"Poné..."
Ogerpon fell silent for a mont. She first glanced toward the direction of the Oni's Den, then turned her gaze toward Mossui Town.
In the end, she seed to reach a decision and nodded to Victini.
"I'll go!"
Soone had traveled thousands of miles just to find her.
If she hid away and refused to et them, Ogerpon felt that would be terribly rude.
Even though she was scared—her heart filled with anxiety—
Ponpon still wanted to be a good child.
She wanted to et Sora Kenji.
She wanted to respond to the one human willing to believe she wasn't a bad child.
"Great!"
With the mission successfully completed, Victini happily flipped through the air in celebration.
"Sora Kenji plays with Victini and buys Victini delicious food."
"And at night we even sleep together under the blanket..."
As they traveled, Victini flew alongside Ogerpon, who trotted forward on her short legs. She kept talking nonstop about how she had t Sora Kenji and about the many little monts they had shared since then.
The more Ogerpon listened, the more she felt a growing sense of envy—and an increasing curiosity about this human nad Sora Kenji.
She began to look forward to eting him.
anwhile, completely unaware that Victini had completed her mission ahead of schedule, Sora Kenji was wandering around town, casually going door to door in search of Yukitada's family ho.
As for their surna, Sora Kenji didn't know it.
In the ga, they were simply referred to as Old Man Yukitada, Carmine, and Kieran. Their full family details were never specified.
He also avoided directly asking locals about them.
It's best to avoid direct contact if possible.
Sora Kenji's main objectives in Kitakami were:
Ogerpon
Bloodmoon Ursaluna
The three masks hidden by the village
Back then, Yukitada's ancestor—the mask craftsman—had created four masks for Ogerpon:
The Teal Mask
The Hearthfla Mask
The Wellspring Mask
The Cornerstone Mask
Of these, the Teal Mask remained in Ogerpon's possession, though it had been damaged.
The remaining three masks were left in the village after Ogerpon took her revenge, where they were enshrined alongside the three Pokémon.
Those three masks were Ogerpon's property to begin with.
Taking them back would simply be returning them to their rightful owner.
Sora Kenji felt no guilt whatsoever about that.
As long as Ogerpon agreed to leave with him, he would retrieve the three masks imdiately.
As for whether he had the ability to do so—
Setting aside the fact that even a child like Kieran managed it in the original story—
Sora Kenji now had Lilligant and Victini as his core combat power.
And if fortune favored him enough to recruit Bloodmoon Ursaluna early, then this level of strength would make the small region of Kitakami utterly incapable of stopping him.
"The only problem is this: I can take the masks and leave, but Yukitada's family can't."
Sora Kenji actually held a favorable impression of them.
The grandfather who helped repair Ogerpon's mask.
The grandmother who provided festival clothing to the protagonist.
And Kieran, who—after learning the truth—imdiately stole back the masks.
That family had never wronged Ogerpon.
Their ancestor had even been persecuted by villagers simply for telling the truth.
If Sora Kenji disappeared after taking the masks, the villagers might target Yukitada's family instead.
That was precisely why Sora Kenji didn't want direct contact with them.
"Passing down the truth in secret for so many years is already difficult enough."
"They shouldn't have to bear even more."
At present, Sora Kenji didn't have the power to clear Ogerpon's na—nor the ability to protect Yukitada's family.
Could he report the truth to the League?
It wouldn't help.
As ntioned before, the League in this world didn't forcibly restructure local societies.
Yes, it had influence—
but not nearly as much as people imagined.
Even in the era depicted in the gas, after the truth about Kitakami was revealed, the villagers still intended to rebuild Loyal Three Plaza.
Culture.
Beliefs.
Traditions.
The League lacked both the authority and the capability to fundantally change those things.
"If this were a major city with a Gym," Sora Kenji thought,
"the Gym Leader's prestige alone could establish the truth and overturn false narratives."
The relationship between the League and Gyms resembled that of a central court and local governance in ancient tis.
Without a Gym, the League had little leverage over local communities.
Only when a Gym existed could the League directly apply pressure and drive reform.
"In the end, the real issue is that Kitakami is simply too remote."
Of course, this situation was only temporary.
Once Sora Kenji gained sufficient strength, he fully intended to make the villagers of Kitakami understand exactly how protective Ogerpon's trainer could be.
"Hm?"
Lost in thought, Sora Kenji suddenly noticed two figures.
They were a pair of siblings—a girl around eight or nine years old, and a boy about six or seven.
"Aren't those Carmine and Kieran?"
Although their appearances differed slightly from their ga counterparts, Sora Kenji recognized them imdiately.
He then watched them run into a house with a courtyard.
Without a doubt—
this was the residence of Yukitada's family.
"Found it."
Sora Kenji didn't linger.
He silently morized the location before heading toward the bus station in Mossui Town.
The location had been confird.
Now everything depended on Victini.
"I wonder how things are going for V… whether she managed to find Ponpon."
Truthfully, Sora Kenji didn't hold high expectations.
Finding a single Pokémon in such a vast forest was never a quick task.
Fortunately, he had brought plenty of supplies.
After all, he was a traveler.
Spending ten days—or even half a month—camping in the wilderness was perfectly normal.
After nearly two years in the Pokémon world, Sora Kenji had already grown accustod to outdoor living near Eindoak.
His physical condition and adaptability were no worse than those of seasoned traveling trainers.
"Well… I should start thinking about how to comfort V if she cos back empty-handed."
He took off his backpack and sat down on a bench at the station.
"Co out, Lilligant."
Being alone was too boring, so he released Lilligant from her Poké Ball, and the two of them began organizing the supplies inside the bag.
The backpack was a special spatial item unique to the Pokémon world.
It looked about the size of a normal school bag, but contained an extraordinary amount of storage space.
Everyday necessities, Pokémon food, human als—even foldable tables and chairs—could all fit inside.
There was nothing surprising about that.
Poké Balls could compress enormous Pokémon into tiny capsules while even negating their weight.
Compared to that, a spatial backpack was trivial.
"Bini~~"
"Hm?"
While sorting ingredients, Sora Kenji heard a familiar voice from above.
He looked up—and sure enough, saw a small figure flickering in and out of visibility in the air.
It was his Victini.
"Let's go, Lilligant!"
Sora Kenji quickly packed up his belongings, called to Lilligant, and imdiately ran toward Victini's direction.
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