Since Gardevoir had known about her condition all along, everything Elias had done—his cooperation with Team Rocket, his resignation from the League—beca an invisible weight pressing down on her heart.
To Gardevoir, all of these decisions were because of her. Elias had been forced into making these choices.
She had already been carrying a deep sense of guilt, and Elias's injury was simply the breaking point.
The fuse that ignited all the emotions she had bottled up inside.
Realizing this, Elias let out a quiet sigh.
Looking at Gardevoir standing in front of him, like a child who had done sothing wrong, he knew this obedient act was just a facade.
If he insisted on continuing to search for Celebi, she would definitely react even more strongly than before.
After a brief mont of thought, Elias chose not to argue with her about it. Instead, he gently helped her lie back down on the bed and pulled the blanket over her.
"Gardevoir, just focus on resting for now."
His voice was soft, no different from usual.
But Gardevoir remained distant. It wasn't until Elias quietly left the room that she slowly regained her composure.
This should make him give up on catching Celebi… right?
She thought she had said so truly hurtful things earlier. If she were in Elias's shoes, she would definitely stop caring about her after that.
---
[Because of your injury, Gardevoir's emotions completely erupted. She was too afraid to let you continue your search for Celebi.]
[But to you, curing Gardevoir was always your top priority. You wouldn't abandon your plan to capture Celebi because of this.]
[As for the things Gardevoir said on purpose? In your eyes, it was nothing more than stubborn defiance during a tantrum. You didn't take it to heart.]
[Still, the act had to be convincing.]
[For the next month, you seed to have truly given up on the idea of capturing Celebi… at least, that's how it looked to Gardevoir.]
[Relieved as she was, she also felt an unexpected bitterness.]
Elias must be so disappointed in .
After all, when soone pours their heart into sothing, only to have it trampled on, they would surely feel hurt.
But Gardevoir didn't regret it.
As long as she could make Elias give up on Celebi, it was worth it—even if he ended up resenting her.
---
[With the second month approaching, your trips outside beca more frequent. When you finally tracked down the residence of "Mr. Kurt," the man capable of crafting the GS Ball, you discovered that the Masked Army had set their sights on him as well.]
[This led to multiple clashes between you and them. Fortunately, that masked man wasn't among them.]
[Even without Gardevoir, you were able to maintain the upper hand using only Gengar and Eevee.]
"Mr. Kurt, I assu you know why you've been targeted?"
Standing before an elderly man with white hair, Elias spoke calmly, having just driven off another wave of Masked Army grunts.
Hearing this, Mr. Kurt's expression shifted slightly. However, he remained wary, showing no trust in Elias either.
That was, until Elias pulled a badge from his pocket and showed it to him.
"League Investigator."
"Now, Mr. Kurt, would you be willing to share the crafting thod for the [GS Ball]?" Elias asked again, smiling faintly.
Using his forr credentials to gain an advantage was a bit shaless, but… it worked.
After verifying the badge's authenticity, Mr. Kurt didn't hesitate for long before handing over the crafting thod.
"A Kanto investigator… You must be one of Agatha's people," Mr. Kurt said, a knowing smirk appearing on his face.
"She's certainly looking out for . Give her my regards."
Though Elias had no idea what kind of misunderstanding Mr. Kurt had, he simply nodded along.
---
[Using the crafting thod you obtained from Mr. Kurt, you successfully recreated the legendary ball capable of capturing ti itself, using Ho-Oh and Lugia's feathers—the GS Ball.]
[Now, everything was in place. All that remained was to wait for the full moon, the day you would capture Celebi.]
"Isn't this going a little too smoothly?"
Hearing Elias's report on his recent progress, Lance voiced his doubts over the phone.
Not long ago, after relentless questioning from Lance, Elias had finally confessed his plan to capture Celebi.
Though Lance had been surprised, he hadn't opposed the idea.
In fact, if not for his overwhelming workload at the League, he would have wanted to witness a legendary Pokémon himself.
"I've been thinking the sa thing," Elias admitted.
Apart from his initial loss against Lugia on the first day, everything afterward had gone far more smoothly than expected.
Especially regarding that masked man—soone strong enough to rival a Champion-level Trainer—he had completely vanished, leaving only his underlings to harass Elias with aningless skirmishes.
It was suspicious.
"Elias, why don't you wait for the next full moon? I can co and help you then."
After analyzing the situation, Lance spoke seriously.
"Gardevoir can't wait that long," Elias rejected the suggestion without hesitation.
Both physically and ntally, she wouldn't last much longer.
He needed to capture Celebi as soon as possible—only then could he truly put his mind at ease.
Hearing this, Lance fell silent for a mont before sighing.
"Alright. Just be careful. If you need help, ssage —I'll send Dragonite to assist you."
"Got it."
---
[Feeling Lance's concern, you couldn't help but be a little moved.]
[After that, to prepare for any potential surprises, you put Gengar, Eevee, and Gardevoir through targeted special training.]
[However, this ti, sothing unusual happened. Gardevoir—who always completed her training flawlessly—kept making mistakes.]
"Gardevoir, your [Teleport] is too slow."
Elias gently pinched her soft cheek, snapping her out of her daze.
"Garde~"
She let out a quiet murmur but made no effort to correct herself.
Elias frowned. This had been going on for days.
Before, Gardevoir was the kind of Pokémon who would fix her own mistakes without needing to be told—a model partner that many trainers would envy.
But ever since his injury, she had been absentminded during training, showing no motivation to improve.
To put it bluntly… she had given up.
Through their psychic link, Elias had so idea of what was going through her mind.
It seed like she wanted to step down from being the team's ace and hand that position over to Eevee.
That's… adorable, but also really dumb.
After a mont of thought, Elias decided to address it directly.
"Gardevoir, you want Eevee to be the new team ace, don't you?"
The mont he said it, Gardevoir's body tensed.
She hesitated, then cautiously lifted her gaze, only to find Elias watching her intently.
For a mont, she wavered.
If she nodded now… would she lose the last thing she had left?
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