The seventy-third day after leaving the Orange Islands, cloudy.
The sky was thick with white clouds, like an enormous cotton candy drifting overhead.
Eleven days had passed since everyone arrived at Tianqing Mountain, yet they still had not found any trace of Ash and the others, as if they had vanished from the world.
They had searched all over Pallet Town without finding Ash and the others, then searched Tianqing Mountain and its surroundings again and again, but still found nothing.
Had Professor Oak not calculated their route and called Pewter Gym and Cerulean Gym to ask about their whereabouts, learning that Ash and the others had visited and even stayed overnight at the Gyms, they might have completely given up searching Tianqing Mountain.
When everyone learned that Ash and the other children had indeed headed toward Tianqing Mountain, they all breathed a sigh of relief.
Now, all they could do was wait. They only hoped Ash and the others would reach Tianqing Mountain soon, so they could give them a proper lesson—strip off their pants and give their bottoms a hard spanking.
Unfortunately, they had called too late. By the time they contacted Cerulean Gym, it was already the second day after Ash and the others had departed.
Moreover, two more people had joined them: Brock and Xiao Xia. They had also set out with Ash to search for Ho-Oh.
Brock's and Xiao Xia's families were truly carefree. The moment they heard the two were going out with Ash, neither family asked another question or showed any intention of stopping their children. They simply let Brock and Xiao Xia go along without worry.
He could not help but marvel at how carefree parents in the Pokémon World were. If Ai's Mother had not said Ai was missing, Delia might