With Arcanine, Chandelure, and Volcarona having undergone fundamental improvements, Liu Qing began training his Pokémon as well. In particular, he started working on building rapport with and raising the Salamence he had obtained from Hunter J, while also sparring with Cynthia. The days flew by, and more than a month soon passed. After receiving a notice from the League, Cynthia could no longer keep "neglecting her duties" and returned to Sinnoh. At the same time, Liu Qing also received a notice from the League: the Elite Four Champion challenge he had applied for would be held two days before the Kanto League tournament began.
"Liu Qing, there's still plenty of time before the match. How about sparring with your dad from now on?" Bofeng Yu said after they saw Cynthia off and returned home.
"No." Liu Qing shook his head. "I have a feeling that even if I keep battling nonstop, my strength won't improve much. I might even end up suffering from battle fatigue, so I'm planning to go out and look around!"
"Taking some time to relax is a good choice too. Don't put too much pressure on yourself!" Bofeng Yu thought it over and agreed. That was only one side of it, though. The other reason was that, after watching Liu Qing battle Cynthia, he felt that his son's strength had already surpassed his own. As the saying went, there were no fathers and sons on the battlefield. If he lost in a serious battle, he would suffer a considerable blow to his pride.
Having decided to head out, Liu Qing returned to his room and packed some travel essentials. Besides Blissey, he brought six other Pokémon: his two Salamence, Arcanine, Scizor, Exeggutor, and Gyarados. His first stop was the waterfall in Viridian Forest where his Magikarp