In a moment—
"Morning~"
Ash, who had been woken up, came downstairs with a reluctant expression.
"Morning, Ash. Did you sleep well last night?" Delia asked with concern.
"Mom, you're too much! You had Mr. Mime wake me up like that!" Ash complained as he walked to the dining table to eat.
"What did Mr. Mime do?" Delia asked, puzzled.
"That guy used a vacuum cleaner on my face!" Ash grumbled, rubbing his cheeks.
"Barri~"
At that, Mr. Mime shyly hid beside Delia.
"It must have wanted to make you cleaner. When Mr. Mime went to wake Red this morning, it knocked gently on the door. Right, Mr. Mime?" Delia said.
However, when Mr. Mime gathered the courage to go into Red's room, it found that Red had already finished washing up and left. After a quick breakfast, he had gone out to train.
"That guy was clearly just scared of brother's Pokémon…" Ash muttered.
At first, Mr. Mime had planned to treat Red the same way as Ash, but it nearly got chased down by Red's Pokémon, leaving a psychological shadow behind.
"Isn't that good? It saves you the trouble of washing your face," Misty teased with a smile.
"Mr. Mime, go clean Misty's face too!" Ash said angrily.
Mr. Mime froze for a moment, then directly ignored Ash and continued cuddling beside Delia.
"Mr. Mime only listens to Mom. Alright, Mr. Mime, go to the backyard and pick some herbs for me."
As soon as Delia finished speaking, Mr. Mime immediately got to work diligently, forming a stark contrast to how it ignored Ash just now.
"Tch, what a bootlicker…" Ash muttered with a hint of jealousy. He was actually being outcompeted for affection by a Pokémon.
"Alright, it's done. Hurry and eat. Aren't we going to see the Professor today?"
Brock, who was helping cook soup, said from the side.
Since he was staying at the brothers' house, Brock had taken the initiative to handle the cooking, letting Delia experience what Ash's meals were like during his travels.
As for whether there were enough rooms, that was naturally not a problem.
After all, the brothers' house was a two-story villa.
...
Meanwhile, on Red's side—
"Omastar, use Rollout!"
"Kabutops, use Razor Shell!"
Red issued commands to both Pokémon at the same time.
While Ash and the others were enjoying their meal, Red was training Kabutops and Omastar by a lake far from Pallet Town.
Since it was their first time being taken out to train by Red, both Kabutops and Omastar showed excited expressions, immediately demonstrating their strength in front of him.
Although they had stayed at Professor Oak's Laboratory, under the urging of the other Pokémon, they still trained diligently every day.
After adapting to modern life, their strength had been steadily increasing.
Upon hearing Red's command, Omastar immediately retracted its tentacles, curling its entire body into a ball before rolling toward Kabutops with Rollout.
Seeing this, Kabutops showed no panic. It calmly shifted its stance into a blade-drawing posture, then gathered the power of water onto its scythes, forming a blue energy.
"Clang—"
Kabutops' scythe struck Omastar head-on, but with Omastar continuously rolling, the spikes on its shell steadily weakened the power of Razor Shell.
Sensing its strength waning, Kabutops crossed its arms and unleashed consecutive Razor Shell attacks, finally knocking Omastar back.
"Both of you did well!" Red praised.
Hearing Red's praise, Kabutops and Omastar both showed joyful smiles. After all, this was their time training alone with Red.
(Except for that annoying guy in front of me!) x2
Seemingly noticing each other's resentful gaze, both Pokémon showed surprised expressions.
Then, the two Pokémon launched into another battle, trying to compare their strengths.
"Bang—"
Seeing this, Red silently took out his Pokédex and recorded the scene. This was also a way for him to preserve memories.
...
After some time—
Having eaten their fill, Ash and the others set out from the house and finally arrived at Professor Oak's Laboratory on foot, preparing to find Professor Oak.
"Ding-dong—"
After ringing the doorbell, Ash and the others entered the laboratory.
"Professor Oak, it's me, Ash!"
Ash pushed the door open and saw Professor Oak coming to greet them.
"You're finally here!"
Professor Oak smiled, but without even looking at Ash, he turned enthusiastically toward the Togepi in Misty's arms.
"I've missed you so much, Togepi!"
"Thud—"
Ash collapsed speechlessly to the ground, while Pikachu was stunned for a moment.
"Hahaha, regardless, it's good to see that you're healthy. That's what matters most."
Seeing Ash's antics, Professor Oak couldn't help but joke.
He then led Ash and the others to the living room.
However, in the living room were not only Gary, but also Red—who had just finished training—and Leaf, whom they hadn't seen for a long time.
Although she hadn't obtained the Earth Badge from Viridian Gym, Leaf had previously earned the Black Badge from the Kaya Gym in Dark City, making up for the missing badge and successfully qualifying for this Indigo Plateau Conference.
Leaf had originally considered participating in the Pokémon League Admissions Exam, but in order to hone her strength, she decisively chose to leave, missing the chance to meet Red and Ash's group.
"Huh? Brother, didn't you go training? How did you finish so quickly?!" Ash asked in surprise, as he had expected Red to arrive the latest.
"Red used Teleport to come straight to Professor Oak's Laboratory just now," Leaf explained.
Earlier, Leaf had been startled when Red suddenly appeared via Teleport right in front of her.
Perhaps because they hadn't seen each other for a long time, Leaf deliberately sat closer to Red, occasionally glancing at his face.
Because she had been traveling alone, continuously challenging League gyms, Leaf had grown a lot. The confusion in her eyes was gone, replaced by determination, and she even carried a faint aura of maturity.
Her changes made Red look at her with newfound respect. However, he ended up meeting her sneaky gaze directly, making things awkward for a moment.
Leaf immediately flushed red and lowered her head, not daring to meet Red's eyes.
Gary, on the other hand, calmly drank his tea as if he was used to this scene. When he saw Ash arrive, his eyes lit up—finally, some entertainment had come to him.
"Oh~ the someone who's always staring at my back has finally arrived~" Gary teased, slowly setting down his teacup.