Hoenn Region, Petalburg City.
"May! If you don't come down soon, your tempura soba will be eaten by Furret!"
Caroline, wearing a black-and-white striped apron, tapped a wooden ladle lightly against a clay pot.
On the stove, a Pokémon with a large, fluffy tail held the freshly warmed miso soup. Hearing its owner's voice, the tip of its fluffy tail wagged proudly.
"Coming, coming~"
The sound of light footsteps came from the stairs, and an eighteen-year-old girl walked down gracefully. Her chestnut curls fell to her waist, and a pink flush, caused by her quick descent, floated lightly on her fair, snowy-tender cheeks.
The soft white light spilled over her profile, making her bow-shaped hair ornament shine brightly. Her amber pupils flowed with honey-like luster, and a small, light brown mole dotted the corner of her left eye. When she smiled, she had both the pure beauty of a young girl and an added sense of seductive allure.
"Eh, is this a new Pokémon movie that came out recently?"
Just coming downstairs, May glanced first at the soba noodles already served on the table, then looked through the rising steam to the television playing opposite her.
A forest swept by a fire dragon, continuous fine snow, a group of wild Pokémon charging together...
The images were both eerie and highly impactful, as if filming a major disaster movie.
"No, no, it's a live broadcast~"
Caroline untied her apron lightly and used the wooden ladle to add an extra scoop of golden corn soup to her daughter's bowl.
"It's said to be a forest fire that occurred in Hinata Town in the Sinnoh region. It seems many wild Pokémon were agitated and started rioting..."
Taking a sip of freshly brewed hot tea, the middle-aged man sitting on the other side of the table explained.
"Norman, you didn't wash your hands before eating again!"
Just about to nod in agreement, Caroline, arranging the golden, crispy shrimp tempura into a flower shape, suddenly remembered something. She glanced sideways at her husband's hand holding the tea cup and chided him.
"Cough-cough~" The middle-aged man wearing a brown shirt shuddered subconsciously, almost choking on the tea.
Accustomed to her parents' daily bickering, May picked up the steaming noodles with her chopsticks and put them into her mouth, turning her gaze to the live broadcast playing before her.
"According to our station's news, a forest explosion caused by the illegal activities of Hunter J's large poaching group has resulted in a wide-ranging fire in the Hiyori Forest of the Sinnoh region, as well as a large-scale riot of wild Pokémon."
The serious-faced announcer finished reading the manuscript, and then the scene changed to the field reporter hovering over the forest in a helicopter.
As the aerial camera zoomed in, the tragic scene of the Hiyori Forest was presented completely before the TV.
Unlike the general wide shot from above, the more the view zoomed in, the clearer the tyrannical figures and roars became.
Seeing this, May couldn't help but frown slightly, her chestnut hair tips trembling with her rapid breathing.
Accompanied by a powerful cold airflow, the helicopter shook violently uncontrollably in the air, and the chestnut-haired girl's heart jumped into her throat.
But in the next second, she saw that heart-shaking scene.
The camera slammed against the cabin wall didn't lose its function, still dutifully focusing the lens.
"That is..."
Like the reporter responsible for broadcasting, May also widened her beautiful eyes subconsciously.
A Pokémon flapping ice-blue wings descended like a deity from the dark sky. The howling, biting cold wind completely drowned out the roars of the rioting wild Pokémon, and the suddenly intensifying blizzard actually extinguished the arrogant prairie fire completely.
And a figure stood in front, looking composed.
"It's Articuno." Norman washed his hands in the kitchen and sat down, recognizing the Pokémon on the TV at a glance. He couldn't help but sigh, "To be able to capture a Pokémon of this level, it seems this young man is a remarkable Trainer."
"Then... then how does he compare to you, Dad?"
The chestnut-haired girl's eyes brightened a few degrees, and she couldn't help but ask.
"I can't reach that level. It seems it has become the world of the new generation of Trainers now..."
Norman shook his head with a smile, picking up a piece of crispy tempura freshly fried by his wife. His eyes looking at the black-haired youth on the TV were full of admiration.
Although he was the Gym Leader of Petalburg Gym and strong enough to be called the next Elite Four member of the Hoenn region, he couldn't achieve wiping out a beast tide with just his own strength if faced with the same situation.
"So... so amazing..."
Getting the answer from her father, May turned her gaze back to the TV.
On the screen, as the black-haired youth waved his hand lightly, the Minor Legendary descended upon the world—Articuno, boosted by the Icicle Plate, revealed unprecedented pressure.
Much fiercer than the surging sea of fire and the tyrannical beast tide was a blizzard sweeping through the entire forest!
May's chopsticks hovered over the soup surface, the sauce dripping from the soba noodles creating ripples in the bowl.
She leaned forward slightly, her silky chestnut hair falling down and almost sweeping into the noodles in the bowl, yet she remained unaware.
If the previous scene made everyone despair—the increasingly hot and inextinguishable forest fire, the endless tide of Pokémon, like a purgatory on earth...
Then when Articuno descended, and the black-haired youth looked down like an emperor at the wild Pokémon who dared not move in front of him, everything was completely reversed.
Unlike the normal Blizzard move, the vast white snow raised wasn't drifting down but condensed directly into a spiral ice storm.
Every snowflake was like a blade tempered by Ice-type energy. Wherever it passed, the trunks of towering trees screeched with a metallic sound, and pine needles instantly froze into emerald icicles.
Accompanied by the sweeping biting cold wind, the wild Pokémon gathered together to charge towards the edge of the forest were all blown away, wailing.
The youth who annihilated the beast tide looked indifferent, as if he had just done something extremely trivial.
The sky-filling blizzard stopped abruptly, and crystalline ice shards sprinkled down lightly, as if playing a victory finale for him.
"May? Your noodles are getting cold~"
Her mother Caroline's voice seemed to come from far away. The girl snapped back to reality, finding the tempura in her bowl soaked soft.
Although she had seen her father Norman battle many Trainers in the Gym and watched Champion duels like Mr. Steven's on TV, a scene like that just now was truly a first.
With just a raise of his hand, he fought ten thousand alone.
Unable to think of any words to describe that youth, May recalled his figure under the ice crystal snow curtain. She took a bite of the juicy tempura, suddenly feeling her heart beating faster than ever before.
Pure young girls always liked to dream of love.
Calculating the time, she would go to Littleroot Town next week to receive her starter Pokémon from Professor Birch.
Then for the first stop of her journey, should she... go to the Sinnoh region?