Chasing After A Legend

Lasses and Beauties

"Human talking"

'Human thinking'

"Talking in a Flashback/Memory"

"Pokémon talking"

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"Thank you so much for making it! Please come in!"

Delia Ketchum welcomed a muscular and tanned man into her home, as she and Mr. Mime took his bags despite his insistence that they didn't have to trouble themselves. He had brown, spiky hair and small but intense eyes, wearing an orange shirt under a light-green vest, dark-brown khakis, and black sneakers.

"Sorry I got here so late," Brock apologized. "You know me, a doctor's work is never done, even when he's in training."

"Oh, heavens no, it's no trouble at all!" Delia reassured him. "We're all still up, and Ash won't be coming home for another day!"

"Ah, I see. Anyway, it's been a long time, Ms. Ketchum."

"Without you and your cooking, any time is too long," Delia replied with a smile. Brock rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Ah, c'mon, you're giving me too much credit..."

"Don't be so modest. You give some of the chefs at Pallet House a run for their money."

"Is that a job offer, Ms. Ketchum?" Brock asked jokingly.

"Could a Pokémon Doctor take time out of his busy schedule to work for me?"

"I'm not a doctor yet..."

"And at 25, you're not married yet, either!" Delia added playfully.

"Don't remind me..." Brock sulked. Delia and Mr. Mime laughed and patted Brock reassuringly.

After he was settled in at the dining table, Delia asked, "So, it's a shame Misty isn't able to join us..."

"Yeah," Brock agreed, "but the Pokémon League's got some big meeting going on, and she has to attend for the weekend. What about May, Max or Dawn, though? Are they here?"

"May and Max couldn't make it, unfortunately. Dawn's here though, the little sweetie! It was so nice to finally meet her in person! Right now, she's still at Professor Oak's lab."

"Well, she's never been to Pallet Town before, so naturally she has to visit the famous Oak laboratory." Brock took a sip of his tea and continued, "Although I think she's more interested in getting a poem out of the Professor than the actual facility..."

"I invited Ash's friends from his travels past Sinnoh, too." Delia chimed in. "But not everyone could make it. Iris has responsibilities as Unova Champion, and Cilan is at a, er, Connoisseur's Convention, or something of the sort?"

"Oh yeah, I heard about that. All the way in the Paldea region, too. How about Ash's classmates from Alola?" Brock asked.

"They have graduation exams coming up, so they need to study," explained Delia. "But Professor Kukui and his family are coming! Let's see... there were also Goh and Chloe," she listed as she went to retrieve a pot from the kitchen. "Ash met them while he was a research assistant for Professor Cerise in Vermillion City."

Brock nodded, he met Goh but didn't know about Chloe.

"Unfortunately, the two of them are quite far from Kanto at the moment, so neither of them would have been able to make it. And Ash's friends from Kalos would have come home with him – Ash was visiting them until yesterday – but things didn't work out. There's Clemont and his little sister Bonnie who had to stay behind for business at the Lumiose City Gym, and Serena is in high demand as a contest superstar, so she has her own responsibilities to meet. It's a pity, too, Serena seemed especially disappointed that she couldn't make it."