After leaving Ecruteak City, Ash and his team were finally able to head towards Mahogany Town, the location of the seventh Badge.
Soon, they saw the next town!
"The Township of Eggseter should be right ahead!" Brock said after checking the travel manual. This is a small town built in a valley, and the scenery should be very good.
"Big Brother, I'm so hungry!" Molly jumped off Meganium's back and found Ash and shouted hungry.
"Then let's have lunch here. I'm also very hungry from all this walking!" Misty said and followed Molly.
Everyone prepared to get a camp ready, eat and drink enough to replenish their spirits before continuing on their way to Eggseter. After all, although they could barely see it, there was still a long way to go to the actual town.
After Ash nodded in agreement, he looked in another direction.
Not long after, an Arcanine broke into their sight. It had a collar around its neck and a pulling rope behind it. Behind it was Gary!
This guy is very interesting. He is not riding Arcanine at all, but he instead is holding a rope behind him and riding on top of a skateboard.
Is this his new way of waking his dog?
"Gary!"
Seeing Ash, Gary quickly asked Arcanine to stop, "Ash, looks like we meet again!"
As soon as the two friends/rivals put their hands together for a handshake, their friendship seemed to became more profound.
Seeing them like this, Misty and Brock were also very happy.
Molly has already run over to Arcanine and check him out. She has ridden Arcanine before and likes this big dog that is furry and very warm in all places.
She can't always ride in one of these dogos because her older brother has never tried to catch one of them or their pre-evolutions, that being Growlithe.
"Gary, your Arcanine has been taken care of so well, both in terms of the coat color and in size!" As a Pokémon Breeder, Brock sincerely praised Gary in how well he trained his Arcanine.
"Thanks you for the compliment Brock, always like to hear those!"
Gary has a real talent and learning ability, to follow through with that. While Ash continues to improve in his strength along with his Pokémon's, he is also improving in everything he can.
"Brother Gary, what are you doing here like this?" Molly had already ridden on Gary's Arcanine's back at some point and asked him a good question.
In the past, Gary would have ignored Ash and his party and should have left by now, but now with a more mature approach he said, "I want to participate in the Pokémon racing competition going on here, it's called the Extreme Pokémon Race. This has become a very popular sport recently in this area!"
"Ash, the Competition will soon began, let's have a good race there and see which one of us is better in this kind of thing!"
With that said, Gary took Molly off Arcanine carefully, "Then I'll take my leave first!"
As they traveled along the road, Ash and his team discovered that in the valley below, many Trainers used the same equipment as the ones Gary used.
Granbull, Scyther, Dodrio, etc.
These Pokémon's are all running on the grasslands of the valley while they were tugging their Trainer who was on a skateboard, and they should all be practicing for the Extreme Pokémon Race that will began soon.
"Alright, it's been decided, I want to join the Extreme Pokémon Race!"
After coming to Eggseter and asking around, Ash and his party found out that tomorrow is the day when the Race to determine this year's best racer will be held.
This is a grand event that everyone in the town will participate in. No wonder this place is full of passion, with people riding behind their Pokémon, it created the perfect place to hold this grand race.
It's an actual National Race!
When they came to the Pokémon Center, everyone was having taking about this matter, "But Ash, even though you said that, you don't have the equipment to participate in the race with you! And who are you going to use to participate in this race? Not to mention all the practices you have to do to keep up with the rest."
Of course Misty supports Ash to wholeheartedly participate in the competition, but the equipment problem must be solved first before anything else.
"What, did I hear that you want to participate in the Extreme Pokémon Race?" The uncle who heard everyone's conversation came over to ask, his name was Shellby.
At his invitation, Ash and his team decided to his Pokémon Day Care in the Tauros cart that Mr. Shellby used.
"Uncle, what is this Pokémon Day Care?" Molly asked a little curiously.
"Haha, how cute, sit down first and I will tell you all about what it is!" He let Molly sit on Tauros's back. Mr. Shellby smiled and said, "I am responsible for taking care of Pokémon and their eggs, helping to hatch and breed them, and then give them to their original owners. This is the job of the Pokémon Daycare I run."
"That means you can see a lot of Pokémon Eggs there, Uncle?" Molly got excited about hearing that part of his work.
"Yes, of course you can!"
"That's great. Big Brother had a Pokémon Egg before and it hatched into a super cute Lapras!" Molly learned many things about the excitement of the birth of life and the process of looking forward to the birth of life from Ash and Misty.
As he finished his talking, Mr. Shellby's Pokémon Daycare House came into view.
"Big Brother, look, there are so many cute little Woopers!" By the pond, Molly saw some little Woopers drinking water.
"Those are just some of the newly hatched ones, they hatched only a week ago!" Mr. Shellby told Molly about their age.
The air was fresh and the environment was very comfortable here. From Brock's professional perspective, this is the perfect environment for Breeding Pokémon's. Perhaps for this reason, there are many Breeder Stores opening near here.
There were colorful Pokémon Eggs on the shelf at the door, which made the little Molly very happy to see them.
.....
Mr. Shellby's house was located in the deepest part of the valley. There are also many Pokémon Eggs placed here. After getting the permission from Mr. Shellby and his wife, Kimie, Molly slowly approached and carefully observed the Eggs one by one.
It was a fun game guessing game to guess what kind of Pokémon Egg it was through the patterns that was showing.
"These are all entrusted to us by other people!" On a row of shelves that Mrs. Kimie was organizing, Pokémon Egg were placed neatly with wide spacing.
On the small shelf on the other side, there are their own ones, which are arranged more closely, and there are also a few Pokémon Eggs placed in baskets.
Not only that, there are also babies of various Pokémon living here.
It can be seen that these babies and Pokémon Eggs have been carefully taken care of by the couple.
"There are many things that you wouldn't know if you didn't personally take care of your own Pokémon!" Mr. Shellby got Ash his own racing equipment, "Just now Young Molly said that you personally took care of a Pokémon Egg belonging to a Lapras. I admire you for that!"
"This is the equipment I have used before when I was still able to race, but time caught up to me. Although it is a bit old, if you don't mind it, feel free to use it!"
Ash really liked this set of equipment, it was custom made for better gripping power.
With his equipment now ready, the most important thing now is the Pokémon that will be participating with him.
"So Ash, which Pokémon do you want to choose?" Brock asked with a little concern, "The rules of the race are that you cannot change Pokémon during the competition midway no matter what happens!"
In other words, you will only be able to use one Pokémon from the beginning to the end!
"The Extreme Pokémon Race is a race that emphasizes the tacit understanding between the Pokémon and the Trainer. The physical strength of Pokémon and the trust between Trainer, all factors must be taken into consideration before doing anything!" Mr. Shellby gave good advice to Ash.
"In terms of tacit understanding and trust, Ash of all people will not lose to anyone I know!" Misty has great confidence in Ash's bond with his Pokémon's!
"Big Brother, use Raikou or Suicune in the race!" Molly gave him quite a bold suggestion. If Raikou or Suicune comes on the stage, Ash is afraid that other Pokémon and Trainers will run away before the race even begins.
But such a victory is not what Ash wants or desires.
Ash patted her on the head and said, "I have a very wild idea in my mind!"
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Drop your stones here.