"Dinner's ready!" Delia's voice drifted into the living room.
Ash and Misty, who had been deep in discussion for more than ten minutes, set aside their papers and headed to the dining room together.
Perhaps because Ash had finally come home, or perhaps because they had guests, the spread on the table was especially lavish, meat dishes, shrimp, vegetables, crab, and even a pot of slow-stewed old hen soup.
Once everyone was seated, Delia smiled and said simply, "Alright, let's eat."
The table was immediately filled with the sounds of clinking chopsticks and satisfied murmurs.
As they ate, Delia asked Ash about his journey. Misty and Brock also took turns sharing interesting anecdotes from their travels.
They spoke lightly, carefully choosing stories that were amusing rather than dangerous. After all, although their journey had been on foot, it had gone relatively smoothly.
The most perilous incident was undoubtedly the battle with Giovanni in Viridian City just yesterday, a fight where even a single mistake could have been fatal.
Naturally, neither Misty nor Brock mentioned that.
In fact, they deliberately glossed over many of the more thrilling or risky moments, worried Delia might grow anxious. Even if everything had turned out fine, a mother would still worry endlessly.
Since there was no need to trouble her, they chose not to bring it up.
As she listened, Delia's smile never faded. From their stories, she could clearly sense Ash's growth, her son had truly matured during his journey.
That realization filled her with pride… and just a trace of loneliness.
When children grow strong enough to protect themselves, parents inevitably feel a subtle sense of being no longer needed.
But when Delia saw Ash eating heartily, his expression relaxed and content, that feeling quietly faded.
At the very least, she could still make sure her son had a warm meal waiting for him at home.
"Eat slowly," she reminded him. "Don't choke."
"Got it," Ash replied automatically.
…
After dinner, Ash and Misty cleared the table and washed the dishes in the kitchen. Mr. Mime had already begun playing with Pikachu in the living room, while Delia and Brock chatted nearby, exchanging thoughts on cooking.
Delia's cooking was excellent, but Brock's culinary skills, honed through years of practice, were even more refined. Both had their own philosophies and techniques, making their conversation lively and engaging.
Once the dishes were done, Ash and Misty returned to the living room and resumed their earlier discussion.
When Delia learned that Ash would be staying in Pallet Town for the foreseeable future to train nearby, she couldn't have been happier. At least for the next few months, her son wouldn't be wandering far from home.
And with Misty and Brock staying as well, the house felt even livelier.
Ash's home wasn't large, but it had two floors, so accommodating guests wasn't an issue. One person could take the spare room, while the other could sleep on the lower bunk of Ash's bed.
Ash's bed was a bunk bed, and the bottom bunk had always gone unused.
After some discussion, they decided that Misty would take the lower bunk.
The main reason was Togepi, Misty wanted to sleep beside her, but Togepi insisted on being close to Ash. If Misty held Togepi without Ash nearby, Togepi would fuss endlessly.
After some hesitation, Misty agreed… though her face turned bright red in the process.
They had shared bunk beds plenty of times at Pokémon Centers before, but this was different.
Delia was here.
And she was Ash's mother.
What would she think?
Still, Misty's desire to stay with Togepi ultimately won out over her embarrassment, at least outwardly.
When Delia heard the arrangement, she gave Misty a thoughtful look.
'So that's how it is… I didn't notice before. My son's charm really isn't small, huh.'
She smiled warmly. "Then I'll go get some extra blankets and pillows. Sorry to trouble you by having you share a bed with my son."
"A–a bed?!" Misty exclaimed, flustered. "Auntie, please don't say things that sound so misleading!"
Delia chuckled. "A bunk bed is still a bed, isn't it?"
"Hehe, Auntie's not wrong," Brock added with a grin.
Misty's feelings were probably obvious to Delia by now, and Brock had noticed them long ago. Only the two people involved, Ash and Misty themselves, remained blissfully unaware.
Brock had created countless opportunities for them, yet nothing ever seemed to progress.
It made him feel a little helpless.
Later, Brock finally realized the truth.
It wasn't his fault.
Ash was just too dense, and Misty far too shy.
That was the real reason nothing had changed for so long.
You couldn't really blame Misty. After all, she was a girl, expecting her to take the initiative outright was asking a bit too much.
The real problem lay with Ash.
As long as he remained completely oblivious, the two of them were going to get nowhere.
Brock couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Who on earth could knock some sense into that blockhead?
Ash, meanwhile, felt absolutely nothing was wrong.
…
Time flew by, and soon it was the next day.
Ash was ready to officially begin his special training plan. Before anything else, he needed to visit Professor Oak's laboratory, gather all his Pokémon, and plan out coordinated training for the coming period.
However, when Ash arrived at Oak's lab, he ran into an unexpected guest.
Blaine.
"Blaine? What are you doing here?" Ash asked, surprised.
Blaine, dressed in a lab coat, his bald head gleaming, let out a dry chuckle.
"Well, I couldn't really make a living on Cinnabar Island anymore, so I decided to come here and freeload off Oak for a while, help out with research, pass the time."
Then he looked at Ash with complicated eyes.
"And I heard you defeated Mewtwo. Truly… the younger generation surpasses the old. The old waves die on the beach."
His voice was filled with emotion.
Mewtwo, the monster he once feared beyond words, had been defeated by a boy who had begun his journey barely three months ago.
If the Kanto Elite Four and Professor Oak himself hadn't confirmed it, Blaine would never have believed such nonsense.
No one understood Mewtwo's terror better than Blaine did.
Without power approaching the Divine Realm, defeating Mewtwo should have been impossible.
Yet Ash had done it.
Which meant only one thing.
Either Mewtwo's power had weakened while under Team Rocket's control or Ash possessed power that had stepped into the Divine Realm.
Blaine believed the latter.
And that conclusion shocked him more than anything else.
Divine Realm.
That was the very reason he had created artificial Pokémon in the first place. In the modern era, aside from legendary Pokémon, ordinary Pokémon simply could not cross that threshold. Blaine had tried to break that limitation through science.
Instead, he had lost control and created a monster.
Even that monster, Mewtwo, was unstable, uncontrollable, and irreplaceable.
Humanity had spent generations chasing the Divine Realm, performing countless experiments, walking countless dead ends… and failing.
Blaine had long accepted it: the Divine Realm was not something humans could control, nor something Pokémon raised by humans could reach.
And now, a fifteen-year-old boy had stepped into that realm.
It sounded like a cruel joke.
Blaine had spent the entire night two days ago just trying to digest that truth. Yesterday, he waited at the lab all day, but Ash never showed.
Now that Ash finally stood before him, Blaine could no longer hold it in.
"How did you do it?" he demanded.
"How could a newly evolved Lucario step into the Divine Realm?!"
"Uh… maybe we should go inside first?" Ash said awkwardly, glancing down. Blaine was still blocking the doorway.
"Oh, right, right. Sorry." Blaine coughed, suddenly embarrassed, and quickly ushered everyone inside.
Inside the laboratory, Professor Oak was wearing gloves, carefully examining Aerodactyl, gently running his hands over its body.
Given that Ash's Aerodactyl had survived from an unknown ancient era to the present day, its research value far exceeded that of Aerodactyl revived from fossil amber.
"Ash, you're here," Oak said without turning around.
"Blaine waited all day yesterday. I told him you'd gone home to have dinner with Delia and wouldn't come over so quickly, but he wouldn't listen."
"ROAR!"
Aerodactyl, who had been calmly resting with its eyes closed, suddenly sensed a familiar aura. Its eyes snapped open.
The moment it spotted Ash, it let out a joyous roar, flapped its wings, and lunged straight toward him.
Professor Oak, caught completely off guard, was blown sideways by the sudden gust and landed flat on the floor, wearing a bitter smile.
'Tch. So this is how trainers get treated…'
'Who fed you all this time? Who took care of you? And the moment you see your Trainer, you forget everything else?'
Ash opened his arms just in time.
Aerodactyl slammed into him with its massive body, well over a hundred kilograms, but Ash didn't budge an inch.
Ash even wrapped his arms around Aerodactyl and spun around twice, a bright smile on his face.
"Long time no see, Aerodactyl. How have you been at Professor Oak's lab?"
"Roar~~" Very comfortable.
"Haha, that's good. As long as you're comfortable." Ash laughed, then added casually, "If there's anything you want to eat, just tell Professor Oak. Don't be shy, I've already paid for the food."
Ash regularly sent at least a third of his perfume shop income to Professor Oak.
Although Professor Oak had repeatedly said it wasn't necessary, Ash still insisted. If he were poor, that would be one thing, but since he had the means, freeloading wasn't an option.
Whether Professor Oak cared about the money wasn't the point. Paying was an attitude.
After gently setting Aerodactyl down, everyone took their seats. Ash then repeated the same explanation he had used earlier to placate Misty and Brock, recounting it to Blaine and Professor Oak in full.
The excuse was so airtight that even researchers like Blaine and Professor Oak couldn't find a single flaw.
Or rather, it wasn't that they couldn't find flaws, but that there was no way to verify it.
What Ash said wasn't false. Historical records only documented that the legendary hero Aaron and his Lucario had once suppressed a devastating war. As for reincarnation and lingering power from a previous life, there was nothing that could be conclusively tested or disproven.
Studying Lucario's body wouldn't yield any definitive results.
Yet ironically, this very lack of verifiability made the explanation the most convincing one.
Otherwise, how could Lucario's Divine Realm–level power be explained?
Even if a god had descended to possess Lucario, its body shouldn't have been able to withstand that kind of pressure.
With Lucario's matter settled, another issue immediately surfaced.
"Ash," Professor Oak said sternly, leaning forward, "you need to explain clearly what this MEGA Evolution business is all about!"
"If Agatha hadn't let it slip, I wouldn't even know you were hiding something this big from me! I watched the footage of your battle, Venusaur had a stone embedded in its body. That's the thing you asked me to collect, isn't it?!"
"You really are something!"
Oak didn't sound furious, but there was unmistakable irritation in his tone. Ash hiding MEGA Evolution was one thing, but unknowingly becoming the errand boy collecting MEGA Evolution stones?
That was what truly rubbed him the wrong way.
He hadn't even known what he was collecting.
If Agatha hadn't let it slip, he would still be completely in the dark.
Hearing this, Ash immediately put on an apologetic expression. He stood up straight and bowed a full ninety degrees.
"I'm sorry, Professor Oak!!"
At moments like this, sincerity mattered more than words.
No explanation could compare to a straightforward apology.
Ash knew he was in the wrong. He had involved Professor Oak in something of epoch-making significance without explaining it beforehand. There was no excuse for that.
Sure enough, when Professor Oak saw Ash bow so earnestly, his lingering irritation vanished instantly.
What more could he say now?
It wasn't a grave mistake, and after all, Ash had been the one to discover MEGA Evolution first.
"Alright, alright. Let bygones be bygones," Professor Oak waved his hand.
"But this time, you're explaining everything to me about MEGA Evolution, no holding back."
...
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