The heavy snowfall had stopped.

“Pikachu~” Pikachu looked at everyone covered in soot, scratching its head and sticking out its tongue.

Gold somehow produced a comb and began fixing his bangs, wailing,
“I just styled my hair today!”

“No one noticed anyway,” Lorelei commented dryly.

“I did,” Silver said expressionlessly. “You look like a Rowlet.”

A vein bulged on Gold’s forehead. Like Misae and Shin-chan, he whacked Silver in the temple with his fist.
“Take that!”

“Childish… ow ow ow!”

“Is his fringe… Gold’s weak spot?” Lance whispered to Kristal beside him.

Kristal nodded and whispered back,
“According to Gold’s mom, he spends half an hour every morning in front of the mirror.”

Lu Ye looked up at the sky, mentally picturing a Rowlet… then glanced at Gold for comparison.

“Pfft.” Daisy was the first to turn red holding back laughter.

“Hey! I do not look like that!”

As the party wound down, the classic group pastime of teasing Gold filled the air with laughter and cheer.

Brock, wearing an apron and holding a cloth, began tidying up.

Red: “We didn’t help much earlier—let us handle cleanup.”

“It’s fine.” Brock smiled. “I’m used to it.”

“Gengar~”
Gengar twirled its rag, split into several Substitutes, and happily joined in the cleanup.

Brock blinked in surprise.
Even Teacher Lu’s Pokémon have maxed out their domestic skills?

“Everyone.”
Draped in a red cape, Lance mounted his chubby Dragonite. “I’ll be heading out first.”

“Another packed schedule today?” Red asked, surprised.

“Otherwise… who do you think passed the Champion title to me?” Lance gave Red a look.

Red scratched his head awkwardly. Beside him, Green folded his arms and rubbed his nose.

Hey, I was a Champion too, alright…

Truth be told, Lance liked the job.
Upholding justice, busting criminal groups from time to time—it had its own charm.
He was driven by both responsibility and a constantly full calendar.

But…

Lance glanced at Cynthia.

She was still licking her ice cream, chatting and laughing with Shauntal.
Meanwhile, Caitlin stared straight at Lu Ye.

Staaaaare——

Lu Ye blinked. “Your eyes hurt?”

Caitlin snapped out of it, but after thinking of the intimate moment earlier between him and Cynthia, jealousy surged again.
Then the memory of being beaten to tears resurfaced in her mind.

Caitlin quickly took a deep breath, suppressing her flaring psychic energy.
No way… If I lose it here, I won’t be able to face anyone!

“Do all the other Champions and Elite Four…”
Lance crossed his arms, frowning,
“…have this much free time?”

So out of all of us, I’m the only one who has to work overtime?!

“I’ll go with you.” Lorelei adjusted her glasses. “It’s a long trip back to the Sevii Islands—unless you let me borrow a Flying Pokémon.”

“I only brought Dragon-types,” Lance frowned.

“Don’t lie to me,” Lorelei chuckled and nudged his shoulder. “I know your tricks.”

Lance: “……”

Daisy leaned closer and kindly reminded,
“Mr. Lance, Dragon-type and Flying-type dual typing does count as Flying…”

“Where? Where are Flying-types?” Ash’s eyes lit up. “I could challenge you with my Swellow!”

“They’re probably still in the forest near Pallet Town,” Lu Ye added coolly. “Like your Pidgeot, for example.”

Ash froze, then laughed.
“Oh, I know! I’ll pick it up after I finish everything!”

Lance and Lorelei were the first to leave. Misty, Erika, Sabrina, and the others followed, saying their goodbyes.

Gold lay back with his hands behind his head, lazily saying,
“Ahh, I never wanna leave once these parties end…”

“But seriously, thanks for the hospitality, Teacher Lu!”
He blew his bangs out of his eyes and grinned.

Silver, ever the quiet one, gave a nod. “Me too.”

Lu Ye smiled gently, glancing around.
Cynthia was still chatting with her girlfriends, so he didn’t bother her.
Instead, he found a patch of dry grass, sat down cross-legged, and looked up at the stars twinkling above.

“Bui~”
Sylveon blinked its sky-blue eyes, tilting its head while nestled in Lu Ye’s arms.

“You’re not… thinking about how to train Moonblast, are you?” Lu Ye teased.

“Bui!”
Sylveon nodded seriously.

“……”
Lu Ye sighed as he stroked Sylveon’s snow-white fur.

Blue was busy removing decorations from the Abomasnow.
Noticing Lu Ye’s gaze, she smiled and said,
“I’m taking them off just in case they swallow something!”

Uh-huh… You just want to save them for next Christmas, don’t you?

Lu Ye cleared his throat.
“By the way, Blue—what kind of mushroom was in that broth earlier?”

He licked his lips, the taste still lingering. His inner chef instincts kicked in.
“I’d like to try cooking with it again.”

“Right? It’s a super rare kind!”
Blue beamed.
“Not only does it taste amazing—it also gives huge buffs to Pokémon!”

A cold breeze blew through the night.

Lu Ye froze.

Blue continued cheerfully,
“They’re only found in the Galar Region—something called… Max Mushrooms, I think?”

“The broth you had earlier, in Galar, would be called Max Soup!”
She grinned.
“Teacher Lu, your cooking was fantastic!”

“…Give me a moment.”
Lu Ye raised a trembling hand to rub his brow.

Max Mushrooms… when turned into Max Soup, they let Pokémon unlock Gigantamax forms.

Lu Ye recalled… his Pokémon didn’t originally have the “Gigantamax” label in their system entries.

But earlier, hadn’t Gengar and Squirtle both drunk that soup?

He opened his Pokédex and checked both Gengar and Squirtle.

He gasped.

“So now, if they Dynamax… they can go straight to Gigantamax?!”

“Not just that,” Blue added, raising a finger with a bright smile.
“Max Soup also boosts Pokémon stats overall—just look at Gengar! Doesn’t he seem livelier?”

“Gengar!”
Gengar gave a thumbs-up, baring his white teeth with a shining ping!

“……”
Lu Ye sighed deeply.

I just came here to eat… and even this ends up hitting me like a truck?

But Blue—who was famously stingy—had brought out something as precious as Max Mushrooms.
That showed how much she cared about this gathering.

“Fine, it’s a small thing,” Lu Ye muttered.
“Worst case… just don’t Gigantamax them!”

“Everyone already gone?”
Professor Oak came over holding a cup of instant noodles, spooning in some of the leftover broth.
His whole face turned red from the spice.

“Professor… is your stomach okay?” Lu Ye asked, concerned.

“I’m fine!” Oak chuckled. “Today’s been a good day!”

“Professor looks like he’s in a great mood,” Blue whispered.

“Mhm.”
Lu Ye nodded and whispered back,
“Maybe he saw an old flame or something.”

“Mmm… Oh right, Lu Ye—one more thing.”
Oak wiped his mouth with his sleeve and waved at Ash. “Come over here, Ash.”

Ash jogged over, Pikachu on his shoulder.

“Remember how I told you,” Oak said, “that to get the Special Edition Pokédex, you’d have to pass a test—”

“I know!” Ash grinned.
“I have to win a League Championship, or beat the Elite Four, right?”

Lu Ye silently looked to the heavens.

Yeah, good luck getting that Pokédex in the next ten years…

Oak coughed into his fist.
“No, no. I want you to retrieve a file for me—it’s located in a castle near the Kalos Region.”

“To be safe, Teacher Lu will go with you.”

He turned and smiled at Lu Ye.
“When you’re back, I’ll prepare a little something for you too!”

Lu Ye’s expression darkened.

“No need! Really, there’s no need!”

“No need to be polite.”
Oak clapped Lu Ye on the back, laughing heartily.

“We’ll wait until after New Year’s. After all… everyone deserves a little break!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read