Over the following days, Liu Qing and the others made a full circuit of their assigned area, then returned to Castelia City after organizing all the Poké Balls. The other teams encountered no major incidents either and returned one after another. According to the final count, the fourteen teams had caught over three thousand Pokémon. The other species had been manageable, but they had not found a single Deino. They had caught a few from Volcarona's evolutionary line, though only a handful. Among them was an Elite Four-class Volcarona that had awakened from its slumber on the lowest level of the Relic Castle, which Liu Qing had gone to catch after receiving word from the Nimbasa City team.
Although two months had passed, the financial storm in the Unova Region had only recently subsided. The major powers were putting all their resources into consolidating their acquisitions, so Liu Qing could return to Kanto with complete peace of mind. As for what would happen once those acquisitions had been consolidated, that was something he would deal with after his return.
Moreover, Elesa still had not given up during those two months, leaving Liu Qing with quite a headache. Returning to Kanto was the perfect opportunity to avoid her for a while. There was another reason, too: the Kanto Region's Grand Festival would begin soon. As Liu Yuan's older brother, Liu Qing naturally had to return to cheer him on. Once all the captured Pokémon had been counted and loaded aboard the airship, Liu Qing set off for Kanto with several escorts.
Counting the days, Liu Qing had spent more than half a year in the Unova Region. Sitting aboard the airship, he could not help feeling an urgent longing for home, eager to reunite with his family. The journey passed without