Honestly, Eddie didn't know why he was panicking. Erika and Misty had clearly been intimate with him before. Logically speaking, both Erika and Misty knew that Eddie couldn't belong exclusively to just the two of them.
However, Eddie felt guilty about the situation, so even if Erika and the others were willing to share him, he couldn't push his luck too far.
For example, right now—was Eddie going to tell Erika directly that he had just arrived at the Indigo Plateau yesterday, didn't visit her or Misty first, but instead went to see Sabrina, and had only just left Sabrina's room moments ago?
Please, that would be too shameless and too much like a scumbag. Eddie simply couldn't bring himself to say it.
Forget it. He'd just have to brazen it out.
With that thought in mind, Eddie tried his best to act natural as he walked toward Erika.
"Ahem, hey there, Erika! I haven't seen you in over two months. I've missed you so much. How have you been lately?"
Well, feeling guilty as he was, Eddie started speaking in a somewhat awkward manner.
"?"
Faced with Eddie's rather strange greeting, Erika slowly processed what he'd said with visible confusion.
But Erika was still Erika. Being as intelligent as she was, she temporarily ignored Eddie's weird way of speaking.
"Eddie, I've been doing pretty well recently after dealing with Team Rocket's affairs."
"But why didn't you tell me you were coming to the Indigo Plateau? If I had known you were coming, I could have prepared in advance to welcome you properly..."
As Erika spoke, her face gradually turned much redder toward the end. It seemed that this particular "welcome" would be quite enjoyable.
Eddie was stunned when he heard this. Why did Erika seem more eager than him?
However, Eddie quickly figured it out. Women could be more passionate than men in these matters, and it seemed normal for Erika to behave this way.
"Ahem, Erika, I wanted to give you a surprise."
"It's just that I arrived at the Indigo Plateau yesterday after finishing some training. After completing registration, I felt a little tired, so I took a day to rest. I wanted to come find you early this morning to surprise you, but when you weren't in your room, I came back downstairs and ran into you here."
Eddie really wanted to give himself a thumbs up. He had managed to come up with a plausible story on the spot. Now it all depended on whether Erika believed it or not.
"I see. It seems we just missed each other this morning, and we happened to meet each other just now."
"However, I don't think this is the best place to talk. How about..."
Erika said this, slowly stood up, walked in front of Eddie, and spoke softly.
"How about we go back to my room right now and make up for that 'surprise'?"
Looking at the charming eyes of the beautiful young woman in her gorgeous kimono, smelling her unforgettable floral scent, and listening to her enticing words—
Eddie had to admit that he had just 'calmed down' after leaving Sabrina's room, but now he was getting 'excited' all over again.
The next day—or rather, the third day after Eddie arrived at the Indigo Plateau—he finally walked out of the hotel that exclusively served Gym Leaders and League executives.
However, as soon as he stepped through the hotel entrance, someone blocked his path again.
"Well, well, you had quite a lot of fun playing with Erika, didn't you? But now it's my turn, right?"
"My room number is 603. You go there first and get settled. I'll meet you there shortly after checking out of my other room. This way we can avoid being seen by others and causing a bunch of annoying gossip."
Yes, the one blocking Eddie's path at the entrance was none other than the youthful, beautiful, lively, and lovely Miss Misty.
Although Misty had a smiling expression on her face at this moment, Eddie could sense an inexplicable pressure emanating from her.
The corners of Eddie's mouth twitched constantly. While he was definitely the one enjoying this situation the most—after all, he was literally surrounded by beautiful women—he couldn't help but wonder if these women were planning to drain him completely so he'd have no energy left to pursue other women.
Of course, this was just speculation, and Eddie didn't dare ask anyway.
Finally, Eddie used his Psychic abilities to disguise himself, returned to the hotel, and walked into Misty's room.
Over the next few days, Eddie stayed at the Alliance Hotel. Well, he took turns resting in the rooms of the three women, living a life that was both painful and blissful.
Of course, he also found an opportunity and claimed he had left something important in his room. Then he ran back from the Alliance Hotel to his assigned room at the hotel prepared for the tournament contestants.
Unfortunately, returning to his own room didn't allow Eddie to get any real rest time.
"Hi there, dear! I heard you arrived at the Indigo Plateau several days ago, but I, Green, have been waiting here for you all this time and haven't seen you at all."
"Now it seems that dear is having a wonderful time with them. Can you spare some time for little old me?"
Green had somehow managed to get into Eddie's room. Now she wore an extremely sad expression on her face as she "pleaded" with Eddie.
Looking around the room arranged for him, Green seemed to have been staying here for several days already.
Looking at Green again—although she appeared sad on the surface, there was a hint of danger lurking in her eyes.
Eddie fell silent once more.
At this moment, Eddie felt extremely grateful that Green had her own principles and wouldn't go all the way to the final step. At least with her, Eddie could be considered to have gotten some 'rest.'
Several days later, the Quartz Conference finally began, and tomorrow would be the opening ceremony and the start of the competition battles.
Eddie was overjoyed. The competition he had been looking forward to for so long was finally about to begin.
"The tournament is starting. I'm sorry, but I need some time alone to adjust my condition and prepare. We'll continue after the competition is over."
Eddie visited each of the three women's rooms and said the same words to them. After receiving their understanding, he returned to his own room without delay.
Although Green still lived in his room, she mentioned that she would stay there for the next few days unless something unexpected happened.
But now he only had to face Green, and he didn't have to take that final step with her. Eddie felt that things were much better than before.
The next day, Eddie and Green watched the opening ceremony together from the contestant seating area.
Of course, Ash and Gary, who were also Pokédex holders, were there as well. Eddie met them after entering the venue.
If this were any normal occasion, Eddie would definitely be annoyed by these two guys sitting next to him and acting like third wheels or something. But after these past few days of exhausting activities, Eddie thought to himself—why didn't you show up earlier?
After the opening ceremony performance concluded, all the contestants had to enter the main arena. Of course, there was no oath-taking speech involved. For these trainers, such empty formalities held no real meaning. After entering the venue, they headed straight to their respective competition brackets to begin their battles.
However, while walking toward his assigned competition area, Eddie glanced at the special seating section reserved for League officials.
All the Gym Leaders sat there, and because the Quartz Conference served as a tournament for two regions, the Gym Leaders from the Johto Region were present as well. Compared to the Kanto Region, all eight Gym Leaders from the Johto Region were in attendance.
Eddie looked at Misty, Erika, and Sabrina, and the three women seemed to be looking at him as well. They were all smiling and silently cheering Eddie on. Seeing this, Eddie smiled slightly and responded to the three women with a nod.
However, he soon noticed that in addition to the three women in the special seating section, there was another person staring at him.
The person was an elderly man with gray hair and a kind face, sitting in a wheelchair. While looking at Eddie, the old man also nodded gently toward him.
Being observed by this terrifying individual, Eddie not only remained calm but also nodded back to the old man with a smile on his face, appearing perfectly composed.
After doing this, Eddie ignored the old man and walked toward his competition area.
At this moment, he couldn't afford to think about other things. The most important objective was to capture this Pokémon Champion title.