"Mr. Drake, this trip has truly been a lot of trouble for you! Thank you so much for taking care of me during this time. If I get the chance in the future, I'll definitely visit Hoenn again! And when that day comes, we absolutely have to have a few more proper battles!"
After three days at sea, the ship finally arrived at the port of Fuchsia City in Kanto. Amid everyone's farewell wishes, Liam disembarked from the vessel. He then turned around and looked at Drake, who was still standing on the deck waving goodbye, and shouted back with equal reluctance to part.
"Hahaha! Then I'll be looking forward to it! Don't forget what you just said, Liam! When the opportunity comes, we'll definitely battle again! By then, my Salamence will be even stronger! Your Garchomp won't have such an easy time defeating my Salamence anymore!"
During the three-day voyage, Liam and Drake had battled a total of three times. Every match had been a showdown between Drake's Salamence and Garchomp.
The results, however, were unsurprising. No matter the category, Salamence was simply no match for Garchomp. It had been thoroughly defeated all three times.
But both Drake and Salamence were the sort who refused to admit defeat. Despite being beaten again and again, they continued challenging Liam. Had Liam's destination not arrived, Drake likely would have dragged him into several more battles.
"Deal! It's a promise! Goodbye!"
Watching Drake's ship slowly leave the harbor, Liam waved his arm vigorously and shouted his farewell.
Just as Drake had mentioned before, this trip to Kanto had also been for transporting cargo. After dropping Liam off, he wasted no time and immediately departed for his next destination.
Liam stood at the port until Drake's ship had become a distant speck on the horizon before finally turning around and preparing to head back to Pallet Town.
"Come out, Aerodactyl!"
"ROAR!!"
"Hehe, Aerodactyl, we're back. Let's hurry home and give Delia a surprise!"
"ROAR!!"
Already impatient to return, Liam leapt onto Aerodactyl's back. With a command from Liam, Aerodactyl took to the skies and flew toward Pallet Town along a familiar route.
Fuchsia City and Pallet Town were separated by a considerable distance. Even at Aerodactyl's impressive flying speed, the journey still took a little over two days.
By the time Liam finally returned to Pallet Town, it was already past noon.
At this hour, he guessed Delia would most likely be at the daycare caring for the Pokémon, so he had Aerodactyl fly directly there without stopping.
The daycare occupied an enormous area. There were hills, streams, and forests, and with the change of seasons, the trees had become lush and vibrant.
As Aerodactyl flew overhead, Liam could already see from the sky that the daycare now housed a large variety of Pokémon.
Whether in the grasslands, among the forests, on the hillsides, or in the rivers, Pokémon could be seen everywhere, moving about energetically.
Every one of them looked healthy and well cared for. It was obvious that Delia had devoted a great deal of effort to managing the place during his absence.
"Aerodactyl! We're home! Let's go down!"
"ROAR!!"
With home right before his eyes, Liam could hardly contain himself. He patted Aerodactyl's back lightly, and the ancient Pokémon folded its wings and dove downward with a low roar.
As Liam approached, several Pokémon that had been leisurely relaxing in the surrounding forests suddenly seemed to sense something. Delight immediately appeared on their faces, and the next moment they all rushed toward Aerodactyl's landing spot.
"ROAR!!"
Aerodactyl plunged toward the ground at high speed. Just before impact, it suddenly spread its wings wide, sharply reducing its descent speed before landing firmly on the earth.
"Haha! Delia! I'm back!"
The landing site was directly in front of the wooden house. The moment Aerodactyl touched down, Liam jumped from its back and strode toward the house with an uncontrollable smile on his face.
Then—
"Hm? That's strange... Why is nobody here?"
Standing before the cabin, Liam tugged at the door and found it locked. He had already called out several times, but there was no response from inside. Clearly, Delia wasn't there.
"That shouldn't be the case. Where could Delia have gone at a time like this?"
Unable to see her immediately, Liam felt a little disappointed as he walked back down the steps, muttering to himself in confusion.
Just then—
"Awooo~!"
A loud bark suddenly came from nearby.
Liam instinctively turned toward the sound, but the instant he did, he only saw a red blur flash before his eyes. The next moment, he was tackled straight to the ground.
"Whoa! Hahaha! That tickles! It tickles! Arcanine, stop licking me!!"
The red blur had naturally been Arcanine.
After sensing Liam's return, Arcanine had been the first to rush over. It now pinned Liam to the ground, enthusiastically licking his face. The hot breath pouring from its mouth made Liam squirm with laughter.
And Arcanine wasn't the only one to arrive.
"Scizor!"
A streak of golden-red light leapt rapidly between the trees. After a few flashes, Scizor appeared atop the roof of the wooden house like a bolt of lightning.
At the same time, a purple figure suddenly burst from the ground.
It rammed directly into Arcanine, sending it flying away from Liam.
Then—
"Gah! Arbok! Don't squeeze so hard! I'm dying! I'm dying!"
Before Liam could react, the purple figure had already wrapped him up tightly.
Feeling the massive body coiling around him and continuing to tighten, Liam quickly freed one hand and began slapping Arbok's body in surrender.
"Cha~ Arbok~"
But Arbok paid him no attention at all. It simply continued tightening happily, clearly overwhelmed by excitement.
Just as Liam was reaching his limit—
"AWOOO!!"
BOOM!!
Arcanine, which had just been knocked away, came charging back covered in blazing flames and crackling electricity.
A tremendous collision followed.
Together, Liam and Arbok were sent flying through the air.
After being struck by Arcanine, Arbok finally loosened its coils involuntarily. Regaining his freedom, Liam immediately shot toward the forest with a dark expression on his face.
"BAN!"
"HAGAA!!"
However, just as Liam was about to pull out Garchomp's PokeBall and have Garchomp catch him, two powerful roars suddenly echoed from below.
The next moment, enormous waves of sand erupted upward.
A swirling sand vortex rapidly formed within the forest.
Liam stared in astonishment…. and then fell straight into the giant whirlpool of sand.