During dinner that evening, Lily looked at Nathan, who was sitting there absentmindedly, barely touching his food. She wanted to help him, but didn't know how to begin.
"If something's on your mind, don't bottle it up. Tell me about it."
Since Nathan kept silent, Lily finally had no choice but to ask.
Nathan sighed softly.
"It's nothing serious… it's just that all of a sudden, I don't know what I should be doing anymore."
As he spoke, he poked halfheartedly at the rice in his bowl, taking bites here and there without much appetite.
Ever since Volcarona and Mewtwo had advanced into the legendary rank, Nathan had suddenly felt strangely idle.
For as long as he could remember, his days had been filled with busyness—either tirelessly training his Pokémon to improve their strength, or constantly running around to participate in competitions.
But now, all of a sudden, there was nothing pressing left to do.
His Pokémon had already reached a bottleneck in their training, and ordinary practice was no longer very effective.
As for pushing his other Pokémon to break through into the legendary level, that was far from easy.
After all, the number of legendary Pokémon that could exist was naturally limited.
It wasn't that no one had come to challenge him during this period—but the challengers didn't all have legendary Pokémon, and few posed any real threat.
Listening to Nathan's fragmented words, Lily gradually pieced together a clear understanding of his troubles.
"Why don't we go traveling?"
After thinking briefly, she suddenly suggested this.
She could more or less guess what was going on—Nathan simply couldn't stand having nothing to do.
From childhood to now, Nathan had spent about sixty percent of his time inside mystic realms, another thirty percent training Pokémon, and the last ten percent barely resting at all.
Now that he found himself in this situation, it was most likely because he had already explored nearly all of the mystic realms within the country.
The nation's territory was vast, its population large, and naturally, the number of mystic realms wasn't small.
Yet after so many years, Nathan had more or less visited them all.
That was why he now felt like there was nothing left to occupy him.
"Travel? Where to?"
Nathan asked in puzzlement.
He didn't understand why Lily would suddenly bring up such a thing.
She had never once mentioned anything about tourism before.
"Wherever there are mystic realms, we'll travel there. That way, you won't feel so restless."
Lily didn't beat around the bush, stating it outright.
Hearing this, Nathan instantly felt deeply moved.
At first, he thought Lily only wanted to go sightseeing because he was idle and bored.
But he hadn't expected it to actually be for his sake—that she knew he had already gone through nearly every domestic mystic realm, so she wanted to take him abroad to explore others.
In his home country, he had basically covered all of them. But in foreign lands? He had scarcely set foot in a few.
"Suddenly I've realized something… behind every successful man, there's always a woman who supports him. And you… you are mine."
Nathan said happily.
And that night, without words, spring breezes swept silently through. The night was long, sweet, and filled with warmth.
…
The next morning, Nathan woke up in high spirits. After washing up, he sat down at his computer and began searching for travel destinations with great enthusiasm.
Meanwhile, Lily went off to contact Grog and Misha.
Although Nathan had promised to give Grog an unforgettable wedding, after the ceremony was over, Grog had quickly returned to his company and busied himself once again with work.
This time, Lily proposed that they take Grog and Misha along on their trip as well—letting them treat it as their honeymoon.
That way, there would also be more company on the road. If it was just the two of them, she felt it might be a little too quiet.
When Grog received Lily's call, it took him only twenty minutes before he appeared before Nathan, practically bursting with excitement.
"Boss, you're really taking me and Misha traveling with you?"
He asked eagerly.
Nathan nodded; this matter was already settled.
"Of course it's true. But if you don't want to come along, or if you'd rather have time to yourselves, you can also go wherever you like."
Though he said this, deep down Nathan very much wanted Grog to come with them.
He himself was a man—it wouldn't matter much if he traveled alone. But with Lily by his side, things were different.
What if they stumbled across a new mystic realm along the way, and he had to enter? He couldn't just leave Lily by herself.
If Grog and Misha tagged along, then Lily wouldn't be lonely.
"No, no, no! Of course, Misha and I are going with you!"
Grog quickly waved his hands.
Was he kidding? Traveling with the boss meant eating well, living well, and if any danger cropped up along the way, he'd have the boss to rely on.
But if he went out alone? What if they ran into criminals?
Or even if not criminals, what if they encountered some extremely aggressive wild Pokémon?
He knew his own strength well—he could maybe handle one or two Elite-level Pokémon. But against truly powerful ones? He'd only be beaten down.
"Since that's settled, then go home and pack. Put work aside for now—you can deal with it when we get back."
Nathan instructed.
Grog agreed and hurried home to prepare.
Meanwhile, Nathan consulted the information he had found online and slowly began planning their travel route.
This trip would take them abroad, and it would last quite a while, so proper preparation was essential.
He spent the entire day working on it, even calling Kelly midway to ask for information.
He asked Kelly to send him a dossier on mystic realms in other countries.
When Kelly learned that Nathan was planning to travel overseas, he eagerly offered to tag along as well.
But Nathan turned him down flat.
There would already be four of them—two couples, neatly paired. Adding Kelly into the mix would just feel awkward.
Two days later, the group of four arrived at the airport in Grace City.
Nathan stared at Grog's luggage and was immediately left speechless.
"Seriously, Grog… are you going on a trip, or are you moving house?"
Nathan and Lily had brought bags too, of course, but Nathan carried only a small one. Inside were just Poké Balls and some basic necessities.
Lily was the same.
But Grog? He was dragging along two enormous suitcases and had a gigantic hiking pack strapped to his back—he looked like he was relocating his entire home.
"Of course it's for traveling, Boss! I didn't just bring swimsuits, I also packed winter jackets. We…"
Listening to him ramble on endlessly, Nathan felt his head throbbing.
"Alright, alright. Bring whatever you want. But honestly, if we need something, we can just buy it when we get there."
Waving his hand impatiently, Nathan cut him off, then took the tickets and boarded the plane with Lily.
Seeing that Nathan didn't want to talk to him anymore, Grog didn't push it. He quietly followed with his mountain of luggage.
…
On the plane, Nathan and Lily sat together on one side of the aisle. Across from them, separated by the narrow walkway, were Grog and Misha.
"Boss, what's our travel route this time? Tell me about it?"
Grog asked between gasps for breath.
"It's a long route, lots of places. You'll find out when we get there."
Nathan didn't bother explaining in detail. Just planning it had taken him an entire day—it was a long and complicated itinerary.
The engines roared, and the plane steadily ascended into the sky.
Lily, having woken up early, had already put on her eye mask and earplugs and drifted off to sleep.
Nathan, however, took out his notes and continued reviewing the planned route.
Across the aisle, Grog and Misha whispered quietly to each other about something.
Everything seemed peaceful and beautiful.
But life rarely proceeds without surprises.
"Ladies and gentlemen, sorry to bother you. Please hand over all your Poké Balls and any valuables you're carrying."
A sudden voice broke the calm.
The stewardess who had just been serving drinks froze in shock.
What was this—hijacking?
In an era before Pokémon existed, such a thing might not have felt too strange.
But now? In this world? Who would even think of hijacking a plane?
Nathan and Grog were both stunned.
What kind of twisted brain would come up with something like hijacking?
Forget how many Poké Coins you could even get. Just the idea of stealing Poké Balls was utter stupidity.
If the passengers only had weak Pokémon, maybe you'd get away with it.
But what if one of them had a very powerful one?
Many Pokémon only recognized their own Trainer. If taken by force, some might even go berserk and attack.
"Sir, is this some kind of joke?"
The stewardess stood up and confronted the hijacker.
Even facing a criminal, she didn't look flustered in the slightest.
Just then, cries of alarm rang out from the economy class behind them.
Something had clearly happened there.
"Heh… looks like someone wasn't obedient. No matter. Our Pokémon will handle the disobedient ones. And you, what about you?"
The hijacker sneered as he turned his gaze toward the passengers in first class.
They had prepared this plan for a very long time.
The Pokémon used for this hijacking had cost them tremendous effort—several Psychic-types they had painstakingly captured.
All of it was to ensure that they could fight effectively within the confined space of the cabin.
(End of Chapter)
TN: Dang, what unlucky hijackers.