"Brushes, feeding dishes…"
Besides purchasing all kinds of essential daily necessities for the little Fennekin, Ash also bought quite a few things for Pikachu, Greninja, and his other Pokémon.
They had already been out for more than a week.
Before leaving Viridian City, Ash had also spent several days at the Joy Estate in Saffron City.
To ensure that his Pokémon food and Poffins remained fresh and tasted their best, Ash hadn't bought too much food beforehand. After being out for so long, most of what he had brought with him had nearly been used up, so it was time to replenish his supplies.
Of course, Ash wasn't the only one shopping.
While the others browsed Pokémon Breeding Street, they also purchased food, Poffins, and various necessities for their own Pokémon. After all, they had quite a few Pokémon as well.
Tierno: Wartortle, Poliwhirl
Trevor: Charmeleon, Sandslash
Clemont: Heliolisk, Electrode, Magneton
Serena: Braixen, Clefairy, Flabébé (Red)
Clarissa Joy: Blissey, Bellossom
Misty: Starmie, Gyarados, Azumarill
Shauna: Ivysaur, Flabébé (Yellow)
…
After spending nearly two hours wandering around Pokémon Breeding Street and purchasing a substantial amount of supplies for their Pokémon, Ash and the others finally left the district and prepared to take a vehicle back to the Hotel.
However, the moment they stepped out of Pokémon Breeding Street, they spotted an unexpected person waiting for them.
Well, she was unexpected only to Clemont and the others.
To Ash, her appearance had been completely within his expectations.
The person who had been waiting for them for quite some time was none other than Celosia, the Team Flare Senior Executive who had attacked them in the nearby park earlier and battled Ash, only to suffer a crushing defeat.
After returning to the base and reporting everything to Team Flare's Boss, Lysandre, Celosia had immediately received his instructions.
She had prepared gifts and come personally to apologize to everyone, while also delivering an invitation for Ash to visit Lysandre Labs in Lumiose City.
Celosia was an efficient and decisive person.
What she hadn't expected was that Ash and the others would spend so long shopping on Pokémon Breeding Street, leaving her waiting outside the district for a full two hours.
If it had been anyone else, making her wait for two hours would probably have tested her patience and left her furious.
But after hearing Lysandre's analysis of Ash and learning just how extraordinary the boy truly was, Celosia didn't dare complain in the slightest.
"It's her! (○○)!!"
Bonnie looked extremely shocked when she saw Celosia waiting outside Pokémon Breeding Street.
"She really came back to contact us again, just like Ash predicted!"
Shauna was equally astonished when she remembered what Ash had said earlier.
It wasn't only Bonnie and Shauna.
Everyone else beside Ash was also extremely surprised.
But along with their surprise, there was also a trace of worry and fear on their faces.
After all, they were only a group of six- and seven-year-old children.
When it came to Celosia and the evil underground organization behind her, they honestly wanted nothing to do with them whatsoever.
But they also understood that whether they interacted with such an organization wasn't entirely up to them.
The other side held the initiative.
And their strength was clearly there for everyone to see.
"Um… Mr. Ash, everyone, I'm truly sorry about what happened earlier."
Celosia stepped forward and spoke with a sincere expression.
"Drapion and I were training in the park. Unfortunately, one of its moves went off course and nearly injured all of you. I feel extremely guilty and remorseful about it."
"After the battle ended, I took Drapion to a Pokémon Center for treatment and then hurried back here. I wanted to formally apologize to Mr. Ash and all of you, and I sincerely hope you can forgive me."
"I came here in such a hurry that I didn't have much time to prepare. I've only brought a few small gifts. I hope you won't refuse them."
As Celosia spoke, a black sedan parked by the roadside.
Two sharp-looking men with stern expressions stepped out of the vehicle, opened the trunk, and quickly carried several large gift boxes over.
Every gift box contained a complete set of specialty Poké Balls.
There were Level Balls, Lure Balls, Moon Balls, Love Balls, Fast Balls, Heavy Balls, Nest Balls, Dive Balls, Timer Balls, and Net Balls.
Each set contained twelve rare Poké Balls, with every ball possessing its own special effect.
For someone with Ash's wealth and status, such a gift wasn't particularly valuable.
But for an ordinary person, this was certainly no insignificant present.
Especially for a Pokémon Trainer, there was no doubt that such a gift would be extremely appealing.
After hearing Celosia's words, Clemont and the others didn't say anything.
They simply looked toward Ash.
"Oh…"
Ash responded with a quiet sound.
He didn't waste any words either.
Instead, he openly activated his Aura.
A brilliant blue light appeared in his eyes as he stared directly at Celosia.
The moment they saw the strange radiance in Ash's eyes, both Celosia and the two Team Flare members dressed in civilian clothes beside her felt as though their innermost thoughts were being seen through.
A chill ran down their spines, and their scalps tingled with unease.
Fortunately, Ash wasn't doing anything beyond briefly probing Celosia's thoughts.
He wanted to find out what had happened after she left the battle earlier.
More importantly, he wanted to determine whether she still harbored any malicious intentions.
Especially whether she was considering retaliating against him later or harming Serena and the others.
After carefully probing her thoughts, Ash discovered that she no longer had any intention of doing so.
Her apology and admission of fault also appeared to be sincere.
Only then did Ash withdraw his Aura.
"It's fine. Everyone, go ahead and accept them."
Seeing that no one had reached out to take the gifts, Ash nodded in approval.
"The attack earlier really frightened everyone quite badly. There's nothing wrong with accepting an apology gift like this."
"This…"
The others hesitated.
But after seeing Ash nod, they eventually accepted the gifts.
Clemont, Tierno, Trevor, Shauna, Serena, Clarissa Joy, and Misty each received a complete set of rare and valuable specialty Poké Balls.
As Bonnie wasn't a Trainer, Celosia had prepared a rare limited-edition Li'l Lillie plush as her apology gift instead.
As for Ash himself, he received nothing.
It wasn't because Celosia was being stingy.
The incident between them wasn't something that could be resolved so easily.
Giving gifts to Ash's friends and, in doing so, showing Ash proper respect was far more useful than simply handing a gift directly to the person involved.
Given Ash's status and wealth, presenting him with a set of specialty Poké Balls wouldn't serve as an apology at all.
If anything, it could be interpreted as looking down on him, belittling him, or even insulting him.
As for whether Team Flare intended to avoid apologizing to Ash altogether, the truth was exactly the opposite.
The one who would personally apologize to Ash would be Team Flare's Boss, Lysandre.
That was also precisely why Celosia had come today with an invitation for Ash to visit Lysandre Labs.
After the unpleasant confrontation between the two sides, if Team Flare truly intended to apologize, then they naturally had to show enough sincerity.
A few specialty Poké Balls were simply far too cheap and insignificant to serve as a genuine apology to someone like Ash.