Ashen Vale rubbed his chin, thought for a moment, and said,
"Mm. He recently caught a new Sneasel, didn't he?"
"That's right."
Auron smiled. This time, no matter what, he was going to give him a scare—teach him a lesson for not following the rules last time.
"Okay, I'll call him."
Dad had no idea what Auron was plotting. He calmly took out his phone and dialed Su Qianyan.
"Hello, Qianyan? Are you in the capital right now? If you are, bring Sneasel over to the institute. We've got a lead on how Sneasel evolves."
"Got it!"
A cheerful voice came through the receiver. Dad answered once more, then hung up.
"He should be here in a bit. Let's get things ready first."
"On it."
Auron, excited, quickened his pace—first-step objective, achieved.
At that moment, at Su Qianyan's home in the capital—
"I'm heading to the institute. Dr. Lu says there's a lead on Sneasel's evolution. You two stay home?"
"No, we're coming too. Wait for us."
A blond-haired man who was wrestling an on-screen character with fierce inputs said it without looking up.
"Eh? Is Auron back? Is he going?"
Sitting right beside the blond man was Dax Jonas. He, too, was hammering his gamepad like a madman.
"Auron…"
A beautiful woman nearby—whose eyes had been glued to Dax—finally shifted her gaze. She couldn't help but feel curious.
This Auron that Qiancheng never stops talking about—what kind of person is he, exactly?
Su Qianyan sighed helplessly. "Fine, but can you two hurry up? I'm afraid Dr. Lu is going to get impatient."
"C'mon, that's a non-issue. Brother Lu's patience is solid. Besides, even if you don't go, he won't be waiting on you, right? The man's busy."
Dax spoke without turning his head, inching closer to the blond-haired man as he did so. He wasn't just pummeling his opponent's character in-game—he was shoving his opponent in real life, too. You could say he'd do anything to win.
He didn't notice that this little move made the beautiful woman's eyes brighten. She quietly made a mental note of it.
Meanwhile, back at Auron's house, Mom was tidying his room.
The moment she stepped in, she paused. She couldn't understand why there was a gem sitting in a culture unit.
But she didn't touch it. It was Auron's room; he must have his reasons for doing things this way. So she let it be.
Humming a tune, Mom worked her way through the whole room, then picked up a rag and wiped down the bookcase and desk as well.
When she finished with the desk, she arranged the three Plates one by one so that they faced straight forward.
Then she set the culture unit containing the Elekid Egg on the Earth Plate, and the culture unit containing Deoxys's energy core on the Sky Plate.
She looked at the culture units on either side, then at the bare Plate in the middle, and shook her head in mild dissatisfaction.
Suddenly she clapped, delighted, and hurried downstairs.
She came back up a moment later—this time with a Snorlax plush in her hands.
Mom placed the plush on the Splash Plate at the center, then, pleased with her handiwork, headed downstairs in high spirits.
What she didn't see was that both the Sky Plate and the Earth Plate behind her were giving off a current of energy that pierced through the culture medium and sank into the Pokémon Egg and the energy core.
After finishing the room, Mom—at a loose end—prepared food for herself and the backyard Pokémon. Only then did she flop onto the sofa with a sigh.
"Ugh… My husband, my son, and Dad all went to the institute. Mom's off to work at Skyspire as well. I'm the only one at home—so boring."
Lounging on the couch, she stared at the empty room and listened to the laughter floating in from the backyard. The more she thought about it, the more bored she felt.
Back in Vantora, things had been better—at least she had something to do. She hadn't needed to do all that much, really, but the daily rhythm of going to and from work felt substantial.
Now that they'd come to Skyspire, not only had the three—Auron included—gone off to the institute together, even Grandma had her own work.
Grandma Liu Xiangjun was a professor in the Battle Department at Skyspire University. She didn't have to manage much; just three big lectures a week. But she was used to campus life. Even when she didn't have classes, she was basically always in her office or in the faculty training rooms.
Seeing it that way, Mom really did have nothing to do—and it was very dull.
"Whatever. I'm going out for a look around. If this doesn't work, I'll just open another breeding house."
Shouldering her bag, she marched out the door in a huff. This kind of life had no future; better to go scout for a suitable spot and open another nursery.
The moment she stepped out, a pink bear's head poked up cautiously against the backyard glass, sneaking a few glances inside.
Right after the pink bear's head, a blue-headed, white-faced figure edged up beside it.
(Don't move—be careful.)
The pink bear—Bewear—looked around nervously, still reminding its partner to take care.
(No need to be that tense. Mom's a pretty good person.)
The blue-headed, pale-faced one was Snorlax. Snorlax's expression was placid as he addressed the pink bear.
(All right, all clear. Let's go.)
(Okay, big sis—we're heading out, mmkay.)
Snorlax straightened up, called back to Crobat, who was watching Charmander play, and then followed Bewear out.
(I'm your big brother.)
A furious voice—Crobat's, the "big sis"—rang out behind them.
Snorlax didn't look back. He waved a paw.
(Got it, big sis. Understood, big sis.)
Watching Snorlax's retreating back, Crobat smiled indulgently.
(Hmph. All grown up—nothing like when you were little and actually listened.)
Out of the corner of her eye she caught Charmander, and her face changed. She rushed over, wings beating, and swept the falling Charmander out of the air.
(Too much!)
Smack.
Crobat swatted Charmander's backside with one small wing.
It turned out Charmander had been yearning to experience what it felt like to fly. Ever since Crobat had taken him for a flight last time, he'd once struggled free in midair, then went into a free fall on his own.
He'd given Crobat a terrible scare. Thankfully she was fast enough to catch him before he hit the ground.
After that incident, Crobat refused—no matter what—to let Charmander "fly freely" again.
But this time, Charmander had somehow talked Slowbro into using Psychic to carry him into the sky.
The trouble was he'd asked Slowbro. Slowbro had raised him with telekinesis just fine—but the sounds of Bewear and Snorlax heading out drew Slowbro's attention.
In that split second, Slowbro turned to look at the two Pokémon's backs—and the telekinesis simply stopped. Charmander dropped out of the air, and the scene just now unfolded.
Charmander might have fallen from the sky, but there wasn't a trace of fear on him. He even wanted to try again.
But one look at the dangerous glint in big-sis Crobat's eyes convinced him to abandon his self-destructive ambitions.
He turned instead and scampered happily toward Corphish, who was practicing punching technique under the tutelage of Kangaskhan.
Planting himself by Corphish's side, he mimicked the posture in earnest—one punch at a time, practicing with all his might.
(End of this chapter)