"A glass marble?!"
Hearing Gary's description, Red's mouth twitched.
He immediately reached out, intending to take the Blastoisite back.
Gary reacted instantly, snatching the stone away.
"Ahem, Master."
"Once a gift is given, how can you take it back?"
"Besides, anything you give me must be something valuable!"
Carefully examining the Mega Stone, Gary finally tucked it safely into his pocket.
Red shook his head.
"Just keep it for now."
"When we get back to the Gym, I'll explain what it actually does."
The reason Red dared to hand the Blastoisite to Gary wasn't just trust.
He also had a little scheme in mind.
For example, partnering with Professor Oak to collect all those unverified Mega Stones currently floating around the market.
That was a business with virtually limitless profit.
Besides, the fact that Professor Oak had freely shared information about the League's hidden resources already told Red something.
The Professor wasn't exactly a die-hard League loyalist.
After all—
The League's property belonged to the League.
Only things in your own pocket truly belonged to you.
Originally, Red had wanted to cooperate with his cheap father and use the Songzao Gym's connections to handle this project.
The result?
"Connections?"
"What connections?"
"If you hadn't insisted so strongly, Songzao Gym would've closed years ago. What connections are you talking about?"
The moment Red heard that answer, he hung up.
"Hello? Hello?!"
"You brat! You actually hung up on me?!"
At this moment, Red's father had already slipped away from Sinnoh once again.
After all, killing a retired Elite Four member—even if the other party had been at fault first—still caused endless headaches.
Officially, the League hadn't punished Red Pingfeng.
Unofficially?
They never stopped making trouble for him.
So he simply left the Sinnoh League altogether.
No point causing problems for his future in-laws.
Holding a glass bead that looked remarkably similar to a Tyranitar Mega Stone, Red Pingfeng muttered:
"Forget it."
"I'll ask the kid about this thing next time."
"It looks way too similar to Tyranitar's Mega Stone."
Counting the days, he continued:
"Another ten days or half a month and that letter should reach Kanto."
"I just hope the brat appreciates the fact that I've already arranged a fiancée for him."
With that, Red Pingfeng climbed onto Dragonite.
The pair shot into the sky at nearly Mach 2, heading toward another region.
Dragonite seemed unusually excited.
The familiar feeling of adventure reminded it of its glorious younger days.
That evening, Ash stared intensely at Gary and Shinji.
His gaze looked like he wanted to devour them whole.
"Enough staring."
"I have a match tomorrow."
"I don't have time to battle you."
Gary waved him off.
Shinji wasn't much different.
"I don't make a habit of challenging trainers who lost in the quarterfinals."
Ash nearly shattered his teeth from clenching them so hard.
Unable to argue back, he focused all his frustration on the giant lobster in front of him and attacked it with savage determination.
The Pokémon world still had ordinary animals for food.
Meanwhile, Red was studying the reward Ash's personal quest had just provided.
"Precise coordinates of the Mysterious Venusaur Forest..."
Upon learning its location, Red's first thought wasn't catching a Bulbasaur for himself.
These days, he valued fate more than aptitude when selecting core team members.
No.
His real idea was far more ambitious.
He wanted to pack up the entire Bulbasaur Forest and move it into Songzao Forest.
After all, Songzao Forest had decent biodiversity.
But it lacked a signature species.
If the entire Bulbasaur habitat could be relocated there...
Everything would change.
Combined with the future Dragon Valley he'd acquire from Clair—
Red could already envision the tremendous foundation of the future Songzao Gym.
Unlike his unreliable father, he had no intention of shutting the Gym down.
He still wanted to leave something behind for future generations.
Even if his children didn't inherit it, perhaps one of his disciples would.
Shaking his head, Red sighed.
"It's all Sabrina's fault."
"She's so distracting that I'm already thinking about things decades into the future..."
"For now, I'd better focus on securing the position of one of the Eight Gym Leaders."
After everyone finished dinner and returned toward the competitors' hotel, they encountered two familiar figures near the entrance.
One was a man in a white lab coat.
The other was an elegant-looking woman.
"Grandpa!"
"When did you get here?!"
"Are your research projects finished?"
Gary immediately lit up when he saw Professor Oak.
"Research can wait."
"But my grandson is about to reach the finals."
"How could I not come?"
Professor Oak looked at Gary with obvious pride.
League heirs weren't uncommon.
But someone like Gary—
Who had steadily trained, raised, and battled his own Pokémon all the way into the Top Four—
Was extraordinarily rare.
At that moment, the woman stepped toward Red and bowed deeply.
"You must be Gym Leader Red."
"Ash is such a troublesome child, and honestly not very bright."
"You must have worked incredibly hard teaching him."
"I've heard so much about you from him, but never had the chance to visit and thank you personally."
Red immediately realized who she was.
"Oh!"
"You must be Aunt Delia!"
"Please don't be so formal."
"To be honest, I'm very satisfied with Ash as a disciple."
"He may be a little slow sometimes, but he's genuinely a great kid."
Just then, a thoroughly stuffed Ash finally wandered over.
The moment he saw his mother, he froze.
"Mom?!"
"What are you doing here?!"
Delia immediately dragged him over and spent another several minutes thanking Red.
She even presented him with a basket of homemade cookies.
After the introductions finished, Red looked at the warm mother-and-son scene before him.
Finally, he could no longer suppress a question that had haunted his childhood.
"Aunt Delia."
"How come we've never met Ash's father?"
"What does he do?"
"Don't worry, I'm only asking out of curiosity."
Yes.
Who exactly was Ash's father?
It was one of Pokémon's greatest mysteries.
Some claimed Professor Oak was secretly his father.
Otherwise, why would Oak care so much about Ash?
Delia also spent an awful lot of time around Oak's lab.
Others claimed Ash was an artificial human.
Or the offspring of a human and a Pokémon.
The theories were endless.
And today—
For the first time—
Red finally had the chance to ask.
◇ You can read 60+ chapter ahead on P@treon if you're interested:
patreon.com/ElaraVance1
✨ Bonus Chapter Goals ✨
10 Reviews = 1 Bonus Chapter
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter