their attacks.
Then—
"Empo!!"
Taking advantage of the moment when Kadabra and Lampent were unable to move after attacking, Empoleon raised its gleaming wings—
Burning with fury—
And slashed down with all its might!!