"Go on!" Naoki handed a cup of hot fruit juice with cold-resistant properties to Lono: "Drink it on the way, so you won't feel cold."
"Mhm!" Lono responded happily, then ran forward with a flushed face and gently hugged Naoki.
Naoki's body stiffened, his face turned red, and then he willingly hugged back.
"Hehe!" Feeling Naoki's body stiffen, Lono chuckled, then let go and quickly ran to Dragonite, waving his hand: "I'm leaving!"
"Mhm." Naoki nodded.
With that, Dragonite flapped its wings and carried Lono away from the ranch.
Watching their figures go into the distance, Naoki then took Greavard and returned home.
As soon as he entered the house, he saw his sister Indeedee covering her mouth, secretly laughing, looking very happy:
"Ai~ei~"
Naoki: "..."
He didn't even need to ask to know what his sister Indeedee was thinking.
Naoki deliberately put on a serious expression to mask his inner embarrassment.
But right at that moment, a phone call suddenly came in.
Naoki clicked to find out it was Professor Oak calling.
He pressed agree, and the next second, Ash's face appeared on the screen.
"Long time no see, Mr. Naoki!" Ash's excited voice came from the other end: "I didn't know your number, so I asked Professor Oak to help contact you!"
As he spoke, the camera shifted, and Professor Oak standing nearby also appeared on the screen.
Professor Oak, wearing a white coat, waved at Naoki and greeted him with a smile: "Good afternoon, Naoki!"
"Good afternoon, Professor Oak." Naoki also responded with a smile: "What's the matter with Ash finding me?"
"Here's the thing!" The camera returned to Ash: "I came to report to you about Slaking's current situation."
"Hmm? Has Vigoroth already evolved into Slaking?" Naoki was quite surprised.
"That's right!" Ash nodded: "And thanks to Slaking, I got second place at the Conference! I was just a little bit away from winning the championship, it's such a pity..."
Second place?
Could it be that Ash's experience has been altered?
Naoki's mind flickered.
At this moment, Ash had already turned the camera towards Slaking.
Naoki suddenly saw a differently colored Slaking lazily lying on the floor of the Professor Oak's Research Institute.
Slaking was yawning, seemingly sensing something, it opened its eyelid and looked towards the Rotom Phone.
"Long time no see, Slaking!" Naoki greeted Slaking through the screen.
Slaking continued to lazily gaze over, yawning as if using this manner to respond.
Naoki: "..."
Good, that's very Slaking.
Seeing this, Ash was a bit embarrassed:
"The Slaking that really gets into it isn't like this!"
Naoki: "...I know."
After all, Slaking's impressive 160 attack species strength and 100 speed species strength are no joke.
It's truly a double A in power and speed Pokemon.
Unfortunately, burdened by the [Truant] ability, if it had [Huge Power] instead, Slaking's status and win rate in trainer battles would likely soar straight to the top.
Naoki nodded, very satisfied with Ash's training of Slaking:
"Seeing Slaking live well with you, I'm relieved. If I remember correctly, Ash, you are thirteen this year, right?"
Ash nodded repeatedly: "That's right! I've been traveling for three years now!"
Naoki praised: "Getting second place at the League Competition at thirteen, that's quite an achievement!"
In contrast, Ash seemed a bit embarrassed.
He scratched his head: "Nah! It's all thanks to Pikachu and the others!"
Naoki smiled slightly: "So now that your journey in the Hoenn Region is over, where are you planning to travel next year? Are you coming to Paldea?"
"No, Mr. Naoki is a powerful champion, My strength isn't enough to challenge you yet, but I will keep traveling, and when I become a Pokemon Master, I'll head to Paldea and challenge you for real!"
Ash's eyes were full of determination.
"So next, Pikachu and I are planning to travel to Sinnoh Region, heard they're hosting the Lily of the Valley Conference there!"
"Lily of the Valley Conference, huh?" Naoki's mind was full of thoughts.
So, Ash's rivals in Sinnoh Region, Paul, and the Legend Beast guy Tobias, will be appearing too.
"Then you better go for it!"
"Yes, I will!"
After the call ended, out of curiosity about this year's Conference, Naoki immediately used the Rotom Phone to see if he could find the Conference's video streaming online.
Guess what, he actually found it.
Naoki clicked Pichu Tv, then projected it on the TV, and started watching match after match.
If he remembered correctly, Ash's original ranking was quarterfinals.
At first, Ash's matches were all smooth sailing, although there were some minor crises in the middle, overall it went quite smoothly.
And soon, the matches reached the round where the top 8 compete for the top 4.
Ash's opponent in this round was the popular Trainer Tetsuya.
Naoki remembered Tetsuya, who originally was the champion of this year's Conference and was the one Ash lost to.
But this time, Ash won?!
Naoki curiously continued watching the match.
Ash's team lineup included: Glalie, Corphish, Swellow, Slaking, Grovyle, and Pikachu.