After leaving Mount Quena, Ash and the others continued on their journey.
Considering how sensitive Mewtwo's identity was, Ash did not openly catch it. Instead, he placed it inside the Ultra Ball, then used the system to exchange for an "Universal Pendant," allowing him to wear the Ultra Ball around his neck like a necklace.
At first, Misty and Brock were still somewhat afraid of Ash catching Mewtwo. After all, what had happened before had left a deep impression on them. However, Ash made an effort to let Mewtwo interact with them, and after spending some time together, Misty and Brock's opinion of Mewtwo gradually improved.
Mewtwo might appear aloof and difficult to approach, but once they got to know it, they discovered that it was actually quite helpful.
At the very least, when it came to Kirlia and Alakazam, Mewtwo behaved like a proper mentor.
At the moment, they were traveling through a forest.
The Pokémon world was filled with such natural beauty. It seemed as though they entered another forest every few days.
"Click! Click!"
As they walked, Misty suddenly heard something. "That sounded like a camera shutter."
Ash looked in the direction of the sound and spotted someone crouching behind a bush, taking pictures of a Bellossom. After looking more closely, he realized that the person seemed familiar.
"Todd? Is that you, Todd?" Ash had met him once back in the Kanto region and quickly recognized the young photographer.
Hearing Ash's voice, Todd turned around and looked at the group. "Ash? I never expected to run into you guys here."
Todd shared quite a history with Ash and the others. They had once fought side by side and formed a strong friendship.
"Ash, it's been a long time. You're taller and more handsome than when we first met."
"Hahaha, you think so?" Ash scratched his head and laughed. "You look a lot more energetic than the last time I saw you too! So, how have you been lately?"
"I've been great, of course. I've photographed a lot of Pokémon during my travels." With that, Todd took out a photo album filled with pictures he had taken along the way.
"Huh? Ash, is that your Eevee?" The moment Todd noticed the Eevee perched on Ash's shoulder, its cuteness melted his heart. He immediately raised his camera and snapped several pictures of it in quick succession.
The little Eevee had hatched shortly after Ash and the others left Mount Quena. They had all been incredibly excited at the time, since it was the first time they had ever witnessed the birth of a new life.
As for the Pokémon Egg Ash had previously received as a reward, it still showed no signs of hatching.
"Of course. Eevee is especially attached to me," Ash said proudly.
"No wonder it clings to you so much."
"By the way, Todd, did you come here to photograph a particular Pokémon?" Ash suddenly remembered that this encounter was supposed to lead into the incident involving Articuno on the snowy mountain.
He wondered whether he might have a chance to catch it.
After all, Articuno was one of the three legendary birds, and his team desperately needed an Ice-type Pokémon. He had every reason to pay close attention to it.
"I came here because I heard that Articuno has been sighted nearby."
"Articuno?" Ash, Misty, and Brock exclaimed in surprise. "Is that information reliable?" Ash asked cautiously. He could not be sure whether his arrival in this world had caused a butterfly effect.
"It's true. I heard that someone recently spotted Articuno around here."
Ash nodded to himself. It seemed that events had not strayed too far from their original course.
Wait a minute. Wasn't he forgetting something that was supposed to happen here?
Just then, Pikachu seemed to sense something and called out to alert Ash. Everyone looked up and saw something falling toward them.
When it landed, they discovered that it was a Sunkern frozen solid inside a block of ice.
Brock hurriedly said, "This Sunkern is trapped in the ice. We need to thaw it out immediately."
He rushed forward and wrapped it in a towel.
"Todd, is there a Pokémon Center or someone's home nearby?" Ash asked.
"There's a small inn not far from here. We can take it there."
And so, Ash and the others made their way to the inn.
What followed unfolded just as Ash remembered. The inn was called Sunflora Lodge, and the story of its owners, Sophia and Marcello, along with the photograph they had taken with a group of Sunflora, fascinated Ash and his friends.
Today happened to be the elderly couple's fiftieth wedding anniversary, their golden anniversary, but the Sunflora were no longer there.
After hearing their story, Ash decided to use the Sun Stone he had won earlier to evolve the Sunkern into Sunflora. As usual, they also sent the interfering Team Rocket trio blasting off.
In the end, the newly evolved Sunflora's call drew all the Sunflora in the surrounding area to the inn, recreating the exact scene from the couple's forty-ninth anniversary.
With Todd behind the camera, the elderly couple completed their fiftieth wedding anniversary photograph.
A/N: As for the Pokémon Egg rewarded by the system, its expected to hatch before the Silver Conference. For now, it was planned to be Ogerpon.
...
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