At the same time Qingyu arrived at the Lighthouse Lab...
Inside the Paldea League, Rika rose from her seat looking exhausted, with noticeably dark circles under her eyes. She stretched and let out a long yawn.
She looked out the window. The sun was already high in the sky, and spring birdsong rang out all around, as though singing of how wonderful life was.
It was the perfect time for a picnic.
"Too bad that under workaholic President Geeta, days off seem to have nothing to do with us anymore..."
Rika sighed to herself. As she grumbled quietly, the office door suddenly opened.
League President and Top Champion Geeta, Paldea's one and only sun, appeared right on time. She smiled and waved at Rika, her luxuriant long black hair swaying slightly with her steps. It looked wonderfully silky.
Even Rika was a little jealous of how much hair she had.
"Thank you for your hard work, Rika."
After approaching and noticing the obvious dark circles on her face, Geeta briefly looked distracted, then spoke softly with clear guilt in her voice.
"..."
Rika sighed again. Seeing the unmistakable exhaustion in Geeta's eyes, she waved a hand.
"Don't worry. I understand how difficult things are for the League right now. As the Elite Four below the Champions, it's our responsibility to shoulder more of the work."
"After all, even you, our esteemed Top Champion, are spinning like a top. Compared to everything on your plate, we have it easy."
Rika meant every word.
Normally, the Elite Four handled the allocation of work within a League. The Champion generally served as its fighting force and public face, only attending necessary events and enjoying relative freedom the rest of the time.
But the Paldea League operated a little differently.
As Top Champion,