Reunion with Haru and the Legendary Lugia

As soon as I stepped out of the Brown City Gym, a woman who had just finished changing classes spotted me and started calling out as she hurried over.

The woman had seen a man emerging from the Brown City Gym on her way back and broke into a run.

"Jiwoo!"

I was about to head to the Pokemon Center after leaving the gym when I heard someone calling my name. I turned around and froze in surprise.

Chae Haru!!

I was startled to my core.

Chae Haru—the heroine of W I had every intention of claiming the moment I arrived in Brown City—was running straight toward me.

When I stopped to watch her approach while calling my name, she reached me panting heavily and spoke between breaths.

"J-Jiwoo… Do you remember me? We met at the Pokemon camp a long time ago…"

Still breathing hard, Chae Haru asked if I remembered her.

Of course… I didn’t remember. How could I? The only one I knew about was Serena. Because the world had been rewritten, the setting had been changed so that I had met both Serena and Chae Haru at that camp.

Still, I had no choice but to answer that I did remember.

"Oh, Haru! Of course I remember—we met at camp!"

When I said I remembered, Chae Haru’s face lit up with delight.

She must have met Serena at that camp, no doubt about it.

But the smile quickly faded as she glanced at the women around me, her expression shifting into one of clear wariness.

From Chae Haru’s perspective, she had begun to grow curious about the three women standing beside Jiwoo.

"Um, Jiwoo… who are those three women next to you?"

At her question, I introduced Blue, Choi Iseul, and Yeongja.

From Chae Haru’s point of view, she could understand why Jiwoo’s mother Yeongja had come to Brown City with him. What she couldn’t understand was why the pretty older girl from the neighborhood and the Cerulean City Gym Leader were traveling with him.

The outstanding looks of the woman called Blue and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Cerulean Gym Leader named Choi Iseul gave Chae Haru a dangerous feeling about exactly what their relationship with Jiwoo might be.

For now, she decided not to voice any further suspicion. Feeling it would be rude to Jiwoo, she invited his whole group to come with her to Professor Cerise’s laboratory.

Since Chae Haru had invited Jiwoo to the lab, my group—me, Yeongja, Blue, and Choi Iseul—followed her guidance and made our way there.

When Jiwoo’s party arrived at Professor Cerise’s lab, the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠professor himself was standing in the center. Two unfamiliar assistants stood nearby, and Professor Oak was right beside him.

"Oh! Jiwoo, you were in Brown City too!"

"Yes, Professor Oak. I see you were here in Brown City as well."

Professor Oak greeted me warmly when he saw me, and I returned the greeting.

He was extremely pleased when I sent him around twenty to thirty Pokemon. Several Clefairy were among them, which he was especially happy to receive for his research.

Professor Cerise also greeted me, saying it was nice to meet me.

I returned his greeting, and soon he demonstrated an augmented reality technology that could project an interface visible to the naked eye without any special equipment.

Suddenly a warning message flashed across the screen. Professor Cerise calmly enlarged it into a massive display for everyone to see, pulling up data on the temperature, humidity, and other metrics across all of Brown City while muttering to himself.

Then, as if he had realized something, he turned back toward the gathered people and spoke.

In roughly twenty minutes, he said, a very rare Pokemon was likely to appear at the Brown City harbor.

The crowd stirred, agreeing excitedly and speculating whether it might be a legendary Pokemon.

At that moment Blue’s eyes sparkled as she said to me, "The harbor, right?" Choi Iseul was also staring at me with an expression that seemed to ask inwardly, A legendary Pokemon at the harbor? Could it be a Water-type legendary?

Yeongja said she would wait here and headed off somewhere. I told the other two, "Let’s go!" and the three of us headed out.

Chae Haru saw me leaving and started to follow, but soon gave up. She decided to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wait for my return and sat down on one of the sofas inside Professor Cerise’s lab.

By the time we reached the harbor, it was already packed with countless people and trainers who had summoned a wide variety of Pokemon in hopes of catching the legendary one.

Blue asked if I was planning to catch the legendary Pokemon. I told her:

"I don’t really have any plans to catch it. I can always get it later anyway."

"Really?"

Blue looked at me for a moment, then turned her gaze toward the harbor where the legendary Pokemon was supposed to appear.

The rest of the event unfolded exactly as it had in the original story.

When Lugia burst from the sea and soared into the air, trainers sent out their Pokemon to capture it, but none of them could land so much as a scratch.

Using Kirlia’s and Pixie’s Psychic powers, Blue and I managed to land on Lugia’s back. Choi Iseul simply watched from a distance.

And the trash guy from the original story was clinging to Lugia’s tail, screaming at the top of his lungs.

I thought to myself:

Goh-trash!

It was Goh-trash…

The poacher so ruthless that even Team Rocket would shed tears—Goh-trash.

Part of me wanted to shove him straight into the ocean, but with so many people watching, I had no choice but to rescue him.

"Haa… haa… I’m alive… Thank you… But wow, this is incredible! Am I really riding on Lugia’s back right now?"

Goh-trash’s eyes sparkled as he filmed Lugia’s back with his phone.

"Whoa… Lugia’s back is rougher than I expected?"

"Lugia’s nest is underwater. That skin is coated in salt."

When I answered his comment, his eyes sparkled even brighter as he stared at me.

"For real? Huh… now that you mention it, that makes sense… Who are you guys anyway?"

When Goh asked who we were, I gave him my name.

Blue did the same.

"I’m Han Jiwoo from Pallet Town. These are my partners Pikachu and Kirlia."

"I’m Blue from Pallet Town too. This is my partner Pixie."

Then Goh introduced himself.

"Ah… I’m Goh from Brown City. But Jiwoo, you seem to know a lot about Lugia… Wait, why does this feel so familiar?"

At that moment, Lugia suddenly let out a cry and shot straight upward.

Jiwoo and Blue grimaced against the powerful wind, but Goh grabbed the fin on Lugia’s back with both hands and yelled desperately so he wouldn’t fall.

The place where Lugia finally stopped was within the soaring territory of Fearow.

"Whoa… Amazing! Fearow is flying at the same altitude as Lugia! Its wing strength is incredible!"

Once again Goh’s eyes sparkled as he gazed at the Fearow.

"Fearow has the endurance to stay in the air its entire life."

"I knew that, but I never imagined it could fly this high up."

As if Lugia wanted to show us not only the sky but the ocean as well, it dove rapidly from that great height.

Afterward, just like in the anime, it gave us a tour of the underwater world before dropping me, Blue, and Goh in a hidden flower field no one else knew about. Then it flew off somewhere without a backward glance.

The three of us eventually made our way back to Professor Cerise’s lab. Chae Haru was standing at the entrance with both cheeks puffed out, clearly sulking.

"You two. What took you so long! I got so tired waiting!"

We apologized to Chae Haru, saying we were sorry, and all went inside the lab together.

Goh seemed fascinated by the laboratory and wandered off somewhere with Professor Cerise. The rest of us—me, Yeongja, Blue, and Iseul—sat on the sofa, with Chae Haru sitting across from us.

Once seated, Chae Haru fell into a spiral of anxiety.

It was because of Choi Iseul’s and Blue’s appearances.

She had finally reunited with Jiwoo, only to find beautiful girls standing beside him.

One of them wore her hair in a ponytail with hot pants and a yellow crop top. The other wore a blue sleeveless top and a red skirt.

Both were so pretty that Chae Haru felt she looked downright plain next to them.

I pulled up Chae Haru’s status window.

Chae Haru’s affection level was higher than I had expected.

Whether it was thanks to the altered setting or not, her affection was surprisingly high.

While Chae Haru was looking at the women around us, Yeongja greeted her first.

"So you’re Haru? I heard about you from Yoshino."

"Yes? You know my mother?"

When Chae Haru asked if she knew her mother, Yeongja explained.

She said that when she had been sending Jiwoo to the Pokemon camp long ago, they had happened to meet and exchanged numbers. They occasionally met up or called each other to catch up.

Then Blue and Choi Iseul began greeting her as well.

"Nice to meet you. I’m Blue from Pallet Town. I’m one year older than Jiwoo, so I’m his big sister."

"Nice to meet you too. I’m Choi Iseul from Cerulean City. I’m the same age as Jiwoo."

Chae Haru greeted them in return.

So far everything had flowed like the original story…

But one thing diverged. Since I needed to travel around the Kanto region, instead of staying in Brown City only briefly, I agreed to help Professor Cerise with some of his research.

The delighted professor had no idea.

He had no idea that his daughter and wife would soon disappear.

He had no idea that, for certain reasons, he would end up divorced, his wife and daughter’s memories would be erased, and he would be left living alone with only his son.

The next day…

Goh’s mom is better than I expected…?

Goh had decided to stay at Professor Cerise’s lab, so he called his parents on his phone. His mother drove over, bringing a suitcase filled with a change of clothes, a toothbrush, and other daily necessities.

I judged that Goh’s mother was also worth collecting.

When Goh tried to carry his own luggage, I took it from him instead.

"Hello. I’m Han Jiwoo from Pallet Town. I’ll also be staying at the lab for a while this time."

"Jiwoo? From Pallet Town? I see! You must be the trainer Professor Cerise and Professor Oak mentioned. Nice to meet you!"

I glanced at Goh.

He was so embarrassed that he hunched over and covered his face with both hands.

The arrival of Goh’s mother—with her lovely voice and slightly coquettish, adorable way of speaking—made me happy. With Haru and her mother already on the list, the number of women worth collecting had just increased again.

I asked for her name, and Goh’s mother told me.

"Auntie’s name? Just call me Kurumi. Feel free."

I could feel a very friendly, energetic aura from her.

Unlike her son, not only her personality but her voice was bright and cheerful.

And her chest seemed just a little larger than Yeongja’s.

She was truly a charming married woman.