"Thank you all very much for your support!" James politely responded to the audience.
Perhaps they couldn't compete with James—because of that, about half of the contestants scheduled afterward didn't even bother coming on stage. In the end, the one who left the deepest impression was still James. Although his Pokémon's styling was… hard to describe, his incredible figure had completely won over the crowd.
"Now then!"
"The champion of this beauty contest is—Team Rocket's Lady!"
Brock slammed the table excitedly as he announced the final result of the beauty contest.
"Brock, why are you so excited? Can't you tell James is a guy?"
Misty frowned. Losing to Jessie would've been one thing—but losing to James?
Brock, you must be seriously desperate...
"Ash, isn't that host your friend?"
Professor Oak recognized Brock. Earlier, when he arrived at the venue, Brock had personally helped him find his seat after learning his identity.
No wonder there happened to be a few empty seats beside Professor Oak—it turned out Brock had arranged them.
"Yes. Brock is the Gym Leader of Pewter Gym, and he's also a Pokémon Breeder," Ash replied.
Professor Oak was about to say something else when a familiar voice suddenly rang out over the loudspeaker.
"Everyone, please wait a moment."
"I didn't come here to compete. I'm here to tell someone hiding somewhere in this venue—"
"You might as well admit defeat now. No matter what you do, you'll never catch up to me."
Gary took Brock's microphone and walked onto the stage with his group of girls.
"Well…"
Professor Oak could only sigh helplessly at his grandson. Gary always seemed determined to compete with Ash.
Ash leaned back in his seat, calmly watching Gary's speech.
The girls Gary brought along were quite attractive too—very much in line with Brock's taste.
After this brief interlude, Team Rocket's Lady officially received the championship and the prize money. With that, Team Rocket now had funding again to prepare for their next big scheme.
If the boss wouldn't sponsor them, then the capable underlings would just solve the problem themselves.
"Ash, Gary is waiting for you outside," Professor Oak said after receiving Gary's message asking about Ash.
"Alright, let's go see him," Ash replied.
It had been a long time since he'd seen Gary. He wondered how many Gym Badges Gary had collected by now—his progress might be far ahead.
Before leaving, Ash found Misty and Brock and introduced them to Delia Ketchum.
"Ash can be quite reckless. He's been traveling for so long—thank you both for taking care of him," Delia said warmly.
"No, not at all! Ash has helped us much more," Misty hurriedly replied. For some reason, a strange feeling surfaced in her heart.
"Yeah, Ash is actually very reliable. He treats both us and the Pokémon really well," Brock said with a smile—completely different from his earlier overexcited commentary.
Reliable?
Did that word really have anything to do with Ash?
Professor Oak looked at Ash in confusion.
But as the two of them continued praising Ash, the smile on Delia's face only grew brighter.
While chatting, they walked out of the venue and soon saw Gary sitting casually on the hood of his sports car.
"Ash! Long time no see. How's your badge collection going?"
The moment he saw Ash, Gary put on a smug expression. With a bit of arrogance on his face, he flicked back his wild hair.
"Three."
"Oh dear, that's still quite a bit behind me."
"Too bad I only brought girls today. Otherwise I'd let you taste defeat firsthand."
...
Ash simply smiled without saying anything. His childhood rival's mouth was still as stubborn as ever.
"Ahem."
"Ash, Gary—you two battling each other is good for improving your strength," Professor Oak said. "But don't forget to send more rare Pokémon back to the lab."
He reminded them not to focus only on battles—they should also capture plenty of Pokémon.
"I heard you caught a very small Krabby, Ash…" Gary said with a mischievous grin, even pulling out photos comparing two Krabby.
Without comparison, there's no damage.
Gary's Krabby was several times larger than Ash's.
That Krabby of Gary's looked practically like an alpha Krabby.
"Size doesn't necessarily represent strength," Professor Oak said from the side.
Gary didn't pursue the topic further and instead asked, "Ash, how many Pokémon have you caught?"
"Don't tell me you haven't even reached double digits?"
"Nope. Just eight."
"I've already sent forty-five Pokémon back to the lab," Gary said proudly, crossing his arms and flipping his hair again.
"Impressive, impressive!" Ash praised him.
Ash had become increasingly irritating lately…
Now he didn't even argue back anymore. Instead, he calmly responded as if an adult humoring a child, agreeing with everything Gary said.
Gary felt strangely insulted.
After greeting everyone, Gary drove off with his girlfriends.
Ignoring this young master, huh?
Just wait until the Indigo Plateau Conference…
After Gary left, Misty and Delia agreed to go shopping together. Meanwhile, Ash and Brock stayed behind to chat with Professor Oak—and show him the Pokémon Ash had caught.
"Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Charmander, Butterfree, Pidgeot."
Ash released all of his Pokémon.
Professor Oak examined them excitedly, touching them here and there while letting out constant exclamations of amazement.
"Squirtle?"
"Bulba?"
"Char?"
The three starter Pokémon watched Professor Oak fuss over them in surprise, letting out puzzled cries.
This brightly dressed old man was supposed to be their trainer's mentor?
Why did he look… a little foolish?
Fortunately Gary had already left. Otherwise, comparing himself with Ash again would only make him feel worse.
Coming back to his senses, Professor Oak happily took out a box of Pokémon food cubes.
Ash's Pokémon had almost developed a fear of these cubes by now.
"Pikachu."
Professor Oak first handed one to Pikachu.
"Pika!"
Pikachu hesitated for a moment before eating it.
It was several times tastier than the ones before.
"Squirtle~"
Squirtle grabbed a few cubes and shared them with Bulbasaur and Charmander. Its watery eyes moved back and forth between Ash and Professor Oak.
"Pokémon all love eating these cubes."
Seeing that they had nearly finished the whole box, Professor Oak took out another one and handed it over.
"Ash, the Pokémon you've caught have all been raised very well."
Professor Oak briefly examined them. They were all very close to Ash, and their builds looked strong and healthy.
"If you're planning to participate in the Indigo Plateau Conference, you should catch more Pokémon. That way you can rotate them depending on your opponent, evolve them appropriately, and create strategies to counter your opponent's team."
"Don't just charge in recklessly."
"So Ash, remember to send more Pokémon back to my lab. I can help raise them for you."
Professor Oak said confidently. After all, any Pokémon that stayed in the backyard of his laboratory rarely wanted to leave—his care was excellent.
"Alright."
Snorlax had been waiting to hear exactly that.
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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