After boarding the plane, Qingyu quickly found his and Cynthia's seats.
At the same time, he spotted an elderly man with white hair sitting nearby, someone he recognized immediately.
"Professor Oak?!"
Qingyu froze for a moment before blurting out his name.
Although their destinations were different, Sinnoh and Kanto were geographically close to begin with, sharing the same landmass as Johto and Hoenn.
If he was pressed for time, Professor Oak could indeed fly straight to Sinnoh, then return to Pallet Town by sea.
So it was perfectly reasonable for them to be on the same plane.
"Oh, Qingyu and Cynthia! What a coincidence, running into you here."
Professor Oak quickly turned around. When he noticed Qingyu and Cynthia beside him, he greeted them with a smile.
Although this was their first meeting, Professor Oak and Qingyu had interacted a few times online.
Still, he was clearly much more familiar with Cynthia than with Qingyu.
"It's been a while, Professor Oak."
Cynthia smiled faintly.
Raised as a Mythologist since childhood, she had attended quite a few academic conferences with her grandmother, Professor Carolina, which was how she knew Professor Oak.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Qingyu settled into his seat.
Only then did he notice two heads peeking out from the seats beyond Professor Oak, staring straight at him.
"..."
The moment Qingyu saw those two figures, his eyes widened.
A red baseball cap and a quiet, reserved demeanor-all that was missing was a Pikachu on his shoulder.
A defiant gaze and that signature dark-gold spiky hair, looking every bit as cocky as expected.
There was no doubt about it. They were Red and Blue!
These two actually existed in this Pokémon world?
They still looked quite young, though, and probably hadn't started out as Trainers yet.
But for these