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Seeing Jigglypuff's condition worsen, Brock spoke up urgently, "We should take it downstairs and let Nurse Joy look at it right away!"
Kai nodded. This was clearly beyond anything he could handle on his own better to leave it to a professional.
With everyone accompanying him, Kai scooped Jigglypuff into his arms and hurried down to the Pokémon Center's front desk.
Misty pressed the service bell. Moments later, Nurse Joy emerged from behind the counter, yawning slightly. But before Kai could explain anything, her eyes immediately landed on Jigglypuff. Her expression sharpened, all sleepiness gone, as she rushed over.
"What happened to it?"
Misty answered quickly, recounting everything from start to finish. After listening, Nurse Joy nodded in understanding, summoned her assistant Pokémon, carefully placed Jigglypuff onto a stretcher, and wheeled it straight into the emergency room.
The red light outside signaling ongoing treatment lit up at once.
Only then did everyone finally relax, taking seats on the benches nearby.
Ash glanced at Kai, curiosity getting the better of him. "Kai, why did you even have a rock in your backpack?"
Kai gave a wry smile. "It wasn't just a rock it was an Everstone."
"Everstone?"
"I know!" Max adjusted his glasses. "Unlike evolution stones, an Everstone prevents Pokémon from evolving. If a Pokémon carries one, it stays exactly the way it is!"
Ash froze. "Wait—doesn't that mean if Jigglypuff swallowed it… It'll never be able to evolve?"
"That's not such a big deal," Misty said casually. "Your Pikachu refuses to evolve too, remember? And honestly, Jigglypuff is way cuter than Wigglytuff."
While they waited, May finally returned to the Pokémon Center.
The moment she stepped inside, she noticed the group sitting quietly by the counter, the mood unusually heavy. Confused, she walked over.
"It's pretty late—why are you all still here? Didn't you go to sleep?"
Only then did everyone realize she'd come back. A quick glance at the clock showed it was already close to 11:00 p.m.
"Long story," Misty said, giving her a shortened version of the chaos. Thinking back to the moment Jigglypuff had thrown the stone only to swallow it seconds later, she couldn't help but laugh.
May stared blankly by the end. "Huh?! Is Jigglypuff going to be okay?"
"It should be," Kai said, then added, "By the way what kept you out so late? How did your practice go?"
May grinned confidently and flashed an OK sign. "No problem at all! Just wait and see how I do tomorrow!"
The others exchanged looks. None of them had any idea what kind of training she'd done but judging from her confidence, it must've been something serious.
Just as they were about to ask for details, the red light outside the emergency room shut off. The doors opened, and Nurse Joy stepped out.
"Nurse Joy!" they asked in unison. "How is Jigglypuff?"
She looked apologetic. "There's no immediate danger, but the Everstone is still in its stomach. I tried several methods, but I couldn't remove it."
That caught everyone off guard Nurse Joy rarely ran into something she couldn't handle.
"So… what now?"
"There are two options," she explained. "One is surgery using specialized equipment to break the Everstone down and remove it. But that requires a Pokémon hospital in a major city. The other option is to wait and see if it passes naturally… though, given the size, that could take quite a while."
Everyone turned to Kai, waiting for his decision.
He didn't hesitate. "Is there a Pokémon hospital like that in this city?"
Nurse Joy shook her head. "Only human hospitals here. For Pokémon surgery, you'll need to travel to a larger city."
"Then we don't have much choice," Kai sighed. "Since it's not life-threatening, we'll wait until we reach a bigger city. Until then… let's hope it comes out on its own."
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They rested at the Pokémon Center overnight.
Early the next morning, Kai, Ash, Brock, and Max finished breakfast in the dining hall but Misty and May still hadn't come downstairs.
Today was the day of the Pokémon Contest.
Sure, everyone knew getting ready took time but this was really pushing it.
Kai finally called Misty, only to learn that May had been so nervous she barely slept, and the two of them had stayed up talking late into the night. If not for that phone call, they probably would've kept sleeping.
Kai checked the time again.
9:07 a.m.
The contest didn't start until 1:00 p.m., but all contestants had to confirm registration and draw their entry numbers before 10:00 a.m. Miss that window, and you were disqualified—no exceptions.
When Kai explained the situation, Ash and the others could only sigh.
After all that training, missing registration would be devastating.
Thankfully, just a few minutes later, May and Misty came rushing downstairs like a gust of wind.
Compared to the others, the two of them were clearly unprepared—clothes hastily thrown on, wrinkled everywhere, faces barely washed, droplets of water still clinging to their skin.
Even so, their natural beauty still shone through.
"We're late—we're late!!" May shouted, not even stopping for breakfast as she bolted straight out the door.
Misty sprinted after her, and Ash, Brock, and Max immediately followed, tension spreading like wildfire.
In the blink of an eye, Kai was left standing there alone.
Watching their backs disappear, he shook his head helplessly.
He'd actually been planning to have Dragonite fly May directly to the contest hall if she ran late.
But before he could even say a word…
They were already gone.
Traveling with Ash really does rub off on people, Kai thought wryly. Everyone ends up rushing around like it's an emergency even when it doesn't have to be.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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For early access to advanced chapters on P-atreon:
P-atreon/iamxeno
(Just remove the - hyphen to access normally)
Thank you so much for your support and for reading!