"These days, I run my online clinic, and every afternoon I spend three hours without fail seeing patients. Clarissa is always there with me."
"Because we spend so much time together, and because our professions complement each other so well, we're naturally in perfect sync whenever we're treating Pokémon. That's a special kind of understanding that belongs only to Clarissa and me. It's not something other people can simply envy and obtain."
"At the same time, neither you nor anyone else needs to envy us, Serena. Clarissa and I have our own unique understanding that belongs exclusively to the two of us, while you and I have our own unique understanding as well."
"Isn't that right?"
As he spoke, Ash smiled and winked at Serena. At the same time, he used his Aura to make his voice resonate directly within Serena's heart.
"You should know that I even exchanged little secrets with a certain shy girl."
"Back during the opening challenge of the Summer Camp, when I secretly guided that shy girl through her Pokémon battle using Aura, the two of us worked together just as perfectly. Don't you agree, Serena~?"
Ash looked at the girl who had been feeling a little jealous of his relationship with Clarissa and winked knowingly.
Everything was already understood without needing to be said aloud.
"(_;)~"
Hearing Ash's voice suddenly appear from within her heart, a bright and radiant smile blossomed across Serena's face.
At that moment, she understood.
Whether it was herself, Clarissa, or Misty, each of them was unique in Ash's heart. Each of them possessed a special bond with him that belonged to them alone.
Neither she, Clarissa, nor Misty needed to envy the others, because Ash had a place in his heart for each of them—a place that was special and irreplaceable.
And as long as she knew that she held a place in Ash's heart, that alone was enough for her.
"Come on. Uncle Gibson should have finished taking care of everything over there by now. Let's go home with him. Today is your birthday, Serena, so our birthday girl has to be happy, okay?"
Ash reached out and took both girls' hands, one in each of his.
Serena: "Mhm! (^^)"
Clarissa: "_^"
...
Since Ash had already arrived at the Miltank Ranch and successfully helped the pregnant Miltank through her difficult delivery, there was no longer any need for Trevor and Clemont to make the trip to the Pokémon Center in Lumiose City for hemostatic medicine. Shauna, Misty, and the others who had planned to search the town for medicine could also stop worrying.
After Gibson finished dealing with the remaining matters at the ranch, Ash, Clarissa, and Serena climbed into Gibson's jeep and returned to Vaniville Town together.
Today was Serena's seventh birthday. They had left Lumiose City that morning and arrived in Vaniville Town sometime after nine and close to ten o'clock. Then the emergency at the Miltank Ranch had occurred. By the time everything was finally settled and they returned home, it was already eleven.
As soon as they arrived, Serena, Grace, Shauna, Clarissa, Misty, and the energetic little Bonnie all headed into the kitchen to prepare lunch.
Some were washing and cutting vegetables, others were cooking, while another group was preparing desserts and pastries. The kitchen quickly became lively and bustling with activity.
Meanwhile, Ash stayed in the living room with his future father-in-law, Gibson, chatting about everyday matters. Before long, however, their conversation naturally shifted toward Pokémon and the profession of Pokémon Trainers.
Although Gibson was now the owner of a Miltank ranch, he had once been an outstanding Pokémon Trainer when he was young. Back then, he had relied on his abilities as a Trainer to win over Serena's mother, Grace, who was herself a renowned Rhyhorn racer.
Gibson's strength, however, while quite impressive, had only reached the level of an Elite-class Trainer. At his peak, he had barely managed to raise one or two Pokémon to the threshold of Gym-level strength.
Within the professional Trainer world, that kind of strength placed him somewhere in the middle of the pyramid.
For Trainers at that level, there were generally three paths available for their future careers.
The first was to "take the civil-service route" and enter the Pokémon League system, becoming an official employee.
The second was to "join a private company", working as security personnel for a corporation or joining a professional Pokémon battle team and competing professionally.
The third was to "work independently"—remaining a professional Trainer, participating in battles at City Arenas, and earning prize money from competitions. This was the most common way of life for lower- and middle-tier professional Trainers.
Of course, they could also choose to start their own businesses.
Gibson had done exactly that by establishing his own ranch. However, doing so undoubtedly meant abandoning the path of being a professional Pokémon Trainer. His career had effectively changed into something else.
The Pokémon world had billions of people, and because Pokémon battling was so deeply ingrained in society, the vast majority of children dreamed of becoming Trainers at some point.
But very few could truly make being a Trainer their lifelong profession and achieve meaningful success along that path.
Someone like Clemont, for example, was a famous Electric-type prodigy and brilliant inventor in the metropolitan city of Lumiose, while also serving as the Gym Leader of the Lumiose Gym.
Then there was Ash, who had become famous at an astonishingly young age and had managed to raise Gym-level Pokémon in only half a year. He was already a household name throughout Kanto, and his reputation was even spreading across the wider Pokémon world.
Trainers with talent like theirs were simply too rare.
Everyone had dreams.
But once they officially set out on the road of becoming professional Trainers and gradually grew older, those once ambitious young boys and girls would slowly come to understand one cruel truth:
The profession of a Pokémon Trainer, just like every other profession, required talent.
And their talent in this particular field might simply not be outstanding.
There was no denying how devastating that realization could be.
Why were the Pokémon League Conferences and the Pokémon World Championships among the most popular and captivating competitions in the entire world?
Why did countless exhausted office workers, after struggling through an entire day at work, choose to visit City Arenas to watch Pokémon battles instead of going to a bar or karaoke lounge to relax?
Because of dreams.
Because deep down, those people who had already accepted the cruelty of reality still felt unwilling to give up.
When they watched their favorite professional Trainers compete at a City Arena, cheering and shouting for them from the stands, they could once again experience the passion they had felt when they themselves dreamed of becoming Trainers.
Which Trainer who had once dreamed of becoming a professional Pokémon Trainer truly wanted to give up on that path?
Who actually enjoyed abandoning their dreams?
But reality was cruel.
And when faced with a cruel reality, people sometimes had no choice but to bow their heads.
Serena's father, Gibson, was one such person.
As he spoke about his dream of becoming a Trainer when he was young, a distant, nostalgic look appeared in Gibson's eyes.
He was already over thirty-five years old now. He had a happy and complete family, and his Miltank ranch was doing very well. He had more than enough to eat and wear and lived a comfortable life.
Yet despite all of that, the man who had abandoned his dream still carried an emptiness deep inside his heart.
Looking at Ash, Clemont, Tierno, and Trevor—young Trainers who possessed both talent and ambition— Gibson's voice was filled with unmistakable envy.
He couldn't help wondering what might have happened if he had possessed the same kind of talent when he was young.
If he had been able to continue walking the path of a professional Trainer instead of turning away from his dream…
Perhaps his life would have been completely different.
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