Chapter 198: Reward, Rose Manor, Departure
With questions in his mind, Bai Feng followed Professor Oak to a Research Lab.
"Have a seat," Professor Oak gestured to Bai Feng.
Only after Bai Feng sat down did Professor Oak say with a smile, "There's good news."
"Good news?"
Professor Oak nodded. "You discovered the Fossil Pokémon in the Great Fossil Valley and exposed Team Rocket's scheme. I've reported your contributions, and the Pokémon League has sent you a Reward."
Bai Feng understood upon hearing this.
Professor Oak continued, "Given your significant contributions on these two occasions, the Pokémon League's Reward for you is also very generous.
First is this!"
Saying this, Professor Oak took out a Document and a booklet, handing them to Bai Feng.
Bai Feng was surprised to find that the Document was actually a Certificate of ownership for a Manor, and the booklet contained information and pictures about the Manor.
The Manor was located in Pallet Town, though in a somewhat secluded spot, a bit of a distance from Oak's Laboratory.
"You are Red's Brother and originally from the Kanto region. Although I know you might not want to develop your career here, having your own Home in Pallet Town is certainly not a bad thing. This way, you'll always have a place to stay when you come back in the future.
Your Brother's Home is too small. It's barely enough for their family of three. Adding you would make it too crowded."
Bai Feng nodded, feeling that Professor Oak's words made a lot of sense. He would definitely return to Pallet Town in the future to visit his Brother, sister-in-law, and little nephew. Not having a place to stay would indeed be inconvenient.
According to the information Professor Oak provided, the Manor the Pokémon League rewarded him with was very large. It included the surrounding Mountain and Water within its boundaries. Its scale might not compare to Oak's Laboratory, but it was certainly no smaller than Lysandre's Residence in the Galar Region.
Of course, the Pokémon League wouldn't just Reward Bai Feng with a Manor. In the sparsely populated Pokémon World, Land wasn't a particularly valuable Thing.
The second Thing Professor Oak gave Bai Feng was a very precious Pokémon Food recipe called Experience Candy. If a Pokémon consumed it long-term, it could maximize their Strength, with an Effect far stronger than Pokéblocks.
This Thing was good, but it had one drawback: the main Material could only be Grade S Berries, and one kilogram of Grade S Berries could only produce at most one candy. Therefore, not many people had the means to manufacture this candy.
Professor Oak said with a smile, "I know you don't lack Grade S Berries, so I specifically applied for this recipe from the Pokémon League for you."
Bai Feng felt as if he had found a treasure and gratefully said to Professor Oak, "Thank you so much, this recipe is very useful to me."
Professor Oak nodded with satisfaction. "It's good that it's useful. I hope you can also become an excellent Pokémon Trainer like your Brother."
After Bai Feng carefully put away the recipe, Professor Oak took out a third Thing. It was a Wooden Box carved with special patterns.
As Professor Oak opened the Wooden Box, Bai Feng felt the Space around it distort, and a powerful Psychic Wave rushed towards him.
Placed inside the Wooden Box were five identical Silver Spoons.
"You must have sensed the special nature of these Spoons, right?" Professor Oak said with a smile.
Bai Feng nodded, his gaze involuntarily drawn to the Silver Spoons in the Wooden Box.
"These five Spoons were found by the Pokémon League's first Champion in the Deep Mountains. Along with the Spoons, an Ancient Times Alakazam Fossil was also found.
Research indicates that the Alakazam Fossil, in Ancient times, was likely an Overlord Level existence that dominated an area. Because these five Spoons are imbued with that Alakazam's Power, they are of great help for the Training of Psychic and Psychic-type Pokémon."
Professor Oak explained the origin of the five Psychic Spoons to Bai Feng.
An Alakazam with five Spoons... This made Bai Feng involuntarily think of Mega Evolved Alakazam, which also has five Psychic Spoons.
Legend says that a Pokémon's appearance after Mega Evolution is their true form from Ancient times. Could this Legend be true?
Bai Feng picked up one of the Spoons and immediately felt his Psychic Power greatly Amplified. At the same time, his Psychic Power also became more active. He even felt that if he closed his eyes and performed meditation on the Original spot right now, he might instantly enter the meditation state.
What amazing Spoons! Bai Feng secretly exclaimed in his heart.
"How is it? Amazing, right!" Professor Oak said with a smile. "These are top-tier Things the Pokémon League keeps hidden away. If you hadn't helped the Pokémon League gain control of Silph Company, you wouldn't have had the Opportunity to get such good Things!"
"Thank you for the Pokémon League's Nurturing!" Bai Feng said sincerely.
For Psychic and Psychic-type Pokémon, the Value of these five Spoons was even higher than Suicune's Streamer. They were indeed rare treasures.
Bai Feng felt that the Strength of the original owner of the five Spoons was definitely no less than that of the owner of the Dragonite Skeleton!
After Bai Feng put everything away, Professor Oak asked, "When do you plan to leave?"
"It depends on Teacher's decision, but I think I'll probably depart tomorrow," Bai Feng replied.
Professor Oak nodded, then said earnestly, "Come back and visit often when you have time. Your Brother is also off somewhere now. If he knew you were back, he would be very happy."
Bai Feng nodded.
After chatting for a while longer, Bai Feng said goodbye to Professor Oak and left.
Leaving Professor Oak's Laboratory, Bai Feng went directly to Ash Ketchum's Home. However, when he arrived, he was surprised to find that Ash Ketchum wasn't there.
Seeing Bai Feng enter, Delia exclaimed in surprise, "You didn't run into Ash Ketchum? He went to your Dormitory to look for you."
Bai Feng was taken aback. "I haven't been back to the Dormitory. I just came from Professor Oak's place and came straight here."
"No wonder!" Delia realized.
"How about I go find him?" Bai Feng said, about to head out.
Delia quickly stopped him. "Oh, no need. Don't worry, he'll be back on his own shortly."
Indeed, after Bai Feng and Delia chatted for a while, they heard Ash Ketchum and Pikachu shouting as they ran through the door.
"Uncle! Uncle!" Ash Ketchum's forehead was still beaded with sweat from running. "I heard your friend say you're leaving tomorrow, is that true?"
"Pika~ Pika~"
Pikachu also ran over, looking up at Bai Feng with a pitiful expression.
"That's right, Uncle's Home is in the Kalos Region, so of course I have to go back," Bai Feng said, rubbing Ash Ketchum's head.
"But I don't want Uncle to leave..." Ash Ketchum said with a sad face.
Bai Feng smiled and said, "After Uncle returns to the Kalos Region, you can call Uncle anytime. When there's an Opportunity, Uncle can even invite you to the Kalos Region to play. Uncle's Home has many Pokémon, you'll definitely like them."
Speaking of Pokémon, Ash Ketchum immediately became interested and started asking Bai Feng what kind of Pokémon he had at Home, completely forgetting his reluctance about his Uncle leaving.
"Oh, right, sister-in-law, the Pokémon League sent me a Manor in Pallet Town. Let's go take a look together," Bai Feng suddenly said.
"Really?" Delia was full of surprise upon hearing this. How old was Bai Feng? The Pokémon League gave him a Manor as a Reward. Did he accomplish something particularly meritorious? Could it be related to some kind of Danger?
Red also often earned merits and received Rewards from the Pokémon League in the past, so Delia knew a bit about the Pokémon League's Reward system.
However, Delia didn't probe further. After all, she was just his sister-in-law and shouldn't pry into her brother-in-law's Matters. She simply agreed readily:
"Okay, let's go take a look together."
Ash Ketchum and Pikachu raised their hands simultaneously upon hearing this.
"I'm going too, I'm going too!"
"Pika~ Pika~" And me!
"What's the rush? I said we're all going together, of course I'll take you!"
Pikachu, perched on Ash Ketchum's head, seeing that he was ignored, quickly raised his paw and called out.
Just like that, the three of them went to the Manor together, riding a Dodrio borrowed from Professor Oak's Laboratory.
The Manor was a bit far from Ash Ketchum's Home, and walking would take a lot of effort.
The Manor the Pokémon League rewarded Bai Feng with was located west of Pallet Town, already on the very edge of Pallet Town. However, its area was indeed large; Bai Feng and the others walked along the Courtyard Wall for a long time before they saw the Manor gate.
Walking to the Manor gate, they saw the words "Rose Manor" written in large letters on the wall by the entrance. This was the Manor's name, because the entire Manor's walls were covered in climbing red roses.
"Wow, is this Uncle's Home? It's so big!" Looking at the tall iron gate before him, Ash Ketchum couldn't help but exclaim.
"Alright, let's go inside and take a look." Bai Feng patted Ash Ketchum's shoulder and then took out the gate Key.
Just as Bai Feng was about to open the gate, a Noctowl suddenly flew out from behind the iron gate, landing lightly on top of the iron gate.
"Hoo hoo~"
The Noctowl tilted its head, observing Bai Feng and the other two.
"It's a Pokémon!" Ash Ketchum shouted, pointing at the Noctowl.
"It's a Noctowl," Bai Feng introduced to Ash Ketchum. Then he looked at the Noctowl and said, "You must be Tom. I'm Bai Feng, the new owner of this Manor. Beside me are my sister-in-law Delia and nephew Ash Ketchum."
Noctowl Tom was left behind by the original owner who built this Manor. It has been responsible for guarding the Manor ever since. The Manor has changed owners several times, but it still diligently guards the place.
Generally speaking, Noctowl have a relatively long lifespan among bird Pokémon.
"Hello, Noctowl, I'm Delia."
"I'm Ash Ketchum!"
The mother and son energetically greeted the Noctowl.
"Pika~ Pika~" And me!
Pikachu, perched on Ash Ketchum's head, seeing that he was ignored, quickly raised his paw and called out.
"Hoo hoo hoo~" Hello, welcome to Rose Manor.
The Noctowl flapped its Wings and flew up.
Because Tom had been guarding here all along, although Rose Manor had changed owners several times, everyone tacitly agreed not to change the Manor's name.
As the gate opened, what greeted Bai Feng and the other two was a straight road paved with Red Bricks. The sides of the road were adorned with Grass and Flower Bed, filled with colorful Flowers.
The Grass and Flower Bed were well-maintained. Bai Feng knew that the Pokémon League had regularly sent people to maintain Rose Manor before.
Further ahead were white fountains, white Statues, and white Western-style buildings... It looked very luxurious, and Delia and Ash Ketchum were dazzled as they walked.
As they walked, Bai Feng said to Delia, "Sister-in-law, when I return to the Kalos Region, could I Trouble you to help me look after this Manor? Of course, you and Ash Ketchum can also just move in."
"Looking after it is certainly fine," Delia readily agreed. "As for moving in, let's forget it. I still feel more comfortable living in my own Home."
The house was too big, and Delia would feel unable to adapt, especially with Red not being Home. Otherwise, with Red's Ability, their family wasn't incapable of living in a big house.
Don't look at the small and ordinary house Delia and Ash Ketchum currently lived in; their family was actually very wealthy. Delia didn't need to go out to work at all; the Money Red earned was enough for them to live comfortably for a lifetime.
Because she was usually idle at Home, Delia agreed so readily to Bai Feng.
"Thank you, sister-in-law," Bai Feng said gratefully.
"We're family, no need to be polite," Delia said with a smile.
"Oh, right, sister-in-law, this is for you!" Saying this, Bai Feng took out a Poké Ball and handed it to Delia.
"What is this?" Delia asked curiously.
"It's a Chansey," Bai Feng replied with a smile.
Actually, Bai Feng had already decided to leave Chansey with Delia and Ash Ketchum before. So, recently, he had been having Lopunny help train Chansey, helping Chansey quickly learn various Housework Skills.
Regarding leaving Chansey at Delia's Home, Bai Feng had asked for Chansey's opinion. Chansey liked Delia and Ash Ketchum very much and agreed without hesitation. Its only regret was probably that it would be difficult to enjoy Bai Feng's Rejuvenation in the future.
"You'll have to take care of Ash Ketchum and also help me look after the Manor. You might be too busy by yourself, so I thought of leaving Chansey to help you," Bai Feng explained.
"This... Is that okay?" Delia asked hesitantly.
"Of course, Chansey also agreed," Bai Feng nodded.
"That's good." Delia took Chansey's Poké Ball. Actually, she also liked Chansey very much. Chansey was obedient, sensible, polite, and very capable; it was hard not to like it.
"Mom, is Chansey going to live with us from now on?" Ash Ketchum asked, looking up.
"Yes, you have to get along well with Chansey!" Delia said.
"Yay, yay!"
Ash Ketchum excitedly circled his mother.
Bai Feng then looked at Noctowl Tom, who was following closely behind them, and said, "Tom, please take good care of my sister-in-law from now on."
"Hoo hoo hoo~~"
The Noctowl nodded docilely.
After walking around the Manor, Bai Feng saw that it was getting late, so he called Delia and Ash Ketchum to go Home. After locking the Manor gate, he handed the Key to Delia and instructed Tom to eat at Delia's Home from now on.
Previously, Tom was cared for by the Pokémon League. Now that the Manor belonged to Bai Feng, Tom naturally also belonged to Bai Feng to care for.
Bai Feng and Delia made an Arrangement that he would regularly transfer Money to Delia to cover the Manor's management Fee and Tom's Food Expenses.
Although Delia was initially unwilling to accept, Bai Feng insisted on giving it. After all, this was not a Trouble that would last only a day or two, and he couldn't let Delia work for free.
In the end, Delia could only reluctantly agree.
That evening, Delia asked Bai Feng to invite Dafu, Shenmu, and Walen to her Home and specially cooked a Feast for the four of them as a farewell, and also to thank the three of them for taking care of Bai Feng.
Delia's gratitude made Dafu and the others feel ashamed; they were clearly the ones who had been taken care of.
The next morning, under Teacher Kurita's Arrangement, Bai Feng and the others boarded the Bus leaving Pallet Town. Delia, Ash Ketchum, Pikachu, Chansey, Professor Oak, and Nanami all came to see Bai Feng off.
After the car started moving, Ash Ketchum still chased after it, shouting to Bai Feng, "Uncle, you must remember to come back and see me!"
(End of Chapter)