"Of course you can."
Marill's little wishes weren't difficult at all for Ash to grant, so he agreed without hesitation.
"Marill~ Thank you, Ash!"
Seeing Ash accept its request, Marill was deeply moved.
"Then come here, Marill."
Standing by the riverbank, Ash opened his arms.
"Marill~!"
The small Water Mouse Pokémon swam to the edge of the river, climbed onto a rock, and shook the water from its fur before excitedly jumping into Ash's embrace.
Ash's warm hug didn't just warm Marill's body—
At that moment, it warmed its heart as well.
"Alright, come on in."
After holding Marill for a while, Ash began walking home with his Pokémon. At the same time, he took out an empty Poké Ball and gently tapped it against Marill.
"Beep—beep—ding!"
The Poké Ball in Ash's hand shook lightly twice before letting out a clear chime.
Capture successful.
After successfully catching Marill, Ash pulled out a marker pen from the system storage and carefully wrote the name "Marill" on the Poké Ball.
Once everything was done, he put both the Poké Ball and the marker back into the system storage, then took out his phone and dialed a number.
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Cerulean City · Cerulean Water Gym
In the living area behind the Gym, the Sensational Sisters were sitting around the dining table having dinner.
"Here, Misty—have a seaweed meatball. It's really good for your skin."
Her third sister, Lily, placed the food into the orange-haired girl's bowl.
Misty eyed her suspiciously.
"Third Sister… why are you suddenly being so nice today? Are you up to something?"
"What are you talking about? Are you saying I'm not nice to you normally?" Lily pouted.
"Alright, alright, you're the best, Lily. Now tell me—what's going on?"
"Hehe… it's nothing really."
Lily leaned closer with a mischievous grin.
"I just heard that you know Ash. Are you two dating now?"
Not only Lily—
Their second sister Violet and eldest sister Daisy also pretended to sip their soup while secretly pricking up their ears.
"What?!"
Misty nearly choked on her food.
"Of course not! Ash and I are just normal friends. We only got to know each other because of the Magikarp incident before."
"And besides, Ash is basically a celebrity now! If you spread rumors like that, it could affect his career!"
She hurriedly explained while shoveling rice into her mouth.
"Really? Just normal friends?"
Lily tilted her head teasingly.
"But the other day when I returned that Psyduck plush toy to your room, I saw you two chatting. You looked awfully happy."
"I—I was just asking him for advice about training Staryu!"
"Don't misunderstand!"
Misty's face instantly showed a trace of panic.
"Is that so?"
Lily smirked.
"Then why were you acting so gentle and sweet while calling him 'Ash-kun'? I've never seen you talk to any boy like that before."
"I didn't! You heard wrong!"
Misty blushed furiously and tried to deny it.
"Oh really? I don't believe that—"
Bzzzt—
At that moment, the phone in Misty's pocket suddenly rang.
The ringtone played:
"♪ Bubbles drift gently in the sea… water sways softly… from the ocean rises endless green mountains… ♪"
"Huh?!"
When Misty pulled out her phone, Lily's eyes instantly widened.
The caller ID said:
Ash
Before Misty could react, Lily snatched the phone out of her hand and rushed over to the other sisters with an excited grin.
"Give that back!" Misty shouted in panic.
"Nope, nope! Misty, I'm answering it!"
Lily stuck out her tongue and pressed the answer button while turning on speaker mode.
"Hello, Misty."
Ash's warm voice came through the phone.
"Talk! Talk! (＾▽＾)" Lily mouthed exaggeratedly, making faces at Misty from across the table.
With her three sisters staring at her mischievously, Misty's face turned completely red.
But when she heard Ash's voice—
The excitement and sweetness she felt quickly overcame her embarrassment.
Blushing deeply, she spoke in the gentlest voice she could muster.
"Ash… Ash-kun, I'm here. Why are you calling me all of a sudden?"
"Well, more or less."
Ash chuckled.
"It's like this—I recently opened two clinics near Pallet Town to treat injured wild Pokémon."
"Among the Pokémon I treated was a Marill with really good potential."
"It wanted me to catch it, but you know… I already have quite a few Water-type Pokémon right now. I don't plan to catch more anytime soon."
"So I recommended you instead."
"I thought you might really like this little guy."
"Marill?!"
Misty's eyes instantly lit up with excitement.
Marill was a Water/Fairy-type Pokémon.
And if it had the Huge Power Ability, it could become an incredible dragon slayer in battle.
In other words—
Marill was both adorable and powerful.
If Marill weren't so rare in Kanto, Misty might have chosen one as her starter Pokémon.
Actually—
Calling it a starter Pokémon wasn't enough to describe her love for it.
To Misty, Marill was practically her dream Pokémon.
"Thank you, Ash big brother!"
"Where is the Marill now? Do I need to go to Pallet Town to get it?"
She asked excitedly.
Ash laughed softly.
"No need."
"I knew you'd like it."
"And guess what? It has the Huge Power Ability."
"So after getting its permission earlier, I already caught it."
"I just called to let you know."
"When I get home later, I'll transfer Marill directly to the Cerulean Gym. Just remember to receive it."
"Okay! Okay!"
"Thank you so much, Ash big brother—you're the best!"
Overcome with excitement, Misty forgot that her three sisters were watching her and said it sweetly into the phone.
"Haha, no problem. It's the least I could do."
"I'll hang up now."
After Ash ended the call—
Lily immediately clung to Lily's arm with an exaggeratedly shy expression.
"Ash-kun~ you're so good to me~"
"Lily, stop that! You're giving me goosebumps," Lily groaned.
"Hehe!"
Lily giggled and looked at Misty teasingly.
"And you still say nothing's going on between you two?"
"He caught a rare Pokémon and gave it straight to you!"
"And the way you said 'Ash-kun' just now—so sweet!"
"Ahhh!! Third Sister, I'm getting angry! Give me back my phone!"
Lily stuck out her tongue again.
"Nope! Not giving it back unless you admit Ash is your boyfriend!"
"AHHH!! Give it back!"
With a furious shout, Misty lunged at her sister like an angry Meowth while the other sisters burst into laughter.
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T/N:
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