Chapter 444: Interlude Off the Field
While Arthur and Serena were locked in a fierce battle, the players from most of the other professional teams were watching the live broadcast, organized by their own clubs.
Once you've chosen the professional path, you can't just indulge in your personal time freely. You have to watch the matches.
However, speaking of indulgence, there was one team in the league whose management was quite liberal.
At this moment, in the Blaze Team's hotel room, Simon, who was halfway through watching the live broadcast, suddenly asked, "Forrest, where is he?"
Beside him, Luke shot him a look.
"You're only just realizing he's not here? Your reaction time is so long it could circle the planet twice."
"..."
It was the kind-hearted Chloe who finally answered, "He asked for leave this morning. He said he had something to take care of at home and promised he wouldn't miss the finals."
Simon was shocked. "Is that even allowed? Do you know what he went for?"
"I don't know. You could ask the captain."
Simon then turned to look at their captain, Mason.
And as he turned, he saw the captain with his arm around his Gardevoir's waist, a look of pure bliss on his face.
"..."
Noticing his teammates' gazes, Mason immediately retracted his hand and said with a straight face, "Ahem! Don't get the wrong idea. I was just helping my Gardevoir with a lower back massage. She's been training too hard lately. Don't look at me like that. I'm a married man."
However, this explanation was not very convincing…
Simon squinted at him.
"So, Captain, do you know what we're about to ask you?"
"Huh? What are you guys asking?"
"Damn it! We were talking so close to you and you didn't even hear us! How focused were you on that massage?! And you still say there's nothing wrong?! Crap! Captain! I won't accept this! Why is it that you only get a few complaints, but I'm always being called a pervert?!"
Although Simon's accusation was full of emotion and came from the heart, besides Luke, who enjoyed cosplaying without shaving his leg hair, no one else in the room could empathize.
The two female players, Rosaline and Chloe, just facepalmed.
"So your main point is just that you feel you're not as much of a pervert as the captain? This is the pot calling the kettle black!"
Mason coughed twice again and very awkwardly changed the subject. "Ahem, so what did you guys want to ask?"
"We wanted to ask what Forrest went home for."
"Oh, that. Actually, I don't know much either. I just heard that it seems to be related to that Arthur from the Starlight and Frost team."
The teammates all looked at each other, completely baffled.
"How could this have anything to do with Arthur? Did Forrest know him before? I don't think I've heard him say so."
Mason stroked his chin.
"I just vaguely heard him telling the head coach that Arthur seems to be related to some old acquaintance of his family. He needed to go home to confirm. I don't know the specifics."
The group exchanged a look, and their eyes all began to burn with the blazing flame of "gossip."
"Oho! Really? I heard Forrest's family is pretty impressive."
"Indeed! I heard they're a military family, and one of their ancestors was even a Champion! Not the mascot-type Champion from the later peaceful era, but a real Champion from the war-torn era who was written into the textbooks!"
"Is that true? All I know is that his family owns a Pokémon nursery. I don't know anything more."
"Are you even trying? Do you have any intelligence-gathering ability? How did you become a professional player with this level of information acquisition?"
Chloe, having been rebuked, immediately brought up Simon's old wound.
"Well, I'm not like someone who needs to find out if the inside of a Shuckle is tight or wet, warm or hot."
"..."
Simon's face looked constipated. He retorted, "May you only ever roll Splash when you use Metronome from now on!"
This curse was a bit too powerful. Chloe was immediately triggered.
"You!!"
The commotion finally alerted the head coach in the next room.
"What the hell are you all doing?!! Do you not know that you're supposed to be watching the damn match?! This is about our opponents in the finals!! All of you, sit your asses back down and be quiet!! Damn it!"
So, the head coaches of every team each have their own specialty.
The head coach for the Blaze Team, to control this group of lawless, quirky problem children, had a specialty of using an extremely high volume of profanity. Often, when their internal team communications were released, half of it would be bleeped out…
But you had to admit, it was effective.
Combined with the head coach's 6'5" frame and his exaggerated pecs, he managed the team's daily affairs very well.
It even made the club's management feel very gratified.
So sometimes, a team culture that is too free is not a good thing…
Meanwhile, in Vermilion City, not far from the playoff venue of Saffron City, Forrest returned by car to the long-unseen nursery he called home.
It still looked the same as when he had left.
Business was not very good. There weren't many Pokémon being boarded, and most of them were not easy to take care of.
High-end nurseries are generally called "Pokémon wellness centers," and they mainly serve the high-salaried white-collar class of the city, helping them to take care of their pets during work hours. The Pokémon being boarded are mostly cute or beautiful popular domestic Pokémon like Igglybuff, Togepi, and Florges.
This type of domestic Pokémon is small, doesn't require a lot of exercise, and has a gentle temperament. Taking care of them is a relaxing and enjoyable experience, and can even help the caregiver to de-stress.
This is the development direction of high-end nurseries these days!
Exquisite, elegant, and high-class!
But Forrest's family's nursery was a completely different style—
Here, you had Tauros locking horns with each other, Mightyena running wild, and when he had been helping out here before, he had even assisted in the delivery of a Mamoswine…
This style had nothing to do with "high-class" or "wellness"!
If his family hadn't insisted on running it, Forrest really wouldn't want to come back here.
"Yo, Forrest! What brings you back?"
"Mom, I'm back to confirm something with Grandpa."
"Oh, is that so? How many days are you back for? Why don't you help out a bit? Another pregnant Pokémon was just sent over. You're the best at delivering them in the family now! Hey! Don't go! What's so urgent?! This kid! Honestly, still so rash!"
Forrest greased the soles of his feet and shot out like a race-walker. The already-narrow slits of his eyes were almost scared even narrower.
Phew!! Good thing I accepted the Blaze manager's invitation to play professionally. Otherwise, I'm afraid I would never have been able to escape the fate of delivering for large, pig-nosed Pokémon… Just thinking about it is scary!
He then went to the residence behind his family's nursery. After a long walk, he finally found his grandfather tending to the flowers and plants in the backyard.
His grandfather was also quite surprised to see him.
"Forrest? Aren't you at that… that whatchamacallit competition? What brings you back?"
"It's the Professional League," Forrest first corrected his grandfather.
Then he became serious. "I'm back for something important. Grandpa, do you still remember the diary and the mission that our ancestor left behind? I met a young man in the league. His Charizard and Gengar are very similar to the Pokémon of the person our ancestor was looking for!"
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