Chapter 147: Little Sister, What Exactly Are You Trying to Do Here?

Chapter 147: Chapter 147: Little Sister, What Exactly Are You Trying to Do Here?

"Hmm..."

Sora tried to recall the brief glimpse he’d caught of the girl.

"She looked about eight or nine years old, definitely not ten yet. Dark skin, short hair down to her ears... and kind of looked like she wasn’t very bright."

You’re the one who doesn’t look very bright!

Inside the ventilation shaft, Emma nearly exploded from indignation.

If she weren’t trying to stay hidden, she would’ve jumped out and kicked Sora in the knee just to inform him that she was, in fact, very smart.

Extremely smart!

"Mana~~"

Suddenly, Magearna, who had been grinding coffee beans and preparing a fresh brew for Sora and Diantha, seemed to notice something.

The doll-like girl lifted her head.

Confusion shone in her pink eyes.

She didn’t understand.

No, she genuinely couldn’t understand the current situation.

Wave energy flowed outward from her body, instantly enveloping the entire cabin.

Moments later, it locked onto the figure crawling through the ventilation ducts.

Why is that child hiding in a place like that?

Is she playing a game?

Magearna’s limited life experience offered no answer.

Unable to figure it out herself, she simply informed Sora.

"Mana-na~~"

Setting down the coffee grinder, Magearna walked over and tugged gently on Sora’s sleeve.

"Huh?"

Sora listened to her thoughts and immediately looked surprised.

"You mean there’s someone hiding in the ventilation shaft?"

Oh no!!!

The moment those words were spoken, Diantha was naturally startled.

But the most shocked person was Emma herself.

I’ve been discovered?!

Run!

Without a second’s hesitation, she abandoned any concern about making noise and scrambled toward the nearest branching duct.

She moved quickly.

As agile as an alley cat darting through narrow streets.

Unfortunately for her—

Her opponents were Sora and the Champion of Kalos.

"Eh?"

"Eh? Eh?! EHHH?!"

The next moment, an invisible force wrapped around her body.

A ventilation grate was ripped open.

Along with it, Emma was unceremoniously dragged out.

"Gardevoir~~"

Psychic light shimmered around Gardevoir’s body.

She gently lowered the girl onto the floor before returning to her Trainer’s side.

"It’s you!"

Sora immediately recognized her.

"Why were you hiding in a place like that? That’s way too dangerous."

After speaking, he checked the time.

There were still more than two hours before the cruise ship’s departure.

"There’s still enough time."

"Come on, little sister. I’ll take you back off the ship."

Sora had no intention of blaming a child this young.

Like Diantha, he assumed this was simply a childish prank.

In that case, escorting her safely off the ship would solve everything.

Who cared about the ticket?

The kid had just snuck aboard for fun.

At most she’d need to apologize sincerely.

"No!"

However, Emma immediately refused.

"I haven’t rescued Espurr yet! How can I leave?!"

This cruise ship was heading out of Kalos.

If she missed this final chance, she and Espurr would truly be separated forever.

And then...

How could they ever meet again?

"Don’t come any closer!"

Her eyes landed on a silver cake knife sitting on the table.

She lunged forward.

By the time Sora and Diantha realized what she was doing, she had already pressed the blade against her own neck.

What the heck?!

Sora was completely stunned.

Never in his wildest dreams had he expected this sort of development in the Pokémon world.

"What kind of plot twist is this?"

His brain almost stopped working.

All she’d done was sneak aboard without a ticket.

That was such a tiny issue.

Was there really any need to escalate things to potential bloodshed?

And why was she threatening herself?

Little sister, what exactly are you trying to accomplish here?

"Put the knife down first."

"We aren’t bad people. We won’t hurt you."

"If you’re having trouble, just tell us."

Sora was ruthless toward enemies.

Sometimes even cold-blooded.

But toward innocent people, his philosophy had always been simple:

If he could help, he would.

After all, if not for Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny helping him when he first arrived in this world, he might have starved to death on the streets.

Because there were good people in the world, he had survived.

That kindness was something he never forgot.

"That’s right."

Diantha was alarmed as well.

She hadn’t expected the girl to react so drastically.

"Whatever it is, we can talk about it calmly."

"My name is Diantha. You know who I am, right?"

"The Champion of Kalos."

"There are very few things in this region beyond my ability to solve."

For the first time in a long while, Diantha felt genuinely grateful for her Champion title.

"Champion?"

Emma stared at her in disbelief.

What kind of luck was this?

She’d sneaked onto a ship.

Randomly wriggled through some ventilation ducts.

And somehow ended up meeting the Champion of Kalos?

Then she looked closer.

It’s really her!!!

For ordinary people, Champions from other regions weren’t always recognizable.

But Diantha was different.

Besides being a Champion-level Trainer, she was also a world-famous actress.

From her days as a child star all the way to the present, eighteen-year-old Diantha had become a household name.

Even an orphan like Emma had seen her posters countless times.

Clang!

The knife slipped from Emma’s hand.

She rushed toward Diantha.

Then immediately dropped into a perfect dogeza.

"Please save my Espurr, Champion Big Sister!"

Sora honestly didn’t know what to say.

This entire sequence of events was beyond his comprehension.

I feel like I skipped several Chapters of important plot somewhere.

Also—

Why did her plea only mention Diantha?

Why did his presence suddenly feel completely unnecessary?

Had he somehow become an NPC?

And wait.

What exactly was Espurr?

A person’s name?

A Pokémon?

Sora searched his memory for a Pokémon called Espurr.

Never heard of one...

"Good. You’ve calmed down."

Diantha showed absolutely no wariness toward the girl.

She simply pulled Emma into a hug and led her to the sofa.

Only after they sat down did she speak gently.

"Now tell us everything from the beginning."

"Don’t worry."

"I swear on the honor of the Kalos Champion."

"If your request is reasonable, I absolutely won’t ignore it."

"Thank goodness..."

Emma had never imagined events would take such a sudden turn.

A Champion.

An actual regional Champion.

One of the strongest people in all of Kalos.

Whatever else could be said about Trainers—

When it came to solving problems through sheer strength...

Champions were absolutely the real deal.

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