Click!
Just after Ash finished dealing with all the fans, a bright flash suddenly went off. He turned his head away instinctively, shielding his eyes from the light.
When he turned back to look, he saw two familiar figures standing in front of him. One of them was holding a camera with obvious excitement, and it was clear the flash had come from that device.
"It looks like our Ash has become quite the celebrity! I need to capture this moment properly."
The person holding the camera was none other than Ash's mother, Delia, and standing beside her was Professor Oak himself.
It was nearly dinnertime now. Earlier in the day, they had been watching the tournament matches back in Pallet Town, but now they had arrived at the Indigo Plateau in person.
When the two of them had arrived, they happened to witness Ash being surrounded by enthusiastic fans. Without saying a word, Delia had pulled out her camera and started recording the scene.
"Mom..." Ash looked somewhat embarrassed by the attention, though he knew his mother only had a few hobbies like this, so he didn't mind too much.
"Professor Oak, what brings you here?" At that moment, Brock and the others snapped out of their surprise and walked over to greet them.
"Of course we came to watch the matches! Our three Trainers from Pallet Town have performed so well this time around, and there's only one more match before advancing to the next round. Naturally, we had to come see it in person!"
Professor Oak responded with a warm smile. The performance of Pallet Town's three trainers this year had indeed been remarkable. For their first League tournament, reaching this stage was already an impressive achievement.
All three of them had won three consecutive battles, which meant they had an excellent chance of making it to the next round. That's why Professor Oak and Delia had decided to come watch the matches live.
"What about the house and the Laboratory?" Ash asked, looking at both of them with concern.
"The Laboratory has assistants to handle everything, so don't worry about it!" Professor Oak waved his hand dismissively.
Ash nodded slightly in understanding. Although the anime made it seem like Professor Oak ran his Laboratory alone until Tracey joined him as an assistant, that wasn't entirely accurate. In reality, such a large research facility couldn't possibly be managed by just one person. Professor Oak simply preferred to handle many tasks personally.
"And we have Mr. Mime watching the house!" Delia added with the same cheerful smile.
She truly felt that catching Mr. Mime had been the right decision. The Pokemon could handle housework and even go shopping, almost like another person living there. With Mr. Mime around, she didn't feel so lonely when Ash was away on his journey.
"Ash, I heard you've won three straight matches using only one Pokemon. You have a real shot at excellent results this time, so keep up the good work!"
Professor Oak walked up to Ash and patted him on the shoulder with encouragement. The professor had high hopes for this young man—expectations that even exceeded those he held for his own grandson.
Deep in his heart, Professor Oak felt a sense of amazement. The only other person who had achieved this level of success at such a young age was someone closely connected to Ash's life.
It was truly remarkable that two people with such a deep connection had both reached such incredible heights.
"Yes! I understand!" Ash responded with determination.
Professor Oak observed Ash's confident yet humble demeanor and nodded with satisfaction.
"Grandpa?" A voice called out at that moment. After hearing it, Professor Oak turned his head to see Gary approaching with a young woman beside him.
"Gary!" Professor Oak's face brightened as he saw his grandson. To be honest, Gary was quite talented and capable.
However, in Professor Oak's eyes, his grandson hadn't yet fully grasped the true meaning and responsibility of being a Trainer.
The grandfather and grandson met and talked for a while before Professor Oak left with Gary. Delia naturally stayed behind with Ash's group. After putting down her camera, she noticed some unfamiliar faces among the people gathered.
"Oh? And who might this be?"
"Ah... hello, ma'am! My name is Yellow, and this is my partner, Chuchu!" Yellow quickly introduced herself when she noticed Delia's curious gaze.
For some reason, she felt nervous under Delia's attention. Watching Yellow's reaction, Misty seemed to see a reflection of her younger self. She found it both amusing and slightly worrying at the same time.
"How adorable!" Looking at Chuchu with the flower decoration pinned to her ear, Delia's face lit up with delight as she reached out to hold the Pikachu.
Perhaps due to her natural affinity with Pokemon, Chuchu didn't struggle at all. Instead, she seemed to enjoy Delia's gentle touch.
Seeing this scene, Yellow breathed a quiet sigh of relief and thought to herself that Ash's mother seemed like an easy person to get along with.
"By the way, what's your relationship with our Ash?" Delia asked while continuing to pet Chuchu.
"Ah! Um! What... what kind of relationship?"
Yellow's face immediately turned red at the question, and Misty standing nearby felt a bit uncomfortable as well. This situation felt strangely familiar.
"Mom, please don't ask questions that might cause misunderstandings, okay?" Ash said helplessly, seeing where this was going.
"Alright, alright! So how did you two meet?" Following Ash's request, Delia seemed to change her approach, though not by much.
Ash felt speechless, unable to keep up with his mother's rapid shifts in conversation.
"Well... we met in Viridian Forest. At that time, I was being attacked by a swarm of Beedrill, and Ash saved me!"
However, this question was easier for Yellow to answer.
"I see! What a blessing for our Ash to meet such a lovely young lady like you." Delia nodded thoughtfully after hearing the explanation.
Her words made Yellow even more embarrassed. While she was praising Yellow on the surface, Delia secretly gave Ash a thumbs up where Yellow couldn't see.
At the same time, she winked at Ash, as if saying, "Well done! You know how to play the hero and save the damsel in distress!" Ash saw this and felt completely speechless, pretending not to notice his mother's gestures.
"By the way, Ash, Pikachu—to reward you both for working so hard, I'll cook your favorite meals tonight!"
Delia suddenly announced with enthusiasm. Although she sometimes teased Ash in front of others, the truth was that a mother's love for her child runs deepest.
She was genuinely happy about Ash's excellent results in the tournament, and her maternal instincts kicked into high gear. Ash was slightly caught off guard when he heard this and responded somewhat hesitantly.
"Uh... there's no need for that, right?"
"It's perfectly fine! It won't take long at all!" However, Delia didn't seem to hear his protest. She smiled with her eyes closed, waved her hand cheerfully, and then walked toward the Pokemon Center's dining area.