"The journey's been going well. I've already beaten three Gyms and caught Gyarados, Butterfree, Pidgeot, Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, and Krabby."
"I'm currently traveling with two friends—one guy and one girl. The guy is Brock, and the girl is Misty."
Ash took out his Pokédex and showed Delia photos of their daily adventures.
"Mm-hmm. A Pokémon Breeder and a Water-type Pokémon Trainer, and both are Gym Leaders," Delia said.
"You're very lucky to have found such amazing friends."
Her gaze lingered on the photos of the three of them—handsome and beautiful youths standing together.
"I think I'm pretty lucky too," Ash admitted. Meeting Brock and Misty had truly been fortunate. They treated each other with genuine friendship.
Delia took a sip of tea, a hint of amusement in her eyes.
"That girl seems pretty close to you."
"Pika pika~"
Pikachu held a tomato-ketchup cake, trying hard not to laugh.
"Huh?"
Ash flipped to a photo showing Misty angrily putting him in a headlock.
He suddenly wondered why he had ever saved such a dark chapter of his life.
He awkwardly met his mother's knowing gaze.
"Uh… we're just friends."
Seeing her usually dense son looking embarrassed, Delia couldn't help feeling emotional.
Gary already had a group of girlfriends, and now Ash finally seemed to be showing some romantic awareness.
They were about the same age and both Trainers—there were plenty of shared interests.
While chatting and eating, Ash told Delia many interesting stories about his journey.
However, he carefully avoided mentioning any dangerous incidents. No need to worry his mother—or trigger one of her lectures.
"Let's go! The contest is about to start!" Delia checked the time.
They had talked longer than expected. She hadn't imagined Ash's journey would already be so exciting.
They called a taxi and headed to the event venue.
Brock had messaged earlier saying he had already arranged their seats.
Because of the beauty contest, the roads were crowded. It took them more than thirty minutes to arrive.
The venue itself was packed with people.
Ash couldn't help being surprised.
So many beautiful contestants…
No wonder Brock wanted to host the event.
"That must be Professor Oak over there."
Ash saw Oak waving near the seats and led Delia over.
"Professor Oak." ×2
Mother and son greeted him.
Delia had actually been one of Oak's students—an outstanding graduate of Celadon University. Many of her classmates had become renowned researchers.
"Ash, Pikachu—you've grown quite a bit," Professor Oak said, greeting them warmly.
He even patted Pikachu.
This time, Pikachu didn't shock him.
Looks like Pikachu had become gentler. Ash clearly knew how to raise Pokémon properly.
"I just arrived too," Oak said.
He pulled Ash down into a seat and started talking about the shiny Gyarados Ash had sent back.
That Gyarados had a terrible temper. It constantly "played rough" with Krabby, often causing loud disturbances in the backyard.
Ash chuckled.
"Please help me take good care of them, Professor."
He actually hoped Gyarados would train Krabby a bit.
In the original timeline, Krabby had become incredibly strong under Professor Oak's care—during the Indigo Plateau Conference, it even pulled off the incredible feat of defeating three opponents in a row.
Thinking about Ash's shiny Gyarados reminded Oak of his recent fishing attempts.
He had spent several days fishing but still hadn't encountered the rumored "shiny Fearow"—Ho-Oh.
"Professor, where's Gary?" Ash asked.
He only saw Oak here—his childhood rival was nowhere to be seen.
"He said he had something else to take care of."
After chatting for a while about Ash's travels, most of the audience had already taken their seats.
Then Brock's voice came from the loudspeakers.
"Thank you all for waiting! The Blue Lagoon Sunshine Beauty & Cosmetic Pokémon Contest is officially starting!"
"Now let's welcome our first contestant!"
Misty stepped onto the stage.
She was still wearing the same swimsuit.
Behind her, Starmie and Squirtle formed a bizarre combination that looked like an alien turtle knight.
Squirtle wore a signal-like helmet and stood on the floating Starmie while performing high-difficulty Water Gun tricks.
A beach beauty plus a Roman-style alien knight…
"Is that your friend?" Delia immediately recognized Misty.
"She looks even prettier than in the photos."
Ash nodded.
The audience erupted into cheers.
"Next contestant…"
Two familiar figures appeared on stage.
Jessie and James—both wearing extremely revealing bikinis.
"The championship belongs to us!" James said sweetly while puffing out his enormous chest padding.
"James?!"
"Aren't you a man?!" Misty exclaimed in shock.
This was a beauty contest. What was James doing here?!
"It doesn't matter," James said dramatically. "Beauty has no gender."
He had even put on lipstick, and his voice became soft and coquettish as he winked at Misty.
"You can step aside," Jessie said dismissively, completely ignoring Misty.
James flicked his oversized chest padding.
For that brief moment…
The entire audience fell into stunned silence.
Misty's face turned green with frustration.
This guy had fake padding and it was still bigger than hers.
It was a little painful to watch…
Seeing James dressed as a woman, Ash didn't even know what to say.
Apparently James had some unusual hobbies.
But honestly…
James's figure looked even better than Jessie's.
The audience's cheers were clearly leaning toward James.
"It seems the audience is extremely excited to see these two mature ladies!" Brock announced enthusiastically.
"The cheers have reached an unprecedented level!"
"Next up are their Pokémon—Ekans and Koffing!"
"Together they resemble the legendary Omanyte!"
Ekans coiled around Koffing's head while Koffing held a clump of black seaweed in its mouth.
The shape actually looked surprisingly creative.
"The championship belongs to us!"
"It seems the Team Rocket ladies are dominating the beauty contest!" Brock narrated based on the crowd's reactions.
The audience clearly favored the voluptuous "lady" known as James.
Honestly…
The crowd's eyes were sharp.
Among all the contestants present—
Team Rocket's "lady" might really have the best figure.
The championship seemed destined to be theirs.
PS: I've been releasing chapters daily . Honestly, it hurts seeing almost no support on Patreon after all that work.If you're enjoying the fic, even a little, supporting me would mean a lot. It helps a student stay independent .
complete fic (all chapters ) are already up on Patreon → patreon.com/Chakraflow789
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