After wrapping up matters at Ogerpon's dessert shop and spending some more time finding a sufficiently large site near Verdant Town for the school, Mingyou went home with Akari.
The unpleasantness of the day faded with time, until that evening, after dinner...
Mingyou had not forgotten the Larvesta that had tugged at him when he left that morning. He simply had not found it after coming back. The Manor was so large that finding it without deliberately searching was difficult.
By now, everyone had returned to rest, including Gardevoir, who had been playing with Eevee and the other little ones around the Manor all day.
"Good evening~"
Seeing Gardevoir enter the Villa, Mingyou stepped forward to greet it.
"Garde~"
Gardevoir nodded gently, while the Eevee beside it all crowded around Mingyou, wanting hugs.
"Give me a moment. I still have something to do."
Mingyou crouched down and petted them, but saw no sign of Larvesta. He looked at Gardevoir and asked, "Where's Larvesta?"
"Garde..."
Gardevoir shook its head gently. That child was rather withdrawn and always reluctant to stay with everyone else, even though no one ever bullied it.
Once he understood, Mingyou stood up, rubbing his chin with a slight frown. Too many wild Pokémon lived at the Manor, and he had been away for so long. Naturally, he could not keep track of every single one.
But for the withdrawn Larvesta to suddenly approach him for help, something very important must have happened. He had to get to the bottom of it...
He asked Gardevoir to take the Eevee to bed first, then come back to speak with him alone about Larvesta.
"Garde~"
Gardevoir nodded gently and left. Mingyou began thinking things over in the living room as he waited. Just then, someone seemed to appear behind him