The ship finally arrived at Mandarin Island after a day and a night. Mandarin Island was the main island of the Orange Archipelago, and this particular pier was built specifically to make docking easier for foreign ships.
Speaking of which, the Orange Archipelago was also a well-known tourist destination in the Pokémon world. With the constant influx of travelers, it was no surprise that powerful Pokémon Trainers rarely stayed for long.
At this moment, Riku was feeling a bit of a headache.
Originally, he wanted to return directly to his small island to visit the Pokémon he had been separated from for a week. But to his surprise, Serena kept following him.
"Serena, aren't you here in the Orange Archipelago to train?"
"Then hurry up and go challenge the Gym Leaders."
"Are you annoyed with me?" Serena asked, pretending to be aggrieved. "This is my first time in the Orange Archipelago, and I don't know my way around. If you just leave me here, aren't you afraid I'll get kidnapped?"
"I'm quite good-looking, and my figure is also good. I could easily become a target for bad people, you know."
"I…" Riku facepalmed, speechless.
"Miss, you're almost a Champion-level Pokémon Trainer. Who could possibly kidnap you?"
He hadn't expected that just a few casual words on the ship and a swimming race between their Pokémon would result in him being followed around by a girl.
"How about this—I'll take you to meet a grandma, and you can stay with her for now," Riku suddenly remembered May.
When May first came to the Orange Archipelago, her situation had probably been similar to Serena's.
After May left, Grandma had often complained that there was no one around to help her. Introducing Serena to Grandma would be a win-win situation.
Seeing that Serena agreed, Riku went straight to the Orange League building.
Grandma readily accepted Serena's request to stay at her place.
However, unexpectedly, she also asked Riku if he could temporarily replace Drake and serve as the Champion of the Orange League.
That was something Riku didn't want to accept.
Ever since Drake had been repeatedly defeated by the Elite Four, the title of Orange League Champion had become something of a joke.
Grandma and the other elders had already agreed to make Riku an honorary member—an Elite Four-level trainer of the Orange League.
Riku felt that the title of Elite Four-level trainer sounded much better than Champion.
"Grandma, I have a lot of things to do," Riku politely declined. "I appreciate your care for me, but I really can't take on the role of League Champion."
"Besides, isn't Drake still around?"
"Drake did a great job before and brought honor to the Orange League for many years. Last time was just because the Elite Four were too strong, so—"
"Drake has left the Orange Archipelago," Grandma interrupted before Riku could finish. "He probably couldn't handle the shock from last time. Or maybe he realized the huge gap between his strength and that of truly powerful trainers. In any case, Drake left a letter and vanished without saying goodbye."
So that's what happened...
No wonder they suddenly wanted him to be the Champion.
But even so, Riku was still a bit hesitant.
"Grandma, isn't it true that sometimes we don't even have a single Pokémon Trainer meet the challenge requirements in a whole year?"
"After all, don't they still have to get past the four Gym Leaders?"
"When you left the Orange Archipelago, a Pokémon Trainer from another region had already passed," Grandma sighed. "Otherwise, I wouldn't be in such a hurry to discuss this with you."
"And we've already delayed that foreign Pokémon Trainer for two days. If you hadn't returned in time, I was even prepared to call Miss Cynthia!"
Riku was a bit embarrassed. Just then, Serena, who had been standing obediently to the side, suddenly tugged on Riku's sleeve with a slightly flustered expression.
"Riku… do you know Miss Cynthia?"
"No way. Did I mishear? Or is it just a common name?"
"She's the former Champion of the Sinnoh region—beautiful and powerful…"
"I'll tell you about it later if there's a chance," Riku replied, shaking his head, then looked toward Grandma and the League elders.
Seeing a group of elderly folks, all over seventy years old, gazing at him with bright, expectant eyes, Riku felt his scalp tingle.
Sigh...
Those four Gym Leaders… they're still so useless.
If they were stronger, I wouldn't be stuck with this responsibility.
At that moment, the four Gym Leaders—who were also present at the League building—noticed Riku's resentful gaze and felt so awkward that they wanted to find a hole to crawl into.
They had at least witnessed several high-intensity battles recently, and now, even thinking about the temporary defense force made them feel ashamed.
Last time, without Riku and Ash, even if all four Gym Leaders and Drake fought together, they wouldn't have been able to stop even one of the Elite Four. They would've been utterly defeated, running around with their hands over their heads.
"All right, Grandma, I agree."
In the end, Riku still agreed.
No matter what, he was still a child of the Orange Archipelago.
The Champion usually didn't have much to do, and any Pokémon Trainer who could pass the four Gym challenges should be fairly strong.
At that point, it would also be system points delivered right to his door.
The League elders visibly breathed a sigh of relief the moment Riku agreed.
But unexpectedly, Serena whispered beside him, "What's that challenge all about?"
"It sounds kind of interesting… Maybe I'll challenge it later too."
"Miss Serena, please don't add to my workload," Riku said, speechless.
"I haven't been back in a week, and I was planning to spend some quality time with my Pokémon."
However, Serena remained determined to take on the challenge.
She said that since she had already come all the way to the Orange Archipelago, not challenging the Orange League Gyms would be a wasted trip.
Although the Orange Archipelago was a relatively small league—rarely able to host an official Pokémon League Conference—becoming an honorary trainer would still be a great addition to her résumé.
After trying to persuade her several times and realizing it was futile, the exasperated Riku simply left her with Grandma and returned alone to his small island on Lapras.
Serena really wanted to follow Riku back. For a girl who had lived on land all her life, seeing that Riku owned his own private island sparked envy and curiosity—she really wanted to see it.
However, Riku wasn't so casual. He would only bring someone back once he felt they were familiar enough.
The previous incident with Lorelei had been purely accidental.
Strictly speaking, Lorelei had drifted to the small island unconscious after being injured; she wasn't someone Riku had brought back.
Just as Lapras was carrying Riku, only a thousand meters away from landing on the island, the legendary Pokémon residing there were suddenly alarmed—
"Whoa! Master's back?!"
-----------More Bonus Chapters!!!!
Every 300 power stones = 1 Bonus Chapter