In an unknown small island, the Champion, who had angrily gone on strike, was enjoying her vacation at her private villa.
She was wearing an extremely revealing bikini, covering only the three most essential points, leaving the rest of her fair skin exposed to the sun. Stretching lazily on a poolside recliner while sunbathing, she let out a sigh of contentment that would drive countless admirers wild.
"Ah, nothing beats a relaxing day!"
The golden-haired beauty lay face down on the chair, though her upper body was slightly raised due to her generous assets, causing her to gently frown. It slightly disrupted her rest, but she paid it little mind.
She focused instead on the blue dog Pokémon behind her, which was helping apply sunscreen to her smooth back.
"Lucario..."
Although Lucario's face was naturally dark, the usually cool Pokémon noticeably blushed the moment the golden-haired beauty turned her full, voluminous upper body toward it.
"You are so cute!"
The Champion smiled, covering her mouth with her hand while tucking a strand of golden hair behind her ear. Even though her Lucario was female, it blushed every time it saw her figure, which often prompted Cynthia to tease it.
"Hmm!"
However, just as she was teasing her Pokémon, a sticky sensation spread across her foot, causing the sensitive Champion to let out a small, surprised sound.
"Gastrodon, haven't you gotten rid of that bad habit yet?"
She rolled over to look back and saw a pink, soft-bodied shell Pokémon licking her foot. Cynthia felt her face flush and couldn't help but complain. She couldn't understand Gastrodon's peculiar habit of constantly licking her feet.
"Gastro!"
Gastrodon lifted its head, gave a perfunctory reply, and then lowered its head to continue its grand mission.
"Honestly!" Cynthia sighed, covering her forehead. She called out to the cream-colored snake-like Pokémon in the pool. "Milotic, pull Gastrodon away!"
"Meeu!"
Milotic, the team's beauty and strength, obediently extended its pink and blue tail and gently smacked Gastrodon on the head. The momentary stun allowed Milotic to drag the persistent Pokémon into the water.
"Roar!"
Garchomp, the team's big sister, let out a low growl, giving its little sister, Gastrodon, a severe lecture. The reasonable, plane-like Togekiss also played the role of a wise elder, patiently advising Gastrodon.
Faced with the entanglement of nearly three Pokémon, Gastrodon nodded humbly, but secretly resolved in its heart never to change its ways.
"Sigh! What a little pervert!"
Seeing this familiar scene, Cynthia could only sigh in resignation. This wasn't Gastrodon's first offense.
She settled back down, resting her large chest on the recliner, letting Lucario continue applying sunscreen to her back.
"Eevee is the best behaved."
Looking at the timid little fox sitting meekly in front of her, the beautiful Champion smiled, stroking the little Pokémon's soft brown fur and fluffy tail.
"Booy!"
As the team's newest member, Eevee was exceptionally well-behaved and quite satisfied with its gorgeous mistress. It blinked its intelligent brown eyes, gazing at Cynthia while sitting politely with its forepaws extended, revealing soft pink paw pads. It secretly vowed to evolve into a beautiful form.
"By the way, has anyone seen Spiritomb?"
Cynthia looked around and noticed that the only one missing was the anti-social Spiritomb. She checked with her six Pokémon, and they all shook their heads, confirming they hadn't seen the Odd Key Stone Pokémon.
"That guy, is he playing dress-up as a potted plant to scare other Pokémon again?"
As a Champion, Cynthia knew her Pokémon's personalities intimately. Even the recently acquired Eevee's thoughts were mostly transparent to her. She guessed the Ghost/Dark-type Spiritomb had slipped away to frighten some unfortunate Pokémon, as mischief perfectly fit its nature.
Ding, ding, ding...
Suddenly, the electronic device on the nearby table started buzzing wildly—a notification that messages were flooding in.
"Honestly, why is it getting so lively again?"
Lucario handed the device over, and Cynthia reluctantly took it, clicking on a group chat with 99+ unread messages.
[The Son is Adopted]: Son, I told you you couldn't do it. Look how badly you lost even after going all out! Tsk tsk tsk...
[Dad is an Idiot]: I told you, he's a powerful trainer. Why won't you listen?
[The Son is Adopted]: Nya nya nya nya nya nya...
[Dad is an Idiot]: ...You just wait. He'll come to your Gym eventually. I'll definitely be there to watch you get thrashed.
[The Son is Adopted]: Heh heh heh.
...
"It's those two, the constantly feuding father and son, again!" Cynthia frowned, then chuckled wryly.
Seeing the two familiar IDs, she checked the message history and instantly pieced together the whole story. It started when Gardenia (the 'Son') had uploaded a video of a youth with a Pikachu and tagged Roark (the 'Dad'), saying the trainer was very strong. The two began discussing the potential trainer in the Gym Leader group chat, which then drew out Byron (the 'Dad' in the chat, Roark's actual father). Byron somehow got ahold of the video of Roark being defeated by Ash and began mocking his son, initiating their daily love-hate rivalry.
"What a truly filial relationship!"
The Champion adjusted her fluffy golden hair and focused her attention on the source of the chaos.
"Wait a minute, the trainer Roark mentioned... his name is Ash, too?"
Recalling the message from the troublesome Elite Four member, Lucian, Cynthia grew curious and clicked on the video of Roark battling the boy with Pikachu.
The battles with Pidgeot and Scizor were solid and beyond reproach in her eyes, but lacked any major highlights.
Until...
The moment Pikachu faced Tyranitar, the sight of that gleaming greatsword finally made Cynthia gasp in astonishment.
"It's really big and long!"
Cynthia covered her mouth in surprise, staring incredulously at the scene in the video. The Iron Tail was nearly ten times the length of Pikachu's body! How did that cute little yellow rodent manage that? She realized that Lucian must have been referring to this same little guy.
"Ash? Currently in Eterna City!"
She took one last look at the boy in the baseball cap before placing the device aside and leaning back to enjoy her vacation.
"Very well. I might have to go take a look myself." The thought of that ridiculously exaggerated Iron Tail piqued Cynthia's curiosity. She decided that in a few days, she would leave the island for a trip—to witness the strange Pikachu and its trainer, Ash.