Not long after Ash shared the video with his friends, the reactions started pouring in.
[Bro, that's cold! Didn't we agree to catch our starter Pokémon at National Park together? Why'd you sneak off and get one first?]
The comment came from Lu Ming, Ash's childhood friend from the same village. He was a rather dark-skinned boy who, like Ash, had come to the city to attend a Pokémon Trainer high school.
[Hey, I couldn't help it. What can I say? I'm just that charming.] - Ash
[Sure, keep showing off.] - Lu Ming
Just then, someone else left a comment.
[This one... if I remember correctly, isn't it a Pokémon from Western Europe called Applin?]
The girl behind this account was also from Ash's hometown. Her name was Li Xiao Ke, and they had been childhood friends.
When Ash was ten, her older brother, a Pokémon Trainer, had become the leader of a Water-type Gym in the city, so her whole family had moved there. She had since grown into a lovely young woman.
When Ash and Lu Ming first arrived in the city, Xiao Ke had made a special trip to pick them up. She would also be attending the same Pokémon Trainer high school.
Unlike the two boys, however, her brother, the Water-type Gym Leader, had already prepared a Water-type starter Pokémon for her-a Piplup, one of the exceedingly rare Water-type starters. Her starting point was miles ahead of the two boys from her old village.
[Holy shit! A Pokémon from Western Europe?! Since when did you get that lucky, bro?] - Lu Ming
[Apparently, it snuck into a crate of apples imported from overseas, ended up in the supermarket, and happened to get bought by me. Maybe that's what they call fate?]
Ash couldn't resist humblebragging