Pokémon: My Parallel World Daughters Revealed

[System Notification: The intermission has ended. The broadcast will now resume.]

The moment the screen lit up again, the chat group instantly came alive.

[VIP Chat Group]

[Ash]: It’s back! It’s back! It’s back!

[Ash]: I’m ready! I’m going to win another reward this time!

[Gary]: You only succeeded last time because of dumb luck.

[Ash]: It wasn’t dumb luck! It was skill!

[Misty]: Could the two of you be quiet? The video is about to begin.

[Brock]: Now that I think about it, has anyone else noticed that there seem to be more members in this chat group?

[Professor Oak]: Yes, I noticed that as well. The Regular Seats are also expanding. It appears the livestream’s audience is still growing.

[Cynthia]: What does that mean?

[Lance]: It means more and more people are learning about this. There may also be far more people watching from the shadows than we realize.

[Lorelei]: Are you saying that people who normally avoid appearing in public are watching too?

[Lance]: They may be doing more than merely watching. Some of them may have already begun taking action...

The final second of the countdown disappeared.

[Ding! Parallel-World Celebrity Series—Episode One: Water-Type Pokémon Master Raina—Stage Two will now begin!]

The image gradually brightened.

A warmly decorated living room appeared on the screen.

Balloons hung from the walls, while a cake with ten candles stood on the table.

The cake was not particularly large, but it had been carefully decorated. It was covered in white frosting, with a Squirtle drawn on top in chocolate sauce.

”Happy birthday!”

Misty stood beside the cake, wearing pale-blue loungewear. Her hair was neatly tied up behind her head, and a gentle smile rested on her face.

Asher stood behind her with a camera in his hands, adjusting the angle.

”Raina, look over here.”

”Dad! Wait! I’m not ready yet!”

Raina’s voice came from outside the frame, carrying a trace of panic.

Asher laughed.

”What do you need to prepare? You’re ten years old today. You’ll look good no matter how I take the picture.”

”No, no! My hair—”

Raina rushed into view.

Her smooth, long hair hung loosely over her shoulders. She had grown noticeably taller, and almost all the baby fat had disappeared from her face, revealing her delicate features.

Her golden eyes remained as bright as ever, though they now carried a touch of composure.

She wore a white dress and looked as though she had stepped out of a painting.

”Mommy! Check my hair. Is any of it sticking up?”

Misty walked over and carefully smoothed her hair.

”No. It looks beautiful.”

”Really?”

”Really.”

Misty pinched her cheek.

”My daughter always looks beautiful.”

Raina’s face instantly turned red.

”Mommy!”

”All right, all right. I’ll stop teasing you.”

Misty stepped away with a smile.

”Come on. Blow out the candles and make a wish.”

Raina stood before the cake as the flames of the ten candles gently flickered.

She closed her eyes.

The room remained quiet for several seconds.

Then she opened her eyes and took a deep breath.

”Whooo—”

She extinguished all ten candles in a single breath.

”Yay!”

Raina immediately began applauding herself, smiling so brightly that her eyes curved into crescents.

Misty applauded as well, while Asher pressed the camera’s shutter.

...

[Regular-Seat Chat Group]

”Aaaaaah! She’s ten years old now!”

”She’s definitely going to grow into a beauty!”

”So this is the joy of watching a child grow up...”

”Someone electrocute the person above.”

”Wait, she’s ten now... Isn’t it time for her to begin her journey?”

”Pokémon Trainers usually start traveling when they turn ten, right?”

”Exactly! That’s the rule in the Kanto region!”

”So the next part is going to show her setting out?!”

”I’m so excited!”

...

[VIP Chat Group]

[Ash]: Ten years old! That’s the same age I was when I started my journey!

[Gary]: You may have started traveling at ten, but you still look ten even after all these years.

[Ash]: What’s that supposed to mean?!

[Brock]: Gary means you haven’t grown much taller over the years.

[Ash]: ...

[Daisy]: More importantly, that cake... Did Misty make it?

[Violet]: It looks like she did. Misty, you know how to bake cakes?

[Misty]: I don’t!

[Violet]: Maybe you learned after becoming a mother.

[Lily]: A mother’s love truly is incredible.

[Misty]: That’s enough from all three of you!

[Lorelei]: Hehe. Joking aside, it is a rather heartwarming scene. A complete family, a healthy daughter, and a husband who loves her...

[Bruno]: Lorelei, are you trying to say something?

[Lorelei]: Nothing in particular. I simply think that the Misty of that parallel world must be living a very happy life.

[Misty]: ...

[Professor Oak]: At ten years old, according to Kanto tradition, a child can apply for a Pokémon Trainer’s license and begin traveling.

[Cynthia]: Then the next part should show Raina embarking on her journey.

[Lance]: I look forward to seeing how a ten-year-old child gradually becomes a Water-type Elite Four member.

[Steven]: I’m more interested in what role her father will play during her journey.

[Wallace]: What do you mean by that?

[Steven]: A Champion-level Trainer could not possibly be content with merely staying home and raising a child. He must have plans of his own.

[Cynthia]: Steven is right. Judging by his previous methods of teaching Raina, Asher has been following a deliberate plan for her development. He would not simply send her out to wander without preparation.

[Diantha]: Then what is his plan?

[Cynthia]: I don’t know, but I suspect we are about to find out.

The scene changed.

The cake had been cut, and Raina was holding a small slice. Frosting covered the corners of her mouth as she ate.

Asher sat opposite her with the camera still in his hands, continuing to take pictures.

”Dad, stop taking pictures!”

”Why? It’s your birthday. Of course I need to take plenty.”

”But you’ve already taken so many!”

”Not enough.”

”It is enough!”

”It isn’t.”

Raina glared at him with puffed-up cheeks, frosting still clinging to the corner of her mouth.

Asher pressed the shutter.

Click.

”This one looks good.”

Raina: ”...”

Misty burst out laughing beside them.

”Could the two of you please eat properly?”

”Mommy! Dad won’t stop taking pictures of me!”

”That’s because you’re beautiful,” Asher replied without changing his expression.

Raina’s face turned red again.

”Dad!”

Misty walked over and sat beside Asher before glancing at the pictures on the camera.

”Mm. This one really does look good.”

”Right?”

”But this one isn’t good. Raina’s eyes are closed.”

”She was blinking.”

”Which means you didn’t take it properly.”

”Fine. I’ll take another one.”

”Dad!”

[VIP Chat Group]

[Brock]: ...Damn it. Why am I suddenly a little jealous of this Asher?

[Gary]: What are you jealous of?

[Brock]: He has a gentle wife, an adorable daughter, and a complete family.

[Ash]: Brock, are you okay?

[Brock]: I’m fine. I just... Why won’t a kind and beautiful older woman ever fall in love with me? Waaaaah...