Orchid sprinkled it over his chest.
At the same time, I remembered what I needed to say to Cynthia.
"Oh, right. You defended your Champion title again this year. Congratulations."
"Thank you. So you knew."
"Even so, I was a Pokémon Trainer myself. I watch the Leagues in other regions."
Then Cynthia remembered.
Green, Orchid's grandson. Cynthia had won when she battled him. But she had no idea what he had been doing since then. Shirona thought Oak might know, so she asked him.
"Professor, your granddaughter-I battled Green."
"Yes. I watched it. It was a truly splendid battle."
"What has he been doing since then?"
I remembered Green's face at the end of the battle. His eyes burned with the desire to understand what he lacked and overcome it. His expression brimmed with a confidence he had not possessed before the battle.
After seeing that, Cynthia had wondered what had happened to him.
"Green..."
"What are you talking about?"
"No, what? I only vaguely understood what I said earlier. Looking at it that way, you might believe it, but it will take a little more time to understand it completely."
"In the Pokémon League, I battled Green. He had a very well-coordinated team, ruthless, but very mechanical and somewhat cold. I saw it too."
There were few teams that could be led like that. Only Lance of the Elite Four, who commanded several proud Dragon-type Pokémon and had tamed a ferocious Gyarados, could lead them all.
It was understandable for Lance, but this had been done by a boy with less than a year of training experience. I had no idea how much talent that required. But I could certainly see that, among the young Trainers rising today, Green would be as gifted as Red.
"I don't know what