"I don't like it."
A quiet, delicate face turned toward him, her yellow hair, tied into a bun, swaying slightly in the sea breeze.
Mizuki was quite a pretty girl, but her expression looked as though she had spent two nights straight in an internet café. She was slightly pale and could muster little enthusiasm for anything.
She repeated herself. "I don't like racing."
"Then... what about Pokémon battles?"
"Not interested."
Graaah-graaah-
Wingull rode the sea breeze across the blue sky, their cries making the moment all the more awkward.
The conversation had hit a dead end. Shen Qi looked toward Shinichi in the distance, feeling frustrated.
To appear completely unrelated and unacquainted, Shinichi would not come over to talk. Unfortunately, Mizuki was the only one suited to observing Porygon's condition.
Shen Qi thought that if Shinichi were the one riding in the car, at least the atmosphere would have been livelier.
In the distance, Shinichi noticed his gaze and turned around.
He knew Mizuki well and understood Shen Qi's awkward expression immediately. He returned a gloating smile, then turned away again as though they were strangers.
At the Fuchsia City ferry terminal, the ferry rocked slightly as it docked. The vehicles it had carried drove down the sloping deck onto land one after another.
Shen Qi did not rest and continued driving north.
Vermilion City's uniquely favorable location had been mentioned before. Despite being relatively far inland, it had long, narrow inland seas connecting to it on both sides, making both land and sea transportation extremely convenient.
Group 6's course this time was on the Celadon City side of White Cape. There was no need to detour through Vermilion City. They could head north from Fuchsia City and cross the Cross-Sea Bridge to get there.
The setting sun stretched