[Professor Sakuragi: This is strange… At first, when I saw my precious daughter being stolen away, I was furious. But now, watching the way she and Ash interact, I almost… enjoy it? Am I sick?]
[Diantha: That's not sickness—that's shipping.]
[Cynthia: Exactly. But careful—Ash looks like a big-time playboy. Koharu might just be one of his many girlfriends.]
[Lusamine: Doesn't matter. As long as the Ash × Koharu ship gives us sugar, I'm satisfied!]
[Ash: Hey! Don't say weird stuff like that in front of me!]
[Koharu: Yeah! We haven't done anything like that!]
[Lorelei: Aaaah! My heart can't take this sweetness!]
Ash fumed in protest.
Koharu blushed furiously.
And the rest of the chat?
Already lost in their sugar high.
Ash × Koharu? Pfft—what about Ash × Misty?
Or Ash × May? Or Ash × Dawn? Or Ash × Serena?
At this rate, people might die from the overdose of ships.
—On screen—
After leaving Petalburg Gym, Ash didn't return to Galar.
Because a new mission popped up—
And once again, the request came from Professor Sakuragi, Koharu's father.
An uninvited guest had arrived at his lab—
a Piplup, one of Sinnoh's Water-type starters.
It had somehow swam all the way to Kanto.
With no choice, Sakuragi had contacted Professor Oak,
and upon learning that Ash had once traveled through Sinnoh,
decided Ash was the best candidate to escort it back.
Which meant… Ash and Koharu's plane tickets had to be rescheduled.
The two flew from Hoenn to Vermilion City,
where Ash finally met the runaway Piplup.
The moment Sakuragi saw him, he rushed forward and hugged him tightly.
"Ash, you have to help us!"
"Pikachu?"
Both Ash and Pikachu tilted their heads in confusion.
It's just a Piplup.
Why act like it's a rampaging Tyranitar?
But once Ash entered the lab,
he immediately understood.
This wasn't a Piplup.
It was a walking disaster.
With no other choice,
Ash and Koharu set out.
And so, years later—
Ash once again set foot in Sinnoh.
"Koharu, do you know anyone here?"
"Of course! Mr. Flint of the Elite Four, and Champion Cynthia—we're good friends."
Ash's Sinnoh connections were extensive.
To put it bluntly—
nobody in Sinnoh could lay a hand on Ash.
Because anyone worth mentioning was already on his side.
Koharu let out a breath of relief hearing this.
So… no more companions this time?
But before the thought even finished—
Ash piped up again.
"Oh yeah! Back when I traveled to Sinnoh with Dawn, it was so much fun! And then there was Paul—he abandoned Chimchar, that was unforgivable!"
"D-Dawn?"
"Yeah! Dawn was my partner in Sinnoh. She had a Piplup too!
Haha, and back then, every time my Gible used Draco Meteor, it always landed right on her Piplup's head!"
Ash laughed to himself, lost in nostalgia.
But Koharu felt nothing but dread.
Not again.
Dawn… she was a girl, wasn't she?
Her instincts screamed danger.
Another May-level rival had appeared!
Why, why was Ash always surrounded by girls?!
[Ayako: Wait—my daughter Dawn was Ash's partner? Looks like I'll get to ship Dawn too!]
[Dawn: Mom!!]
[Paul: Don't lump me with Goh. I never abandoned my Pokémon—I release them with respect.]
[Palmer: Huh? Why do I feel weirdly left out? Ash knows me too, right? Why didn't he mention me?]
[Lance: Palmer, wake up. You're Hoenn Battle Frontier. This is Sinnoh.]
[Palmer: But Ash didn't mention me in Hoenn either!]
[Flint: Hahaha! Success! Did you see that, Volkner? My name came up first!]
[Ash: No way, Paul. You did abandon Chimchar!]
Paul's rage was boiling over.
His Chimchar was right there training by his side—
and yet both the Ash on screen and the Ash in chat accused him of abandonment.
Impossible.
Even if Chimchar didn't meet his standards,
he would have released it with respect.
But to abandon it? Never.
Unless… it had wanted to stay but refused to train?
"Tch. Ash, you just wait. When you set foot in Sinnoh, you won't get off easy."
Paul had already marked Ash as his ultimate rival.
—On screen—
According to Sakuragi's research,
The Piplup was from Chocovine Town in Sinnoh.
So, their first stop was to return it home.
By coincidence, the town was hosting a Water Pokémon Racing Contest that very day.
The moment Ash saw it—
his competitive spirit ignited.
Before Koharu could even react,
Ash had handed Piplup back,
ignored the drama of it not getting along with its trainer—
and blitzed over to sign up for the race.
After wiping imaginary sweat from his forehead, he grinned:
"Back in the day, I entered a Water Race too! I was so hyped for it. You don't see these often!"
He chattered away happily.
Koharu smiled politely,
but deep down, one thought lingered:
That earlier race… wasn't that with Dawn too?
Meanwhile, Ash was already strategizing.
For water races, speed was everything.
Among his Water-types, Totodile was the fastest.
Sure, it was still in its base form—
but its speed was no joke.
With Totodile, this championship was his!
When the race began, Totodile bolted ahead of the pack.
But midway, Team Rocket appeared—
having somehow sniffed out Ash's location yet again.
Chaos erupted.
To secure his soon-to-be trophy,
Ash made the obvious call.
"Totodile, keep racing! Pikachu, you handle Team Rocket!"
"Pikachu!"
Golden lightning split the sky.
A trio of silhouettes went flying,
their cries echoing through the stadium:
"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!"
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