After two days of traveling, Tian Lin and Sundae finally arrived at the seaside near Bill Lighthouse.
“It’s the sea!
It’s the sea!” Sundae, who had been exhausted from the journey, suddenly became excited the moment she saw the ocean.
She took off her shoes and socks and began jumping around on the shore like a spirit that had fallen into the human world.
“Alright, Sundae.
We can play later.
Let’s go visit Professor Bill first,” Tian Lin said.
The two arrived beneath the lighthouse and pressed the doorbell.
A voice came from inside.
“Who is it?”
“Hello, Professor Bill.
I’m Tian Lin from Pallet Town.
Professor Oak asked me to come here.”
“Oh, Tian Lin.
Professor Oak already told me about you.
Alright, I’ll open the door now.
Come in.”
Click.
The lock was released, and Tian Lin pushed the door open.
“Doctor, are you here?” Tian Lin called out.
“Aah!” Sundae suddenly screamed and hid behind Tian Lin.
“What’s wrong?
What did you see?” Tian Lin became alert.
“A Kabuto!
A huge Kabuto!” Sundae shouted in panic.
Standing before them was something the size of a human-shaped Kabuto, which had clearly startled her.
Tian Lin quickly understood what was going on.
“That’s not a Kabuto.
It’s probably someone wearing a Kabuto costume.”
“Professor, is that you?” Tian Lin asked.
“Yes, it’s me.
Sorry for scaring you,” a voice came from inside the suit.
“I was trying to experience Kabuto’s perspective by wearing this, but its arms are too short, so I can’t reach the switch to open it.
Tian Lin, could you help me?
The switch is on the lower right side of the suit.”
“Got it.”
Tian Lin helped open the suit, revealing a handsome young man—Professor Bill.
“Ahh, finally out!
Thank you so much, Professor Tian Lin!” he said gratefully.
“You don’t need to call me that.
I can’t accept being called ‘Professor’ in front of you,” Tian Lin replied.
Professor Bill was one of the most renowned researchers in the field.
The Pokémon Transfer System used in every Pokémon Center was his invention, and even Professor Oak acknowledged his expertise in ancient Pokémon research.
“In terms of specialization, I can’t compare to you in evolution and abilities research,” Zhenghui said.
“Alright, alright, stop flattering each other,” Sundae interrupted unhappily.
“Tian Lin, didn’t you say you came here for something?”
“Oh right.” Bill handed over an invitation.
“This is from your sister.
It’s an invitation to a young researchers’ exchange conference.
Most participants are from the Kanto region, but there are also people from other regions.
It should be quite interesting.”
“Professor Bill, may we stay here for the night?
We’ve been traveling and are quite tired.”
Of course, Tian Lin’s real reason was to wait for Ash.
He had promised Sundae she would see the abandoned Charmander again, and he also knew that Ash’s arrival meant the giant Dragonite would appear soon.
“No problem at all.
I’m alone here anyway—it’s a pleasure to have someone to talk to,” Zhenghui agreed.
“Thank you very much.
Sundae, you must be tired too.
Go rest first.
I’ll prepare lunch and call you later.”
“Mm,” Sundae nodded and went off to rest.
In the afternoon, while Sundae was resting, Tian Lin went to the beach to train his Pokémon.
Feebas, now holding the Beautiful Scale he had given it, looked far more confident and elegant.
It was no longer the weak Pokémon it once was—it was simply waiting for the right moment to evolve while practicing Scald.
Grovyle and Scyther were doing sparring training.
Charmeleon, newly captured, still felt a bit out of place, but Tian Lin did not neglect it.
His plan was clear: he needed it to learn Sunny Day to fully unleash its Hidden Ability potential.
Beldum was the most relaxed of all.
It could not learn new moves yet, but even without training, its strength was steadily increasing every day.
Its talent was astonishing.
“Ah, Tian Lin, there you are.”
A familiar voice came from behind him.
Ash had arrived.
“Yo, Ash, Misty, hello.
Brock, you’ve also started traveling with Ash?” Tian Lin smiled.
“Yes!
I’m now working toward my dream of becoming a Pokémon Breeder!” Brock replied.
“Ash, these are your Pokémon?” Ash said proudly.
“Only five?
Haha!
I just caught a Krabby, so I already have seven Pokémon now!
Pretty amazing, right?”
“Not bad.
You’re improving,” Tian Lin said.
“But… Krabby, huh?
The seventh one should’ve been sent to Professor Oak’s lab, right?”
He added jokingly, “I hope it doesn’t end up becoming braised crab or something.”
“What?!
No way!” Ash panicked immediately.
“I need to call Professor Oak right now!”
“Alright, alright, I was joking,” Tian Lin laughed.
“But if you’re worried, you can use the phone inside Bill Lighthouse.”
They all headed inside the lighthouse.
Sundae had already woken up.
Since she had never met Ash before, she looked at him curiously.
“Who are they, Tian Lin?” she asked.
“They’re my friends.
Ash, Misty, and Brock.”
“Wow!
A super cute girl!” Ash and Brock exclaimed at the same time.
What are you talking about!” Misty immediately got annoyed.
“Alright, Ash, you already have someone by your side, so stop looking around,” Tian Lin said calmly.
“And didn’t you want to call Professor Oak?”
Ash immediately snapped back to attention.
“Right!”
When they connected to Professor Oak, he happened to be cooking.
“Ash, you’re calling at a good time.
Your Krabby is fine.
It’s a bit underdeveloped though,” Oak said.
“Phew…” Ash sighed in relief.
Then Oak showed him Gary’s Krabby, which was twice the size of Ash’s.
“By the way, Gary has already caught 45 Pokémon,” Oak added casually.
“Forty-five?!” Ash froze.
Tian Lin shrugged.
“Relax.
Quality matters more than quantity.”
Oak then looked at Tian Lin.
“You still haven’t sent any Pokémon back yet?”
“I prefer a more focused team,” Tian Lin replied.
“And I usually only capture Pokémon when I feel a strong connection.”
“Fair enough,” Oak said.
“By the way, you’re at Bill Lighthouse, right?
Professor Bill is a brilliant researcher.
Learn from him if you can, then that’s it, bye-bye.” Professor Oak hung up the phone.
“By the way, Ash, you have subdued Charmander, can you release it and take a look?”
“Alas, Tianlin, how do you know that I have Charmander?
Of course you can if you want to see it, come out, Charmander.
”
As soon as Charmander came out, he saw Tianlin and Sundae, and happily ran over to say hello, after all, they had helped it in the first place.
“Charmander, it’s really you, are you okay, do you know that I’m so worried about you after that day!” Sundae also recognized Charmander and said happily.
Charmander smiled and nodded, it is now much more energetic than when I saw it a few days ago, and its body is a little stronger, obviously it has been well taken care of.
“Do you know Charmander?” Ash was surprised.
“Well, there was a one-sided fate.” Tian Lin didn’t explain much, his purpose was just to reassure the sun day.
“That, Tianlin, I’m sorry, I misunderstood you before, in fact, I’ve been a little uncomfortable in my heart these days, but now that I see Charmander doing well, I know that what you said before is true.” Sundae said a little embarrassedly.
“It’s okay, Sundae, this is exactly your kind expression!” Tian Lin said with a smile.
Looking at Tian Lin’s sunny smile, Sundae unconsciously blushed slightly.
But she suddenly thought of something.
“Wait… how did you know I would see Charmander again?
And you even told Ash to release it so easily… don’t tell me you can see the future?”
Oh no.
Tian Lin immediately changed the subject.
“By the way, Ash, we should go meet Professor Bill.
Since we’re in his lighthouse, it’s only polite.”
“Right!
Let’s go!” Ash said immediately.
Sundae stopped asking further.
Tian Lin quietly exhaled in relief.
Ash really was the perfect distraction tool—simple-minded, but useful at times like this.
Sundae wasn’t suspicious because she simply believed everyone had their own secrets.
She felt that one day, Tian Lin would tell her everything.
For now, she didn’t press further.