Saturday, February 20. The sun was shining bright, the sky a clear blue. The room temperature wasn’t too cold.
Lu Ye changed into a brown jacket, slim-fit jeans, and white basketball sneakers.
He vaguely remembered that basketball existed in the Pokémon world too, especially popular in the Unova region. But the players included Machamp, Lucario, and Passimian... Human pros had a much tougher time.
“If Ash hadn’t become a Trainer, he might’ve been a sports superstar…” Lu Ye mused, slinging his shoulder bag and tightening his Trainer’s belt.
Looking down, he saw the matte sheen of his Poké Balls glinting faintly.
“Gengar!” Lu Ye suddenly stretched out one arm, gripped the Poké Ball firmly, eyes full of determination, and called out: “Are you ready!”
“Geh-heh!” Gengar emerged from behind him.
“Henshin… never mind, let’s go.” Lu Ye casually stuffed the Poké Ball back into his belt, feeling cheerful.
Normally, a Trainer’s belt could only hold six Poké Balls. But Lu Ye’s was longer—it wrapped around his waist in a full loop.
As a metropolis, Goldenrod City had subway lines straight to the airport.
Even dressed plainly, Lu Ye’s good looks were impossible to hide. After all, he had a slight edge over Steven in terms of looks… like the glow of a bright moon, always getting asked for his contact info.
Strangely enough, Steven and Wallace never seemed to worry about being recognized... What, they both have luxury cars? Ah, say no more.
At the airport, there were still two and a half hours until boarding.
Lu Ye shot a glare at the Rotom Pokédex beside him: “Didn’t you say you’d plan the travel schedule properly?”
“Beep beep… this is to avoid unexpected delays, Loto!” Rotom said proudly.
“…You’re seriously too cautious, Rotom!”
As everyone knew, laziness was contagious—so recruiting Sirfetch’d made perfect sense.
“Wait, is careful Blastoise contagious too?” The always chill, Baby Cup–only Professor Lu fell into deep thought.
With nothing else to do, he scrolled through the group chat.
Ash had just defeated Shindai yesterday and earned the Battle Frontier Emblem. Lu Ye had been packing at the time and missed the update.
“Congrats, Ash.” He sent his belated congratulations, then lurked silently in the chat.
Gold scratched his head: “I wonder... can I beat Ash now?”
“The Battle Frontier Brain is technically even higher ranked than an Elite Four member.” Lance chuckled teasingly: “Why not give it a try?”
“Hehe, I’m not stupid. I beat one of Red’s Pokémon and milked that for a whole year.” Gold explained seriously: “But if I lose to Ash, what then?”
“Use your specialty—wild battle format,” Silver suggested.
“Ugh... just kill me now!” Gold’s face turned pale.
“Hey, group leader! You’re making a game this big and didn’t notify me!” Grandpa Ironshard grumbled, “Let me be clear—if I play single-player with cheats, you better not ban my account!”
“That would ruin a lot of the game’s fun,” Lu Ye said sincerely.
Ironshard rubbed his hands together: “Hehe, but one slash doing 999 damage is my kind of fun!”
“Professor Lu.” Ash suddenly came online and asked curiously, “Aren’t you moving today? I went to find you, but you weren’t there.”
Lu Ye froze for a moment and coughed: “I’ve got a morning flight today.”
“!!!” The whole chat exploded in an instant.
Lance: “Something this big and no heads-up? I would’ve brought Dragonite to help you move!”
Lorelei adjusted her glasses and said with a sly smile, “Don’t tell me you’re off to meet your girlfriend? No way, right?”
“Professor Lu,” Erika said sweetly, “You should really be more thoughtful~ We came to pick you up last time, remember?”
“Hmph, clearly we don’t matter to you!” Gold fanned the flames.
Violet from Viridian City tried to calm things down: “Maybe... Professor Lu has some personal reasons?”
What the heck is a “personal reason”? This conversation’s getting weirder and weirder!
Crystal: 【Chikorita leaf wiggle·jpg】 Cherrim: 【Chikorita leaf wiggle·jpg】 Cherrim joined the group too? When did that happen?
“Sorry!!” Lu Ye apologized immediately: “I just didn’t want to trouble everyone. Goodbyes and all... I’m not really used to that stuff.”
Everyone nodded in understanding.
“Just let me restock healing items from you, and you’re forgiven!” Leaf said with a mischievous grin.
Lorelei: “(;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`) Don’t tell me this is some lovey-dovey honeymoon flight!”
Aunt Lorelei sighed in relief.
Sophia: “(Thinking emoji) Come to think of it, Ruby and I circled all of Hoenn in just 80 days.”
Ruby: “Ah, and you were the one who confessed first.”
Sophia: “(๑ˊ•̥▵•̥)੭₎₎”
Lorelei: “!!!” Wild [Ice-type Elite Four] has appeared! [Hoenn Couple] used Super Effective Dog Food Crit on [Ice-type Elite Four]! It’s a critical hit! It’s super effective! [Ice-type Elite Four] has entered a near-death state!
“@Professor Lu,” Steven said with a smile, “I suggest you send red envelopes~”
Lu Ye’s heart skipped a beat. So we’ve come back around to that, huh?
With no choice, Professor Lu used the last few red envelopes he’d stolen from Steven and distributed them.
“Eh?” Leaf blinked. “Only ten bucks total?”
“That’s all the red envelopes I’ve grabbed in the past six months.” Lu Ye said sincerely, “I even chipped in a huge sum out of my own pocket.”
Gold: “That’s our Professor Lu!” Lorelei: “That’s our Professor Lu!”
Ash kept up the pace, excitedly saying: “Professor Lu, I’ve just arrived at Goldenrod Airport!”
“What are you up to?” Lu Ye raised an eyebrow.
Lu Ye blinked. Well-meaning, sure, but the wording’s kind of ominous, isn’t it?
He glanced at his watch—still plenty of time before the flight.
If Ash came alone… killing some time with him wasn’t a bad idea.
Just then, a video call popped up.
“Good morning.” Cynthia greeted with a radiant smile.
“It’s nearly noon, you know.”
“Well, I haven’t had breakfast yet, so it’s still morning.”
“Why haven’t you eaten?”
“I had to finish sorting through some files.”
Cynthia held up a thick binder: “That way I’ll have time tonight to pick you up.”
Lu Ye felt a warm sense of relief: “It’s really okay, you don’t have to.”
“If I don’t come pick you up, where are you going to sleep?” Cynthia smiled, then looked back down: “Gotta go… still have work to finish…”
Lu Ye stared at the focused blonde on the screen and nodded in approval.
After hanging up, he suddenly stroked his chin.
Judging by her tone... Wasn’t tonight going to be… a sleepover with Cynthia?!
“Sylveon.” Lu Ye turned serious.
“Tonight, I’m afraid you’ll have to sleep alone.”
“Ahaha, obviously I was joking… don’t use Iron Tail!”
Suddenly, from the airport terminal, a shout rang out: “Professor Lu!!”
Lu Ye looked up to see a boy in a blue vest, with a Pikachu on his shoulder and a red cap on his head.
“Yo, you little rascal! (￣▽￣)/” Lu Ye waved and smiled. “When’s your flight?”
Ash walked up and scratched his head, looking a bit down: “Professor Lu… I actually kinda want to stay in Pallet Town.”
Ash glanced at Pikachu on his shoulder and then spoke with sudden resolve: “I’ve just defeated a Battle Frontier Brain.” “I think with my current skill level… I might be able to place in the Indigo League…”
Lu Ye stared at the suddenly uncertain boy before him. The Ash he remembered had grown from arrogant and reckless to mature and thoughtful.
Maybe beating Shindai had made him a little overconfident, a little lost. Wanting to come home and boast after a big win… that’s typical for a teenager.
“Ash, I’m not against your decision.” Lu Ye said calmly: “But the real question is… do you truly not want to meet the new Pokémon in the other regions?”
“Eh?” Ash looked up in surprise.
“The Battle Frontier isn’t the final stop for becoming a Pokémon Master. (´･ω･)ﾉ(._.`)”
“A true Pokémon Master,” Lu Ye smiled, “won’t get cocky after clearing the Battle Frontier or winning a tournament—or retire early!”
Ash scratched his head, then turned to stare into Pikachu’s eyes for a long moment.
Lu Ye: “So… what’s your current goal?”
Ash looked up, gazing at the man he admired. He was silent for a long time. Then suddenly— “Professor Lu!” Ash clenched his fists, eyes burning with determination, and bowed deeply: “Please battle me!”