Chapter 259: Dawsher, Misher, Cynsher, Elesher, Diansher...or Stevsher? (Membership Extra Chapter)

[VIP Chat Group]

[May]: Long light-blue hair and such fair skin—she’s way too cute! Hina is definitely going to grow up into an amazing Coordinator!

[Johanna]: Mm, the light-blue hair really is pretty. And Hina already has more hair than Dawn did when she was little. Dawn barely had any hair back then—her head looked like a kiwi.

[Dawn]: Mom! You don’t have to tell everyone something like that! (??﹏??)

The video continued playing.

Time quickly moved forward.

The scene shifted to a Pokémon Day Care called Dawsher House.

It was a Day Care that Asher and Dawn had opened together after getting married.

Today was Hina’s first-birthday choosing ceremony.

A huge soft mat had been spread across the floor, with more than a dozen Pokémon Eggs neatly arranged on top.

Each Egg had a different color, size, and pattern.

The most eye-catching was undoubtedly the Shiny Beldum Egg Steven had sent over, complete with a gold card from Devon Corporation attached to it.

There was also a Gible Egg from Cynthia, a Dratini Egg from Lance, a Charmander Egg from Ash...

And aside from those Eggs personally endorsed by the big shots, the mat also held a Riolu Egg, Ralts Egg, Bagon Egg, and Zorua Egg.

Every single one practically radiated the message—

I’m expensive. You’re out of my league.

Even the Egg sitting at the very edge was a top-quality Magby Egg that Steven had personally dug out of a volcanic crater.

"Seriously, Brother Asher."

Steven crouched beside the mat.

"Don’t you think you’ve gone a little overboard this time? If you hadn’t told me this was Hina’s choosing ceremony, I’d think I walked into a Pokémon Egg auction!"

"It’s her choosing ceremony. Having more options is normal."

Asher’s tone was completely casual.

"What if she doesn’t like any of them?"

"Doesn’t like any of them?!"

Steven froze.

"If my little niece isn’t even interested in pseudo-Legendaries, then what would she be interested in?!"

"We’ll find out soon enough."

"All right, all right! The star of the show is here!"

Johanna clapped her hands and stood up from the sofa.

"Move, move, everyone make some room for the baby."

Dawn placed Hina in the center of the soft mat, then crouched down until they were at eye level.

"Hina, see all those Eggs in front of you?"

"Pick the one you like the most."

Hina lay on her stomach, her golden eyes inherited from Asher curiously examining the colorful Eggs in front of her.

She stretched out both little hands, seemingly unsure which one she should touch first.

Piplup waddled over from the side.

It gently nudged a pale-blue Egg half an inch closer with one wing, then called out to Hina.

"Piplup, Piplup!"

"Piplup, no cheating."

Dawn reached over and picked Piplup up.

"Piplup!"

Piplup let out an extremely indignant cry, but it didn’t struggle any further.

Hina crawled around the mat.

She poked the Dratini Egg with one finger.

She gently shook the Charmander Egg.

She spent a little longer touching the Gible Egg, but after that, she still didn’t do anything else and continued crawling forward.

Eventually—

She reached the very edge of the mat.

There, she stopped in front of an Egg that was entirely light blue, with faint white patterns resembling ripples across its shell.

Hina stared at the Egg for quite a while.

Then she wrapped both arms around it with all her strength and hugged it against her chest.

"Yiya~"

She let out an incredibly satisfied little sound.

The entire room fell silent for three whole seconds.

Steven was the first to react.

"No, wait! Niece Hina, are you sure?!"

"That’s a pseudo-Legendary over there!"

"A Shiny Beldum!"

"Just look at it! One look! It even sparkles! Look—"

Steven picked up the Shiny Beldum Egg and waved it in front of Hina.

Hina immediately hugged the Quaxly Egg even tighter.

Then she turned her head away and buried her face against its shell, leaving only the back of her head facing Steven.

Dawn touched one finger to her soft pink lips, then turned toward Asher.

"Hubby, the Egg Hina chose is..."

"A Quaxly Egg."

Asher folded his arms, the corners of his lips lifting slightly.

"Fate really is a wonderful thing."

[VIP Chat Group]

[May]: "Dawsher House"? That’s Asher and Dawn’s names put together, right?! That’s so romantic! (≧?≦)

[Bianca]: I’m shipping it! I’m shipping it!!

[Dawn]: Um... you guys... (////)

[Misty]: Hehe. "Dawsher House," huh... Hubby, how come parallel-world me never got treatment like this? Don’t you love me anymore? (;一_一)

[Elesa]: Exactly! Why does only Dawn get a special paired name?! I want one too! (?•??•?)??

[Asher]: ...If you really like it that much, you can rename your Gyms the "Misher Gym" and "Elesher Gym." I don’t mind.

[Diantha]: Then I’ll join in too! How does Diansher Film Company sound, hubby? From now on, I’ll put that logo at the beginning of every one of my movies!

[Asher]: Change it! Change whatever you want!

[Steven]: Brother Asher, I want one too! From now on, Devon Corporation can become Stevsher Mining Co., Ltd.!

[Asher]: Get lost.

[Wallace]:@Steven, you’re truly unbelievable. They’re making couple names and you still have to force your way into it.

[Lorelei]: Ahem. Just to point something out, officially renaming a Gym requires filing the change with the League. You can flirt all you want, but if you’re serious about changing the names, Lance still has to sign off on it.

[Misty]: Mr. Lance, you’ll sign it, right? (?????)

[Lance]: ...Fine.

[Wallace]: ??? Lance, what happened to your principles?

[Lance]: Anything involving Asher’s family qualifies as a special case and requires special handling.

[Raihan]: What exactly counts as a "special case"?

[Lance]: If your family can produce someone the same age who’s no weaker than one of Asher’s daughters, I’ll approve yours too.

[Lance]: Though I wouldn’t recommend it.

[Raihan]: ...Never mind, then.

[Lucian]: Um, @Asher... if I support renaming the Sinnoh League to the Cynsher League, would you come help us deal with the paperwork?

[Wallace]: Lucian, I can hear that abacus of yours clicking all the way from Hoenn.

[Aaron]: We really don’t have a choice. Flint collapsed, so now it’s just me and Lucian working overtime.

[Volkner]: Can’t you guys have at least a little dignity?

[Lucian]: Easy for you to say! Then get back here and help!

[Volkner]: Ahem... actually, never mind. I still need to give Flint his injections!

[Flint]: Hahaha! I’m an Exploud! YAHOOHOOHOO!!

The video continued playing.

Another large stretch of time passed.

Hina had grown quite a bit.

Her long light-blue hair could now be tied into two low ponytails that rested over her shoulders.

Quaxly was always by her side.

Ever since hatching from its Egg, the little duck had decided that Hina was its person, following her wherever she went.

At that moment, Hina was crouched inside the incubation room behind the Day Care, carefully writing on a record sheet in her hands.

She was only five years old—

But when it came to recording data, she was already several levels more meticulous than Asher.

Because Asher never wrote anything down.

He remembered everything in his head.

...

TL: Thanks again SacredLoneWolf for another month of membership!