[When you were eleven, you heard that children your age had already set off on their journeys, and you felt a loss unlike anything you had known before.]
A forlorn expression appeared in the speech bubble above the girl's head.
Starting out in a sanatorium, huh...
From the posters, dolls, and other decorations in the room, Baimu formed a rough idea of the girl's surroundings.
She reminded him of a certain green-haired boy. Weak and Sickly, he too had gone to Verdanturf Town to recuperate in a better environment, but gradually regained his health after setting off on his journey.
Come to think of it, the Weak and Sickly buff really was better than the Careless Hands talent.
[You longed to become a Trainer, but your body had been weak for years, making that dream feel impossible. You often lamented that you hadn't been born healthy.]
The girl looked straight ahead, and a poster enlarged before Baimu's eyes.
It showed a striking blonde woman standing in an arena before a sea of spectators, with her close companion Garchomp facing down an opponent.
[You gazed at the poster of Champion Cynthia and imagined yourself in her place, taking the League Conference by storm. Gradually, you closed your eyes.]
A string of Zs appeared above the girl's head, showing that she had fallen asleep.
Champion Cynthia?
The black coat and black hair accessory were unmistakable. If Baimu was right, this story took place in recent years.
He knew plenty about one of the most popular female Champions in Pokémon. When Cynthia had first become Regional Champion, she hadn't worn the hair accessory, and her coat had been blue.
In other words, the girl in this simulation was quite possibly younger than him in real life.
As Baimu pondered this, a Gastly floated