The rolling mountains gradually receded behind them, giving way to a vast plain.
The sky was a clear blue, with white clouds hanging low. The distant wetlands shimmered, and a few Wild Pokémon occasionally poked their heads out of the grass to study the traveling group curiously.
They had reached the Icirrus Wetlands.
As one of the Unova Region's better-known nature reserves, the area was covered in standing water of varying depths, forming pools of all sizes. Dense aquatic plants grew along the shallows, soft underfoot and making faint squelching sounds when stepped on. Occasionally, they could see a Stunfisk poke half its body out of the mud before quickly burrowing back in, leaving only a string of bubbles.
Xia You walked at the back of the group, his gaze sweeping over the scenery, though out of the corner of his eye, he kept glancing at the figure ahead of him.
Makomo.
Something was off about her today.
Ever since they had set out that morning, she had kept her head down, maintaining a slight distance from him as she walked. Whenever their eyes happened to meet, she immediately looked away, an unnatural blush appearing on her cheeks.
What's going on?
Xia You mulled it over.
Could she have heard something last night?
But that doesn't add up. Last night, Cheryl and I... I even told Cheryl to keep her voice down. Besides, Makomo and Dawn must have been asleep by then. They shouldn't have heard anything, right?
Look, Dawn's acting perfectly normal.
Could it really be...
"Makomo," he suddenly said. "Are you feeling unwell?"
Makomo faltered in her steps, raised her head to look at him, then quickly lowered it again.
"N-no, I'm not."
"Then why are you acting so strange today?"
"I'm not acting strange!" Makomo's voice abruptly