Chspter 353:
Holding a bath brush in his left hand and body wash in his right, Hayashi Kaede applied the body wash to his Dragonite, which had shrunk to one-third of its usual size, while gently pouring warm water over its body.
Once the Dragonite was completely covered in suds, Kaede, wearing only his swim trunks, sat down in front of it and began scrubbing slowly with the washcloth.
"Kyuuu..." (^///^)
The shrunken Dragonite sat on the floor, leaning against Kaede's hand, its cheeks slightly flushed with a look of pure contentment.
It, along with Salamence and Goodra, were the Pokémon who loved Kaede's hot baths the most.
They would always wait in front of the bathroom in advance, lining up for their turn to be scrubbed by Kaede. At first, Salamence had been a bit reserved, but after a bath or two, it had gotten used to it.
"Dragonite?"
Kaede gently touched the two antennae on its head.
Honestly, the Dragonite shrunk to this size wasn't scary at all; instead, it was incredibly cute, just like a plush Dragonite toy.
"Dragonite?"
Dragonite turned its head, looking at Kaede with a questioning expression.
Kaede didn't really have anything specific to say; he just felt like calling its name.
Now, he felt compelled to add, "You'll have to work hard during the matches too."
"Dragonite~!"
Dragonite stretched out its claws, indicating that it was strong and would defeat all its opponents.
But right now, its body was so small that its outstretched dragon claw was even smaller than Kaede's hand, looking somewhat comical.
Kaede laughed heartily and sped up scrubbing it. After he finished, he looked at the clean and gleaming Dragonite with satisfaction.
He really should drag Serperior in here for a proper wash too.
Because so far...
Alolan Ninetales had bathed, Growlithe had bathed, Dragonite, Salamence, Goodra, Mew, Sprigatito...
With the exception of some Pokémon that couldn't bathe, basically every Pokémon had taken a turn.
But Serperior hadn't.
However, Kaede thought it could probably bathe too.
It was just that winter was too cold, and it refused to get in the water, whether hot or cold. Maybe he'd ask again in the summer?
And Meowscarada...
Well, it was all grown up now; it can bathe itself.
These thoughts flashed through Kaede's mind, but he simply said, "Alright, all done, shake yourself off!"
He immediately stood up.
Dragonite promptly flapped its short wings vigorously.
Water splashed everywhere, but fortunately, Kaede dodged quickly. After the splashing settled, Kaede wiped off the remaining water droplets from its body and sent it out.
Then he finally took his own shower.
Within a few minutes, he was dressed and walked out of the bathroom.
The other Pokémon had already found their respective spots and were preparing to sleep.
Alolan Ninetales and Serperior had also eaten their Size Shifting Energy Cubes and were lying on the bed and pillow respectively.
Kaede took out his phone, went to the screen, found the recording of his match, and watched the battle play out.
He started transferring the footage.
Several Pokémon who had participated in today's match, hearing the sounds of the battle, instinctively gathered around.
They watched the footage of their own battle with interest.
"Pretty interesting, right~? How about transferring these over and posting them on the video channel?"
Kaede sought his Pokémon's opinions.
"Meowscarada~" Meowscarada mewed obediently.
It didn't really understand this stuff, but it knew that doing so would help its Trainer sell more goods.
"Serperior~"
Serperior had no objections either; after all, they had done this many times already.
Gardevoir had even fewer objections.
So, Kaede immediately transferred the video to his phone and then sent it to Rotom.
Now, Rotom had been trained by him to become a Pokémon with excellent video editing skills.
After finishing this, Kaede picked up several of the shrunken Pokémon, one in each arm, and placed them in their designated spots.
He himself slipped into bed, planning to watch some videos before sleeping.
At some point, Alolan Ninetales and Meowscarada had quietly climbed up next to him, and Serperior had slithered onto the edge of the bed, coiling up its body to watch the phone below with Kaede.
He hadn't realized until he started scrolling through videos, but he was quite startled.
On the short video platforms these days, out of every ten videos, eight were related to the Pokémon League Conference.
Titles like—"OMG, this Charizard is actually black, so does it breathe... black fire?!"
"Legendary Pokémon Sighted Again! Will He Be the Next to Challenge Champion Kazephyr and Become the New Champion?!"
"The Fastest Pokémon of All Appears at the Conference...!"
"Miss Sally! So adorable..."
"Shocking Appearance of a Blue Gardevoir at the Pokémon League Conference! Its Smile Has Me Enchanted...!"
"Incredible Trainer Tactics at the Conference! Teach You How to Secure Victory with a 4x Type Advantage!"
A series of these clickbait, sensationalist headlines made Kaede's eyebrow twitch.
They were all full of journalistic tricks, making mysteries out of nothing.
For example, the first one: a black Charizard's flames are, of course, still orange-yellow. A shiny variant only changes skin color, not flame color.
And the second one.
That guy, Tobias, isn't even from the Eastova League; how could he become the Eastova League Champion?
But these short videos were well-edited, each capturing the key moments, paired with intense background music—it really got people's blood pumping.
At least for those rookie trainers just starting out, it was enough to make them burn with passion, losing their sense of direction.
Especially when they saw trainers in the Conference winning with Pokémon like Beedrill or Butterfree, which are generally considered to have lower potential, it will made them yearn to be one of them someday.
At least, that's what Kaede gathered from the comments.
"No wonder they want to make the participants in the Pokémon League Conference younger..."
Kaede muttered.
Now, when scrolling through short videos, the number one trending topic was the Conference's opening ceremony. The next few spots were taken by highlights of several skilled trainers' plays.
The performances of Kaede's Serperior, Meowscarada, and Gardevoir were among them.
He was also a popular contestant in the Conference.
However, in the early stages of the Conference, everyone's performance wasn't that standout yet, and not all Pokémon had been revealed, so the hype was only at this level for now.
The real frenzy was probably going to explode after the top 32, during the full 6v6 battles.
"Feels like I'm about to become famous."
Kaede didn't doubt that he would briefly become famous. The winner of the Pokémon League Conference each year enjoyed hype for the entire following year, but this hype would gradually fade as people started their new year and work, because there was a new champion every year.
But... the contestants who could participate in the Elite Four exchange matches and the Champion exhibition match after winning the final Conference were much more interesting.
People tended to pay more, and more lasting, attention to them—just like with Ryō Fū back in the day!
Kaede was pretty casual about this. If the exhibition matches happened, they happened; if not, he could just go home earlier.
As for now?
"Sleep, time to sleep first~"