"I watched your battle just now. It was impressive — I knew I wasn't wrong about you." The young woman said as she approached Cole.
The person was Diantha, whom he had met at the Coumarine Gym over two years ago. Compared to then, she had grown taller and appeared more elegant and mature. Her delicate face had lost its childish features, making her look even more stunning.
"Thank you for the compliment, but I still have a long way to go." Cole said modestly, "Did you want to have a battle with me?"
He suddenly asked, remembering their promise from when they parted.
"That was my original plan, but after seeing your condition today, I think there's no need to rush." Diantha said playfully.
"What do you mean?" Cole asked, puzzled.
Diantha explained, "I came to Coumarine City for a League mission to explore the Sea Spirit's Den. I've been there once before, but numerous wild Pokémon inside greatly interfered with my exploration. I need a helper to assist me in completing the task. I didn't expect to run into you at the Pokémon Center today..."
"So you want me to go to the Sea Spirit's Den with you?" Cole asked, understanding her meaning before she finished speaking.
"That's right, if you have time." Diantha nodded, looking at him expectantly.
"Can I think about it?" Actually, Cole wanted to go.
It had been over four years since he left the island, and he had stayed in Coumarine City the whole time without going anywhere else. Having a chance to see the outside world wouldn't be bad.
But the orchard was busy right now...
However, thinking about how he would soon enter intermediate school and it would be even more difficult to travel afterward, he thought taking this opportunity to explore might be a good choice.
"Of course. I'll be at the Pokémon Center until noon tomorrow. Contact me when you've decided." Diantha said, giving him her contact information, "I'll wait for you at the entrance."
"Alright, it's a deal."
After making their arrangement, they parted ways.
✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲
After returning home, Cole performed the "surgery" to illuminate the hidden energy circuits for Popplio, Helioptile, and Daisy. While they were resting, he chatted with Alfred, who had come to handle accounts.
When the accounting was finished, he said to his brother, "Alfred, a friend invited me to go on a mission. Could you please look after things at the construction site?"
"I can do that... but how long will you be gone?" Alfred asked with furrowed brows, "You'll be entering intermediate school soon, don't be late for that."
"It shouldn't take too long." Cole replied after a moment's thought.
The Sea Spirit's Den wasn't far from Coumarine City, right?
Alfred nodded and said, "Then go ahead, I'll take good care of the construction site and orchard. Just be careful out there, and don't push yourself too hard."
"Mm, I understand."
After explaining the orchard matters to him, Cole called Diantha to tell her he agreed to go to the Sea Spirit's Den together.
✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲
The next morning, Cole started packing: changes of clothes, emergency food, Pokémon food, camping equipment, and so on — there was quite a lot to bring.
Since this was his first time traveling, he wanted to bring this and that, making him very indecisive. Daisy was just like him, wanting to stuff everything she saw into the bag, thinking everything might be useful on the road.
Like mother, like son indeed.
Fortunately, the Pokémon world had spatial backpacks, magical items that made traveling much more convenient for trainers. Otherwise, these two would have had to carry who knows how much luggage.
Cole's spatial backpack was new, bought after he had money, and had barely been used since purchase. He had bought this backpack purely out of curiosity about such magical items, as he actually had no use for it staying at home all day. If it hadn't been so expensive, he might have given the spatial backpack to Meili for grocery shopping.
Now it finally came in handy.
By noon, Cole mounted Captain Talonflame and set off.
Considering how necessary it was to have a flying Pokémon for adventure, he thought long and hard before deciding to bring Captain Talonflame along, in addition to Daisy, Popplio, and Helioptile.
Moreover, in terms of battle power, the yet-to-evolve sea lion and gecko were no match for Captain Talonflame. Only Daisy could reliably win against this big flame bird.
With Captain Talonflame around, Cole felt much more at ease — at least it would be much easier to escape if they encountered danger!
"Yalo~"
With a long cry, he rode the flame bird toward the western district of Coumarine City. Soon they arrived at the Pokémon Center entrance, where Diantha was indeed already waiting.
Seeing his magnificent Talonflame, she exclaimed, "Is this the one you rode to Coumarine Gym back then? It's gotten even stronger!"
Cole proudly patted Captain Talonflame's wing and said, "That's right, it's him!"
"Then let's set off." Diantha nodded. Seeing this Talonflame, she felt more confident about this mission.
But Cole pointed at the Pokémon Center and said, "Wait a moment, I need to buy something."
"Okay, be quick!" She nodded without asking what he needed to buy at this time.
What Cole wanted to buy were actually Poké Balls. Besides the ones for Daisy, Popplio, and Helioptile, he didn't have a fourth one. He needed to buy some spares for this trip. And Talonflame needed one too — wouldn't it be troublesome if they needed it to go into a Poké Ball while they were out?
Cole quickly came out of the Pokémon Center. He held up a newly bought Poké Ball and gestured to Captain Talonflame, who understood and lowered its head, gently pressing its forehead against the ball's button. The next second, it transformed into a red light and was drawn inside.
This had been arranged between the two before departing.
Seeing this, Diantha looked surprised. She couldn't understand why this Talonflame, which had been with Cole for two years already, still didn't have a Poké Ball.
Could it be a Pokémon left behind by his family elders?
Seeing her confusion, he explained with a smile, "I'm different from you all. I'm not a trainer in the true sense. Talonflame is the patrol captain of my family's orchard, temporarily recruited by me. I don't have my own dedicated flying mount. I had a big Fearow too back then, but it left to build its own family."
Hearing this, Diantha suddenly understood, realizing she had misunderstood.
She suddenly remembered that he had explained about Talonflame this way before, though he hadn't specifically introduced their relationship at that time.
And this guy was so good that he had two Pokémon willing to fly with him?...
"In that case, let's go!" Saying this, Diantha released a Braviary and mounted it.
Seeing this, Cole also released Captain Talonflame again, mounted it, and followed closely behind her.
✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲
On the way, Diantha introduced the situation of the Sea Spirit's Den to him.
The Sea Spirit's Den was located in a dangerous sea area east of Coumarine City, a place known as both miraculous and treacherous. Countless trainers had tried to unveil its mysteries, but those who ventured in either came back empty-handed, severely injured, or in some cases, disappeared completely.
According to League scientists' detection, the Sea Spirit's Den is surrounded by a large amount of special energy, suspected to be from ancient times.
For this reason, the League has issued many missions to explore the place, attempting to discover the source of this overflowing energy. Unfortunately, despite many people taking on these missions one after another, none have succeeded.
This has only made the Sea Spirit's Den even more mysterious.
Diantha accepted this mission because she felt her strength had hit a plateau and needed a breakthrough opportunity. However, when she actually delved deeper into the mission, she realized it was more challenging than she had imagined. Out of caution, she decided to seek a strong partner.
Half a day later, the two successfully reached the outskirts of the Sea Spirit's Den.
The Sea Spirit's Den was located in the center of an azure bay, surrounded by vast circular reefs that seemed to guard its entrance like sentinels. According to Diantha, many dangerous Pokémon were hidden among these reefs.
Looking at the setting sun, she suggested, "It's getting late. Let's find a place to rest for the night and explore tomorrow."
"Alright, I'll follow your lead." Cole said. Being his first adventure, he didn't know much about these things, so he naturally had to listen to his senior.
The two found a suitable spot to land and were about to set up camp when they suddenly heard the sound of battle coming from afar — and it wasn't small.
"Let's check it out!" Diantha said, then directed her Braviary toward the source of the sound.
Seeing this, Cole quickly had Talonflame follow.
Soon, they found the source of the sound. On a giant reef, five young trainers were being surrounded by a group of Alomomola and Dragalge. The number of Pokémon was overwhelming, and the five trainers looked like they couldn't hold out much longer.
"Quick, let's save them!" Diantha said anxiously.
However, just as the two were about to go to the rescue, a tornado appeared out of nowhere, sweeping up a large number of Alomomola and Dragalge into the air, temporarily relieving the crisis for the five.
They saw that on the sea surface not far away, a huge Gyarados had appeared. Standing on the Gyarados was an exceptionally tall young man.
The young man had bright red hair that surrounded his head like a lion's mane. His face was resolute and serious, and when commanding Gyarados in battle, his attitude was decisive and his movements swift, appearing quite extraordinary.
Could this be... Lysandre?
Although Cole hadn't recognized Diantha when he first met her, he couldn't mistake this guy now — his male Pyroar-style hairstyle was too distinctive.
Unlike the middle-aged man in his memory, the Lysandre before him was still a young man, probably in his early twenties, and could be considered a very handsome fellow.
{T/N: The MC is twelve, Diantha is fourteen.}
'Though not as handsome as me!' Cole thought to himself.
"Help them!" Diantha called to Cole.
Although Lysandre and his Gyarados were strong, the sheer number of Alomomola and Dragalge was overwhelming, leaving the five young trainers in a critical situation.
Without hesitation, Cole rushed to their aid with Captain Talonflame.
Diantha's Braviary used Tailwind, dramatically increasing their flying speed. In the blink of an eye, they were hovering above the swarm of Alomomola and Dragalge.
As they reached the battlefield, Cole and Diantha smoothly dismounted from their Pokémon, freeing Captain Talonflame and Braviary to fight unhindered.
Captain Talonflame executed a series of Quick Attacks, deftly weaving through clusters of Alomomola and Dragalge, each strike sending a Pokémon plunging into the water. Meanwhile, Braviary rapidly beat its wings and slashed with its claws, using Fury Attack to repel the Alomomola and Dragalge approaching the five trainers, providing protection just in time.
Relief washed over the five trainers at the sight of Cole and the others' sudden arrival — moments ago, they had believed themselves doomed.
The Sea Spirit's Den truly lived up to its fearsome reputation!
On the battlefield, Cole released Helioptile, which first used Charge to boost its electric-type moves. Then, as golden light radiated from its body, streams of electricity shot forth under its control, shocking one Alomomola after another into submission.
The move — Parabolic Charge — not only damaged enemies but also converted that damage into health for Helioptile, making it stronger with each attack.
Better yet, Helioptile's Dry Skin ability made it immune to water-type moves while restoring health when hit by them. Against water-type Pokémon, it was truly in its element.
Unfortunately, Alomomola could also use poison-type moves, complicating matters. The five young trainers had been driven to desperation precisely because all their Pokémon had been poisoned.
Thankfully, Diantha came through by sending out Gardevoir and commanding it to use Misty Terrain.
This brilliant strategy made all Pokémon on the field immune to status conditions while halving the power of Dragalge's dragon-type moves — the perfect counter for their current predicament.
Through the combined efforts of Cole, Diantha, and Lysandre, the Alomomola and Dragalge were swiftly driven back, resolving the crisis.
"Thank you all. If not for your timely help, we might have perished in the sea." The five rescued trainers said sincerely as they approached, their bodies visibly exhausted.
The group consisted of two males and three females, all appearing to be around twenty years old, each bearing injuries of varying severity.
Lysandre guided his Gyarados ashore and joined Cole and Diantha, receiving thanks from the five trainers as well.
"How did you end up provoking so many Alomomola and Dragalge?" He asked, puzzled.
One of the girls smiled bitterly and said, "It was our own greed..."
They had come to explore the Sea Spirit's Den, originally planning to just look around outside, since this place was notorious and not somewhere to be reckless. However, they later spotted a Porygon and, while chasing it, accidentally entered the Sea Spirit's Den.
Being young and impetuous, and having never truly experienced the terrors of the Sea Spirit's Den, they stubbornly continued pursuing the Porygon, as such Pokémon weren't easy to find elsewhere.
Led on by the Porygon, they ultimately found themselves surrounded by Alomomola and Dragalge. The five had struggled greatly to escape from inside the Sea Spirit's Den, only to discover that the Alomomola and Dragalge had followed them out en masse.
"What are you going to do next?" Diantha asked.
"Of course, get out of here as quickly as possible." One of the boys said without hesitation.
"But all our Pokémon are poisoned..." Another girl said dejectedly. How could they leave without their Pokémon?
At this point, Cole took some Pecha Berries from his backpack and handed them over, "Here, take these. Just feed them to your Pokémon."
Pecha Berries could cure both bad poison and regular poison status. As a professional berry farmer, how could he leave home without bringing berries!
"This is wonderful, thank you! We'll definitely repay you when we have the chance!"
The five were overjoyed, taking the Pecha Berries from him and feeding them to their Pokémon.
After their Pokémon recovered, the five quickly left the Sea Spirit's Den, but not before exchanging names and contact information with Cole and the others, promising to repay their life-saving favor when they had the chance.
It was during this introduction that he confirmed the red-haired young man was indeed Lysandre.
After the five left, only Cole, Diantha, and Lysandre remained.
✲✲✲
T/N: If you want more chapters like this, check out my Patreon! Take a look at my other translations too, you might like them!
For just $1.50 you can access all the extra content, and descriptive images, costs only $2!
That's it and happy reading! (-‿◦)
https://www.patreon.com/mrblackwing