Whitney

"Oh, by the way, I forgot to introduce myself. Hello, my name is Whitney, and I am from Goldenrod City." The girl smiled and stretched out a hand, looking at Aoki.

Aoki stood up from his seat, and after shaking hands with Whitney, he said lightly, "Aoki."

He didn't say where he came from, and he didn't say anything else. He seemed rather cold.

But Whitney didn't care at all and continued to smile. "Hee hee, Aoki-kun, your Miltank was caught in the wild, right?"

Aoki nodded silently. Although the Miltank was bought from the Hunter's Guild, it wasn't impossible to say it was caught in the wild.

"Hey, do you want to know how I know?" She kept looking at Aoki with wide eyes, as if silently urging him to ask.

"..."

Aoki was a little speechless and finally gave in. "Why?"

"Because my family runs a Miltank farm! Most of the Miltank around Goldenrod come from our farm. I don't know you, so yours must be wild. I know all the Miltank from our farm!" Whitney patted her chest proudly.

"..."

Sure enough, she was Whitney, the Gym Leader of Goldenrod City, and the heir to one of the wealthiest families in Johto.

Her family's Moomoo Milk farm supplied high-quality milk across Johto and Kanto, and nearly all commercial Miltank came from them. Wild Miltank were rare, much like how the Joy family had a strong connection with Chansey and the Officer Jenny family with Growlithe.

Her family had made a fortune selling Moomoo Milk, which was known for its nutritional value and healing properties.

As the largest city in Johto, Goldenrod City was on par with Saffron City in Kanto. Whitney's family was one of the most powerful in Goldenrod, and their Miltank farm was their most profitable industry.

As for her claim that she could recognize all the Miltank from her farm, Aoki remained silent. There were at least thousands of them—how could she possibly remember them all? No wonder Miltank had become her signature Pokémon.

Whitney was lively and talkative. Though she could be impulsive and careless at times, she was generally kind-hearted.

Since Aoki had a Miltank, Whitney chatted with him along the way. But most of the time, she was the one talking, and Aoki was the one listening.

"Hey, Aoki, where did you get your Miltank?"

"Aoki, your Miltank doesn't seem to be developing very well. I have a suggestion for you to try..."

"Aoki, your Slowpoke is so cute..."

"Aoki..."

"..."

Aoki gradually felt a headache from her endless chatter, but there was nothing to do except endure it.

Even though he didn't answer, she kept analyzing her own questions as if he had responded.

Knock knock knock~

Finally, a knock on the door interrupted Whitney's "torture."

A maglev train attendant walked in politely with a friendly smile. "You two, it's lunchtime. What would you like to eat?"

Aoki quietly sighed in relief.

"Please give me a steak set meal, thank you!" Whitney said cheerfully. It was obvious this wasn't her first time on a maglev train—she was familiar with the menu.

Aoki wasn't picky as long as he was full, so he ordered the same. "Please give me a steak set meal too."

After taking their orders, the attendant nodded with a smile. "Okay, please wait a moment. Your meals will be here soon."

Then, the attendant exited the room, closing the sliding door behind him.

The brief interruption gave Aoki a moment of peace, and he relaxed slightly.

Slowpoke had been lying beside Aoki's chair the entire time. Outsiders might assume it was sleeping—after all, Slowpoke's nature made that a reasonable assumption. In reality, it was training its meditation. Aoki had given it a plan to meditate anytime, anywhere, in order to gradually strengthen its abilities.

Right now, Slowpoke could only meditate while resting, making it seem asleep to those without psychic powers.

Even though Aoki had just awakened his own psychic powers and was still weak, he could sense the immense psychic energy within Slowpoke.

As for Miltank, she sat on the floor with Whitney's Miltank, chatting in their own way. Occasionally, Whitney's Miltank would pat Aoki's Miltank on the shoulder in a comforting, encouraging manner.

Clearly, Whitney's Miltank sympathized with Aoki's Miltank's experience.

Of course, nothing was mentioned about being captured by a Pokémon hunter and later bought by Aoki.

The 5,000 Pokecoin ticket had definitely been worth it—the train's service was excellent. Their meals arrived quickly, filling the cabin with a delicious aroma.

Aoki didn't start eating right away. Instead, he took out two Pokémon food bowls from his bag and poured Pokeblocks into them for Slowpoke and Miltank.

Slowpoke had been training silently for hours and was already a bit hungry. Seeing its favorite Pokeblock, it started eating slowly.

Miltank, too, stopped its conversation and walked over. The smell of the Pokeblock was tempting, and the joy of meeting another Miltank made it eat eagerly.

Seeing Slowpoke and Miltank enjoy their food, Whitney's Miltank swallowed hard. She could clearly smell the appealing aroma from the Pokeblocks.

Especially the one Aoki's Miltank was eating—it was clearly more attractive to her.

"Milu?" Aoki's Miltank noticed and quickly pushed its food bowl toward Whitney's Miltank, calling out, signaling that she was welcome to share. After all, friends share food.

Whitney's Miltank hesitated, then turned toward her trainer for permission.

"Aoki, where did you get this Pokeblock? Miltank seems to like it a lot." Whitney didn't seem too interested in the high-quality Pokeblock Slowpoke was eating. As the heir of a wealthy family, she had seen plenty of high-quality food before. But the Pokeblock that Aoki's Miltank was eating, while appearing ordinary, seemed particularly appealing.

With Whitney's approval, her Miltank eagerly joined in. It was clear her appetite was larger than Aoki's Miltank's, as Aoki had to refill the bowl twice.

When Whitney asked again, Aoki hesitated for a moment before answering, "I made it myself."