Chapter 273: A Wilderness Journey? More Like a Princess Parade!

The video continued playing.

Early the next morning, Hina left Jubilife City with her backpack and set off toward Hearthome City.

Quaxwell still walked ahead to scout the way, while Shaymin lay curled up on top of Hina’s head like a fluffy green ball, occasionally letting out a tiny yawn.

This route was a shortcut from Jubilife City to Hearthome City. Cutting through the forest would save nearly half a day’s travel.

Hina hadn’t chosen it because she was in a hurry, though.

She chose it purely because fewer people used the forest trail.

"Ducky, the map says we’ll reach Hearthome City once we make it through this forest."

Hina glanced down at the navigation on her Pokédex, sounding half-relieved.

"Luckily, hardly anyone uses this path. We won’t have to greet anyone or talk to anyone..."

"We can just quietly walk all the way through."

Quaxwell pushed up its sunglasses.

Hina had bought them from a small stall in Jubilife City. After putting them on, Ducky had apparently decided it looked far too cool to merely be a duck.

From that moment on, the sunglasses had practically become part of its identity.

Shaymin lay on Hina’s head and whispered,

"Hina, there aren’t many people here, but... what if wild Pokémon attack us?"

Hina blinked.

Her voice was soft and genuinely puzzled.

"Wild Pokémon... attack people?"

[VIP Chat Group]

[Raihan]: What do you mean, "Wild Pokémon attack people?" Is Hina being serious?

[Iris]: Did Asher seriously never teach Hina how dangerous wild Pokémon can be before letting her go traveling?! Isn’t that way too risky?!

[Roark]: Wait. You’re all missing the important part. Hina isn’t an ordinary Trainer. She has the Power of Viridian.

[Professor Rowan]: Mm. The Power of Viridian does indeed make Pokémon naturally more inclined to approach its wielder.

[Korrina]: So you’re saying Hina has never been attacked by a wild Pokémon in her entire life? She genuinely doesn’t even know wild Pokémon attack humans?

[Brock]: Wild Pokémon won’t attack her, and she can heal Pokémon herself... The Power of Viridian really is an ability every Pokémon Breeder would dream of possessing.

[May]: Brock always gets super serious whenever Pokémon breeding comes up. Though somehow, the conversation always ends up going in a weird direction afterward.

[Brock]: That’s because my dream is to become the world’s greatest Pokémon Breeder! Of course, if I could also meet a gentle, beautiful older woman along the way—

[Croagunk]: Croag. (Preparing to strike.)

[Brock]: ...Never mind. Don’t bother. I’ll just go numb on my own.

[Piers]: ...Are these people like this every single day?

[Marnie]: Most of the time.

The video continued playing.

Hina had been walking for about ten minutes when the bushes ahead suddenly began shaking violently.

The branches parted—

And an Ursaring nearly two meters tall rose from behind them.

Shaymin instantly puffed up into a fluffy green ball.

It was just about to attack when Ursaring suddenly reached down, gently lifted Hina off the ground, and placed her on its shoulder.

At the same time, it let out an unusually docile growl.

Hina smiled and patted Ursaring’s head.

"Are you going to help me cross the swamp ahead?"

"Thank you."

Shaymin remained frozen in midair.

Quaxwell, meanwhile, merely stood nearby and pushed up its sunglasses with one wing, looking completely unsurprised.

As the Pokémon that had been with Hina the longest, it knew far too well what the Power of Viridian meant to wild Pokémon.

Ursaring carried Hina across the swamp.

Along the way, more and more Pokémon emerged from the surrounding bushes.

Zangoose.

Ariados.

Buneary.

Even a Quagsire that had been sunbathing near the swamp wandered over.

Before long, dozens of Pokémon were voluntarily following behind Hina, looking like a perfectly disciplined Pokémon escort squad.

When they finally emerged from the forest, Hina slid down from Ursaring’s shoulder.

She turned around and clasped both hands together.

"Um..."

"Thank you, everyone, for bringing me this far."

"This is enough. I can walk the rest of the way myself."

Upon hearing that—

The Pokémon collectively wiped at the corners of their eyes.

Only then did they begin turning around one after another, walking away so slowly that it looked like someone had put the entire scene into slow motion.

But one Roselia stayed behind.

It stood in place, staring up at Hina with its round eyes sparkling brightly.

Hina crouched down and gently touched one of its flowers with her fingertip.

"Do you want to travel with me?"

Roselia began nodding furiously, its head moving as quickly as a woodpecker hammering at a tree.

Seeing that, Hina took an empty Poké Ball from her waist and held it out with both hands.

Roselia touched the Poké Ball by itself.

A flash of red light appeared—

Click.

Capture successful.

[VIP Chat Group]

[Barry]: Fine! That’s a fine! She absolutely needs to be fined! Why does the Ursaring Hina meets act like THAT?! The last Ursaring I ran into in a forest slapped my Bibarel halfway across the clearing!

[Falkner]: I’ll ignore Roselia volunteering to be caught, but walking through one forest and somehow gaining an entire Pokémon escort squad is a little ridiculous, isn’t it?

[Professor Birch]: If I had even one-tenth of Hina’s affinity with Pokémon, I wouldn’t have had three pairs of pants torn apart by Mightyena chasing me.

[Norman]: Three pairs? Birch, you...

[Professor Birch]: Ahem... Some memories are best left in the past.

[Volkner]: This isn’t traveling through a forest. It’s a Disney princess parade.

[Flint]: What’s Disney?

[Volkner]: Some weird term I saw in the Points Shop. Apparently it’s a type of entertainment facility from another world where princesses walk around and animals follow them everywhere.

[Raihan]: Then isn’t Hina basically the Pokémon world’s Disney princess?!

[Leon]: That comparison is surprisingly accurate.

[Samurai]: Your Highness! The princess truly has no idea how much we common folk suffer every day getting chased around the wilderness by wild Pokémon!

The video continued playing.

After leaving the forest, Hina finally arrived in Hearthome City—

One of Sinnoh’s most popular major cities, with some of the region’s most complete infrastructure.

Hina, who treated Pokémon so gently that she was practically human-shaped catnip to them, immediately reverted to a socially anxious little girl the moment she returned to civilization.

She now stood outside Hearthome Gym.

Hina spent a full two minutes mentally preparing herself before finally reaching out and pressing the doorbell as lightly as humanly possible.

The door opened almost immediately.

"Oh my! What an adorable little Trainer!"

Fantina’s eyes instantly lit up.

"You must be Asher and Dawn’s daughter, oui?"

"Those golden eyes—they are exactly like Mr. Asher’s!"

"And the hair comes from Dawn, yes? What a perfect combination!"

Hina gave a tiny nod.

"H-Hello... Miss Fantina..."

"My, you are far too shy!"

Fantina gently patted Hina’s shoulder.

"Your mother was overflowing with confidence whenever she stood onstage back then. She was nothing like this at all!"

Hina lowered her head.

Her voice became even quieter.

"S-Sorry..."

"Oh, no, no. There is nothing to apologize for!"

Fantina waved it off.

"I already know why you’ve come, so come inside first."

"I just finished brewing some tea, and I also brought back sweets from the Johto region."

Before Hina had any chance to refuse—

Fantina took her by the hand and cheerfully led her into the Gym.