Chapter 42: Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach him to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime!

"It's fine, how did you guys come?!"

Ash asked about the reason the two had come.

Upon hearing that, Serena immediately gave a brief account of how the video signal at the central plaza had been cut off.

"It must be Team Rocket's doing."

While speaking, Ash had Pikachu use Iron Tail to release all the captive rhyhorn bound to the prison cart.

He also untied the nets binding the contestants.

"Then the contest continues!"

……

Finally,

Limited by the rhyhorn's speed base stats, Ash only placed third; fortunately, the championship went to Clemont, who was lovesick and upside-down.

One gold, one copper,

For Grandma's ranch, this result is quite a decent emblem,

During the awards ceremony, Ash took a group photo and specifically requested the photo and camera from the organizers.

Arriving at the ranch, Ash returned the Pokémon and costumes, and meanwhile used the borrowed camera to take a commemorative photo with the ranch.

To Grandma and her granddaughter, he said,

"I've already spoken to Miss Junsha about the photo issue; later, once the photos are developed, she'll pass them to you for your ranch's promotion.

"Also, reporters will come to interview you later; I'll get in touch with you then—just follow her arrangements."

Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach him to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime,

Ash did not choose to leave a large sum of money,

Not to mention, whether this would go against the grandmother and granddaughter's conscience, or affect the granddaughter's values,

just saying whether other villagers would be jealous,

On this point alone, Ash cannot guarantee.

Rather than gamble on the quality of the Pokémon world's residents, it's better to directly use existing resources for promotion.

He had personally tried the rhyhorn speed race once; it was quite good, and he believes it suits parents who want to bring their kids out to play.

Ash plans to later introduce Grandma's ranch on his social media, drawing traffic, so that other villagers receive help; villagers will feel grateful to Ash and Grandma, and naturally look after her family.

Ash isn't in a hurry about this; he plans to team up with the currently trending Sansějǐn to do this, reaping traffic hotspots while also earning a good reputation for them.

Of course, the main praise and reputation will surely gather on Ash himself.

In short,

Mutual benefit, cooperation and win-win are the hard truth.

Having left all the promotional content, Ash and his party set off for the next destination before noon,

During this time, Ash contacted Sansějǐn by phone, commissioning Sansějǐn to come to Similu Village for an interview; Sansějǐn agreed without hesitation.

They also said they would contact Ash upon arrival.

……

At twilight, Mialai City!

The reason for returning to Mialai City is that the overall distribution of the Kalos region is somewhat close to a pentagonal shape,

Mialai City, as a hub, has extensive connections,

Wanting to go to other cities inevitably requires passing through here multiple times.

Familiar city streets came into view,

Strolling down Mialai City's wide, blue-stone-paved boulevard, Serena leisurely stretched.

"Finally back, Mialai City! Last time I came to Mialai City I couldn't properly explore it—what a pity!"

Ash felt a stir: "Serena, want to go sightseeing? Let's first drop off our luggage at the Pokémon Center, then enjoy Mialai City at night."

"Sure!" Serena replied with a smile,

At the same time, her face showed anticipation, imagining herself and Ash admiring the city's night scenery, even standing atop the Illusory Crystal Tower to overlook the whole city,

"I'm really looking forward to it; the Illusory Crystal Tower at night should be very beautiful."

"We'll have to ask Clemont about that."

Ash smiled and raised an eyebrow.

"Um, well…… I guess……" Clemont, feeling guilty, turned his head away, "Why are you saying that, Ash?"

"?" Ash wondered, "Clemont isn't a Trainer from Mialai City? You should know more about the place."

"I see," Clemont sighed in relief, clapping his hands. "That's indeed the case!"

Serena gave a curious look, "So Clemont, do you know any special places in Mialai City?"

"Eh…… this…… that……"

What special place could a shut-in like him know? This is practically making things difficult for him on purpose.

"Maybe…… the Bulatenuo Research Institute counts as one."

"Anything else?" Serena clenched her fists in anticipation,

"…… the Fuladali Research Institute?!"

Yurie rolled her eyes, "Come on! It's all research institutes—don't you have anything else in your head, brother?"

"Ah, this this……," scratching his head, Clemont's mind heated up, "The Gym inside Mialai City's Illusory Crystal Tower could count as one, right?"

Yurie: "?"

The little girl looked at her brother in utter disbelief, "How could someone dig a hole to bury themselves?"

Clemont obviously also realized he had misspoken in his sister's strange glance, and hurriedly, belatedly covered his mouth.

Just as he was thinking of how to immediately remedy the situation,

A person riding a motorcycle happened to pass by and saw the four people by the roadside, and couldn't help but show surprise.

"Eh? It's Clemont and Yurie!"

A middle-aged person's mature voice reached the ears of the four.

The four turned their heads.

Into view was a middle-aged man riding a motorbike, wearing a helmet, and sitting on the back seat was a cute, obedient-looking Electric Dragon.

"Eh? Dad!"

"Electric Dragon!"

Clemont and Yurie couldn't help but exclaim upon seeing the person.

Ash and Serena, upon seeing each other, more or less felt something strange.

At the same time, Ash also confirmed that the aura he had sensed on the Blaziken Mask in the darkness was exactly the same as that of the person before him.

After all, it was the old father who bore everything for his son.

"My name is Limone, and I run an electronics shop together with an Electric Dragon on this street."

"Elec~"

The Electric Dragon smiled and greeted the several people.

"By the way, Clemont, Mr. Limone's hair is black, so how come yours and your group's hair is blond?"

"Could it be that the Electric Dragon gave birth to them?"

"Exactly! That's it," Serena exclaimed, clapping her hands, "I was also going to say something felt off, and that's it!"

"That's because our mother has blond hair, and we two siblings take after her genetically!"

Clemont didn't think it was a big deal and directly explained.

"Alright, now Ash knows he was overthinking."

In this world, there are still too few humans born from the union of humans and elves.

Yurie cheerfully stood beside Serena, raising her arms, "Dad, these people are our new friends!"

Upon hearing this, the old father showed an excited state, tears pouring down like a waterfall.

"This... this... I... I am really touched! So happy, Clemont and Yurie!"

Seeing the three separate, Ash immediately introduced himself.

"My name is Ash, this is Pikachu."

""Skin God" excitedly shook its ears," Skin God excitedly shook its ears,

"Hey there, Pikachu! You're developing quite nicely."

"Pika~" Pikachu showed a somewhat embarrassed expression from being praised.

"I'm Serena!" Serena also politely introduced herself.

"Oh my, this lady is quite pretty; Clemont, this is actually your friend?"

Limone showed the knowing look of an old father.

This made Clemont feel a bit guilty.

"Um... Serena..."

Before Clemont could finish explaining, Serena proactively spoke up to clear up the misunderstanding.

"Mr. Limone, you've misunderstood; I'm Ash's girlfriend!"

While speaking, she reached out to link arms with Ash, resting her head on his shoulder.

Limone's complexion visibly lost a lot.

"As I thought, I said that idiot couldn't possibly have such a beautiful female friend."