Chapter 76

"Wow~ what a big cruise ship, I also really want to board this kind of ship and go to the other side of the sea to see."

Ash clung to the railing of the port, staring up at the golden hull of the Saint Tenu, his eyes filled with yearning.

Quite a few Trainers were standing on the deck of the cruise ship, and even a few Flying-type Pokémon were circling by the ship's side, looking itchy.

"That way I could see more Pokémon not in Kanto." Lilian pushed her glasses, her tone also carrying anticipation.

Her notebook was already full of Pokémon encountered along the way, if she could encounter rare varieties on the cruise ship, she could definitely supplement quite a bit of data.

"That's right!" Xiao Xia supported her chin with both hands, stars shining in her eyes, "Sitting leisurely on the deck blowing the sea breeze, eating desserts and watching the sea view, this is what travel should look like!"

Compared to sleeping in the open in the wild, the treatment of a luxury cruise ship was simply heaven.

"But we don't have that much money..." Lilian's words were like a basin of cold water, instantly extinguishing the enthusiasm of the two.

She had long inquired about the price of hard-seat boat tickets, let alone this luxury cruise ship that looked like it cost a fortune to build.

"Reality is still very cruel..." Ash hung his head, his finger poking Pikachu on his shoulder; "Pika Pika~" Pikachu also rubbed against his cheek, as if comforting him.

Just as the three were dejected and preparing to leave, two voices deliberately disguised as sweet suddenly sounded behind them:

"Oh my, little brother, little sister, congratulations!"

"Congratulations~ you are super lucky people!"

Ash and the three turned their heads to look, only to see two women wearing short skirts standing behind them, their faces piled with overly enthusiastic smiles; if it wasn't Musashi and Kojiro, who else could it be.

"This is our party ticket," Musashi shook the card in her hand, her voice so soft it could squeeze out water, "It's the Saint Tenu exclusive Pokémon Trainer banquet ticket! By then all the Trainers who board the ship will gather in the banquet hall, there's delicious food, battles, and many fun games!"

"Wow, so great!" Ash's eyes lit up instantly, almost jumping up.

Kojiro immediately took the conversation, deliberately showing a regretful expression: "Do you want this invitation ticket? Actually, we also really want to go, but we've already promised to go on a date, really can't spare the time~" He said, secretly pinching Musashi, and the two immediately put on a deep, "painfully giving up love" look.

"Re, really can give it to us?" Xiao Xia couldn't believe it, after all, this kind of "pie falling from the sky" was too rare.

"Of course!" Musashi stuffed the card into Ash's hand, smiling until her eyes narrowed into a line, "Being able to let such energetic Trainers use it is better than wasting it~"

Ash gripped the three banquet tickets tightly, so excited he was incoherent: "Tha, thank you so much! We will definitely enjoy it!"

Watching Ash and the three jumping and rushing toward the boarding gate, Musashi and Kojiro looked at each other and secretly made a "success" gesture.

Huo La, who was behind the porthole, took in this scene, and shook his head helplessly.

"Still the same old trick of fooling people..." He leaned against the window, his fingertips tapping the glass, "But thanks to them, Ash will board the ship—it seems the 'commotion' of the Saint Tenu is indispensable."

Just thinking, the door of Huo La's room was knocked three times, followed by Meowth's lowered voice: "Meow~ Brat Huo La, it's me, open the door!"

Huo La raised his eyebrows and walked over to pull the door open.

Meowth darted in, clutching half a cake it had stolen in its paw: "The captain's people just came to notify, 'work' in the banquet hall at eight o'clock tonight, let us watch the field."

"'Work'?" Huo La's eyes raised slightly, it looked like they were going to snatch the Pokémon of the people boarding the ship, but he didn't care about this, what he cared about at this moment was the batch of rare Pokémon eggs.

"Right, work, snatching the Pokémon of Trainers." Meowth licked the cream on its paw, "By the way, the captain seems to have noticed you, so you don't need to worry about your Pokémon."

Huo La's heart chilled—it seemed the captain had long received news from headquarters, and his identity was already clear to the other party.

"Understood." He nodded and said to Meowth, "I will leave the banquet hall before eight o'clock."

Meowth blinked, seemingly wanting to say something, but finally just nodded, grabbed a handful of strawberries from Huo La's table, and slipped out again.

Huo La closed the door, walked to the window and looked toward the boarding gate, Ash was holding the banquet ticket and saying something to the ticket inspector, Pikachu was calling excitedly on his shoulder.

Xiao Xia and Lilian followed to the side, their faces filled with anticipation.

"It's here." Huo La whispered, a flash of interest in his eyes, "One of the nine great captains, rare Pokémon eggs, and Ash... this cruise banquet is truly too interesting."

There were still more than two hours until the banquet at eight o'clock, and he had one more thing he wanted to try his luck with.

Turning and walking through the corridor, his knuckles knocked lightly on the door next door: "Xiao Gang, accompany me to the market on the ship to look around, see if there's anything worth buying."

The door opened quickly, Xiao Gang was wearing a clean casual outfit, looking at Huo La with an obvious smile in his eyes: "You actually take the initiative to mention shopping in the market? This is really the sun rising from the west. Ever since I followed you, besides paying for me to buy supplies, and staring at the skill learning machine to pick, when have you ever looked at other things in the market?"

"Hehe." Huo La scratched the back of his head and smiled awkwardly.

He was right—with Xiao Gang, this "all-around nanny" around, food, clothing, housing, transportation, Pokémon breeding supplies, energy block ratios, and even the daily maintenance of Poké Balls were all arranged clearly, he really saved a lot of worry.

This was also one of the core reasons why he didn't hesitate to "pry away" Xiao Gang at the beginning, having a reliable logistics guarantee, he could focus his mind on battles and tasks.

"Forget it, since you rarely have this interest, I naturally have to accompany you." Xiao Gang closed the door with a smile, and picked up the canvas bag hanging behind the door, "Just in time, I also want to see if the breeding shop on the ship has seeds that can't be bought in Kanto, maybe I can match some new nutritional supplements for my Onix."