"Let's do this. Since Cole got first place, he'll be specially permitted to take two Pokémon with him. After all, he is the champion." Professor Oak said thoughtfully as he stepped forward.
The rules were his to make anyway, so wasn't whatever he said final?
Upon hearing his words, everyone cast envious glances at Cole. Being first place certainly had its perks.
Tinkatuff stopped crying then, dragging its hammer as it ran to Cole's side with a delighted expression, though tears still lingered in its eyes.
"Alright, today's activity is over. Everyone get ready quickly, we need to head back before it gets dark." Professor Oak said.
Since Tinkatuff refused to enter a Poké Ball, it had no choice but to follow closely behind Cole all the way to the bus, where they squeezed into a seat together.
On the bus, through conversation with it, Cole finally understood why Tinkatuff had such peculiar ideas.
It turned out that Tinkatuff had been smuggled to Kanto by poachers.
In Paldea, it had been raised by an elderly couple.
The couple had once had a daughter who died young, so they treated Tinkatuff as their own child, raising it according to the standards they would have used for their daughter, including various forms of education.
Because it had received education based on human concepts, some of its ideas were unusual. It even believed that Pokémon and humans were the same species and could therefore marry each other.
Later, after the elderly couple passed away one after another, Tinkatuff had to live alone. Although some people offered to adopt it, it refused them all.
Eventually, it was captured by poachers and brought all the way to Kanto, where it was rescued from the poachers by the Kanto League.
Since there were no familiar people or Pokémon left in Paldea, Tinkatuff was sent to live in this hunting area near Crimson City.
Tinkatuff's only experience with a Poké Ball was when poachers captured it, which explained its hatred for them. It had long since smashed that particular Poké Ball with its hammer.
By the time Cole and the others returned to Pallet, darkness had fallen. They headed to the cafeteria for dinner before going their separate ways.
As usual, Cole went to Professor Oak's lab to give the Pokémon their wellness treatments while waiting for Daisy to arrive and exchange experiences with him.
His first task was to introduce the newly joined Dragonair and Tinkatuff to everyone.
Dragonair was quite shy. Having been isolated from other Pokémon for so long, it felt awkward in the group setting.
Fortunately, everyone welcomed it warmly. After some initial hesitation, Dragonair was touched by their friendliness and gradually relaxed.
Unlike Dragonair, Tinkatuff had a more domineering personality and adjusted easily. However, during its introduction, it managed to anger another Pokémon with a single sentence.
Tinkatuff proudly announced to everyone, "I will become Cole's bride in the future!"
After this declaration, it shot a challenging look at Dragonair, whom it considered its biggest rival.
The naive Tinkatuff had no idea that the scene it was about to witness would be far more devastating than anticipated.
Dragonair didn't react to Tinkatuff's provocation simply because it didn't understand what Tinkatuff was trying to express.
But Brionne exploded in an instant.
"What did you say? Become Cole's bride?" Brionne nearly shouted, its voice echoing through the room.
I haven't even said I want to be his bride, who are you to claim that?
Brionne glared at Tinkatuff with narrowed eyes.
"What? You want to fight?" Tinkatuff raised its hammer threateningly.
Brionne gave a cold laugh and casually spat out a bubble, instantly trapping Tinkatuff inside.
Fight me? Are you even qualified?
"Tink!!!"
Tinkatuff raised its hammer and struck the bubble. The surface dented slightly before bouncing the hammer back. Not only did the bubble remain intact, but the hammer rebounded and hit Tinkatuff's head, raising a large bump on its forehead.
Brionne laughed triumphantly, "Someone like you still dreams of being Cole's bride? Wait until you can beat me before saying such things!"
Seeing the situation escalating, Cole quickly intervened, "Alright, enough. Brionne, put Tinkatuff down. You're all teammates now."
Only then did Brionne reluctantly release Tinkatuff.
Tinkatuff hadn't expected such a huge gap between itself and its new arch-enemy. Brionne had effortlessly trapped it with just a bubble, leaving it completely helpless. It could only sit on the ground hugging its hammer, feeling utterly dejected.
Damn it, sooner or later I'll smash your head to pieces with my hammer!
Then, to its horror, it watched as Cole went around massaging all the Pokémon.
This... this... this...
It nearly burst into tears. It had thought Dragonair was its only rival, but it turned out that all the Pokémon were?
Cole, you player! You already have so many Pokémon, yet you still had to seduce me. If I had known there were so many rivals, I wouldn't have come back with you!
Sob… Sob… Sob…
Cole was completely bewildered by Tinkatuff's accusing gaze. What did I do to provoke you?
Well, a girl's heart is impossible to guess.
Daisy arrived shortly after. Cole studied with her for a while before they each went their separate ways.
On his way back to the dormitory, he found a secluded spot and entered the Reverse World, where he was delighted to discover that the Sitrus Berry seed he had planted had already sprouted.
That tiny, tender yellow sprout was truly adorable.
Cole used his Special Ability energy to help nurture the newly sprouted Sitrus Berry seedling before returning to the dormitory in a good mood.
However, something unexpected awaited him — Daniel, who usually went to bed early, was still awake.
Cole asked with a smile, "Did the sun rise from the west today? Why are you still up so late?"
"Ah~" Daniel sighed deeply, "Don't even mention it. Just thinking about it gives me a headache."
It turned out that Cole wasn't the only one dealing with Pokémon conflicts. Today, Daniel's Jynx had fought with his Tsareena and Furfrou.
Tsareena and Furfrou embodied the quintessential tsundere queen personality, treating him with coldness, arrogance, and bossiness.
But Jynx was completely the opposite. She genuinely liked Daniel, and upon seeing how poorly the other two treated him, she immediately became angry and severely reprimanded them.
How could Tsareena and Furfrou tolerate such an affront? The three Pokémon immediately began fighting.
Despite being the newest member of the team, Jynx was the strongest, having been trained by multiple trainers before. Even though she was outnumbered two-to-one, she defeated both Tsareena and Furfrou so thoroughly they couldn't hold their heads up.
To be fair, Tsareena was beaten unjustly.
Her attitude toward Daniel was indeed sometimes harsh, but it was all an act! She behaved that way because he liked that kind of demeanor. In reality, she was a very gentle Pokémon, as evident from her interactions with Cole and Valerie.
Of course, Furfrou genuinely had that queenly personality — she wasn't pretending.
After the fight, the three Pokémon stopped speaking to each other, which greatly troubled Daniel as their trainer.
Cole listened to the story and laughed, comforting him, "You're going to be a breeder someday! Managing relationships between Pokémon is a required course for you!"
Hearing this, Daniel could only sigh deeply. It wasn't that easy...
✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲
The next morning, Cole slept in a bit since they had no classes that day and were free to move about as they pleased.
During summer camp, classes weren't held every day, of course. Cole and the others typically got one free day every six or seven days to do whatever they wanted, and today happened to be that day.
After waking up, Cole got up to wash and bumped into Lucas coming out of the bathroom.
Lucas was about to step aside with a grimace when he suddenly seemed to remember something and turned back to Cole.
"Why was that Tinkatuff willing to follow you voluntarily?"
When I tried to chat it up, it chased me around trying to hit me. Talk about preferential treatment!
Lucas felt extremely unbalanced inside.
Cole replied with a half-smile, "Why don't you guess?"
"If you won't tell me, fine. No need to be smug about it." Lucas snorted coldly before turning and walking away.
After finishing his morning routine, Cole took his Pokémon out for special training.
He positioned Brionne by the lakeside in the Reverse World to practice controlling water flow with its singing — an essential skill for manipulating bubbles with its voice.
Bayleef and Heliolisk joined Cole for a morning run — Bayleef to build endurance, Heliolisk to improve speed — both wearing weights.
Oh, and Tinkatuff was also running with weights — not just its hammer, but also Chansey. Cole had instructed Tinkatuff to balance the pink egg Pokémon on its head while running, without letting it fall.
Chansey trembled the entire time, terrified that the small pink fairy might accidentally fling it off. After all, Tinkatuff's tiny frame hardly inspired confidence.
But Tinkatuff wasn't one to back down from a challenge. After being intimidated by Brionne's tremendous power last night, it eagerly accepted Cole's training task this morning, determined to complete it without complaint.
When I finish this training, I'll definitely smash Brionne's head! Tinkatuff silently vowed.
Meanwhile, Dragonair and Pidove were battling as they flew through the air.
Dragonair was surprisingly terrible at fighting. Despite being the evolved form of a pseudo-legendary Pokémon, it couldn't even defeat Pidove, which was still in its basic form. Cole was genuinely speechless and resolved to train it to live up to its impressive heritage!
Fortunately, Dragonair had an excellent temperament. It never complained about hardship or fatigue, no matter what special training Cole assigned, always completing tasks meticulously.
When Cole and his Pokémon reached the foot of a small hill, he spotted a beautiful young woman searching for something, her expression drawn with exhaustion.
'That looks like Ash's mom! Did something happen?'
He approached her with concern.
"Excuse me, miss, is everything alright? You look worried."
Ash's mother, Delia Ketchum, looked up at Cole with a trembling voice, "My son Ash didn't come home last night. Gary said he went into the forest, and I've been searching all night without finding him."
Ash didn't come home all night? That troublemaker...
Cole quickly reassured her, "Don't worry, miss. I'm sure Ash is fine. Let me help you look for him. He's probably just fallen asleep somewhere — he can be careless like that."
"Thank you." Delia replied gratefully. She was so distraught that she didn't think to ask who Cole was, nor did she notice his familiar tone when speaking about her son.
Together, they began searching the forest.
As it turned out, Cole's guess was right. Ash was sound asleep in a tree hollow deep in the forest, surrounded by a circle of equally peaceful sleeping Pokémon.
Gentle morning sunlight filtered through the leaves onto them, creating a warm, cozy atmosphere — perfect for sleeping in.
The previous evening, Ash had gotten lost in the forest while chasing a Foongus. Frightened, he had wandered aimlessly through the woods.
Later, he encountered a Bellsprout trapped in a deep pit. Despite the difficulty, he managed to lift the Pokémon to safety.
Grateful for the rescue, Bellsprout had taken Ash home, offering him shelter in its tree hollow. The Pokémon and its companions even gathered berries to feed him, allowing Ash to spend a peaceful night in their home.
Still exhausted from his frightening ordeal, Ash hadn't been able to wake up early this morning.
"Pidove, Dragonair, search from the air." Cole commanded, "If you see a small boy, come notify me immediately!"
"Coo Coo~"
"Woo~"
The two Pokémon nodded and split up to search.
While Cole and Delia were anxiously searching for Ash in the forest, a Pikachu was being chased by a flock of Spearow.
This Pikachu was the evolved form of the Pichu that Cole had previously encountered living with a Kangaskhan mother and child.
Half a month had passed since they parted ways. As both Pichu and the baby Kangaskhan grew larger, the Kangaskhan mother struggled to nurture two Pokémon simultaneously, her burden much heavier than other Kangaskhan mothers.
Pichu had noticed this all along.
One night, to avoid being a burden, it quietly left the Kangaskhan's side. Having formed deep emotional bonds with both mother and baby, Pichu gazed at their sleeping faces with tears of reluctance as it departed.
It was in this moment, bathed in moonlight, that Pichu evolved into Pikachu.
Life alone in the forest proved difficult for Pikachu. Not only did it frequently go hungry, unable to find enough food, but it was also sometimes bullied by other Pokémon.
After several days without eating, Pikachu became dizzy and disoriented. It mistook a foraging Spearow — its rear sticking up through the grass — for a berry, pounced on it, and bit down hard.
This action stirred up a hornet's nest. The Spearow called for its friends, and together they caught Pikachu and pecked it fiercely. The intense pain finally brought Pikachu back to its senses.
Pikachu fled, but Spearow are vindictive Pokémon and weren't about to let it escape. They pursued it relentlessly through the forest.
After running for what seemed like forever, the hungry and exhausted Pikachu finally reached the end of its strength.
✲✲✲
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