Pokémon: My Parallel World Daughters Revealed

Chapter 159: Does “No Exploring” Mean “Go Inside and Take a Look”? (Power Stone Milestone Extra Chapter 1/2)

The following morning at the living room of Asher’s estate.

The family sat around the table eating breakfast together.

Raina put down her fork, wiped her mouth with a napkin, and rose to give an enormous stretch.

”Aah—I’m full!”

She then glanced at the clock nearby.

”It’s almost time~”

Misty’s movements paused slightly, and her fingers tightened around her coffee cup.

”So soon?”

”The system said twenty-four hours. It started yesterday, and it’s almost eight in the morning now, so my time is nearly up.”

Cynthia lowered the fork in her hand without saying anything.

Asher leaned back in his chair. His expression remained calm, though his fingers lightly tapped the table twice.

Throughout breakfast, everyone had tacitly avoided mentioning the matter, almost as though refusing to acknowledge it might somehow delay Raina’s departure.

But now that the time had come, they still had to face it.

Raina jumped down from her chair and walked to the center of the living room. She turned around to face the three of them.

”Don’t look so sad! Maybe the system will let me visit again someday, right?”

”Besides...”

Raina planted both hands on her hips.

”All you need to do is work hard with Daddy, and it’ll amount to the same thing!”

The tips of Misty’s ears immediately turned red.

”W-work hard at what?!”

”You know, that.”

Raina tilted her head innocently.

”Honestly, Mom, do you really need a child to explain something like this to you?”

”Stop talking!!!”

Misty clapped a hand over Raina’s mouth, her voice nearly cracking.

”You’re not allowed to say things like that out loud!!!”

Raina released a muffled laugh before gently prying Misty’s fingers away.

”All right, all right. I won’t say anything else. Anyway, you just need to do your best, Mom.”

Misty released her.

The heat hadn’t yet faded from her face, but her eyes were already beginning to redden.

She pulled Raina into her arms, holding her more tightly than ever before.

”You’ve only been here for one day...”

”One day isn’t that short.”

Raina rested her chin on Misty’s shoulder, her voice becoming soft.

”Mom, I’ve been very happy.”

Asher walked over as well and ruffled her hair.

”Don’t work yourself too hard after you return. If you can’t finish your Elite Four paperwork, throw it all at Lance. He’ll be too embarrassed to refuse.”

Raina burst out laughing.

”Daddy, Mr. Lance will hold a grudge.”

”What are you afraid of? He managed perfectly well before you became an Elite Four member.”

Asher patted Raina’s shoulder.

”Remember—don’t exhaust yourself.”

Raina nodded.

She then stepped back several paces and revealed a brilliant smile.

”Then I’m leaving! Moms, Daddy—you all need to take care of yourselves!”

The instant she finished speaking, a gentle pillar of white light descended from above and enveloped Raina completely.

Her figure gradually became indistinct within the light.

Misty took a step forward but didn’t reach out to grab her.

She merely stood there, watching Raina’s form slowly fade away.

Cynthia walked to Misty’s side and gently took her hand.

Asher approached as well and patted Misty’s shoulder.

”All right. The livestream is about to resume too. Try to collect yourself.”

Misty wiped the corner of her eye with one finger and turned toward him.

”Couldn’t you remain sentimental for a few more seconds?”

”It isn’t as though we’ll never see her again.”

Asher picked up a strawberry from the table and placed it in his mouth.

”Besides, didn’t Raina just tell us to work harder?”

”Now that you’ve mentioned it, I still have a score to settle with you!”

Misty’s face instantly flushed bright red.

”I came first, so why is Raina the younger sister?!”

Asher coughed several times and glanced toward Cynthia, whose face had also turned red.

”That... was entirely a matter of luck! Pure luck!”

”Hmph!”

At that moment, a new system notification appeared at the center of the screen.

[Ding! Parallel-World Celebrity Series, Episode Three—The Sovereign of Ideals: Miori—Stage Four begins!]

[VIP Chat Group]

[Diantha]: I only just arrived home. Why is the livestream already starting again? I was hoping to get some beauty sleep~

[Cynthia]: I told you to stay at my house last night.

[Diantha]: I couldn’t. I had to be on a film set at five this morning.

[Iris]: Being a famous actress really is exhausting.

[Leon]: Come to think of it, all of you visited Asher’s home yesterday, didn’t you? Do you have any inside information you can reveal?

[Lorelei]: The barbecue was delicious.

[Leon]: That’s all?

[Lorelei]: What else did you expect? Did you genuinely think you could extract confidential information from me in the livestream chat?

[Raihan]: Leon’s brain really does seem to be missing a wire sometimes.

[Leon]: Raihan, you—

[Iris]: Stop arguing! The video is about to begin! Go, Shiny Shinyko! (ノ｀Д´)ノ

[Dawn]: Go, go, go!

The video began playing.

The setting sun painted the skyscrapers golden red.

Miori stood outside Striaton Gym with both hands planted on her hips.

”All right! I have five Badges now!”

She took out her Badge case and placed the Trio Badge inside before nodding in satisfaction.

”I’m already more than halfway there.”

Emolga poked its head out from atop hers, and electricity flashed twice across its cheek pouches.

”You think I’m making fast progress too, right?”

Miori returned the Badge case to her waist and planted her hands on her hips again.

”At this rate, I should be able to collect all eight Badges within another two or three weeks. Then I can enter the Pokémon League.”

Emolga slapped Miori’s ear with its tail before rummaging through her bag and pulling out her Organization Z employee card.

”You’re right. I still need to deal with Organization Z.”

Miori rubbed her chin.

”Captain K even had me attend an internal training session last week. It looks like I’m getting close to accessing their core secrets.”

At that moment, her communicator suddenly rang.

Miori looked down at the caller ID.

Dad.

She answered, and Asher’s face appeared on the screen.

Behind him stretched a brilliant blue ocean and several palm trees. Beside his hand sat a glass of fruit juice decorated with a tiny umbrella.

Seeing how relaxed he looked immediately irritated Miori.

”Dad, where are you vacationing this time?”

”What vacation? I’m working.”

Asher took a sip of juice without the slightest change in expression.

”We’ve nearly finished clearing out Team Plasma’s experimental sites in Hoenn. I’ll be returning to Unova soon.”

”Really? That’s wonderful! If you don’t return soon, I’m worried Mom will force me to go back and cover her shifts again.”

”She won’t. Don’t worry.”

Asher’s tone became slightly more serious.

”Now, let’s discuss the important matter. How many Badges have you collected?”

”Five.”

”Mm. Your pace isn’t slow. However, you don’t need to challenge another Gym for the time being. There’s somewhere else I need you to visit first.”

Miori raised an eyebrow.

”Where?”

Asher lowered his glass of juice.

”Relic Castle.”

”Relic Castle?”

Miori searched her memory for the name.

”I’ve never heard of it. Is it in Unova?”

”I’ve already sent you the information. You don’t need to ask anything else. Just go there.”

Asher waved.

”Good luck, sweetheart.”

With that, he ended the call.

The corner of Miori’s mouth twitched before she slapped a hand against her forehead.

”Dad still loves speaking in riddles. Whatever.”

Miori took out her Pokédex and opened the information Asher had sent.

[Relic Castle: Located deep within the desert north of Castelia City. It is the largest complex of ancient ruins in the Unova region. Numerous wild Pokémon inhabit the ruins, and large quantities of ancient fossil fragments can be found across the surface surrounding the site. Trainers are forbidden from exploring the central area.]

Miori stared at the words ”Trainers are forbidden from exploring the central area” for several seconds.

Then she stuffed the Pokédex back into her bag.

”’Exploration forbidden’ means there’s something inside.”

”And if there’s something inside, that means I absolutely need to go in and take a look.”

”All right! Next stop—Relic Castle!”