Pokémon Beyond the Blue

The one in front of me is undoubtedly the dark elf ball.But why did it appear here in Xia Bo, and why was it studied at this time?

【Do you know what this is? 】

Of course, Ikki's answer was to shake his head.He picked up the elf ball and observed it for a while. Apart from its appearance being different from ordinary elf balls, he really didn't know what the difference was.

"Although it looks different, this is a Poké Ball, right?"

[Yes, but the function is different. You should put it away first so that no one can see it. 】

Ikki followed Riolu's words, wrapped the Poké Ball tightly in his towel and hid it in his bag, then turned to look at Riolu: "Why does Riolu know these things?"

It seems like I have said too much...

[Well, it’s because...]

"Forget it, anyway, Riolu always knows some things that he shouldn't know for some reason. It doesn't matter if you don't tell me." But there is still a problem to be solved. "It's really not okay for us to take away other people's things like this." Was he caught as a thief?"

"road……"

It seems that he is right, he is an elf, and after living this kind of life for so long, sometimes he forgets to take care of Ikki.

[Sorry, I was negligent.Find a time to secretly return it to Uncle Xia. 】

If we just take this thing away, there's no telling how the plot will change in the future.

The next day, which was the day the passenger ship departed, Ikki and Riolu went to say goodbye to Xia Bo early in the morning.But it was said to be goodbye, but with Ikki as cover, Riolu secretly put the Dark Poke Ball into Xia Bo's drawer.Whether Uncle Xia can find out later is none of their business.

"Ah~, it turns out that after staying on land for a long time, it is better to stay at sea~!"

Ikki carried Riolu who was looking through the illustrated book to the deck, facing the golden sun that had just risen and the humid sea breeze, and prepared to go to the next gym: the light red gym.

But having said that, in fact it is still a long way to go to the Light Red Gym, and this time I am not as lucky as last time, so I can only walk by foot.

Riolu had no problem, he could handle it even if he ran for three days and three nights, but Ikki...

"Wait a minute, I need to take a rest."

This is the first mountain and the closest one. After getting off the boat and taking a taxi for a while, I got to the bottom of the mountain. However, just over an hour later, Ikki was already exhausted.

Every time this happens, Riolu wants to give some of his physical strength to Ikki.

A physique like this is definitely abnormal. Children are in the excitement stage and have the most energy. It would be good if they could use it up in one day, but Ikki was already exhausted before he even started exercising.

Riolu flipped through the navigation manual that Ikki received from the Elf Center. Although it didn't look complicated, it was still quite difficult to actually walk on it.

[If we keep this pace, we might have to camp in the mountains.Can you still persist?Do you want me to carry you? 】

"No, no need, I can still hold on for a while."

How could Ikki accept this suggestion, and Riolu didn't really intend to carry him on his back. With his height of more than 60 centimeters, it would be good if Ikki wouldn't be pressed under him.

The mountain is not high, but it is a continuous mountain range with no end in sight.

It really looked like we were going to be camping in the mountains.

After all, Ikki is not good at sports, this is an indisputable fact.Ikki chose a relatively flat place and sat down, leaning against the tree trunk and panting.

At this moment, the sound of horse hooves came from deep in the forest.

"Eh? Riolu, did you hear something?"

The hearing of elves is stronger than that of humans, so Riolu detects the sound before Ikki. Not only that, he even knows the direction of the sound of horse hooves.

[It sounds like the sound of a small fire horse or a flaming horse. Do you want to see it? 】

The sounds of these two types of elves are easy to judge, and they are the only ones with such footsteps in the Kanto area.

Ikki thought about it, hesitated for a while, and then shook his head.

"Although I am very curious as to why the little fire horse or the flaming horse would appear on such a mountain, I forget it. I have reached my limit."

As Ikki said that, he put the water bottle in his hand to his mouth and had a heavy drink, leaving aside the fact that he choked...

[Wait, it seems to be coming this way! 】

The sound of horse hooves suddenly changed direction and ran straight towards here.

Without enough time to think too much, Ikki could only stand up and move.The sound moved very fast, and it seemed that it was an elf raised by humans, following the sound of horse hooves.

As he got closer, he could faintly hear a human voice.

The elf soon appeared in front of Riolu and Ikki, together with the owner on its back.

"Very good, Flame Horse, come again later!"

The flame horse also looked very happy, and rubbed his face affectionately against the owner's stretched out hand. The owner, a girl of about [-] years old, also had a smile on her face, and she also revealed a perseverance. inside.

"Hey, there's someone here."

After completing a series of actions, the girl saw Ikki, who was panting from exhaustion, and Riolu, who was standing leisurely not far away.

"That... who are you?"

Ikki asked the question first.Although I took a short rest, it was still not enough.

"Me? My name is Irene, and I am a breeder who lives on this mountain."

"My name is Ikki. I am a trainer from Golden City. I am traveling for a gym competition."

Ikki stepped forward, and the two shook hands symbolically in the air: "Miss Eileen, how long does it take to climb this mountain on foot?"

This is something related to his life. How can he not ask clearly?

"If we hike... I think it should take about two days."

Hearing this, Ikki froze in place, which actually frightened Irene.

"Are you okay? You don't look too good."

Irene jumped off the flame horse and walked to Ikki. One hand touched her forehead, and the other hand touched Ikki's. For a long time...

"It doesn't look like you are sick. You look very weak. Do you want to come to my house and take a rest?"

Riolu quickly ran up behind Ikki and pulled at Ikki's trouser leg with his claws.

"Olu!"

This is a good opportunity. If you don't agree, it would be a bit difficult to sleep in the mountains or something.According to Ikki's character, he would definitely hesitate for a long time before agreeing, but whether the other party is willing to wait is a question.

"Hey!! There's an elf I've never seen before. It's so cute!"

Irene ran to Ikki and squatted down, her eyes level with Riolu.Riolu took two steps back. It was okay to be hugged around, but there would still be some resistance to strangers. However, Irene did not come up to hug him as she expected. Instead, she felt that she was holding him. He was frightened and kept apologizing to Ikki.

"It's okay. You don't need to apologize. Instead, we should thank you. You helped us solve a big problem."

Irene invited Ikki to ride on the flaming horse, but Ikki thought he would be burned, so he wanted to refuse Irene's kindness, but in the end Irene forced him to get on the horse.

"Hey! It's not hot at all. What's going on?"

"My flaming horse won't burn anyone casually, right, flaming horse?"

I heard from Irene that her home happens to live in the middle of the mountains, which is just a day's walk for ordinary people, so she often accepts mountain climbers to rest here, and tells Ikki not to be too restrained and just treat it as her own home. .

"Won't your elf come up with you?"

Erin couldn't help but feel confused when she saw that Ikki didn't take Riolu with him on the flaming horse.

"Um...my elf seems to want to exercise. Please don't worry, let's just go."

Ikki glanced at Riolu, who patted his chest.

'It seems that I have gradually become accustomed to this method of communication, but if I think about it carefully, it seems to be no different from being semi-crippled. Really, what am I thinking about! '

Riolu smiled self-deprecatingly and waved his paw at Ikki to show that he was fine.

"Really, you mean he wants to compete with my Flame Horse? It seems a bit interesting," Erin glanced at Riolu, who was less than half the height of the Flame Horse, a little funny, "But I don’t care if I lose him.”

Riolu raised both paws this time and gestured something in the air.

"What does he mean?"

Of course, it was impossible for Erin to understand the meaning of Riolu's behavior, so she could only ask his "trainer".

"[Don't worry, it's not certain who will win.] That's what he told me."

"Hey~~, what an arrogant elf. Let's go then, Blazing Horse! Charge!"

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait a minute!!"

Without saying a word, Irene rode forward on the flaming horse. Ikki was so frightened that he almost fell off because he was not ready.The flaming horse ran towards Erin's house at a very fast speed, with Riolu following closely behind.