As everyone knows, Oak's Retirement Home means letting Pokémon stay here to live out their retirement.
However, this title was broken when the Sinnoh journey began.
Because Ash actually started frequently swapping Pokémon, with a companion being exchanged into Ash's team every once in a while.
This stirred up the hearts of many Pokémon.
For example, Bayleef, who wanted to see Ash the most, would visit Professor Oak at the laboratory every day.
As for her little ulterior motives, those who know, know.
Currently, almost all the Pokémon are gathered together.
They are in groups of two or three, communicating their respective skills and learning from each other to improve themselves while waiting for the next exchange slot.
Like the Water-types Kingler, Totodile, and Corphish; the three of them huddle together, teaching each other.
For instance, Kingler and Corphish are learning Crunch, Hydro Pump, and other skills from Totodile.
The Fire-types Cyndaquil and Torkoal, and the Grass-types Bayleef and Bulbasaur, are doing the same.
After all, these two teams have heavy hitters like Sceptile and Charizard; how could they not study hard?
The Flying-type team is led by Pidgeot, who once led an entire flock, so its experience is quite extensive.
The remaining Pokémon of different types, such as Muk, Heracross, Donphan, Glalie, and Ambipom, are gathered together to exchange ideas.
For a moment, the whole scene looks quite harmonious.
Of course, there are exceptions; for example, the Legendary Pokémon Suicune did not participate and had already silently gone to the lakeside to rest.
Since the time hasn't come yet, it doesn't need to fulfill its duty of purifying water sources, so it can act however it pleases.
Rumble~
The Tauros herd in the distance is the same; it's not that they want to Slack Off, it's just their nature—they prefer running freely on the prairie.
Even if they aren't chosen by the Trainer, they don't really mind.
"Bulbasaur, I have to trouble you again!"
At this moment, Tracey ran over looking rather embarrassed and shouted toward Bulbasaur, who was consulting with Bayleef.
Because some Pokémon started arguing again, and when he went to mediate personally, those Pokémon wouldn't listen.
In this situation, Tracey could only ask Bulbasaur, who has management experience.
"Bulba~"
With that, Bulbasaur apologetically bid farewell to Bayleef and skillfully followed behind Tracey.
This is a part of Bulbasaur's life in the backyard: help Professor Oak manage Pokémon that have conflicts.
This is also something Bulbasaur enjoys doing.
However, by putting all its time into managing the groups, it has no time to discuss and exchange ideas with Bayleef or even Sceptile.
Let alone continuing to travel with Ash.
"Bulba Bulba (Sigh, I hope the junior can return quickly.)"
The Garlic Turtle let out a very human-like sigh, unable to help but miss that mild-mannered junior who was also good at management.
If there were another Pokémon to share the burden, it wouldn't have to worry about these trivial matters every day.
Although Bulbasaur left, it didn't hinder the learning enthusiasm of the entire large group.
However, among them, a few figures were out of place with the overall atmosphere.
Those were the recently returned trio: Sceptile, Charizard, and Pidgeot.
These three still had tasks assigned by Ash.
Besides reminding the many Pokémon to do a certain amount of exercise every day, their only goal was to challenge Pokémon in the Viridian Forest.
They even spent half of their daytime in the Viridian Forest.
However, the three of them were quite troubled at this time.
"Scep-scep-scep~ (Pidgeot, what did your flock say?)"
Sceptile crossed its arms, calmly asking the giant raptor standing on the ground with folded wings, Pidgeot.
"Pidgeot~ Pidgeot~ (It's no use; they've started hiding, and it's hard for my kin to find their traces.)"
"Roar-roar-roar~ (How about we just say goodbye here? You guys stay in the Viridian Forest, and I'll head back to the valley.)"
Hearing Pidgeot's answer, the hot-tempered Charizard immediately felt a bit frustrated.
It even grumbled with its mouth, preparing to head back to its own Flower-Fruit... Charizard Valley.
After all, the guys in Charizard Valley are each powerful and would never refuse its challenge.
If it hadn't wanted to stay and spar with Sceptile, it would have returned to the valley long ago.
"Scep (Don't be in a hurry, don't you see Noctowl is thinking!)"
Sceptile straightened up, its tall frame looking down at Charizard, and rolled its eyes, replying irritably.
It wasn't just Charizard who had a headache; it was also quite troubled.
After all, the Pokémon in the Viridian Forest actually regarded them as fierce beasts; the frequency of encountering Pokémon was becoming smaller and smaller, and efficiency was naturally getting lower.
Unable to figure it out, the three Pokémon could only call upon the smartest existence in the team—Noctowl—to analyze the situation for them.
This is a quite special Flying-type Pokémon in Ash's team.
Among the many Flying-type Pokémon, Noctowl's presence isn't high because its strength isn't particularly outstanding.
But after spending time together, one would find that this guy's IQ is like the Einstein of the Pokémon world.
So for this difficulty, they immediately sought out Noctowl to act as their strategist.
"Hoothoot~"
After listening to Pidgeot's description, Noctowl rotated its neck 180 degrees and began thinking of a solution.
"Hoothoot~ (There should be a problem with your challenge method; you were too violent during the process.)"
Noctowl preened its feathers, which were quite different from other Noctowl, and responded calmly.
"Roar-roar-roar~ (Impossible, absolutely impossible!)"
His Charizard had clearly only used one fist; how could it be violent?
"Scep~"
"Pid~"
Sceptile and Pidgeot looked at each other and directly slapped Charizard twice, signaling for it to shut up.
At the same time, both of them very much agreed with Noctowl's statement.
During these days, their behavior of challenging opponents regardless of their strength had spread throughout the Viridian Forest.
Although they would feed the opponent an energy cube to restore their stamina after they fell, it still made many weak Pokémon tremble and stay in their small nests.
They were afraid that while walking on the road, a fully evolved Charizard would suddenly leap out and roar, 'I want to challenge you!'
"Scep~ (Please tell us what to do?)" Sceptile politely asked Noctowl for advice.
"Hoothoot~ (Simple, communicate directly with their patriarchs using benefits, and conduct duels fairly and squarely.)"
This immediately made the trio of Sceptile and the others feel troubled; how exactly should they communicate?
With fists?
"Hoothoot~ Hoothoot~ (You just said you have the energy cubes given by Ash; you can give some to the patriarchs of each flock.)"
To prevent the three of them from not understanding, Noctowl added even more detailed supplements.
"Hoothoot~ Hoothoot~ (At the same time, set up an arena and state that those who win the challenge can receive a large number of energy cubes as a reward.)"
Noctowl's eyes darted around as it proposed this plan, using the League Conference as a reference.
"Scep~"
"Roar~"
"Pidgeot~"
The three of them thought about it and suddenly realized, all agreeing that this was a great idea.
They didn't know why the three of them hadn't thought of it.
And they decisively hired Noctowl, making it the number one strategist in the team.