At the Pokemon Center in a certain small town—
Ash vividly recounted his bizarre experiences from yesterday to Professor Oak over a video call.
He encountered Celebi, met the new leader of Team Rocket, came across a person from forty years ago, became friends with him, and even captured Suicune!
At first, Professor Oak looked surprised, but then he maintained a smiling demeanor.
Ash, focused on narrating his adventure, didn't notice, but Misty and the others did; Professor Oak had a nostalgic expression on his face.
Nostalgic? What is Professor Oak reminiscing about? Could it be that he had experiences similar to Ash's in the past?
"...So the leader of Team Rocket already had his memory erased by you and was sent to the police station in town, right?"
Ash nodded in response to Professor Oak's question. Defeating the Iron-Masked Marauder and erasing his memory were matters settled yesterday.
They forced themselves to drag the Iron-Masked Marauder along for a day, but with Suicune carrying him, they weren't too exhausted.
The Iron-Masked Marauder woke up twice on the way, and Ash forcibly woke him up, gave him some water and food, then knocked him out again.
This was done to prevent the Iron-Masked Marauder from dying on the road; letting him die like that would be too easy. He needed to spend the rest of his life in prison to atone for his sins.
"By the way, Professor Oak, I captured Suicune! Suicune, you know! How come you're not surprised at all?"
"Oh, really? Perhaps my surprise didn't show on the surface. Actually, I am quite astonished! After all, it's one of the legendary Three Holy Beasts. If you could send it over for research right now, that would be great!"
After Ash brought it up, Professor Oak finally showed an expression of surprise and a hint of eagerness, as if he simply hadn't reacted earlier.
This is just how a researcher should be; this is Professor Oak's normal response. No researcher would remain unmoved when faced with a legendary Holy Beast.
The difference between legendary Pokemon and regular Pokemon is a matter that all researchers wish to understand thoroughly.
Professor Oak is no exception.
"In that case, let me send Suicune back first. Suicune, be sure to get along with the backyard companions when you return, okay? I'll be sending you back from time to time," Ash instructed, holding Suicune's Pokeball.
Regardless of whether it's a legendary Holy Beast or an ordinary Pokemon, they can hear outside sounds inside the Pokeball, though they need to be relatively close; otherwise, they wouldn't even be able to rest inside the Pokeball.
Moreover, Mewtwo can directly see outside scenes through the Pokeball, and of course, it can choose to close external perception and enter a state of complete isolation.
But with Mewtwo's abilities, multitasking by watching outside while meditating is no problem at all.
Suicune's Pokeball gave a gentle shake in Ash's hand, indicating it understood.
Ash placed the Pokeball on the Pokemon Transmission Device, trading back the freshly captured Cyndaquil with Professor Oak.
With Charizard currently in Charicific Valley, Ash doesn't have other Fire-type Pokemon on hand, making Cyndaquil the second-generation Fire-type training target.
I wonder how Charizard's training is going in Charicific Valley now... Soon there will be battles requiring Charizard's involvement.
"I've received it over here," Professor Oak raised the newly received Pokeball and suddenly remembered something, saying to Ash, "Oh, right, Ash. I've exchanged two regions' Three Starter with Professor Augustine Sycamore, intending to study their differences."
"The research is mostly complete now, but these three Pokemon will be distributed to newbie trainers and don't need to be returned to Professor Augustine Sycamore. However, there's one problem..."
After finishing his sentence, Professor Oak adjusted the camera, revealing a blue frog-like Pokemon leisurely eating Pokemon Food.
"This Pokemon is one of Kalos' Three Starter, Froakie. I've given it to several new trainers during this time, but this little one always ends up back at Oak's Research Institute, it's quite troubling."
On the eighth of each month, the league recognizes the day for newbie trainers to receive Pokemon. Even though Oak has only had these Three Starter for about a month, Froakie has already been given away several times.
Since the Froakie given to the first newbie trainer returned, there was an extra Pokemon to give out.
Thus, Professor Oak notified nearby towns for fifteen-year-old newbie trainers to come and claim Froakie, regardless of whether it's the eighth, since there's just the right number of Pokemon.
But no matter which trainer it was, Froakie would ultimately return to Oak's Research Institute, posing a headache for Professor Oak.
"Froakie...?!" Ash stared at Froakie in the camera, unable to regain his senses for a long time.
He recalled the words of the big shots in the group, the Froakie meant exclusively for him.
Now upon seeing this Froakie, for some unknown reason, his heart began to race, and a strange feeling arose within him.
He seemed to understand what those big shots meant by 'destiny.'