Baimu's attention caught on the age noted in the narration.
Twelve years old!
His choice had led a young girl into her first romance!
Well.
The Pokémon anime world had no concept of dating too young. In earlier series, Ash's friendships with the female characters could still be called vaguely romantic, but by Pokémon X and Y, the hints were practically out in the open.
Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon also frequently featured jokes about Ash's relationships with the female cast.
He turned his gaze back to the screen.
The girl in the kimono and Swirlix left through the shop's back door, then hurried to an old-fashioned building built around a towering tree.
[You decided to discuss it with your good friends.]
The building looked familiar.
After a moment's thought, he remembered that it was the Laverre Gym.
Its defining feature was how seamlessly the building blended with the ancient tree.
The girl in the kimono knocked on the door. When it opened to reveal a boy in a men's kimono, Baimu immediately perked up.
A boy?
The current Gym Leader of the Laverre Gym was Valerie, a girl whose eyes filled most of their sockets and whose clothes made her look like a giant pink butterfly.
Her attendants were all girls in long-sleeved kimonos. There shouldn't have been a boy in a kimono among them.
That meant the simulation took place much earlier.
So was this boy...
A childhood sweetheart? A friend she'd grown up with?
Twelve or thirteen was a little young for a Gym Leader, but not outrageously so.
He could also be the Gym Leader's son.
The narration offered no answer.
A third boy soon appeared. Unlike the first two, who wore kimonos, he was dressed more conventionally.
The three gathered to chat.
A love