Meeting the Parents

"Grandpa, what did you say? You want me to be a teacher?"

Early that morning, while everyone else was still lost in sweet dreams, Gary's startled cry rang out from his and Rosa's room at the Pokémon Center.

"That's right." Professor Oak's image appeared on Gary's phone. "Though I'm not really asking you to become a teacher, just fill in temporarily."

"Fill in?" Gary looked at his grandfather in confusion.

"I was originally scheduled to give an online class to the students at the Pokémon School in Rustboro City today, but an important research matter came up at the last minute, so I can only ask you to handle it."

Seeing Gary's puzzled expression, Professor Oak explained, "And since you happen to be in Rustboro City, I'll leave this class to you."

"But I've never taught anyone before!"

After hearing that his grandfather had made the decision for him, Gary immediately looked troubled. After all, he had truly never experienced the profession of being a teacher.

Professor Oak naturally understood Gary's difficulty, so he comforted him directly. "It's just some basic Pokémon knowledge. With your knowledge, Gary, there definitely won't be any problem."

"Fine." Since his grandfather had put it that way, Gary had no reason to refuse and could only agree helplessly.

However, Gary's conversation with Professor Oak disturbed Rosa, who was still asleep.

The awakened Rosa rubbed her bleary eyes and asked Gary, "Gary, who are you talking to on the phone?"

Before Gary could answer Rosa's question, Professor Oak on the other end noticed and asked Gary about it.

"Gary, is there someone else in your room? It sounds like a girl's voice."

"Grandpa, she's my girlfriend." Faced with Professor Oak's question, Gary decisively told the truth.

"Girlfriend!"

At this, Professor Oak instantly perked up and anxiously asked more questions.

Ever since Gary had broken up with those cheerleader girlfriends from before, Professor Oak, as his grandfather, had been worried about Gary's love life. It was a common problem for every parent.

And now that Professor Oak had heard Gary already had a girlfriend, he immediately became energized and pressed Gary for details.

"Quick, let Grandpa see her!"

On Rosa's side, she had already been a little dazed after being woken up by Gary's call. Then she realized she had interrupted Gary's conversation with his grandfather, which left her even more bewildered.

Now that she heard Gary's grandfather—Professor Oak—wanted to meet her, she became even more flustered.

For a moment, she failed to recover and could only stare blankly at Gary as he looked at her.

"Rosa, my grandfather wants to meet you."

Only after Gary said that did Rosa snap out of her daze. She quickly got up, intending to put on some makeup before meeting Gary's grandfather.

"Wait for me, I need to put on some makeup first!"

But Gary was not about to give Rosa that chance. He directly pulled over the still bare-faced Rosa.

"No need for makeup, Rosa. You're beautiful without it too."

After saying that, Gary shifted the phone so Rosa was included in the camera frame, allowing Professor Oak to see her.

"Good child, are you Gary's girlfriend, Rosa?"

When Rosa appeared on screen, Professor Oak immediately showed a kindly smile.

"Yes, Grandpa... ah, no, yes, Professor Oak, I'm Rosa." Faced with her boyfriend's elder, Rosa answered nervously.

Although Gary had long told her that his grandfather was Professor Oak, Rosa was still incredibly nervous now that she was actually meeting him.

"Don't be nervous. Just call me Grandpa, like Gary does."

Seeing how nervous Rosa was, Professor Oak immediately comforted her.

"Okay, Grandpa." Though somewhat embarrassed, Rosa followed Professor Oak's words and called him Grandpa.

Professor Oak's approachable manner also gradually eased Rosa's nervousness.

Seeing this, Gary finally relaxed.

"By the way, Rosa, when did you and Gary meet?"

Once Professor Oak saw that Rosa was no longer nervous, he began asking about their relationship.

"Rosa and I met—"

Just as Gary was about to explain to his grandfather, he was directly interrupted.

"I wasn't asking you. I was asking Rosa."

Seeing Gary's awkward expression after being cut off, Rosa could not help covering her mouth and giggling.

"Grandpa, Gary and I met at Professor Birch's place."

Rosa then took the initiative to explain, resolving Gary's awkwardness.

"So that's how it was." After hearing Rosa's words, Professor Oak once again revealed a kindly smile.

Seeing his grandfather treat them so differently, Gary felt rather speechless. After handing the phone to Rosa, he went to sit off to the side.

Over the next while, Rosa and Professor Oak chatted more and more enthusiastically, completely forgetting about Gary beside them.

Their conversation continued for nearly an hour before Professor Oak was finally willing to end the topic with Rosa. If he had not had other matters to attend to, it might have gone on even longer.

After seeing that the person on screen had changed back to Gary, Professor Oak coughed and gave him a reminder.

"I chatted with Rosa for a while just now. She's a good girl, so don't you dare let her down! Otherwise, I won't let you off."

Professor Oak was very satisfied with Rosa as his future granddaughter-in-law, so much so that he even threatened his own grandson.

"Of course not." Gary rolled his eyes at Professor Oak's words and said irritably, "I like Rosa too much to ever let her down. How could I possibly do that?"

"That's good."

After receiving Gary's affirmative answer, Professor Oak showed a relieved smile.

Before hanging up, Professor Oak did not forget his instructions for Gary.

"Don't forget, you still have to go to the Pokémon School in Rustboro City this afternoon and teach a class in my place."

"Got it." Gary nodded after hearing that.

"Once you get to the school, you can find Teacher Roxanne. She'll take you to the class you're teaching."

"Roxanne? Got it." Upon hearing Roxanne's name, Gary nodded.

"All right, I'm hanging up now."

Only after finishing his instructions did Professor Oak end the call.

After Gary hung up, Rosa leaned over and said smugly, "Gary, your grandfather told you to take good care of me."

After putting away his phone, Gary revealed a mischievous smile at Rosa's words, then pounced directly on her.

"I'll take very good care of you right now!"

"No!"

And so, Gary and Rosa began playfully fooling around in the room.