Chapter 209: Travel Companions
"I'm Volkner, and this is my friend Flint. Thanks again for your help," Volkner introduced himself and Flint while extending his right hand towards Yuga.
Yuga shook Volkner's hand with his right hand and replied, "I'm Yuga. Nice to meet you both."
Through Volkner's explanation, Yuga learned that during their battle, Flint's Magmortar accidentally used Confuse Ray on Volkner's Electivire. This caused the Electivire to enter a state of frenzy.
Yuga was truly speechless about Flint's Magmortar. He thought, "You're a Fire-type Pokémon specialized in attacks. Why not just use attack moves against Electivire instead of using Confuse Ray? It's not doing what you're supposed to do."
"I usually don't send out Electivire when facing Pokémon with disruptive abilities. It's just too prone to going into a frenzied state. Today was an exception," Volkner explained helplessly.
Listening to Volkner, Yuga nodded. Indeed, some Pokémon were prone to falling into frenzied states, especially common among Pokémon like Salamence and Hydreigon. Electivire, on the other hand, was not so prone to such situations.
Observing Yuga's Pokémon behind him, Flint remarked, "Yuga, you're not from the Sinnoh region, are you?"
Yuga nodded, "Right, I'm from the Hoenn region. I'm here to support my friend who's participating in the Lily of the Valley Conference."
"Really?" Flint exclaimed, "We're also participating in the Lily of the Valley Conference. Who knows, we might even run into each other on Lily of the Valley Island during the competition."
Surprised by Flint's words, Yuga was amazed that they were also partaking in the Lily of the Valley Conference. It seemed that Reggie's competition wouldn't be easy!
After chatting with Flint and Volkner for a while, Yuga parted ways with them. He needed to set off from Jubilife City to reach Veilstone City, and time was tight.
Jubilife City and Veilstone City were quite distant.
The entire Sinnoh continent was divided in half by the Mount Coronet mountain range. Veilstone City lay to the east of the Mount Coronet, while Jubilife City was to the west.
To travel from Jubilife City to Veilstone City, Yuga had to take a train that passed through the Mount Coronet.
After finishing training his Pokémon, Yuga had breakfast at the Pokémon Center and then prepared to depart for the train station in Jubilife City.
"Couldn't we leave a bit later? It's too early to leave. I haven't even had a Noctowld night's sleep!" Chatot flapped its wings and perched on Yuga's shoulder, chattering away.
Yuga replied as he walked, "Still early? Why don't you wait until noon to say it's early? I've noticed that your sense of time doesn't quite match everyone else's."
"I'm sure Kitty-chan didn't sleep well either, right, Kitty-chan?" Chatot turned its head and used an overly sweet voice to ask the Noctowl flying in the sky.
Hearing that voice, Yuga shuddered and nearly choked. But it seemed that Noctowl was perfectly accustomed to it. It left Yuga at a loss for words.
Once Yuga and his Pokémon boarded the train, they found their seats and sat down by the window. As the departure time approached, he noticed that Flint and Volkner were hurrying towards the train. They managed to get on just in time.
Yuga watched them from his seat as they scurried onto the train. They ended up sitting across from him.
"It's all your fault for dawdling. If we'd left a little later, we wouldn't have had to rush like this," Volkner wiped the sweat off his forehead and said to Flint, sounding exasperated.
Flint put down the backpack on his back and rested it on his legs. Panting, he said, "And you say it's my fault? I told you last night not to take things out of the bag unless necessary, to avoid having to pack them again. But you didn't listen."
Listening to these two bickering while sitting across from each other, Yuga weakly chimed in, "Hello to you both!"
Turning their heads upon hearing Yuga's voice, they looked at him in surprise. "Yuga?"
"What a coincidence, you're taking this train too!" Volkner said with a smile.
Yuga responded, "Yeah, it's quite a coincidence. Our seats are even facing each other."
Though Yuga was traveling alone, he had bought two tickets. This was because it wasn't suitable for the pregnant Noctowl to be squeezed among other passengers, so Yuga had purchased a separate seat for it, right next to him.
And so, all four seats at this table were occupied.
Scratching his head sheepishly, Flint apologized, "Sorry about that, Yuga. We didn't notice you earlier."
Yuga hadn't spoken yet when the Chatot beside him rolled its eyes and said, "Of course, you two couldn't see us. You were too busy flirting with each other."
Hearing Chatot's voice, Flint was startled at first and then exclaimed in amazement, "This Chatot can talk!"
Chatot continued to roll its eyes and retorted, "What's so strange about me talking? Haven't you heard about it before?"
Seeing this, Yuga raised his hand and gave it a smack on the head, causing its head to retract.
"Hehe, don't mind its nonsense. It's just talkative,"
Volkner was quite surprised that Chatot could fluently speak human language.
"I've heard that Chatot can imitate human speech before, but I've never seen it. I never expected to encounter one that's so conversational today," he added.
"By the way, where are you all headed?" Yuga asked.
"We're going to Sunyshore City, and from there, we'll head to Lily of the Valley Island for the competition," Flint interjected.
Yuga nodded. He recalled that Volkner was a Gym Trainer from Sunyshore City, so his home was likely there.
Yuga's guess was correct. Volkner's home was indeed in Sunyshore City. They had come to Jubilife City for their journey, and this time, they were returning to Sunyshore City to participate in the Lily of the Valley Conference, as Sunyshore City was very close to Lily of the Valley Island.
They and Yuga, who was headed to Veilstone City, would be traveling together until they reached Hearthome City, where they would part ways and head to their respective destinations.
After Flint and Volkner boarded the train, it wasn't long before the train slowly began moving.
Volkner asked Yuga, "Is this your first time in Sinnoh?"
Yuga nodded and replied, "Yes, I'm not like you who travels and trains all over the place. I rarely leave Hoenn because I don't have much reason to."
Flint added, "Despite the age difference, we haven't traveled around Sinnoh much either! Over the years, we've either been training at home or traveling around Sinnoh. If there's nothing special, we don't leave the region."
"Really? I thought Trainers like you would like to travel all around the world," Yuga said, surprised by Flint's explanation.
He had always assumed that Trainers would travel to various regions, much like Ash. He never thought that there were trainers like Flint and Volkner who only traveled within their own hometown.
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