"Once this Cerulean City Water-Type Pokémon Beauty Contest is over…"
"I can finally start properly planning the Daycare project after returning home and officially put it on the schedule."
Ash silently made up his mind.
With Gary and the others helping out—
They quickly finished feeding all of the Skill Shop customer Pokémon.
After tidying things up a little, the group headed downstairs to the hotel restaurant for breakfast.
"Quick, look! That seems to be Ash!!"
"Eh?! It really is Ash!"
"Waaah I'm actually staying in the same hotel as Ash! So happy ^_^"
"Don't stop me, I'm going over right now to ask Ash for an autograph and photo!"
"Don't be ridiculous. He's eating breakfast right now, and he still has to compete at the city aquatic arena later. Don't disturb him."
"Exactly! Stalker-fan behavior isn't acceptable these days. This is a restaurant, so don't shout."
"We're high-quality fans, okay? Don't drag down the reputation of Ash's fanbase, or we'll beat you until you cry."
"Hi Ash"
…
As they headed downstairs for breakfast, Ash encountered quite a few fans in the elevator and inside the restaurant.
Whenever someone enthusiastically greeted him—
Ash responded with a warm smile and polite nod.
As his psychic powers continued growing stronger—
Ash's senses had also become greatly enhanced.
Even whispers spoken quietly nearby could be heard clearly by him if he focused slightly.
So naturally—
He heard every bit of the fans' hushed conversations around him.
And because of that—
Ash felt genuinely happy seeing just how respectful and well-mannered his fans were.
—
Fame had many advantages.
It allowed more people to know who you were.
It maximized your sense of existence and personal value.
And perhaps most importantly—
It could be transformed into immense commercial value.
But fame also came with drawbacks.
Your every word and action attracted attention.
Fans constantly surrounded you outside asking for autographs and photos.
Personal privacy and private space became heavily compressed.
—
Fortunately—
Ash was still very young.
Because of his age, people were far more forgiving toward his behavior.
After all—
He was just a child.
"Children speak without restraint."
His age gave him enormous advantage in public perception.
As for privacy—
Ash realized his fans were incredibly civilized.
No one obsessively dug into his personal life.
Though to be fair—
There wasn't much to dig up anyway.
A clean family background.
A single-parent household.
His father absent.
Raised solely by his mother.
—
As for his romantic life—
Serena and Clarissa Joy were already publicly acknowledged as his girlfriends.
Misty's situation wasn't fully known by the public yet—
But after the Cerulean Water-Type Pokémon Beauty Contest ended, people would probably figure it out soon enough.
In short—
Ash's background was spotless.
His conduct was open and upright.
Frank and straightforward.
There was nothing he deliberately tried to hide.
Fans didn't need to investigate—
Nor did they feel the need to.
And Ash himself wasn't afraid of being investigated anyway.
—
As for fans asking for autographs and photos while he was out—
Most remained very rational and restrained.
They never caused him serious trouble.
So at least for now—
None of the typical negative side effects of fame had truly affected Ash yet.
"Compared to the entertainment culture on Earth in my previous life…"
"People in the Pokémon world really are much simpler and more genuine."
"Even celebrity fans here are infinitely more rational and civilized than those insane fandom circles from my previous world…"
Ash silently reflected as he left the restaurant after breakfast, heading toward the city aquatic stadium.
—
"Ash~"
Just as the group exited the hotel entrance after breakfast—
Ash saw Misty and her three sisters driving over in their convertible sports cars.
"Misty? And Miss Daisy, Violet, Lily?"
"Why are you all here?"
"Today's the actual day of the Cerulean Water-Type Pokémon Beauty Contest."
"Shouldn't you all already be at the city aquatic stadium overseeing the event?"
Ash asked in surprise.
"The tournament's already been prepared for an entire week."
"The venue was set up long ago."
"And even without us there, the League Event Committee staff are still handling things."
"So there honestly isn't much for us to worry about right now."
Daisy explained with a smile.
"And there's still nearly an hour before the competition officially begins at 9:00."
"So we had plenty of time."
"That's why we drove over to pick you guys up personally."
Violet added.
"Ash, Gary, Green, and Clarissa—"
"You're all honored guests of the Cerulean Gym."
"If we didn't treat you warmly, wouldn't that disgrace our Gym's hospitality?"
Lily grinned mischievously.
"Exactly~"
Misty nodded happily beside her.
—
"Misty, Miss Daisy, Violet & Lily…"
"You girls are already so busy today."
"We could've just gone there ourselves."
Ash said helplessly.
—
"Oh, relax."
"Your Lily drives very fast. We won't delay anything."
"Now hurry and get in the car."
Lily waved impatiently.
"Alright then."
After chatting briefly—
Ash and the others climbed into the convertible sports cars.
With a loud roar—
The vehicles shot forward instantly, leaving behind the crowd of fans outside the hotel staring wide-eyed in shock.
"Those four girls just now…"
"Aren't they the Cerulean Gym sisters? The organizers of this Water-Type Pokémon Beauty Contest?"
"Yeah! That's definitely them. I've seen photos before."
"Ash seems really close with them."
"But wasn't it said that Ash had never left Pallet Town or Viridian City before?"
"So how does he know them?"
"You idiot. Even if they never met in real life before, there's still the internet."
"Maybe Ash wasn't familiar with them originally, but they definitely knew about him."
"Exactly."
"And Ash is super famous now."
"The fact that he's willing to participate in the Beauty Contest hosted by Cerulean Gym already gives the event massive face."
"Of course the four sisters would personally treat him like a VIP instead of just an ordinary contestant."
—
"That's true."
"I'm from a city near Cerulean."
"When this Water-Type Pokémon Beauty Contest was first announced a week ago, it only attracted attention from Cerulean and nearby towns."
"But after Ash announced he'd participate and helped promote it…"
"The event instantly exploded from a city-level competition into a regional-level phenomenon."
"Yeah, yeah!"
"You guys probably don't know this yet."
"When registration closed yesterday evening at six…"
"Cerulean Gym officially announced that there were a total of 646 contestants registered!"
"Tsk tsk…"
"Honestly, most people aren't even here for the contest."
"They came to see Ash."
"That's just how insane Ash's popularity is right now."