Heading to Lily of the Valley Island, Seeing Ash Again

They waited at the Pokémon Center until evening before Nurse Joy finally finished the surgery. Arcanine was out of danger; now they just had to wait for him to wake up.

"He's more or less stable, but we still need to observe him for a while. You can watch from outside his room. Try not to go in except to bring him food. I'm off duty now, and my sister will be here to take over soon."

"Okay. Thank you."

Mingyou nodded gratefully, then went with Bidoof and the others to the room. Through the window, he saw Arcanine resting on a mat, wrapped in bandages from head to toe. His color was much better.

"He's basically stable now. Once he wakes up, give him a Tangerine. It'll help him regain his strength quickly without any side effects. It's much better than medicine."

"Bidoof..."

"Haha, you don't need to thank me that much. Arcanine means a lot to you, doesn't he? That's why you protected him. Take good care of him from now on!"

With that, Mingyou prepared to leave. The opening ceremony of the Lily of the Valley Conference was tomorrow evening, and he needed to pack today so he could set off in the morning.

But just as he was about to go, Bidoof and the others seemed to reach a decision. Aipom suddenly pulled out something and held it out to him.

"Aipom~"

"Hm?"

Mingyou paused, then took it. It was a gesture of thanks, after all. Even if it wasn't valuable, he would accept it so the little ones wouldn't feel bad.

Aipom had given him a yellowed note. It looked many years old, so he examined it curiously.

"Oh, right. I can't read..."

Staring at the writing on the old note, Mingyou suddenly understood the