Chapter 253: Go, Mamas!

The next morning.

Asher’s Estate, Kanto.

In the kitchen, Asher gently flipped the spatula in his hand.

Five eggs sizzled in the frying pan, their edges crisp and golden while the yolks still trembled slightly.

The reason he hadn’t been trapped in bed this morning wasn’t because his wives had suddenly become well-behaved sleepers.

Quite the opposite.

Last night had been Diantha’s first night officially moving in, and none of the four women had been willing to back down first.

The result—

They’d kept going until well into the latter half of the night.

By the time Asher had gotten all four of his wives settled down one by one, the first pale light of dawn was already appearing on the horizon.

At that point, he figured there was no point in sleeping.

So he took a cold shower, went straight into the kitchen, and started preparing breakfast.

It was now seven-thirty in the morning.

Two full pots of coffee were already brewed.

Asher slid the final fried egg onto a plate, wiped his hands on his apron, picked up the tray, and pushed open the master bedroom door.

Four breakfasts sat on the tray, each slightly adjusted to suit its owner’s preferences.

"Wives."

Asher placed the tray on the bedside table, his voice calm and unhurried.

"Time to wake up."

A few incomprehensible mumbles came from the enormous lump of blankets on the bed.

Cynthia was the first to sit up.

Without opening her eyes, she felt around the bedside table until she found a hair tie, skillfully tied her hair into a low ponytail, then cracked one eye open and looked at Asher.

"...Hubby, is there ice cream for breakfast?"

"Yep. It’s on the table."

Cynthia’s eyes immediately lit up.

She leaned over, kissed Asher on the cheek, then slipped on her slippers and padded off toward the dining room.

Elesa sat up next.

Her eyes were still closed, but one hand had already accurately reached for the honey toast on the tray.

She took the toast between her teeth, chewed twice, and mumbled,

"Tasty..."

Then she flopped backward onto the pillow.

And stopped moving.

"Wifey, don’t fall asleep while eating. You’ll choke."

Asher reached over and removed the toast from her mouth, placing it back on the plate.

Elesa let out an extremely dissatisfied whine.

She blindly grabbed at the air a few times, failed to find the toast, and finally had no choice but to open her eyes.

She picked it up again and began nibbling it in tiny bites.

Her eyes stayed half-closed the entire time, as though she were eating in her sleep.

Diantha was still curled up beneath the blankets, with only her face and long dark-gray hair spread across the pillow visible.

She lazily stretched out one arm toward Asher and waved.

"Hubby, carry me~"

The final syllable was drawn out long and soft.

Combined with her half-lidded eyes and the lingering flush on her freshly awakened face—

The attack was devastating.

Asher placed the tray on the bedside table and bent down toward her.

Diantha immediately wrapped her other arm around his neck.

Her entire body clung to him like a lazy cat as she buried her face against his shoulder and let out an extremely satisfied sigh.

Misty sat on the other side of the bed with her arms crossed, watching the entire scene.

Diantha peeked half her face out from Asher’s shoulder and blinked at her.

"Misty, want to try too?"

"Hubby’s pretty strong, you know. He can carry two people at once."

Misty’s ears instantly turned red.

"I-I don’t need that! I can walk by myself!"

"Really?"

Diantha tilted her head, the curve of her smile growing wider.

"We’re all family anyway. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about~"

"Who’s embarrassed?! I just think it’s childish!"

Misty threw off the blankets and marched toward the door.

Unfortunately, she moved too quickly.

Her left foot caught on the corner of the bed.

She stumbled forward two steps and nearly slammed headfirst into the doorframe.

Diantha buried her face back against Asher’s shoulder.

Her shoulders began shaking.

Asher looked down at her obvious attempt to suppress her laughter and lightly patted her waist.

"Stop laughing. Go wash up."

Diantha kissed the corner of his mouth.

Then she followed Misty into the bathroom.

Fifteen minutes later.

Dining room.

The five of them sat around the table.

Elesa poked a piece of lettuce with her fork and spoke through another sleepy yawn.

"Come to think of it, we still have seven days until Episode Five."

"What are you all planning to do during those seven days?"

"Nothing."

Cynthia put down her spoon.

"I want to organize some ancient texts."

Asher lifted his coffee cup.

"Then let’s just stay home and rest today. For the next few days—"

Before he could finish—

The familiar system notification suddenly rang in everyone’s ears.

[Ding—!]

[Four episodes have now been completed. The system is undergoing a major upgrade...]

[Upgrade progress: 10%... 30%... 70%... 100%.]

[System upgrade complete!]

[New feature: Points Shop is now officially available!]

[Points Shop Description: Points can be earned by answering questions correctly or participating in activities organized by the system. Points may be exchanged in the shop for various items, Pokémon, special abilities, and more.]

A new interface immediately appeared on the light screen.

The Points Shop.

An enormous list of densely packed items covered the entire display, with the required number of points listed beside every product.

[VIP Chat Group]

[Steven]: Points Shop?! Wait, wait, wait! Let me see if there’s anything related to Diancie—THERE IS! An autographed photo of Diancie! A 1:1 replica model of Diancie’s Heart Diamond! They all need points! Points! POINTS!

[Wallace]: ...Could you have a little ambition? There are so many incredible things in that shop, and those are what catch your eye?

[Raihan]: Universal Wishing Stone: Allows any chosen Pokémon to learn any single move, ignoring typing and normal learning restrictions? Hahaha! If I had that, I could definitely beat Leon!

[Leon]: So you need cheats to beat me now?

[Raihan]: What cheats?! I call this making reasonable use of system resources!

[Ash]: Pikachu, look! There’s even a Master Ball in the shop?! And exclusive Z-Crystals! There are so many awesome things!

[Pikachu]: Pika pika! (I want this special concentrated ketchup recipe!)

[Dawn]: Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! A Pokémon Contest-exclusive dress! And look at this Beauty Stone—it permanently keeps a Pokémon in peak condition with perfect coat and body luster, ideal for Contests and performances! I want it, I want it, I want it!

[Iris]: But these prices are ridiculous! A Random Dragon-Type Pseudo-Legendary Egg costs two hundred thousand points?! How are we even supposed to earn that many? I have ZERO points right now!

While the chat group was arguing excitedly—

A new system notification suddenly appeared on the screen.

[System Notice]

[Ding!]

[A Surprise Competition Begins!]

[Still struggling to stay awake during a boring morning?]

[Still regretting that you can’t personally meet the protagonists featured in the Parallel-World Celebrity Series?]

[Still frustrated because you don’t have enough points to exchange for the items you want?]

[Then your chance has arrived!]

[This system hereby announces the First Annual—]

["GO, MAMAS! THE ULTIMATE?SUPER-DUPER?GALE-AT-THE-SUMMIT?IRONMAN TRIATHLON?MATERNAL-LOVE-OVERLOAD GRAND RACE!!!"]

[Participants in this competition:]

[Misty]

[Cynthia]

[Elesa]

[Diantha]

[Champion’s Reward: Choose your own future daughter and summon her into the real world!]

[Duration of stay—ONE MONTH!]

...