After some relentless teasing, both Granny and Pop's finally left the room.
Not before sending two Pokémon as "distractions."
Which, in retrospect, was just a polite way of saying: prevent Saturo from overhearing anything.
The evolved Mudkip immediately body-blocked the hallway while the Honedge floated beside it ominously like an armed security system.
The door shut behind the grandparents.
Silence lasted for exactly three seconds.
Then came a loud crash from outside.
"SWAAAMP!"
"PUT THE CHAIR DOWN—"
Pop's winced. "…Think we should worry?"
Granny sat down calmly. "If the house survives another ten minutes, we'll call it a blessing."
Pop's nodded wisely.Then he leaned back in his chair. "Hey. This reunion was somewhat anticlimactic."
Granny stared at him. "Shut up and get to the point."
"About Clara or Cynthia?"
"Our grandson, you idiot."
Pop's blinked. "What's wrong with him?"
Granny looked genuinely offended.
"Don't tell me you were acting like a fool on purpose."
"Isn't it natural to tease your grandson?" Pop's defended immediately."Especially when he somehow manages to get involved in whatever this situation is."
He gestured vaguely toward the entire house.
Granny sighed heavily. "Why did I even think you noticed the same thing as me…"
"What?"
"Have you counted how many Pokémon he has right now?"
Pop's answered instantly.
"Ace, Rem, Escanor, that Mudkip, the Honedge, and Carnivine."
He paused.
"…Only six."while counting technically 2 if them are James.
The slipper hit him directly in the forehead.
A/n : truly an inherited trait.
"OW."
"That," Granny snapped, "is the literal problem, you old fossil!"
Pop's rubbed his head while glaring at the slipper in betrayal.
"Our grandson hasn't even finished his internship yet," Granny continued. "And at least four of those Pokémon attached themselves to him without traditional captures."
That finally made Pop's quiet.
Granny leaned back slightly.
"You remember Professor Birch's first visit?"
Pop's expression shifted immediately. "…The attack."
Back then, Hoenn had nearly exploded into chaos before anyone even understood what happened.
The original plan from both criminal organizations had apparently been simple: capture Professor Birch, steal the starter Pokémon, and blame the attack on some mysterious outside enemy ( team rocket who was becoming ambitious in the search of mew and wanted to expand) .The problem was that both teams received terrible information.
Team Aqua believed Team Magma was the League's newly formed anti-criminal task force.Team Magma believed Team Aqua was the exact same thing.
Neither side knew the other organization even existed.
So both groups arrived at the same place…
…and immediately started trying to destroy each other.
Pop's snorted despite himself. "They actually wiped each other out."
"Completely," Granny replied dryly.
The battle became such a disaster that Professor Birch escaped almost by accident while both sides were busy fighting imaginary enemies.
Ironically, the aftermath made Hoenn safer for years.
Neither organization wanted to admit they got humiliated by another criminal group they'd never even heard of, so both sides quietly assumed the League had terrifying hidden forces and became far more secretive afterward.
Professor Birch eventually arrived at their place injured and carrying terrified starter Pokémon.
"Treecko recovered quickly," Granny recalled. "But Mudkip and Torchic were in terrible condition. Those two were the real targets."
Saturo had stayed beside them constantly during recovery.
Helping feed them. Talking to them. Sleeping beside them when they panicked.
Torchic eventually returned with Professor Birch despite wanting to stay.
Mudkip absolutely refused.
Tantrums. Flooding. Biting. Screaming.
Nothing worked.
Eventually everyone just accepted that the Pokémon had already chosen.
Pop's scratched his cheek. "…Yeah. I remember that."
"And then came the Honedge."
Pop's groaned immediately. "Oh no."
Professor Birch's fifth visit involved a trafficked Honedge rescued during a raid.
The poor Pokémon had been aggressive, unstable, and deeply distrustful of humans.
Saturo, unfortunately, thought it was a toy sword.
Pop's covered his face.
"He challenged it to a sword fight using a stick," Granny said flatly.
"…Of course he did."
"The Honedge lashed out immediately."
Outside the room something exploded loudly.
"SWAAAMP!"
"WHY IS THERE WATER ON THE CEILING?!"
Neither grandparent reacted.
"And then," Granny continued, "that idiot boy apologized to the Honedge because he thought he scared it."
Pop's shoulders started shaking from restrained laughter.
"He stayed beside it every single day until it recovered," Granny finished quietly. "And afterward it refused to leave him."
Silence settled briefly.
And on top of that hoenedge was a shiny
Professor birch wanted to fight saturo while after that saturo started laughing everytime he saw his face.
(Remember the professor birch I am talking about was like 10 years old and a new researcher at that time . )
Pop's: so you are saying we should downplay his achievements with our own.
Granny : yes thought from the way he is moving he might surpass half of them in a decade. (My my saturo has being underestimated)
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DaoistIXyhOb thx for your power stone