After the outdoor activities ended, Cole went straight to Professor Oak's research lab, while Daniel quietly slipped away from the group, his whereabouts unknown.
When Cole found Professor Oak, the professor was already immersed in his research. Seeing the young man approach, he greeted him warmly, "Oh, Cole, you're here! You mentioned needing to see me about something — what can I help you with?"
"Well, it's like this..."
Cole explained his plan to start a Pokémon boarding service and asked him to be his guarantor.
"I see, no problem at all!" Professor Oak agreed readily. After all, this was his favored candidate for a grandson-in-law — he had to help with such a small favor!
This young man was truly exceptional — not only could he produce large quantities of S-grade berries, but he could also help Pokémon purify and regulate their internal energy. Impressive, truly impressive!
Professor Oak found himself admiring Cole more and more.
"Thank you so much, Professor!" Cole bowed to him excitedly. With this heavyweight figure's approval, it wouldn't matter much if others refused.
Look at that — what a polite young man!
Seeing Cole bow respectfully, Professor Oak's esteem for him grew even stronger.
"Have you asked anyone else to be a guarantor? If not, I can help you find some people." He offered kindly.
"I'm planning to ask..." Cole shared his list of potential candidates.
Professor Oak was stunned, "You know Mabel and Professor Magnolia too?"
"Yes." Cole nodded, not understanding the professor's sudden excitement.
"You don't happen to know their apprentice and granddaughter as well, do you?" Professor Oak probed further.
Renowned figures like Professor Oak, Mabel, and Professor Magnolia all maintained connections with each other and naturally knew about one another's family situations.
"Are you referring to Diantha and Sonia?"
Cole asked, puzzled by the professor's abrupt change of topic. Why had the conversation suddenly shifted to these girls?
"Yes, yes, those are their names. You really know them?"
Professor Oak suddenly grew anxious. Could Mabel and Professor Magnolia be thinking the same thing he was? Indeed, a good catch always attracts attention.
No, no! I need to think fast.
"Cole, I promise to take care of this for you, don't worry. I heard you also arranged to study Pokémon massage with Daisy? You should hurry along now, it's getting late. Go on, go on." With that, he began ushering Cole toward the door.
Closest to the water, first to the moon. No matter what those two old ladies had in mind, as long as Cole and Daisy developed feelings for each other, hehe...
After leaving Professor Oak's place, Cole went to the same room as yesterday. Daisy hadn't arrived yet, so he released all his Pokémon and gave them some premium care.
Halfway through, his phone rang. It was Sabrina, the "doll enthusiast" girl — their first contact since parting ways.
From the call, Cole learned that Marowak had fully recovered and returned to Pokémon Tower with its child, Cubone.
The police had announced throughout Lavender Town the heroic deeds of Gengar and the others in their battle against Team Rocket. In gratitude, the residents unanimously granted them the title of Honorary Residents of Lavender Town.
Since many guards at Pokémon Tower had been injured by Team Rocket and couldn't continue working, the townspeople specifically hired Gengar and the others to protect the tower.
Both the town and Pokémon Tower had returned to peace. Cole felt gratified that his efforts hadn't been in vain.
After discussing this with Sabrina, Cole realized he could include her in his development plan!
Sabrina was not only a talented trainer and rare Psychic, but she was also in Kanto. If Team Rocket took any action, she could provide timely feedback.
Cole told her about his upcoming Pokémon boarding service.
He thought that since they had just met, she might need time to consider his offer even if interested. To his surprise, she immediately agreed and said she would definitely sign up for the service.
This made Cole extremely happy. He hadn't expected to earn such trust from Sabrina so quickly.
Indeed, a handsome man's charm knows no bounds!
Cole and Sabrina then discussed Team Rocket. She had developed a strong aversion to the organization and readily agreed to monitor any news about them. She promised to contact him immediately if anything noteworthy happened.
Shortly after ending his call with Sabrina, Daisy arrived.
"Cole, you're here so early!" Daisy remarked as she entered.
Cole smiled, "I had nothing to do after summer camp classes ended, so I came early."
Daisy nodded, sat across from him, and placed a stack of books in front of him.
Cole had noticed the books in her hands when she entered and asked curiously, "What are these?"
"These books were all recommended by my teacher when I was studying massage techniques. They're rarely available for purchase. I'm lending them to you to read."
Hearing this, Cole was delighted, "That's wonderful! After our discussion yesterday, I realized how limited my knowledge of Pokémon massage is. These books will be incredibly helpful!"
As he spoke, he picked up one of the books and began browsing through it.
The two continued to exchange ideas for a long time before finally parting ways.
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When Daisy returned home, she found her grandfather sneaking up to ask, "How did it go?"
"How did what go?" She asked, completely confused.
"How are you getting along with Cole?" Professor Oak asked with a resigned expression.
"Grandpa! We've only known each other for two days!" Guessing her grandfather's meaning, Daisy's face flushed red with anger.
"Two days isn't enough? When I met your grandmother, it only took one day before she was writing me a love letter!" Professor Oak said proudly.
"Wasn't it you who pursued Grandma first?" Daisy asked incredulously, "Don't think I don't know the truth."
"Nonsense! Have you been listening to your father's rubbish again? What does he know!" Professor Oak retorted, "I'm warning you — a good catch like this attracts plenty of attention. If you don't act now and someone else snatches him up, you'll regret it later."
"I won't regret anything!" Daisy said, pouting.
"Ah~ Why is it so difficult to find an excellent grandson-in-law!" Professor Oak sighed, shaking his head while preparing instant noodles, seeing his granddaughter remained unmoved.
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Meanwhile, Cole left the research lab and, seeing it was still early, began calling the guarantors on his list.
First was Professor Sycamore, who agreed without hesitation after learning that Professor Oak had already given his guarantee.
Augustine and Cole had known each other for several years, maintaining regular contact and a good relationship, so his agreement wasn't surprising.
Next was the old grandma Mabel.
Honestly, she had a somewhat eccentric personality, and Cole initially thought she would refuse. But unexpectedly, after listening to him, she simply said, "I understand. Send me the guarantee letter later."
And then hung up on him... Isn't that as good as agreeing?
In truth, if it weren't for the fact that Cole had sent her a good apprentice, Mabel would absolutely refuse to be anyone's guarantor — she had never done such a thing in her life!
Next was Bryan, who was an old friend of Ramos and Siebold's grandpa. Since Cole was the old man's close junior, Bryan readily agreed.
After that was Lysandre. As Cole's best friend, he had no reason to refuse. This guarantee was easily secured too.
Finally, there was Professor Magnolia. The outcome didn't surprise Cole — she rejected his request. After all, they had only met once and had no real connection between them, so her rejection was understandable.
With so many guarantors already secured, Cole didn't mind Professor Magnolia's rejection.
After finishing his calls, he returned to the dormitory to find Daniel and Keith already asleep, so he instinctively lightened his footsteps.
Lucas had returned earlier than him tonight but wasn't asleep. Hearing Cole return, he deliberately poked his head out to look.
However, after making eye contact with Cole, Lucas quickly pulled his head back in. Under Cole's intimidation, he had finally stopped causing trouble since returning today.
After washing up, Cole didn't rush to bed but instead hunched over his desk to write the guarantee letter. This wasn't an easy task. He had to constantly research while writing, so he didn't go to bed until very late, yawning with exhaustion.
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A week passed in the blink of an eye.
Cole's days were incredibly full. He trained with his Pokémon in the early morning, attended classes during the day, exchanged experiences with Daisy after school and gave Pokémon deep treatments in the evening, then returned to the dormitory at night to work on the guarantee letter.
After seven intensive days, he finally completed the guarantee letter. To avoid mistakes, he sent it to Lysandre for revision several times.
Only after that experienced businessman confirmed there were no issues did Cole convert the guarantee letter into an electronic contract form and send it to each guarantor for signatures.
He made a point of specifying in the guarantee letter that he would provide each guarantor with an annual fee. Although everyone had agreed to be guarantors out of goodwill, he couldn't be so inconsiderate as to let them lend their names for nothing.
After the electronic contracts were signed, Cole sent them to Alfred.
Contracts aren't complete once they're signed — they need to be notarized by relevant institutions, otherwise they have no legal validity in the League.
While sending the contracts to his brother, Cole also instructed him to purchase another mountain, right next to Mt. Ascendant. Having thoroughly familiarized himself with the surroundings of his three mountains, Cole knew exactly which one to specify for Alfred to buy.
After the purchase, Cole asked him to hire a construction team to develop the mountain. This newly purchased mountain wasn't for growing berries; he bought it specifically to house Pokémon that others would entrust to him.
Since clients would be paying high annual fees, Cole needed to provide premium service — both the food and accommodation had to be top-tier.
Cole planned to build a luxury ecological park on the mountain. Lysandre had already built a similar but much larger ecological park — the size of an entire town — which housed numerous rare and stray Pokémon, essentially functioning as a Pokémon conservation area.
While Cole couldn't afford to build something that expansive, a scaled-down version would be feasible.
Considering Lysandre's experience with such facilities, he intended to ask for his advice. To his surprise, Lysandre immediately sent him a complete design plan.
This design couldn't be used exactly as-is on the newly purchased mountain — Cole would need to adapt it to the actual terrain — but it had already saved him considerable time.
By the time the final design was completed, another week had passed.
After entrusting Alfred with overseeing the ecological park's construction, Cole finally had time to enjoy the remainder of the summer camp.
With half a month of camp remaining, he reflected on his progress. During the past two weeks, he and his group had completed five knowledge assessments. He had placed first three times, second once, and third once.
The scoring system awarded 10 points for first place, 8 points for second, and 5 points for third. Cole had accumulated an impressive 43 points from these assessments alone.
This stellar performance had once again brought recognition to both Cole and Coumarine's Fourth Junior High School.
Besides assessments, they had two outdoor activity competitions during the half month.
One was a fishing activity where Cole used delicious berries to make bait, successfully winning the competition and earning another 10 points.
The other was a riding competition. The research institute arranged all the riding Pokémon, releasing numerous options simultaneously for students to choose freely. Success depended on both judgment and luck in selecting an excellent mount.
Cole was fortunate enough to select a very fast Rapidash.
Unfortunately, he only placed eighth in this competition because he hadn't anticipated the hidden talents among his peers — several students possessed professional-level riding skills.
How could he compete with that? Even with an excellent mount, he couldn't outpace their expertise.
Additionally, despite the Rapidash's speed, its running style was too wild and unrestrained for Cole to handle properly. If not for his Special Ability's calming effect, it might have thrown him off midway. He felt grateful just to place eighth and earn 3 points.
In total, over the past half month, Cole had accumulated 66 points, temporarily ranking first!
{T/N: Bug-catching competition: 10; Fishing competition: 10; Riding competition: 3; Knowledge assessments: 43.}
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