Deepening Affection

"Ah, what a pity. If Gary and Rosa were from the Hoenn Region, that would have been wonderful!"

Inside Rusturf Tunnel, Steven Stone watched Gary and Rosa's departing backs, regret showing in his eyes.

Through his conversations with Gary and Rosa, as well as his earlier battle with Gary, he had sensed both of their potential.

As Hoenn's former Champion, Steven Stone had wanted to recruit Gary and Rosa to the Hoenn Region.

Unfortunately, Gary was Professor Oak's grandson and belonged to the Kanto Region. Unless Gary himself was willing, it would be difficult to recruit him.

During their earlier conversation, Steven Stone had vaguely brought up the matter, but both Gary and Rosa had refused, so he felt too embarrassed to mention it again.

"Forget it. I'll leave this headache to Wallace." After thinking for a while, Steven Stone decisively gave up and left the matter to Hoenn's current Champion, Wallace. After all, Wallace was the Champion.

After seeing Gary and Rosa off, Steven Stone continued excavating Strange Stones inside Rusturf Tunnel.

Back with Gary, it was still fairly early after he had caught Aron, so he and Rosa were in no hurry to leave and remained on the beach.

After Gary lay back down on the Beach Chair, Rosa naturally nestled against his broad chest.

This time, however, they did not lie on the Beach Chair and Rest as they had before. Instead, they began chatting, exchanging one sentence after another.

"What a shame, Gary. You lost your battle against Mr. Steven today."

As Rosa spoke to Gary, regret showed on her face.

"There's nothing regrettable about it. With Steven's Champion Rank strength, even if he didn't go all out, he was still far beyond anything I could challenge right now."

Hearing Rosa's words, Gary shook his head and continued, "Besides, I learned quite a lot from today's battle with Steven. It was a fruitful experience, so there's nothing to regret."

"Yeah, Mr. Steven is really strong. He truly deserves to be Hoenn's Champion Trainer!" Remembering Steven Stone's strength, Rosa could not help clicking her tongue in amazement.

"One day, we'll catch up to Steven too. When that time comes, it won't be certain who wins and who loses."

Noticing that Rosa was still marveling at Steven Stone's strength, Gary kissed her cheek and spoke confidently.

"When that time comes, you'll definitely win, Gary." Rosa trusted Gary completely now.

"Of course." Gary smiled at Rosa's trust.

"Still, your Mega Blastoise was so cool today!"

Thinking about the Mega Evolution Gary and Blastoise had used today, Rosa's eyes sparkled with envy.

"Rosa, you'll have one someday too. I promise." Gary heard the envy in Rosa's voice and immediately made her a promise.

"Really? I can have one too?" Upon hearing Gary's words, Rosa immediately lifted her head and asked him in an incredulous tone.

"Of course. After all, you're my darling, Rosa." Gary smiled at the Rosa in his arms.

"Mega Stones are very precious, aren't they?"

Hearing Gary mention that he would give her a Mega Stone in the future, Rosa was initially delighted. But then she recalled how precious Mega Stones were and spoke hesitantly.

"Don't worry. I already asked my grandfather to collect some. We'll definitely get results."

During the time after returning to Pallet Town from the Sinnoh Region, Gary had asked his grandfather, Professor Oak, to collect some Mega Stones.

With Professor Oak's current influence, collecting a few Mega Stones and Key Stones should not be a problem.

Moreover, Gary had the system and could also obtain Mega Stones and Key Stones through it, so he had every reason to make Rosa that promise.

"Gary, you're so good to me." Seeing how well Gary treated her, Rosa looked at him, so close at hand, with moved eyes.

"Then how are you going to thank me, Rosa?" After saying that, Gary gave Rosa a slightly wicked smile.

"You bad guy."

Although Rosa called him a bad guy, she still blushed, her eyes hazy as she took the initiative to offer up her cherry lips.

Seeing this, Gary acted decisively and immediately met her halfway.

Thus, over the next few minutes, the two engaged in a rather unconventional bout of "Verbal Sparring."

Only when both of them were out of breath did they finally let each other go.

After that exchange of tongues, Rosa lay against Gary's chest and murmured, "Gary, I love you."

"Rosa, I love you too!"

As he spoke, Gary's arm around Rosa tightened unconsciously.

At that moment, the affection between them deepened even further.

The two remained nestled against one another until evening, when they finally separated reluctantly.

After returning to the hotel where they were staying and finishing dinner, night had fallen. Since Gary was rather concerned about Blastoise's condition, he called his grandfather.

After the phone rang several times, his grandfather's face appeared on the screen.

"Gary, is something the matter?"

Professor Oak was curious about why Gary was calling him so late, so he asked.

"Grandpa, how is Blastoise doing?" Upon seeing Professor Oak, Gary immediately asked about Blastoise's condition.

"Blastoise's injuries have mostly healed."

After receiving Gary's injured Blastoise, Professor Oak had immediately treated it, and its wounds had now mostly recovered.

"But what happened to cause all those injuries on Blastoise?"

Professor Oak was still curious about Blastoise's injuries, so he asked Gary about them.

In response to Professor Oak's question, Gary told his grandfather about today's battle with Steven Stone.

"So that's what happened." Professor Oak did not say much about Gary's battle with Steven Stone today. After all, these were things Gary needed to experience for himself.

"Besides Blastoise's injuries, there's one more thing I need your help with, Grandpa."

After learning that Blastoise was fine, Gary's previously anxious heart finally settled. He then turned his attention to the next matter.

"What is it?"

Seeing Gary's serious expression, Professor Oak was quite curious.

"Blastoise is only one step away from reaching Elite Four Level, so I'll need you to take extra care of it, Grandpa."

Gary was confident in his grandfather's abilities, so he entrusted him with helping Blastoise break through.

"I understand." Professor Oak took his grandson's matters seriously, so he agreed.

"Leave Blastoise to me."

Afterward, Gary and Rosa, who had joined him midway through the call, chatted with Professor Oak for a while before hanging up.

As he prepared to rest, Gary turned his attention to the reward for catching Aron today.

I wonder what I'll get this time. I can't wait!