Chapter 200: A Hasty Decade, a Stable Champion
When Sola had pleaded with him, asking when he would be leaving, Will had replied that he wasn't.
You couldn't describe how happy Sola had been. Although the Tranquility Daycare was never quiet, those children were different from family.
Will and Meowscarada's reasons for staying were simple. There were two.
The first was to stay with Sola and see her through to the end of her life. She had taken care of him during his entire infancy. Even though it had only been seven days, that kindness was deeper than any he had received from all the other humans he had met on his ten-year journey. He was simply repaying the favor: "You raised me when I was small, and I will care for you when you are old."
The second, naturally, was to train.
For Will, who was at the Elite Four level, the best training ground wasn't Mt. Silver, nor was it the Tree of Beginning. The former would only get him to about Lv. 65, and the latter only had Pokémon at the Champion level or higher, whom he couldn't beat.
For him, at this stage, the most suitable training ground... was the deep sea.
Unfortunately, he wasn't a Water-type Pokémon and couldn't just go looking for those powerful Pokémon. Otherwise, he would have had no problem training all the way to the Master Class.
But Ever Grande City was good enough. It was surrounded by the sea and was a gathering place for a large number of Hoenn League trainers. These trainers couldn't do much for his training, but they were a great help for training Meowscarada and Skitty.
...
Life became peaceful and routine. Skitty's daily life was now countless times harder than before. Not only did she lose Sola's undivided attention, but she was also forced to train by Will. Meowscarada's life was the complete opposite. She experienced the love of a grandparent for the first time and stuck by Sola's side every day.
Will's days were monotonous. Every day, he would go out into the deep sea on Tom and Corphish's fishing boat. His training was entirely up to luck. On a good day, he might encounter two Elite Four-level sea Pokémon. On a bad day, he might go half a month without seeing a single Gym Leader-level one.
As for the humans, they were even more useless for his training. Aside from a few of the stronger department captains who came to spar, he ignored all other battle invitations. Simply put: You probably can't even beat my Skitty, and you want to challenge me? Are you drunk?
When he was tired of training, he would lie at home for a couple of days, enjoying Sola's gentle ear-cleaning while telling her stories of his travels.
...
In the blink of an eye, ten years had passed. It was now the 40th year of the League Era.
In those ten years, Celestia had left Sinnoh and come to Hoenn to study history, where she had run into them in Ever Grande City. Ten years later, she was married and had a golden-haired boy, who was perhaps Cynthia's grandfather or great-grandfather.
Meowscarada and Skitty were constantly fighting for affection. If Meowscarada stole Sola's attention, Skitty would run over and cuddle with Will. But in front of Sola, they had to put on a "best sisters in the world" act.
And from a sailor who came from Unova, Will learned that Niven had passed away not long after they had left. He had died with a smile on his face, whispering two names. It seemed he had seen his wife and son coming to greet him.
...
The biggest change for Will and Meowscarada was, of course, Sola's passing. It had happened a month ago. She had left in the middle of the night. No pain, no loneliness. She had simply passed away peacefully in her sleep.
That morning, all three Pokémon, including Will, were very quiet.
Animals have a vague sense of a person's lifespan. Will had only learned this that night. They had all anticipated that she might be leaving. Even though they were incredibly sad, they didn't want Sola to see their sorrowful faces in her final moments.
So, the wailing and crying was saved for the next night.
For the past month, Will had barely had any time to train. Sola's funeral, the future of the daycare, and what to do with Skitty... so many things had fallen on his shoulders. He had been completely overwhelmed. Sola had once called him her child. And he had truly fulfilled the role of a child, handling all of her final affairs.
As for the last one, Skitty... Sola's last wish was for Will to take her with him.
"Have you decided?" Will asked, looking down at the little cat by his leg.
"Meow," Skitty nodded firmly. She wanted to go to the Ever Grande Forest, to see if her family was still alive.
"Alright... then you must take care of yourself," Will said, picking her up. After ten years, Skitty had also become an important part of his family. But with this farewell, they might never see each other again.
"Meow," Meowscarada came over and hugged the Skitty. Although they fought constantly, their relationship had become incredibly deep.
"Meow~" Skitty, holding the small Piplup toy Meowscarada had given her, licked her cheek. She told them that if they missed her, they could come and find her in the Ever Grande Forest.
With that, she walked away, her steps firm and resilient.
"She's grown up too," Will murmured, watching her go. The little cat who used to hide behind him was now able to survive on her own. In the past ten years, she had reached Lv. 45. She would be fine.
"Meow?" Meowscarada asked, a little sad.
"Yes," Will nodded. "Parting is a normal part of life."
"Meow? (Is seeing each other again, too?)"
"...It will be," Will said quietly, stroking her ear.
Ten years had passed. His big girl hadn't changed much on the outside. But her heart... she had matured a lot.
He looked down at his personal status screen. Ten years of dedicated training, with his experience cheat... he had gained 11 levels. It wasn't fast, but it certainly wasn't slow. After all, the conditions of the era were what they were.
And... he had now steadily stepped into the Champion tier.
Level: 71
Height: 4.1m
Weight: 165kg
It was time to set off again. To follow Liz's phantom, and to head to his next training ground.
"Meow?" Meowscarada looked at him, confused. After Sola's passing, she was like a lost child, not knowing where to go, and could only rely on him to make decisions. But if you thought you could bully her because of that, you would be in for a bad time. She was now a genuine Elite Four-level Pokémon. Although she had just crossed the threshold, at Lv. 70, there were few human trainers who could be her opponent.
"We're going to Kanto," Will said quietly, his gaze fixed on the northeast.
In the past ten years, he had heard nothing about Shadow Lugia. He had no idea when that thing would pop up.
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