She fully recognized Haley's strength, but if she herself kept failing to pass the screenings, it would be a significant blow.
Just as she was taking deep breaths, Haley sat down next to her.
"How about it? Who are you planning to send out this ti?" Haley asked.
"Mm, Sylveon." Serena took out Sylveon's Poké Ball.
"I see." Haley glanced at her reflection in the mirror, slightly adjusted her hair accessory, and then slowly reached out to hand sothing to Serena.
"What is this?"
Serena picked it up for a look, only to realize it was a sowhat peculiar ring.
She had actually seen quite a few of these rings on Abigail and Haley before, and guessed that they might provide so sort of boost to a Pokémon. But seeing Haley hand one to her still felt sowhat unbelievable.
"A sort of—uh." Haley didn't quite know how to explain it. "An item, I guess? Anyway, if a Pokémon holds it, the damage it takes will be reduced."
Sunflora didn't really need this item anymore. Although Haley wasn't entirely sure of Sunflora's current exact stats, after testing, Sunflora was sohow able to withstand several Fire Spins from Braixen.
Given Braixen's level plus the type advantage, Sunflora was practically an invincible existence.
"I see. You're giving it to ? Such a precious item," Serena asked softly.
"Yeah." Haley nodded.
She originally wanted to say it was so they could have a fairer battle, but thinking of Sunflora's pitiful attack power, Haley swallowed those words back down.
Pokémon could naturally hold items with special effects during battles anyway. Serena took one last look at the ring, then looked up at Haley. "Then thank you."
"Don't ntion it," Haley replied.
It was just about ti for Serena to take the stage. So, picking up the ring and waving at Haley, Serena jogged off toward the backstage area.
Haley watched Serena's retreating back. It took a while before she lifted the Sunflora in her arms.
"Do your best, Sunflora."
"Sun~"
"She won!"
A chorus of cheers erupted in the room. Even though it was Serena on the screen and not Haley, everyone sincerely cheered for the girl who had taken such good care of Haley and Abigail.
Thunderous applause filled the room right now, even though Haley and Serena, far away in the stadium, couldn't hear a single bit of it.
"Co to think of it, the Grand Festival—is that what it's called? When does it take place?" Gus asked, staring at the screen.
"The Grand Festival?" Nurse Joy checked upon hearing this. "It's still a long way off. Why do you ask?"
"I was just thinking," Gus pondered. "If taking a trip to Kalos isn't too much trouble, then when the Grand Festival cos around—oh right, and the one Abigail is participating in—"
"The Pokémon League?"
"Yeah, that's the one!" Gus continued. "Why don't we all go to the actual venue to cheer them on?!"
At these words, the room fell into a brief silence. Everyone thought it over for a mont, and then burst into cheers.
"But that's still a ways off," Nurse Joy said with a smile. "Whether it's the League or the Grand Festival, they're both still far away."
It was a bit hard to explain, but for the folks in Pelican Town, it would be next year at the earliest, or maybe even the year after that.
"An overseas trip, huh." Marnie rested her chin in her hands, glanced at Lewis in the distance, and added, "Even though it's early, I'm already looking forward to it."
"The whole town traveling together." Penny looked at everyone's slightly excited faces and couldn't help but imagine it. "If it were just , I'd be a little scared. But if everyone is there, it should be fine."
If everyone was together, it really wouldn't be any different from staying in Pelican Town.
"Are you going too?" Leo asked softly.
Hearing this, Linus stared at the bustling scene on the TV as if facing a formidable enemy.
"I, I'll pass." Linus shook his head repeatedly. Halfway through, he lowered his head and asked, "What about you? Do you want to go?"
"I don't know," Leo said. "But if it's possible, I'd want to go out with Miss Penny and Jas and the others."
Linus imdiately fell silent.
Harvey, not too far away, imdiately noticed this. His gaze bounced back and forth between Leo and Linus for a mont before an idea struck him, and he waved at Leo.
"Did you need ?" Leo asked politely as he walked over to Harvey.
"Yes, that's right." Harvey solemnly introduced himself to Leo once again. "My na is Harvey, and I run the clinic over there."
He pointed in the direction of his clinic, then lowered his voice and said, "Everyone in town sets aside a day every year to co to my clinic for a health checkup. Do you want to co?"
"Does everyone co?" Leo confird.
"Everyone does. Vincent and Jas will co, and Miss Penny will co too," Harvey said.
"If everyone is coming, then I want to co too."
"Then pick a day." Harvey glanced up at Linus. Seeing that Linus was still agonizing over the Kalos trip, he quickly pulled a small schedule book from his pocket. "Any day is fine."
"Hmm—" Leo thought for a mont, then pointed at the schedule. "Is the 18th okay?"
Although he was quite curious about what a "health checkup" entailed, starting tomorrow and lasting until the 17th was the Desert Festival. Penny had promised to take them to the desert to watch the animal races, try the special snacks of the day, and participate in other fun activities. Biting the bullet, Leo chose the 18th.
Harvey agreed imdiately. He then asked softly, "Do you want Linus to co and experience it too?"
"Linus hasn't co either?" Leo asked, looking at Harvey in surprise.
Seeing Harvey nod, he thought for a brief mont and then nodded excitedly.
Then, looking thoroughly excited, Leo went off to deliver this devastating news to Linus.
"You actually thought of this trick?" Maru asked, her eyes wide.
"Being a doctor requires wisdom too," Harvey said a little proudly. "Haven't you noticed that Linus is willing to make a lot of compromises for that kid?"
"..."
"..."
On one hand, Maru felt that forcing Linus like this made him seem a bit pitiful. But on the other hand, she felt that a health checkup was genuinely a good thing for him. After all, living out in the wild year-round, it was necessary to get a proper dical examination to ensure nothing went wrong with his health.
"What?!!!" Linus asked, on the verge of breaking down. "I have to go too?"
"Yeah!" Leo nodded. "Everyone in Pelican Town is going! Jas is going, Vincent is going, and I want to go too!"
"..." Linus reluctantly conceded, "I can go with you."
"But he said everyone in town is getting a health checkup," Leo said. "I want you to get one too."
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