"Ash, what Pokémon is that?"
After boarding the minibus bound for Vaniville Town, the vehicle soon left the urban area of Lumiose City and began traveling along a packed-earth country road.
Through the windows, Clarissa and Misty gazed excitedly at the wild Pokémon roaming across the Kalos countryside. Since it was their first time visiting the Kalos region, practically everything they saw felt fresh and fascinating.
"That one is a Kalos-native Grass-type Pokémon called Skiddo, and that's its evolved form, Gogoat. Over there are Bunnelby and Vivillon..."
Whenever Clarissa and Misty asked about something, Ash patiently explained each Pokémon to them one by one. His deep and extensive knowledge of Pokémon left Clemont, Trevor, and the others genuinely impressed.
Vaniville Town was a small town under Lumiose City, and the distance between the two wasn't particularly great. After about half an hour on the minibus, they finally arrived at the entrance to the town.
"So this is Vaniville Town? The surroundings are so beautiful!"
Everyone got off the bus, and Misty looked ahead at the picturesque town with delight and admiration.
"It's nothing special~"
Hearing Misty's praise, Serena, Shauna, and the other locals of Vaniville Town were secretly pleased, though their expressions carried a hint of modesty and embarrassment.
"All right, everyone, let's not stand around at the town entrance. It snowed last night, so it's really cold outside. Let's all go to my house."
Today was her birthday.
A group of friends—and Ash, her boyfriend—had traveled all the way from the Kanto region by plane just to celebrate it with her.
Although Serena was still somewhat shy and reserved by nature, she took the initiative to welcome everyone and organize things.
"Okay! ×8"
Everyone agreed, and with Serena, Shauna, Tierno, Trevor, and the other locals leading the way, the group headed toward Serena's home.
"Mom, I'm back!"
"Ash and all my friends are here, too!"
After entering the town, they soon arrived in front of a red-roofed, white-walled house with its own spacious yard.
Serena's mother, Grace, was a famous Rhyhorn racer in the Kalos region. She was also a professional Rhyhorn-racing instructor who was frequently invited to different places to conduct training sessions.
Compared with the small rural homes they had passed on the way into Vaniville Town, where residents cultivated all kinds of flowers and plants in their gardens, Serena's home had an unusually large yard—and it was built entirely for one purpose.
The yard was actually a huge circular training track designed for practicing Rhyhorn racing.
As Ash and the others followed Serena into the property, Grace was currently riding a massive, powerfully built Rhyhorn around the track at full speed.
Even after hearing Serena's voice, Grace remained completely focused and didn't respond. Only after crossing the finish line did she finally slow the Rhyhorn down.
Then, with an athletic and graceful movement, she swung herself off the Pokémon's back.
"Ash, and all of you came too! Come inside and have a seat."
"I got Serena's message earlier, so I've already prepared plenty of cookies and snacks. I also made a pot of black tea."
"I just called Serena's father as well. He should be coming back from the ranch very soon."
Grace untied the towel wrapped around her neck like a scarf and wiped the sweat from her face.
Although Serena's mother was a Rhyhorn racer, she wasn't nearly as large and muscular as the Pokémon she rode. In fact, she was even slimmer than most of the other women working around the town.
Yet despite her slender figure, she possessed an unmistakable aura of health, wild vitality, toughness, and strength.
She truly lived up to her reputation as one of the most famous Rhyhorn racers in all of Kalos.
While Ash was observing Grace, Grace was likewise examining her daughter's young boyfriend.
She had often seen news reports and videos of Ash through Kanto television broadcasts and the Internet. But no matter how many times one saw someone on a screen, it could never compare with meeting the real person face-to-face.
That silly girl's taste isn't bad at all.
He's certainly an impressive young man—handsome, heroic, and full of confidence.
Perhaps it was because Ash had given Grace a particularly precious sapphire brooch shaped like a sailfish when he bought gifts for everyone in Cerulean City half a year ago.
Whatever the reason, when her future son-in-law came to visit today, Grace's attitude toward Ash was exceptionally warm and welcoming.
There was none of the hostility one might expect from a mother whose "precious girl" had been taken by some boy. Nor did she seem particularly bothered by the fact that Ash had two other girlfriends besides her daughter.
Overall, Grace was very satisfied with Ash as a potential son-in-law and thought highly of him.
After Serena and Grace led everyone inside, the group had barely settled onto the sofas in the living room when Grace's phone suddenly rang.
"Hello? What's wrong, dear?"
Seeing that it was her husband calling, Grace quickly answered.
"Something's wrong, honey!"
The panicked voice of Serena's father came through the phone.
"One of the pregnant Miltank at the ranch was grazing in the pasture when three Zubat suddenly flew in and attacked her!"
Grace's expression immediately became worried.
"Bleeding medicine? We don't have any left at home either. The Gogoat got injured and started bleeding a while ago, so we used up the last of our supplies."
"Then what are we going to do?"
Serena's father sounded increasingly frantic.
He operated a large ranch that raised several hundred Miltank. The ranch supplied milk not only to Vaniville Town and the surrounding villages, but also to Lumiose City.
Every single Miltank on the ranch was therefore an extremely valuable asset to him.
Even if money wasn't an issue, he couldn't simply stand by and watch one of his Miltank die in front of him because of complications during childbirth—taking both mother and newborn with her.
"Don't panic. Let me think of something."
"I'll go ask some of the other townspeople and see if anyone has some bleeding medicine we can borrow."
"All right!"
The two quickly ended the call and immediately began trying to find a solution.
"Mom, what happened?"
Serena hadn't been able to make out everything her father had said over the phone. But after hearing that bleeding medicine was urgently needed and seeing her mother's worried expression, she knew something serious had happened.
"It's like this."
"At your father's ranch, one of the pregnant Miltank was startled and suddenly went into labor. Something went wrong during the delivery, and she's now suffering from severe bleeding."
"They urgently need bleeding medicine, but the ranch doesn't have any left."
Grace briefly explained what had happened at the ranch.
Serena's expression immediately changed.
A birthday celebration that had begun with laughter and excitement had suddenly been interrupted by an emergency.
And with Ash standing right beside her, she couldn't help thinking of one thing—
If they didn't find the medicine soon, that Miltank might not survive.
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T/N:
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