Chương 134: Chapter 131

As it turns out, Ethan's meeting with Cynthia and Lucian was sooner rather than later. When Ethan finally arrived at his shared tent after escaping the doom-magnet Ash Ketchum, he found a note placed on his new cot with a time and place—for a dinner. Cynthia must have taken more of an offence to his humble meatless stew than he originally thought. Nonetheless, he still had to make sure his own pokemon were fine and full.

After spending the next twenty minutes preparing his pokemon's meals, as many of his pokemon probably couldn't eat what was in store for him, Ethan made sure to check up on Snorlax. His bubbly and jovial friend was back, having gently awoken when he was released. Snorlax let loose a mighty yawn, showcasing his fangs before smiling at such a nice nap. At first, Ethan had tried to broach the topic of their mid-day kerfuffle, but Snorlax didn't seem to want to talk about his new behavior changes so soon.

That was alright. These things took time. Once his pokemon were filled to the brim with berries, seeds, and pokeblocks of various flavors, Ethan recalled them all and made his way around the camp in an attempt to find the place of his meeting with two, and hopefully not three, of the greatest trainers in the region. Without much trouble, Ethan found the tent in question. The very same tent which at their old camp hosted the big meetings the higher-ups had.

Ethan stuck his head through the black tent flaps and was immediately greeted with the sight of Cynthia, Lucian, Ash, Dawn, Brock, the other two Elite 4 members he didn't know the name of, and the assumed Ice type gym leader around the large table from before, chatting and talking. Why was the anime trio here? He didn't know and hopefully wouldn't figure it out. After taking a moment to steel himself, Ethan strode through the tent with a smile. His appearance turned heads, Lucian especially.

The Psychic immediately got out of his seat, brushing down his clothes and meeting him at the entrance.

"Ethan! Welcome, welcome! Once again, I am very sorry for what happened." He held out a hand to shake, which appeared to be an awkward thing for him to do. Either he wasn't used to it—well, Ethan wasn't actually sure. It didn't appear forced at least. Ethan gave him a firm handshake and a nod.

"While I won't say it's okay, Girafarig is forgiven. My Snorlax was… not happy." Lucian winced at the news, but turned and gestured for Ethan to head to the table to pick a seat. Ethan, not wanting to be close to Ash and the gang, chose the seat beside the ice-type gym leader, who flashed him a smile and a nod.

"Ethan, was it?" She asked as conversation started back up around the table. Everyone else was talking about Wayward Cave and preparations.

"Cand…" Ethan started, but struggled to remember the young woman's name. She visibly deflated, which made him feel… not great.

"Candice, Gym leader of Snowpoint City." Candice supplied. Her face returned some of its joy once Ethan nodded his recognition.

"Sorry. As you may have heard, I am not a native to Sinnoh." Ethan spared a look around the table, but found that he and Candice were fine to have a one on one conversation. He tried to remember anything he could about the gym and city.

"Does your gym have sliding floors?" Candice quirked a brow, "It's ice, if that's what you mean. Some people slip and fall." Feeling like an idiot for assuming people slipped and slided around her gym like the puzzle in the games, Ethan immediately moved onto a safe topic for people in this world; Pokemon.

"You have an Abomasnow, if I remember correctly? I don't have any Ice-type pokemon yet. Grass and Ice type is a dangerous combination." The next few minutes devolved into a discussion on weaknesses and resistances and the benefits of Ice-type pokemon. Candice thankfully didn't take his concerns about the type as criticism and instead did her best to inform him on the benefits, which to her were mostly non-battle related other than 'it's good against dragons!'

While not confident in his battling skills, Ethan at least had the type chart memorized. As they talked about many ice type pokemon, which Ethan thankfully knew of, Ash asked a question.

"Where did you learn about all these pokemon? I feel like every pokemon I run into here in Sinnoh is new." The room quieted as everyone waited for his answer. He snuck a peak at Lucian and Cynthia, finding them waiting to see what he'd reveal. Of course, he wasn't going to tell Ash about his unique circumstances. So… He lied.

"Being a Move Tutor and Breeder requires knowledge about many pokemon. I don't know them all, but I know about a good chunk of them." Wanting to shift the conversation away from himself as soon as possible, he brought up Kanto.

"You're from Pallet Town, correct?" Ash immediately looked a mix of concerned and wary.

"And how did you know that?"

"Jessie and James live on my ranch, remember?" This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Ash smacked his forehead dramatically, "Oh right! I gotta thank you for that! This whole journey through Sinnoh has been great these past few months!"

"They said you traveled with Misty from the Cerulean City gym in the past, alongside Brock here." Ethan waved a hand towards Brock.

"How did you manage to bring along two gym-leaders on your journey? Didn't that disrupt things?" Blessedly, the next fifteen minutes was filled with Ash talking about his journey through Kanto. Brock's familial issues and Misty's sisters were brought up, answering how the gyms functioned with their sudden disappearances. To be honest, Ethan had forgotten Misty even had sisters. They were apparently aspiring coordinators, attempting to set up a stable coordination scene in Kanto.

This of course made Dawn speak about a bunch of Coordination events and showing the equivalent of her badge to all around the table. They were finely made ribbons in a badge-like case. She had two out of the five she needed. When food arrived, it wasn't anything special. A curry with a heaping side of rice. Ethan had expected something a little more extravagant given the company.

When the entire Elite 4 was involved, your mind naturally drifted toward silver platters and the sort of food people in novels described with fifteen different adjectives. Instead, he got a dented metal plate fit for the wilderness and a wooden spoon. Which, in hindsight, made perfect sense. They were indeed in the middle of nowhere, not a five-star restaurant.

"Oh! Curry!" Ashe said immediately, already halfway through taking his first bite.

"It's great!" Brock nodded approvingly.

"It's one of the best meals for large groups of people. Efficient and easy to customize." Dawn mixed her rice together with the curry before scooping up a bite.

"Spicy!" Ethan took a bite. As he hadn't had curry many times in his life, he didn't really know what to expect. It was a hearty meal, the king of hearty food tended to be when it was cooked in a massive pot meant to feed dozens of people. It was indeed spicy, warm and kicking. The rice soaked up the brownish sauce nicely. There were chunks of meat within the sauce. He didn't ask what kind it was. Candice leaned closer to the table as she began to eat. Conversation resumed around the table, "So," She said quietly.

"Move Tutor and breeder, huh?"

"Yup." Ethan stuffed his mouth with another bite.

"That's pretty cool!" Candice rested her spoon on her plate as she focused her attention on him.

"Why both? Isn't breeding alone a huge commitment?"

"Well…" Ethan's breeding was—Well, it wasn't really breeding in the typical sense of things.

"What kind of pokemon do you raise?" She asked innocently, but eyes and focus around the table shifted to him. Cynthia was the only outlier, having already seen how he did things.

"Ones that can live together peacefully." Ethan answered vaguely.

"My ranch is more… slice-of-life rather than competitive or efficient."

"Slice of life?" Dawn questioned.

"Low stress. Quiet. Open land. Lots of berries." Candice brightened.

"That sounds nice!" Across the table, Ash perked up.

"I didn't get too good of a look last time. How many pokemon do you have living on your ranch?" Remembering the little alert that Joy had on her computer system and his army of Oddish which would not be seen in the correct way to many around the table, Ethan once again answered vaguely.

"Some."

"Yeah, but, how many?" Dawn asked curiously. Lucian's eyes were focused on Ethan, waiting for the answer. Cynthia calmly ate her meal, but he noticed the smirk pulling on her lips. She was enjoying this. He did some quick mental math and came to the conclusion that in no way could he say the correct number. Not even counting the many wild Pidgey, Starly, and numerous bugs that he had no number for, he was already well past fifty in his mental count.

"... A fair amount."

"Do you battle with them?" Ash leaned forward, his half eaten plate forgotten.

"Sometimes… Not as much as some of them would like." He answered. That earned Cynthia's attention. She gave him a surprised look, blinking at the unexpected answer. It seemed that she wasn't aware of some of his more recent battles.

"What's your strongest pokemon?" Ash asked again, not letting him out of the spotlight.

"Ursaring. I have a newly evolved Snorlax and a five-badge Smeargle who are strong as well." Ash's eyes lit up.

"I have a Snorlax as well! They're awesome!" Ethan felt Snorlax's ball wiggle on his hip, causing him to smile. The older woman of the Elite 4—Bertha, he had heard her called around the table—commented.

"They're incredibly strong physically. A well trained Snorlax can dominate entire battlefields." That… wasn't a comparison he was expecting to hear. Cynthia immediately changed the topic.

"They're remarkable for their endurance." Ethan scooped up another bite of curry, wondering when the topic would shift away from his pokemon. He did not want to be in the spotlight with Ash and company in attendance. Too bad for him, Ash once again asked him a question.

"Does your Snorlax know Giga-Impact?" Ethan nearly choked on his food.

"No."

"Aww." Ash deflated, not getting the answer he wanted.

"What about your Smeargle? They're very interesting pokemon, but not one I typically hear about being strong." Lucian asked, genuine curiosity clearing showing. Deciding to once again steal a quote that indeed meant a good amount to him, Ethan said.

"Strong pokemon. Weak pokemon. That is only the selfish perception of people. Truly skilled trainers should try to win with their favorites." Cynthia, having known him the longest, obviously knew that those were not words from Ethan's own mouth.

"Who said that? That's a fantastic quote."

"Karen. A dark type specialist."

"Ahh," Flint, the fire type Elite 4 member, said.

"The new Elite 4 member for indigo." The conversation around the table shifted from Ethan to many notable high-level battles. At this point, Ethan's prior knowledge went straight out the window. He nodded along but had nothing to add. Dinner had been quickly devoured by everyone around the table and for the rest of the evening, Ethan avoided sticking out too much. Ignoring the possible apocalyptic side-episode he was potentially being involved in… It was a nice night among—well, peers would be the wrong word…

Fellow Trainers? He needed to battle more.