"Whoa!! Ash, your psychic power can actually help Pokémon learn new moves? That's incredible! I wish I had something like that!" Tierno exclaimed with genuine envy lighting up his face.
But it was just envy—his eyes remained clear, free from any trace of jealousy.
"So Ash, why did you borrow Serena's Clefairy?" Gary continued to press, his curiosity unrelenting.
"Well… I only tested it with Froakie during training this afternoon, so I wanted to see if I could help another Pokémon learn a move too." Ash nodded earnestly.
"Then why not borrow mine? Why Serena's—oh!! I get it now." Gary suddenly smirked wickedly at Ash, making him shiver instinctively.
"Shut up, you! I just borrowed a Pokémon, no big deal."
"Oh really? I don't buy it." Gary shook his head dramatically, instantly morphing into one of those overly dramatic TV show hosts.
"Gary, what are you even saying? Why are you confusing me and Trevor more and more?" Tierno blinked, completely lost.
"Can't you see it, you two? Ash likes Serena. Like, really likes her."
"Whaaaat!!" Upon hearing Gary's bold claim, Trevor and Tierno—normally calm—suddenly erupted with gossip-fueled energy. They swarmed around Gary like reporters.
"Ash likes Serena? You mean that kind of like?"
"But we're only six years old! Isn't it too early for love?"
"No wonder when we first arrived in Pallet Town, Ash kept sneaking glances at her."
"That explains why he was so attentive when coaching Serena during her battle today… so that's the reason…"
Watching Gary successfully corrupt Trevor and Tierno into gossip buddies, a throbbing vein popped up on Ash's forehead, forming a clear symbol of annoyance.
"You three are too much. I'm done talking to you."
Ignoring the trio, Ash turned and released Clefairy from its Poké Ball. Then he pulled up the system menu, navigating to the skill he had copied earlier that afternoon from a Jigglypuff—[Disarming Voice]—and clicked "Use."
As he activated the move, two chibi avatars appeared in his field of vision: one of Froakie and the other of Clefairy.
Froakie's icon was grayed out—he couldn't learn the Fairy-type move due to incompatibility—but Clefairy's icon glowed in full color, signifying it was eligible.
Seeing this confirmed his theory, Ash smiled and confirmed the action. Clefairy successfully learned [Disarming Voice].
Even though Clefairy technically didn't belong to him, Serena would be relying heavily on it in the coming days.
Ash recalled that near the end of the summer camp, Professor Oak usually organized a team battle requiring cooperation between students. Helping Clefairy learn a new move was a great way to boost Serena's chances.
Clefairy's current moveset included [Pound], [Sing], [Minimize], and [Copycat]—covering melee, status, and support moves. All it lacked was a good special ranged move.
[Disarming Voice] was exactly that—a Fairy-type ranged special attack, completing its move pool nicely.
As for Froakie, Ash didn't plan to teach it any new moves for now. While having more moves offered strategic flexibility, that didn't mean more was always better.
After encouraging Clefairy and praising it for learning the new move, Ash returned it to its Poké Ball.
Then he walked over to the landline phone installed at the head of his cabin bed and dialed a number—home.
All the kids in the camp were only six years old. Having left home for the first time to attend a camp in a strange place, the initial excitement was slowly giving way to homesickness.
Some of them, like Serena, even came from as far as the Kalos region.
The organizers had anticipated this emotional need, which was why each cabin had a landline installed. At that moment, Ash wasn't the only one calling home—landlines in other cabins were ringing with the warm voices of families.
"Hello? Ash, is that you?" The phone had barely rung once before his mom, Delia Ketchum, answered. It was as if she had been waiting by the phone the entire day.
"Eh?! Mom, how'd you know it was me?" Ash was stunned hearing her voice.
"Silly boy, we don't have any relatives. Who else but you would call this house?"
She chuckled softly. "And since you've gone off to camp for two weeks, I already called the Moomoo Milk company this afternoon to pause deliveries."
"So if someone's calling at this hour… it could only be you."
Her voice was calm, but Ash didn't need aura powers to sense the deep affection behind her words.
He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He just felt a sting in his eyes and a lump in his throat.
He had grown up with his mother by his side—they had always depended on each other. This was his first time away from her.
Ash had been having the time of his life at camp: a new place, new friends, his very own Pokémon, winning battles, growing closer to Serena…
He had been excited all day, but what he hadn't considered… was how lonely it must be at home for his mother.
Delia had always had him with her. Now, for the first time, he was gone—not forever, just for two weeks—but it must have left a quiet emptiness behind.
Ash hadn't realized that. In fact, he had originally called just to test something.
He had discovered that as long as a Poké Ball was in his possession, the system considered that Pokémon his—and that allowed him to help them learn moves.
That's why Ash had rushed to call his mom—not to chat or check in, but to ask her to help him register an online store on the League's marketplace.
He even planned to look for studios that could design his store's homepage.
The moment he returned home from camp, Ash wanted to launch his business—helping Pokémon learn new moves and earning money.
His mind had been full of ideas—ambitions, strategies, excitement…
But not once had he thought about his mom, sitting at home all alone.
Now that the realization hit him, Ash's hand trembled slightly as he gripped the receiver. His vision blurred.
He didn't mention the online store.
Instead, after a pause, his voice came out soft and sincere—
"Mom… have you had dinner yet?"
--------------
T/N:
Access Advance Chapters on my
P@treon: [email protected]/PokePals