Setting out for Lavender Town!

Shiraishi Ritsu immediately grew embarrassed.

How did even Sabrina's father know about this?

"Haha, it's all fictional! Fictional!"

He hurried to explain.

The man waved a hand.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to blame you."

Then he grew a little curious.

"But Sabrina actually takes an interest in manga?"

Shiraishi Ritsu paused.

"You didn't know?"

"Know what?"

"She actually quite likes Pokémon Adventures."

Shiraishi Ritsu smiled. "She always denies it, but she reads every new installment carefully."

"Just a couple of days ago, she even called specifically to ask what I was planning to draw for the next installment."

The man froze.

"She called you herself?"

"Yes."

Shiraishi Ritsu nodded.

"And Miss Sabrina reads the readers' letters carefully, too."

At this, he recalled something he had heard from Kikkawa Maho before.

"Some children write to ask her for advice on training Psychic-type Pokémon, and she's willing to have the staff help reply."

"Really?"

The surprise on the man's face grew more apparent.

"Of course."

Shiraishi Ritsu smiled.

"There's something else, too."

He looked down at Smeargle.

"Partner, remember that portrait we drew of Miss Sabrina?"

"Smeargle!"

Smeargle nodded at once.

That was a piece Smeargle had been quite pleased with.

"We drew a portrait of Miss Sabrina smiling before."

Shiraishi Ritsu continued, "Later, at the Saffron Gym, she even asked Smeargle to draw another one."

The man stared at him blankly.

"Sabrina smiling?"

"Yes."

Shiraishi Ritsu nodded.

"She doesn't smile much normally, but I don't think she's completely lost the feelings she used to have."

"At least she's still willing to communicate with other people."

The man remained silent for a long time.

Finally, he slowly lowered his head, a complicated expression appearing on his face.

"I see..."

He had thought his daughter had devoted her entire life to psychic training.

He hadn't expected so many things to have happened lately without his knowledge.

Manga.

Readers' letters.

And a smiling portrait.

These seemingly insignificant little things were especially precious to him.

"Thank you, Mr. Masuda."

The man suddenly spoke earnestly.

Shiraishi Ritsu hurriedly waved his hands.

"You're too kind! I haven't really done anything."

"Your willingness to treat her normally is already enough."

The man looked toward the distant Gym and smiled faintly.

"Perhaps she really is starting to change a little."

Shiraishi Ritsu looked over as well.

He remembered Sabrina holding her doll last night, earnestly asking about the manga's plot over the communicator.

Then he thought of the father before him, who was always concerned about his daughter, and felt somewhat moved.

When he had watched the anime before, he had simply found Sabrina's storyline very entertaining.

Only after actually meeting these people had he realized that everyone had their own lives and troubles.

Sabrina was just a girl who wasn't very good at expressing her feelings, too.

"Sir."

Shiraishi Ritsu thought for a moment, then smiled. "If you get the chance, why not try talking to Miss Sabrina again?"

"About what?"

"Anything."

Shiraishi Ritsu casually offered some examples.

"You could ask what manga she's been reading lately, or whether she's received any interesting letters from readers."

"That's better than telling her to stop practicing her psychic powers every time you meet, isn't it?"

The man paused.

Then he couldn't help laughing.

"You have a point."

He stood up and gave Shiraishi Ritsu a slight nod.

"Thank you for the advice, Mr. Masuda."

"You're welcome."

Shiraishi Ritsu stood up as well.

The man was about to leave when he suddenly stopped again.

"Oh, about Ash..."

"Yes?"

"If he really is planning to go to Lavender Town, you can remind him to be careful."

The man said seriously, "The Ghost Pokémon there act in very unusual ways. Trainers without experience can easily fall victim to their pranks."

Shiraishi Ritsu smiled at once.

"Don't worry."

He glanced down at Smeargle.

"We might even go with them."

"Smeargle!"

Smeargle excitedly raised the paintbrush.

Seeing this, the man said no more.

After they said goodbye, Shiraishi Ritsu continued back to the hotel with Smeargle.

After walking some distance, he suddenly remarked, "Partner, it looks like Miss Sabrina isn't as scary as we used to think."

"Smeargle!"

Smeargle nodded in complete agreement.

But soon, Smeargle pulled the four-panel comic about the Ash doll drawn last night out of the art bag.

Shiraishi Ritsu looked down, and the corner of his mouth immediately twitched.

"...Of course, she's still pretty scary sometimes."

That evening, in the hotel room.

As soon as Shiraishi Ritsu finished showering, he picked up his communicator and contacted Kikkawa Maho.

"Miss Maho!"

"Mr. Masuda?"

A familiar voice came from the other end.

"What is it this late?"

"I wanted to discuss tomorrow's plans with you."

"What's the matter?"

Shiraishi Ritsu cleared his throat.

"I'm planning to go to Lavender Town for reference material."

"..."

The other end of the communicator fell silent for two seconds.

Then Kikkawa Maho's voice suddenly rose.

"Lavender Town?!"

"Yes."

"Weren't you supposed to return to Celadon City tomorrow?"

"That was the plan."

Shiraishi Ritsu hurried to explain, "But today, I met a few Trainers who are planning to travel to Lavender Town, so I can go along with them and have a look."

"I've heard there are plenty of Ghost Pokémon in Lavender Town, and I'd like to gather some drawing references."

Kikkawa Maho clearly wasn't convinced.

"Mr. Masuda, you're not trying to slack off again, are you?"

"Of course not!"

Shiraishi Ritsu answered without hesitation.

"I'm doing this for the quality of the manga!"

"Smeargle!"

Beside him, Smeargle immediately nodded in support.

Kikkawa Maho sighed.

"What about the manuscript for the next installment, then?"

"It's nearly finished."

Shiraishi Ritsu hurriedly said, "The storyboards and main drawings are all organized. There'll be plenty of time to finish the rest once I get back."

"And this reference trip will take two days at most. It won't delay the submission."

Only after hearing this did Kikkawa Maho's tone soften a little.

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely!"

"All right, then."

Kikkawa Maho finally agreed.

"But you must stay safe. Pokémon Tower in Lavender Town is famous, but I've heard quite a few strange things have happened there, too."

"Don't worry!"

Shiraishi Ritsu smiled. "I'm not going there to challenge any powerful wild Pokémon. I'm just taking Smeargle for a look."

"Smeargle!"

Smeargle raised the tail, brimming with confidence.

Kikkawa Maho gave a helpless laugh.

"All right. I hope your reference gathering goes well."

"Thank you, Miss Maho!"

After hanging up, Shiraishi Ritsu immediately perked up.

"Done!"

He turned to Smeargle.

"Partner, are you ready?"

"Smeargle!"

Smeargle had already packed the art bag.

Smiling, Shiraishi Ritsu opened his notebook and began carefully planning the reference gathering ahead.

First, the streets and buildings of Lavender Town.

Second, the interior of Pokémon Tower.

Then, the Ghost Pokémon's floating movements, changes in expression, and all their unusual ways of moving.

At this thought, Shiraishi Ritsu suddenly smiled.

"Ghost Pokémon, huh..."

"I hear they really love playing pranks."

"If I could draw those movements into my manga, that would definitely be fun."

Smeargle's eyes lit up as he listened.

He also really wanted to see for himself how Pokémon that could pass through walls, float, and even suddenly disappear actually moved.

The man and Pokémon huddled at the table, eagerly discussing their plans for quite some time.

Finally, Shiraishi Ritsu finished a detailed reference-gathering checklist.

The next morning.

On the road from Saffron City to Lavender Town.

Ash strode excitedly at the front with his travel bag on his back and a revitalized Pikachu standing on his shoulder.

"All right! Let's go!"

"Pika pika!"

Misty followed behind, still looking somewhat reluctant.

"Why do we have to go to that haunted place..."

Brock carried his luggage and reassured her with a smile.

"Don't worry. We're all going together."

Just then, a familiar voice suddenly came from beside them.

"Hey! Ash!"

The three turned to look.

They saw Shiraishi Ritsu walking briskly toward them with Smeargle.

"Mr. Masuda?"

Ash called out in delighted surprise.

"What brings you here?"

"Haha, I'm planning to go to Lavender Town with you to gather references."

Shiraishi Ritsu patted the art bag at his side.

"I wanted to see the Ghost Pokémon there, too."

"That's great!"

Ash immediately brightened.

"Then let's go together!"

Brock also nodded with a smile.

"Glad to have you along."

Only Misty couldn't help sighing.

"Why is even Mr. Masuda so interested in Ghost Pokémon..."

Shiraishi Ritsu laughed.

"Well, I'm a manga artist, after all. I want to see all sorts of strange and unusual things."

With that, he took out the reference-gathering checklist he had prepared in advance, intending to check it one last time.

Smeargle leaned his head over curiously.

"Smear?"

He read down the checklist.

Streets and buildings.

Pokémon Tower.

Ghost Pokémon movements.

Visual depictions of special moves.

When he reached the last item, Smeargle suddenly stopped.

Then he excitedly raised his tail.

"Smear!"

Shiraishi Ritsu looked down and couldn't help laughing, either.

There, at the very bottom of the checklist, was a clearly written line.

[Find Pokémon suited to comedy manga.]

Shiraishi Ritsu rubbed his chin and said with a smile:

"Maybe this time, we'll really meet a particularly interesting fellow."