"We got so lucky. I never thought yesterday's storm would suddenly stop and the tsunami would recede too. Otherwise, we'd have had to take the long way around—a mountain trail from the summit that would take at least a week to reach Coumarine City."
At Coumarine City's light-rail station, a brown-haired girl in a short red skirt spoke with relief. A refreshing breeze blew down from the mountain summit as she smoothed the creases from her red hat and put it back on.
Beside her, a determined-looking boy with a Pikachu clenched his fist and called out with a grin, "Then let's keep up the momentum and challenge Coumarine Gym right now! We'll get that badge!"
"Shouldn't we eat first?"
"Yeah..."
"Bonnie can't walk another step..."
"Huh?"
Seeing that all three of his companions wanted a break, the boy looked as though someone had doused his enthusiasm with cold water. He let out a long sigh. "I wanted to finish the Gym Challenge as soon as possible so I could watch the Masters Tournament the day after tomorrow."
"Pika..."
If Mingyou had been there, he would have recognized the boy as Ash, whom he hadn't seen since the Junior Cup. Ash was traveling through the Kalos Region now and had happened to arrive in Coumarine City.
Meanwhile, elsewhere...
Having helped resolve the storm, Mingyou and Akari had become lifelong friends of Coumarine City. Whenever they visited, everything would be free.
But the city had only just endured a disaster. Though many people had returned, most shops were still getting ready to reopen, so there was little to do in the streets.
The two decided to visit the Tree of Promise in the city center instead. Ramos looked after it, and Coumarine Gym stood beneath it, practically part of the trunk.