At sea, a massive cruise ship broke through the morning mist and arrived at the port of Goldenrod City.
Seeing the flag flying high on the ship that read "Wind Rider," Roy knew that the ship he was waiting for had arrived, and he quickly straightened his clothes.
"Absol, how do I look today? Handsome?"
"Roar!"
Little Absol circled around Roy, then looked up and gave an affirmative answer.
Even though he didn't even know what fashion meant.
Roy originally wanted to wear a formal suit to pick up Cynthia, but Cynthia insisted that he should wear whatever he wanted. She immediately went to buy Sinnoh ticket after disembarking in Goldenrod City, which dissuaded him from the idea.
As the ship docked at the port of Goldenrod City, people continued to disembark.
"Grandma, slow down, don't rush."
Roy spotted Cynthia in the crowd at a glance. She had her hair tied in a high ponytail, was wearing a long black dress, and had light makeup on her face.
She still loves black.
A year had passed since we last met, Cynthia had grown even taller and more slender, completely transforming into a mature and sophisticated woman.
Beside Cynthia was an older woman wearing a white lab coat who bore a resemblance to Cynthia.
Roy recognized the other person as Dr. Cynthia, the Professor Carolina.
As Cynthia disembarked, she made a great show of herself everywhere, and as if by telepathy, she spotted Roy watching her the moment she stepped off the ship.
When their eyes met, Cynthia instantly turned her head away, her heart pounding, and she felt inexplicably guilty.
Although the two often chatted via 3D video Holographic Communication, Cynthia couldn't help but take a second look when she actually saw the person in person.
It's only been a year, but Roy seems to have grown taller and stronger.
Professor Carolina, standing beside her, noticed that Cynthia suddenly paused in her steps and was about to ask Cynthia what was wrong.
Professor Carolina noticed something was off about her granddaughter's gaze—a mixture of anticipation and shyness... This wasn't how Cynthia usually acted.
She followed Cynthia's gaze and saw Roy waiting at the harbor.
This young man looks familiar.
She recalled seeing Roy on a live stream, where he commanded a Pokémon she had never seen Pokémon to defeat the Hoenn's Edge Cup.
If that's really the case...
No wonder Cynthia didn't come out when I called her this morning; she was changing clothes in her room, getting ready to meet the people coming down from the ship to greet her?
Looking at it now, this young man really is quite a good match for her family's Cynthia.
"What are you looking at, Lanlan?"
"No... I didn't see anything."
Seeing Cynthia's insincere response, Professor Carolina said nothing more.
As Dr. Cynthia and Professor Carolina disembarked from the ship, Roy approached them.
Seeing that Roy was about to open his mouth, Cynthia, worried that Roy would say the wrong thing, stepped forward, stood on tiptoe, and used her slender fingers to grab Roy 'Roy mouth, closing it back down.
Roy:?
Why did you pinch your own mouth right away?
Although they hadn't met in person for a long time, the two didn't feel any awkwardness at all.
Cynthia tiptoed and whispered in Roy's ear that his grandmother was still there, telling Roy not to say anything out of line.
"Mmm~ Mmm~"
Because Cynthia was holding his mouth shut, Roy couldn't speak, so he could only nod to indicate that he definitely wouldn't say anything out of line.
Cynthia then released her fingers from Roy's lips, stepped aside, and introduced her grandmother, Professor Carolina, to Roy.
"Roy, this is my grandmother, the most accomplished Mythology and history PhD in our Sinnoh Region."
"Grandma, this is Roy, I... I..."
Cynthia couldn't continue her story halfway through, unsure how to introduce Roy to her grandmother.
Seeing that Cynthia was speechless, Roy immediately took over, giving Professor Carolina a smile.
"Professor Carolina, I'm Roy, sent by Professor Oak to pick you up."
"Oh? You're the Roy that Lanlan has been thinking about day and night?"
Professor Carolina's previously serious expression turned playful, and he joked.
Hearing her grandmother expose her shortcomings, Cynthia's face instantly turned bright red, and she quickly defended herself, saying, "Grandma! I haven't been thinking about him day and night! No! I haven't thought about him at all."
Hearing Professor Carolina's words, even Roy, with his thick skin, was somewhat surprised. Was Professor Carolina that open-minded?
This is much more interesting than the old man, Gurkinn, who is so paranoid that he even tries to snatch the recipe for a Pokéblock to see.
Professor Carolina's impression of Roy goes beyond just the Edge Cup.
It was thanks to this young man that she was able to see the records about the Giratina God in the Hoenn, as well as the mythology and history of the Hoenn, in Cynthia's notes.
Moreover, Roy and her granddaughter looked like a match made in heaven, perfectly suited to each other.
Grandma, I really didn't...
Seeing her grandmother's knowing look, Cynthia was about to say something when the Poké Ball on her waist vibrated, flashed red light, and Spiritomb appeared in front of Cynthia.
She was sleeping inside her Poké Ball when she smelled Roy's scent, which was fatally Captivate to Ghost type Pokémon, and immediately ran out of the Poké Ball.
"Flower!"
The Spiritomb controlled the Odd Keystone beneath it to come to Roy's side, expressing its longing for Roy after not seeing him for so long.
Okay, here you go...
Roy took out Pokéblock and handed it to the Spiritomb.
A pair of hands made of Ghost-type energy emerged from the Spiritomb and took the Pokéblock from Roy's hand, placing it into its gaseous mouth.
The Spiritomb sniffed Roy's pleasant scent while eating Pokéblock.
It definitely tastes better when I'm eating next to Roy.
She and Roy are the best of friends in the world!!
"Spiritomb!"
Seeing that her Spiritomb had defected so quickly, Cynthia could only stomp her Stomping Tantrum in anger.
Seeing Cynthia's angry look, Roy raised an eyebrow.
Roy actually dared to Taunt her!
Cynthia's gaze turned dangerous, and just as she was about to make her move, Professor Carolina's voice came from behind her.
"Roy, we can talk about you and Lanlan later. Take me to the Ruins of Alph first."
Professor Carolina smiled; she was now more interested in seeing the newly discovered Ruins.
Okay, let's go now.
Avoiding Cynthia's dangerous gaze, Roy led the way, explaining the general situation and specific age of the Ruins to Professor Carolina along the way.
Having no other choice, Cynthia could only follow the two.
Along the way, Roy gave Professor Carolina a brief explanation of the basic situation of the Ruins of Alph.
Cynthia behind him didn't hear a word he said. Looking at her white sneakers, she couldn't bring herself to say what she wanted to say.
She had a lot to talk about with Roy, including the food served on the ship and complaining about the weather that had rained for five out of ten days.
But when she actually met Roy, she didn't know what to say.
Professor Carolina glanced back and saw Cynthia lost in thought, so he called on Roy was still giving his lecture, to stop.
Although he didn't know what Professor Carolina was doing, Roy stopped.
"Oops!"
Suddenly, he felt something bump into his back.
Turning around, I saw Cynthia covering her head, looking at me who had suddenly stopped.
Just as Cynthia was about to question Roy about why he had suddenly stopped, Professor Carolina said:
"Lanlan, didn't you bring lots of delicious food this time?"
"Yes, I brought..."
Cynthia rubbed her head, took out a thermos from her Spatial Bracelet, and then took out a small pink box from inside the thermos.
"Do you... do you want some?"
Roy took the small box from Cynthia and opened it, finding a box of ice cream inside, containing three different colors of ice cream.
"Ice cream?"
Professor Carolina smiled when she saw the ice cream. The ice cream in Cynthia's hand was a specialty of their Celestic Town, and Cynthia's favorite dessert. It couldn't be bought anywhere else.
"To prevent the ice cream from Acid Armor, our Lanlan has her Glaceon make ice cubes every day and put them in a thermos."
Did you bring this specifically for yourself?
I see.
Roy looked at Cynthia and gave her a mischievous smile.
"Did you bring this especially for me?"
"I... I didn't prepare this especially for you. I just bought it on the way out of Celestic Town. If you're not going to eat it, I'll give it to Garchomp."
Seeing Cynthia's insincere words, Roy casually took the spoon from Cynthia hand; inside was a combination of matcha, strawberry, and vanilla flavored ice cream.
Roy scooped out a large spoonful, half a box of ice cream in one go, Roy then swallowed the entire scoop in one gulp.
The icy sensation in his mouth sent a shiver down Roy's spine.
Seeing Roy's expression, Cynthia covered her mouth and chuckled. The spot where she had bumped into Roy didn't seem to hurt anymore.