Chapter 220: Setting Off for Lily of the Valley Island
Chapter 220: Setting Off for Lily of the Valley Island
During the past four days, thanks to Yuga's careful attention, Unfezant had finally regained its vigor, appearing no different from before its giving birth.
To facilitate Yuga's journey, Unfezant even suggested temporarily entering its Poké Ball, agreeing to be released when Yuga returned to the YoYo Day Care.
Its gesture deeply moved Yuga, and he couldn't help but exclaim that his hard work over these days had not been in vain.
As for Chatot, it was perched on Yuga's shoulder as usual, its round eyes darting around, looking for handsome guys.
Although Yuga had this troublemaker's Poké Ball at hand, he had never succeeded in returning it inside.
Normally, when Yuga and the others were traveling from Veilstone City to Lily of the Valley Island, they would first take a bus to the location of the Volkner in Sunyshore City, and from there, they would take a boat to Lily of the Valley Island.
However, Reggie mentioned that his grandfather had an acquaintance who could take them directly by boat on a shortcut to Lily of the Valley Island without needing to go to Sunyshore City. They just need to walk a distance to reach his grandfather's acquaintances' home.
Midway through the journey...
"Handsome guy, is this what you call a shortcut? This is clearly the wilderness!" Chatot perched on Yuga's shoulder complained unhappily.
Reggie chuckled and said, "It's called a 'shortcut' precisely because no one takes this route."
"Tch." Chatot snorted discontentedly. "If it weren't for you being passably handsome, I'd slap you."
Upon hearing its words, Yuga promptly gave it a slap on its face and remarked, "You didn't even have to take a single step; you just hitchhiked on my shoulder. What right do you have to complain?"
Chatot cupped its head with both wings, looking pitiful, as it glanced at Yuga, who had just smacked it. This sight made Reggie and Paul burst into laughter.
Over these few days, Reggie had also come to understand Chatot's personality and never took its words seriously.
"Bun-eary."
A cute, Buneary Pokémon hopped out of the bushes. It gazed at Yuga's group with a pair of curious eyes.
It was a green-potential, Buneary. Yuga recognized it at a glance.
"Chatot, it's up to you, use Chatter!" Seeing a high-quality Pokémon, capturing it was only natural.
Upon hearing Yuga's words, Chatot let out a screech and flew off Yuga's shoulder.
As Chatot was about to use its move, the Buneary leaped up high, stomping right onto Chatot's head before disappearing into the bushes.
Chatot ended up crashing to the ground with a thud.
Yuga, helpless, covered his face. He initially thought that using a control-inducing move by Chatot, a Scumbag, to confuse the Buneary and prevent its escape should work fine. But who could have anticipated that its reaction speed would be so sluggish?
The Buneary had escaped, and Yuga didn't want to go chase after it, as Reggie and the others might have a hard time understanding why he was running after a common Buneary.
Walking up to the fallen Chatot, Yuga grabbed its tail, lifted it off the ground, and said in an annoyed tone, "You're good for nothing except eating, sleeping, and flirting with guys."
Upon hearing Yuga's words, Chatot immediately opened its eyes, yanked its tail out of Yuga's grip, and flapped its wings while protesting, "You know better and let me go!"
Yuga felt like Chatot didn't seem embarrassed at all by its tone, rather it was quite assertive. Yuga had to give up on lecturing it; there was no saving its behavior.
Guided by Reggie, they traversed through a stretch of forest and arrived at a seaside town around noon.
"Grandpa Julian lives here. He's going to use his boat to take us to Lily of the Valley Island," Reggie pointed to the town in front of them and said to both Yuga and Paul.
"Finally, we're here. I'm so exhausted," complained Chatot on Yuga's shoulder.
"Exhausted from what? Stop being so melodramatic," Yuga retorted, giving it another smack.
"I'm just speaking up for you!" Chatot mumbled as it held its head.
Ignoring Chatot, Yuga turned to Reggie and said, "Since we're here, let's go find Grandpa Julian."
Having visited this town before, Reggie navigated them to Grandpa Julian's house and introduced them to him.
"Long time no see, Grandpa Julian!" Reggie enthusiastically hugged Grandpa Julian.
"Reggie, you're here! It really has been a while," Grandpa Julian was happy to see Reggie. "Your grandfather has already told me everything. I'll make sure to safely take you to Lily of the Valley Island."
Then, Grandpa Julian shifted his gaze to Paul, "Is this Paul? I can't believe how much you've grown."
Paul clearly didn't recognize Grandpa Julian and seemed a bit shy.
Reggie turned to Paul and said, "Paul, this is Grandpa Julian, a good friend of our grandfather's. He even held you when you were born."
Upon hearing Reggie's words, Paul softly greeted, "Grandpa Julian," bringing a smile to Grandpa Julian's face.
"This is my good friend Yuga. He's also joining us on our trip to Lily of the Valley Island." Reggie introduced Yuga.
"Hello, Grandpa Julian," Yuga politely greeted.
"Good, good. A fine young man indeed," Grandpa Julian looked at Yuga kindly.
Grandpa Julian appeared to be younger than Reggie's grandfather by quite a bit and had a youthful appearance. He lived alone, without a wife or children.
According to Reggie, Grandpa Julian used to work as a sailor on the sea. As he grew older, he returned to his hometown and began fishing using his boat. He didn't have any plans to get married and enjoyed his carefree life.
At noon, Grandpa Julian invited Yuga's group to have lunch at his house before taking them to the boat.
Grandpa Julian's boat was a medium-sized yacht that looked quite spacious. Yuga, Reggie, and Paul all comfortably boarded it. Grandpa Julian's sailing skills were still impressive, making the trip fast and steady.
As they sailed along, Yuga, feeling bored, took out the fishing rod he had drawn earlier and said to Reggie, "How about we go fishing? We still have a bit of distance to cover before reaching Lily of the Valley Island."
"Sure." Reggie gladly accepted the fishing rod Yuga handed over.
Yuga still had some unused bait left in his backpack from the last time they went fishing. He took it out as well.
"I didn't expect you to be so well-prepared," Reggie said with a chuckle.
"I didn't prepare anything! Look, the fishing rod and bait are the same ones we used last time."
Hearing Yuga's words, Reggie examined the bait in his hand and found out that Yuga was right. The fishing rod and bait looked very familiar.
"Paul, do you want to give it a try too?" Yuga took out another fishing rod and offered it to Paul.
Paul nodded, accepted the fishing rod from Yuga, said a thank-you, and joined Yuga and Reggie in casting their lines.