"Dad! We're back!" Veranica went over and sat beside her father, leaning against her affectionately.
"Yes, we went to Uncle Xiang's place today. He'd saved a Farfetch'd for us."
"Then we went to the underwater Secret Realm in the afternoon, and Xiao caught lots of Pokémon!"
Veranica happily recounted the day's adventures to her father.
"Leader Carl!" Xiao Ran and Yun Mengqiu walked in and nodded to Carl in greeting.
"Have a seat!" Veranica fell quiet as Carl gestured toward the seats nearby.
Neither stood on ceremony. They sat down directly across from Carl.
"Have you heard anything about those two thieves?" Xiao Ran asked bluntly as soon as he sat down.
But Carl did not answer right away. She gave them both an impassive look before slowly speaking.
"Those two aren't ordinary thieves, are they?"
Xiao Ran froze at Carl's question. Hadn't she already asked that yesterday? What did she mean by bringing it up again?
Carl did not seem to be looking for an answer in the first place. Without waiting for Xiao Ran to respond, she continued.
"Those two are quite powerful. Even with two Elite Four members taking action, we couldn't stop them from escaping. To think there were two Pokémon Trainers that strong hiding aboard the Venus."
"They got away?" Yun Mengqiu's delicate brows furrowed, a hint of tension in her voice. Xiao Ran inwardly groaned.
Sure enough, as soon as Yun Mengqiu finished speaking, Carl chuckled softly, set down her coffee, and turned her shrewd gaze on them.
"I think you two ought to explain who they are first. Everything suggests these are no ordinary thieves!" Carl said slowly, giving Xiao Ran a headache.
Meanwhile, Veranica was stunned by their conversation. They had escaped from two Elite Four members?
"Isn't that incredible? Are they