Ash while carrying Larvanine in its fluffy cloak, walked to the small park across from the commercial street.
They found an outdoor bench directly facing the LED display screen and sat down.
The LED display screen, nearly as large as two storefronts, hung in the center of the shopping mall building across the street.
It was broadcasting the New Year's Eve Celebration.
Ash and Larvanine had arrived later, so they missed many exciting performances.
Now, as the celebration was nearing its end, the screen was mostly showing song and dance performances, but both Larvanine and Ash were still watching with great interest.
"In the future, we'll buy a big TV and put it in our home. That way, every New Year's Eve, we won't have to go out to watch other people's TVs," Ash said suddenly after a performance ended, as the screen switched to New Year's messages from top leaders in various fields.
Although Larvanine didn't know what a TV was, it still cheered excitedly.
For it, as long as it was with Ash, it was happy to do anything.
"Whoosh—Boom!"
Suddenly, a firework exploded in the dark sky over Solvale Town, filling the air with dazzling light.
"Larvanine~!"
Larvanine excitedly poked Ash's arm with one antenna and pointed toward the fireworks in the sky with the other, urging Ash to look.
"That's fireworks," Ash said with a smile, stroking Larvanine's head before looking up at the fireworks rising into the air as the clock struck midnight.
Having been afraid of air pollution, Ash hadn't seen fireworks or firecrackers in the city for a long time before coming to Gaia.
Seeing such a lively fireworks display now, she couldn't help but feel deeply moved.
Under the gaze of one person and one Larvavine, countless fireworks exploded in the sky.
The brilliant colors nearly illuminated the entire night sky.
"Larvanine~"
Larvanine, who had never seen anything like this, opened its mouth wide in awe.
Ash, hearing the sound, looked down at it.
A long-buried thought seemed to surge in Ash's heart again, urging it to break free from the deep recesses of her mind.
From their first meeting in the small park, to walking together in Azure Bay Mountain, and then their everyday interactions... one familiar scene after another flashed through Ash's mind like slides.
As the clock struck midnight, Ash couldn't hold back anymore and called out to Larvanine.
"Larvanine."
"Larvanine~?"
At that moment, the entire city seemed to fall into silence.
The lingering light from the fireworks that had exploded fell on Ash and Larvanine, illuminating their faces.
Everything felt like frozen in time.
In the fading light of the fireworks, Ash looked at Larvanine, who turned its head in confusion at hearing its name, and finally spoke the words slowly, one by one.
"You…"
"Would you…"
"Be willing to be my Spirit Beast?"
Ash's voice was slightly low, but in the quiet night, it sounded unusually clear and resolute.
In truth, she had thought about whether to form a contract with Larvanine as her Spirit Beast long ago.
However, in the end, reason triumphed over emotion, and she buried this idea—one that anyone would find utterly absurd—deep in her heart.
Contracting a Larvanine, a Spirit Beast that was so weak that it had no future prospects, would only make life harder for herself!
Having grown up struggling at the very bottom of society, Ash had become extremely practical.
Knowing her own lack of talent and financial hardships, wasting the only chance she might have in the next few years to turn her life around on a Spirit Beast that offered no proportional return for her efforts was something only a fool would do.
But after spending so much time with Larvanine and reflecting on the old man's advice to not define a Spirit Beast's strength based solely on its species, Ash found herself wavering.
Did she truly need a Spirit Beast that was merely a tool to help her succeed?
Since returning from the Spirit Beast Reserve, Ash had been mulling over this question.
In her previous life, when she played Pokémon games, she had chased after strong Pokémon just like everyone else, all for the sake of victory.
Yet by the end, Ash would always return to traveling with the Pokémon she liked best, no matter how weak they were.
Was it because those Pokémon weren't strong or good enough?
Of course not!
Her reason for playing Pokémon games had never been about strength or weakness—it was simply because she liked them!
She loved those adorable Pokémon.
She cherished the unwavering bond between a Pokémon and its trainer.
Ash loved stepping into every patch of grass and exploring every cave with them.
Perhaps it was this love that prevented her from becoming the purely rational person she aspired to be.
Rather than weighing everything in terms of benefits and drawbacks, she valued emotions more.
But was such a choice worth it?
Ash wasn't entirely sure...
All she knew was that there wasn't a Spirit Beast in the world more suited to her than Larvanine.
Despite being equally ordinary, equally insignificant, and equally devoid of any perceived value, they were the perfect partners for each other in this world.
The moment she held Larvanine's outstretched, emerald-green antenna resting in her hand, Ash realized she had already made the best choice in this world.
The next morning, Ash took Larvanine to the Beast Master Association in Solvale Town..
As the staff member who is responsible for registering Spirit Beast contract information looked at Larvanine who was perched on Ash's shoulder and the set of documents handed over toward him, he couldn't help but adjust his glasses.
"Miss, are you sure you've thought this through… and want to make this Larvanine your Spirit Beast?"
It wasn't the staff member's fault for being so surprised; Larvanine was notoriously considered a useless Spirit Beast that no one wanted, even if given away for free.
In all the time he'd worked there, this was the first time he'd seen someone choose Larvanine as their contracted Spirit Beast.