The ands were given, and both Pokémon responded simultaneously.

  Goomy, its small, slime-like body quivering with effort, began to harhe water energy within it, releasing a stream of sparkling bubbles that flew toward Alcremie.

  Meanwhile, Alcremie stood steadfast, gently waving its fingers in a pyful yet focused manner.

  Some trainers watg the battle immediately reized the move.

  "That's Metronome!" one of them said.

  "I wonder what move it'll randomly select this time," another mused.

  Metronome is a unique move—essentially uable. It has no i power or effects of its own but trigger any known move across all Pokémon. Researchers have long tried to us mysteries, only to clude that its randomness might be nothing short of diviervention.

  The iridest bubbles floated toward Alcremie, their fragile forms seemingly harmless but deceptive. Alcremie remained poised, her little face full of determination as she tio wiggle her fingers.

  Suddenly, her movements stopped. A melodic "Mree!" escaped her lips, and in an instant, tless sharp green leaves materialized and spiraled around her, glinting like tiny bdes.

  It was Leaf Bde.

  The shimmering leaves surged forward, meeting Goomy's bubble attack mid-air. The fragile bubbles popped instantly on tact with the sharp leaves. But the assault didn't stop there—the remaining leaves sped onward toomy.

  "Quick, Goomy! Use Protect!" shouted Nemona, her voice filled with urgency.

  Goomy quickly curled itself into a defensive ball, creating a translut shield around it. The flying leaves collided with the barrier, scattering harmlessly in all dires.

  "Nice block, Goomy!" Nemona cheered. "That was close! This battle is so exg! Let's go for atack! Use Water Gun!"

  Naoki smiled faintly. It was clear that Alcremie was capable of overp Goomy at any moment with a well-pced Fairy-type move. However, he decided to tih Metro was uable enough to level the pying field.

  "Alcremie, use Metronome again."

  "Mree!" Alcremie waved her fingers once more, summoning an aura of energy around her.

  Goomy fired a steady stream of water, which shot toward Alcremie. At the st moment, Alcremie's Metroivated, summoning a swirling barrier of water energy that perfectly deflected the Water Gun.

  Nemona ched her fists, her excitement growing. "Alright, Goomy, it's time to get serious! Use Iron Tail!"

  Goomy's soft, getinous body seemed to tense as it focused energy into its tail. The tail hardened, gleaming with a metallic sheen, and Goomy propelled itself forward with surprising speed.

  "Alcremie, Metronome!" Naoki anded.

  "Mree!" Alcremie waved her fingers once more. This time, an immense surge of water energy erupted around her, f tless glowing rings of light in the air.

  It was Hydro on.

  In a breathtaking dispy, brilliant bluish-white beams shot from the rings, verging on Goomy with overwhelming force. The battlefield was bathed in dazzling light, and the trainers watg gasped in awe.

  When the light faded, Goomy y motionless on the ground, fainted.

  The referee, a uniformed waiter, stepped forward to i Goomy before announg the results. "Goomy is uo battle! The winner is Naoki and his Alcremie!"

  Nemona, far from being upset, jumped up and down with excitement. "That was amazing, Mr. Naoki! I've never seen anything like it!"

  Naoki scratched his head, smiling awkwardly. "One day, Nemona, you'll get there too."

  Nemona rushed over, her eyes wide with curiosity. "What move was that? It was so cool!"

  Naoki chuckled. "Holy, I'm not sure. That's the thing about Metronome—you never know what yoing to get."

  The surrounding trainers nodded in uanding. Metronome's uability was its charm, often leading to moves everainers hadn't seen before.

  As the crowd's attention shifted, Naoki exhaled a sigh of relief. It felt almost unfair to pit a child against such overwhelming power, even if it was uional.

  Still, he smiled at Nemona. "Do you want to go another round?" he asked, knowing her boundless energy would likely prompt a "yes."

  Nemona, ever the battle enthusiast, agreed without hesitation. "Okay, okay!"

  She sent out her Pokémon, Rockruff, onto the battlefield. Naoki, in turn, gave Koraidon a subtle look.

  Uanding the signal, Koraidon lumbered onto the stage with a dramatic fir to support Naoki's pn. After several exges, Koraidon deliberately allowed itself to be hit by Rockruff's atta a critical spot. With a theatrical slump, it y on the ground, motionless, signaling its "defeat."

  Nemona's eyes widened with disbelief. "Mr. Naoki, even you?"

  Naoki responded with an unbothered tone, "Nemona, you're just to." Internally, he reassured himself that this wasn't bullying a child—it was all in good fun.

  To lighten the mood, Naoki quickly stepped forward, pulling a bottle of goat milk from his bag. "Here, let's focus on helping yoomy recover its strength," he said, deftly ging the subject.

  As the watg trainers began to disperse, drawn to other intetles nearby, Nemorieved the Poké Ball taining her Goomy and released it. The little Pokémon appeared with its eyes half-open, visibly weak from the battle.

  Naoki hahe goat milk to Nemona. "Go ahead, feed this to Goomy."

  With a sip of the goat milk, Goomy's injuries began to heal instantly, the recovery evident even to the naked eye.

  Nemona gasped, her eyes sparkling with amazement. "Wow, that's incredible!"

  Naoki grinned. "Pretty great, huh? This is a special product from my rano matter how severe the injury, otle of this will restore a Pokémon pletely."

  "Wow!" Nemona excimed, clearly captivated by the goat milk's miraculous effects. Her childlike enthusiasm was unmistakable.

  At that moment, a familiar voice came from behind them.

  "Did Alder's Vola recover its injuries with this kind of goat milk?"

  Turning around, Naoki spotted Caitlin, Shauntal, and thia standing a short distance away, their gazes curious and intrigued.

  Shauntal offered a gentle smile, her tone slightly apologetic. "Sorry, we didn't mean to eavesdrop. We were at the back of the garden and overheard by act."

  "It's no problem," Naoki replied with a smile. Seizing the moment, he added, "If you're ied, you al order with my ranch."

  Alder's Vola served as living proof of the goat milk's efficacy, and Naoki wasn't going to miss the arket it.

  "How fasating," Caitlin remarked, her i clearly piqued. "I've never seen anything like this before."

  Naoki gave a fident grin. "It's one of a kind!"

  "So, you're a rancher?" Caitlin asked, redireg her attention to Naoki.

  "That's correct," he firmed with a nod.

  Shauntal tilted her head, intrigued. "Then why does Mr. Alder refer to you as a champion?"

  Naoki sighed inwardly, feeling a familiar sense of helplessness rise.

  While he had gradually accepted his role as a trainer, giveime he'd spent raising and training his Pokémon, calling himself a regional champion still felt like an exaggeration.

  Unless he officially took the championship assessment and passed—which seemed pointless—it would remain a title that didn't quite fit.

  Naoki wasirely sure what Alder was thinking.

  After a brief moment of refle, he began to expin, "Maybe Mr. Alder misuood something!"

  Shauntal and Caitlin nodded in uanding ahe matter drop.

  However, thia, standing nearby, seemed genuinely intrigued and asked, "Where is your ranch located, and what's its name?"

  Now, this was a question Naoki could fidently answer! If thia showed i, she might even bee a er iure!

  Naoki's enthusiasm bubbled to the surface. "It's in the Paldea region, Kosaji Town—Naoki Ranch!"

  "I'll remember that," thia replied with a soft smile.

  The trio didn't linger long after exging pleasantries. With polite goodbyes, they turned and walked away.

  Left alone in the garden with Nemona, Naoki turo her, intending to speak. But as he did, he noticed a shift in her demeanor—she looked upset.

  Surprised, Naoki asked gently, "What's wrong?"

  Nemona goward the adults mingling in the distaheir ughter mingling with the king of gsses. She muttered, "I don't like being in pces like this."

  Naoki raised an eyebrow, puzzled. Nearby Pokémon paused, watg Nemona curiously.

  "Is it because the adults are drinking?" Naoki asked, trying to guess.

  "No," Nemona replied, her tone a mix of frustration and sadness. "It's because everyone always goes easy on me in Pokémon battles because of who I am. They ake me seriously—they always let me win."

  Her voice grew softer. "I'm still just Nemona. I don't want to be treated differently because I'm a rich girl or because people call me a genius. I just want to be like everyone else. That's why… when Mr. Naoki fought me seriously earlier, I was so happy. But then, in the end, you did the same thing as everyone else."

  Naoki froze for a moment, caught off guard by her words. Clearing his throat awkwardly, he expined, "I wasn't thinking of it like that at all. I was just worried others might think I was bullying a kid."

  Despite being a wealthy young dy, Nemona's straightforward, lively personality made it hard to see her in the same light as other heirs to fortune.

  Nemona spun around. "Really?"

  "Of course it's true!" Naoki said with a fident nod. "Besides, whether it's me or anyone else at this party, we're all a lot older than you. When you're e, I bet you'll be su incredible traihat we'd all have a hard time beating you, even if we went all out."

  Nemona listened ily, her expression gradually brightening. Her eyes sparkled with renewed determination. "You're right! I'm going to bee an amazing trainer!"

  Naoki smiled at her, nodding. "That's the spirit. Go for it!" The future Champion of Paldea, he thought to himself.

  Nemona's usual cheerful energy returned as she excimed, "Let's battle again, Mr. Naoki!"

  Naoki felt a headache ing on. Battling Nemona with his current lineup of Pokémo a bit unfair—almost cruel. Koraidon, Pawmot, Dragonite, Fluttermane, Cyclizar, Ogerpon, and G… any one of them could easily overpower her team in a single move.

  Choosing his words carefully, Naoki said, "Right now, the strength differeween my Pokémon and yours is pretty signifit. They wouldn't make great oppos for you. But one day, when you've grown stronger, we'll battle again. I promise!"

  ...

  Meanwhile, oher side of the party.

  Alder, Cy, and Nikar were engaged in a versation about their experiences raising daughters.

  As the evening progressed, Alder reached into his pocket and handed a dot to Nikar.

  "Here, this is something a friend of mine asked me to give you," Alder said casually. "Please take a look."

  "A friend?" Nikar asked, intrigued. He accepted the dot and began flipping through the pages as Cy looked on curiously.

  The first thing that caught Nikar's eye encil sketch of aronic device shaped like Rotom. The title beh it read: Rotom Smartphone.

  "Rotom Smartphone?" Nikar read the name aloud, raising an eyebrow.

  Cy leaned in with i. "Rotom Smartphone? What's that? I've only ever heard of Rotom being used in appliances like refrigerators or washing maes."

  "I'm not sure yet," Nikar replied, his voice tinged with intrigue. He tinued reading, his eyes widening with every line.

  The proposal detailed a fully intelligent touchs device that incorporated a built-in Pokémon Encyclopedia app, enabling traio unicate over long distances via the I. Features included video calls, navigation, online shopping, food delivery, and eveime battle trag. Most impressively, the phone would house a Rotom that would fun as an AI assistant, capable of voice-guided navigation, Pokémon information queries, and more.

  Nikar's brows furrowed as he trated, soaking iails. As the head of Rotom Teologies, he was intimately familiar with unication tools like videophones. But this? This was a game-ger.

  The more he read, the more it became clear—this wasn't just anadget. This cept had the potential to revolutionize unication, especially for trainers on their journeys.

  With the information age looming on the horizon, Nikar realized that such a device could domihe market, being indispensable for trainers and Pokémohusiasts alike.

  "This… this is incredible," Nikar murmured, his voice ced with excitement. He looked up, his face alight with inspiration. "Who wrote this proposal?"

  Alder was caught off guard by Nikar's enthusiasm. Scratg his head, he replied holy, "The young man you just met—Naoki."

  Nikar froze for a moment as he processed Alder's words. Slowly, the image of the young man who had been following Alder around earlier fshed in his mind.

  "That was him?!" Nikar excimed, the realization hitting him like a thunderbolt.

  Meanwhile, in the courtyard garden, Naoki and Nemona were quietly Lance from a distance.

  Laood in front of a cluster of ly trimmed bushes, his arms folded and his expression serious, as if lost ihought. His flowing, distinctive cape draped behind him, shrouding half his body in shadow, gave him an air of elegand authority that made him look both handsome and formidable.

  Lance rarely attended such social gatherings, and Nemona had never seen him before. Her curiosity got the better of her as she turo Naoki and asked, "Mr. Naoki, do you know who that is?"

  Naoki nodded. "His name is Lance. He's known as the Dragon Master of the Kantion, and he's also the Champion there. He's renowned for his skill in using Dragon-type Pokémon."

  "Wow!" Nemona excimed, her eyes lighting up with awe. She g Naoki, then back at Lance. After a moment of thought, she asked, "Mr. Naoki, do you want to go talk to him?"

  Naoki hesitated, then shook his head. "Not really. I've heard his aon is a Dragooo. What I'd really like is to battle him someday—to see how my Dragonite measures up against his. It'd be a good way to gauge our progress."

  "A battle?" Nemona's i peaked instantly. Her voice brimmed with excitement as she asked, "Will you go all out, Mr. Naoki?"

  "Maybe," Naoki admitted. "But... I wouldn't even know how to approach him. Imagine walking up and challenging him out of nowhere—it'd be so awkward if he deed."

  After all, to Lance, he robably just another nameless trainer among many.

  Nemona, however, was uerred. "Leave it to me!" she decred, her tone brimming with fidence. Before Naoki could stop her, she ran forward, cupped her hands around her mouth, and shouted:

  "Hey! Big brother over there! e and have a Pokémon battle with us!"

  Naoki froze in pce. "!!!"

  What just happened? His mind reeled as Nemona's voice echoed across the garden, drawing the attention of trainers ahy guests alike. versations paused, and heads turheir gazes fixed on Naoki and Nemona.

  Naoki groaned inwardly, feeling the heat rush to his face. He covered his face with one hand, barely able to process the embarrassment. 'Why is she like this?'

  There was no way to undo it now. With a deep breath, Naned himself to his fate. Under Lance's slightly curious gaze, he stepped forward to join Nemona.