Everyone who returned to Professor Birch's laboratory was now sitting in the outer sitting room.
Only May stood peeking into Pikachu's infirmary, looking all sneaky.
She accidentally bumped into a vase nearby, and then, acting like a total goofball, lifted the vase straight up over her head!
Chén Nuò and Lillie sat watching from the side and burst out laughing.
May realized how silly she looked, hurriedly put the vase behind her, and said with a completely straight face, "Hello, my name is May!"
"Hello, I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town."
Ash didn't pay much attention to May's goofy behavior; perhaps he was a bit of a goofball himself.
"Pikachu, is he alright?"
May asked, looking over at Pikachu with concern.
"He's resting right now,"
Ash said.
"When he wakes up tomorrow, he should be back to his energetic self."
Professor Birch added.
"That's wonderful."
May walked over to Pikachu's treatment table and said.
"Well then, is May going to choose her first Pokémon?"
Professor Birch asked May.
"Ah, the first Pokémon?"
Hearing this, Ash looked as though he was extremely interested.
"That's right. Chén Nuò, you're here to get your starter Pokémon too, aren't you? Come along!"
Professor Birch smiled and then spoke to Chén Nuò, who was sitting over by Lillie.
"Alright, Professor."
Chén Nuò smiled and stood up.
Lillie looked at Chén Nuò and stood up alongside him.
The group arrived in an experimental room filled with all sorts of machinery. Chén Nuò didn't recognize a single one; there was nothing resembling the familiar Pokémon transfer machine or anything like that.
Three Poké Balls were placed haphazardly on a yellow table, without any special elevator platform like the ones Professor Oak used.
You could say it lacked any real style.
"The Pokémon for beginners are inside these Poké Balls,"
Professor Birch walked up, picked up a Poké Ball, and said.
"First up is Treecko!"
Professor Birch released Treecko.
"Grovyle!"
*(Note: Treecko's vocalization)*
This Treecko had a rather gentle voice, seeming like quite a mild-mannered child.
"Is this a Water-type?"
Ash asked, looking at the Treecko in front of him with his hands resting on his knees.
"Probably not. Didn't Professor Birch use a Water-type earlier? I remember it didn't look like this, right?"
Chén Nuò didn't try to stand out, simply offering a reasonable answer.
"That's right, that was just a Water-type; this one is Grass-type!"
Professor Birch looked at Chén Nuò with praise, clearly offering an encouraging nod to Chén Nuò's quick wit.
May also looked at the Treecko with curiosity. Treecko gave a gentle cry and stared at May with its big eyes.
May was so startled that she took two steps back, perhaps feeling a bit frightened by Treecko's huge eyes.
Chén Nuò, however, thought this Treecko was quite gentle—at least it was incomparable to Ash's Treecko, which was far more cold and ruthless.
"Hey, it's glaring at me!"
May said as she backed away, staring at Treecko.
"What are you talking about? This guy's eyes are so cute!"
Ash chimed in from the side, completely missing the mood.
*"Living up to his name as a 24-karat pure dense guy,"*
Chén Nuò muttered inwardly before saying to May, "Don't be scared, May. This guy's eyes are just naturally big; it's actually a very gentle kid."
"Oh, really?"
May remained half-doubtful in the face of Chén Nuò's words.
"Grovyle!"
Treecko called out to May again quite gently, clearly trying to prove itself.
"Hey, it really is gentle!"
Hearing Treecko's soft cry, May accepted the little fellow's big-eyed appearance and inexplicably found its eyes quite cute.
Watching Chén Nuò mend the relationship between May and Treecko in just a few words, Professor Birch couldn't help feeling a bit amazed.
After all, children their age acting like Ash was normally to be expected, whereas Chén Nuò's behavior was clearly much smarter and far more considerate.
Seeing Professor Birch looking at him, Chén Nuò smiled and gave an answering nod.
It made Professor Birch rather embarrassed.
He gave a couple of light coughs, took out another Poké Ball, and said, "This one is called Mudkip."
"Mudkip!"
Then the little blue Mudkip appeared before everyone's eyes.
Looking at it, Chén Nuò also felt it was a rather cute fellow.
"This one must be Water-type, right?"
Ash's remark sounded almost like a wild guess.
Chén Nuò smoothly chimed in: "This is the one May used earlier, right? It's a very obedient and well-behaved little guy!"
"That's right."
Professor Birch nodded.
"But didn't Mudkip refuse to listen to me very well earlier?"
May clearly wasn't as afraid of the familiar Mudkip anymore, and in her heart she probably thought the guy was quite cute, though she still felt a lingering fear about Mudkip splashing water all over her face just moments ago.
"Really? I think it looks very docile and cute."
Ash watched Mudkip from the side.
Chén Nuò was truly speechless at this. What this kid was saying...
"It's a very good boy. When you gave it a command earlier, you didn't tell it the specific target, only telling it to use Water Gun. If you clearly specify the target to it, it will definitely execute it earnestly."
Chén Nuò explained to May from the side.
"Oh, is that how it is? It was my fault then? I'm sorry, Mudkip."
Hearing Chén Nuò's words, May understood that Mudkip hadn't disobeyed her earlier because of itself, but because of her own improper commands.
Having wronged Mudkip over the matter, she immediately apologized to the Pokémon.
"Mudkip!"
Hearing May's apology, Mudkip walked obediently to May's side, rubbing its little head against her leg to express its affection.
Seeing the Mudkip right by her legs rubbing its smooth little head back and forth—bringing a slimy, soft sensation—she immediately squatted down and stroked Mudkip's head: "Wow, you really are well-behaved!"
"Ash, you really love Pokémon, and Chén Nuò, you seem to understand Pokémon very well."
Professor Birch was not stingy with his praise for the two of them. In his view, Ash had a deep passion for Pokémon, while Chén Nuò was smarter, sharper, and much more attentive to his partners.
"Well then, next up is Torchic!"
The adorable Torchic made a dazzling entrance.
"Torchic!"
This cute and endearing appearance instantly captured May's attention.
"Torchic is a Fire-type."
Professor Birch introduced, not forgetting to explain.
Torchic was clearly much more well-behaved and sensible than the other two, running over to May's leg and rubbing against it with its soft fuzz.
You could only say it truly lived up to being a fiery Fire-type!
May was obviously captivated by Torchic instantly!
"Wow, this one is so cute! Oh, but the others are so cute too!"
With Chén Nuò's help, May no longer held an aversion toward the other Pokémon like she did in the anime.