After a few minor incidents, Rowan and Nekomi successfully arrived at the Pokémon Center.
A giant Poké Ball's model was installed on the roof—a standard design for Pokémon Centers, while the rest of the building was constructed according to local customs in each region.
Inside the Pokémon Center, Rowan also saw the familiar face of a Nurse Joy.
The Joy and Jenny Family were considered the two most unique families in this world, with incredibly strong genetic traits.
Apart from Brock, who is one-of-a-kind genius, telling the Joys apart is still a pretty tricky task.
However, besides Nurse Joy, there were also many other staff members inside the Pokémon Center. In such a big city, Nurse Joy alone couldn't possibly handle everything.
But the first thing Rowan did upon arrival wasn't to look for Ash—it was to register as a Trainer.
Only after registering could one participate in Gym challenges and a series of official competitions, as well as access services like renting battle arenas.
The registration process wasn't complicated—it was even easier than applying for an ID. All you needed was a Pokémon of your own to register with, which led to a very high number of Trainers in the whole Illumina region.
However, only a small portion of these "Trainers" actually pursued the path of being full-time Trainers. Most people just had Pokémon as additional family members in their daily lives.
Even though the Pokémon species generally follow the rule of "might makes right," not all Pokémon are skilled in combat. Just like horses—though all are horses—there are plow horses, racehorses, and warhorses, each completely different.
In just a few minutes, Rowan completed the registration. However, there was no Pokédex for him—that item wasn't standard issue for Trainers.
Strictly speaking, the Pokédex was still a product of research labs, and only people familiar with Pokémon Professors would have their own Pokédex.
As for the game app on his phone, Rowan had already tested it on the way—it couldn't detect information on unfamiliar Pokémon and, for now, could only display data on Nekomi.
After finishing a few small things, Rowan found Ash and the others in the rest area of the Pokémon Center.
Misty and Brock were off to the side chatting about their travels. Judging by the trays nearby, it looked like they had just finished afternoon tea or dinner.
Ash and Pikachu were warming up, looking full of energy.
When Ash saw Rowan approaching, he immediately waved and ran over.
"Mr. Rowan, over here! We're all ready!"
"Pika pika!"
"Ash! He just got here—it's such hot weather, at least let him rest for a bit!"
Ash's loud voice had already attracted the attention of everyone in the rest area, including Brock and Misty.
To Ash, battles are a matter of great importance—but in Misty and Brock's eyes, calling someone from far away all the way over here was already kind of a hassle.
"It's fine. The subway station is really close. If you can't wait, we can start right now."
"Mr. Rowan, don't be fooled by how Ash acts—he was in the top sixteen of the Indigo Plateau Conference and is an Honored Trainer of the Orange League."
Misty gave Rowan a brief rundown of Ash's past achievements, making it clear that he wasn't just some impulsive kid, but a Trainer with real strength.
She didn't want Rowan to treat this battle as just some childish game—after all, for Ash, every battle held a different meaning.
"Understood. I'll take this battle seriously."
The group exited through the back door of the Pokémon Center and arrived at an open battle arena. Brock, clearly familiar with the routine, casually walked over to the referee's position on the side.
"Trainer Ash from Pallet Town challenges Rowan from the Illumina Region. The battle will be 1-on-1. Trainers, please prepare your Pokémon!"
"Pikachu, I choose you!"
Even though he only had Pikachu with him, Ash still shouted his iconic line. Pikachu leapt from his side into the battle arena, small sparks crackling from the pouches on his cheeks.
Those pouches were where Pikachu stored electricity—if too much energy was stored and not released in time, it could cause incidents like what happened earlier that day.
"Nekomi, let's go."
"Meow~"
That morning at university, Ash's Pokédex had already shown that it couldn't search any data on Nekomi. He could only roughly guess that it was a Grass-type Pokémon.
This was also one of the abilities of Pokémon—many of them had features that made their type obvious at a glance. But for Ash, it didn't matter much.
As a classic "type disadvantage master," Ash often went against conventional logic.
"Then I won't hold back—Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"
Golden lightning sparked across Pikachu's body as a surge of electricity gathered and shot toward Nekomi.
"Spikes."
"Meow. (You really have a twisted sense of humor.)"
Upon hearing Rowan's command, Nekomi waved her hand and flung out a flurry of sharp stones. The moment those objects touched the ground, they vanished into thin air—at the same time, the electricity released by Pikachu struck Nekomi.
However, Thunderbolt didn't cause any damage at all. Nekomi even turned around and gave Rowan a mischievous grin, as if to say his strategy was completely bullying the opponent.
"Completely ineffective?! Has the level gap really grown that wide?"
"No, that's not right. Even if Grass Type can resist Electric Type attacks, Pikachu's Thunderbolt shouldn't be completely ineffective.
And just now, it used Spikes—a move that doesn't mean much in a 1v1 battle... it must be Protean!"
The moment Misty saw that Nekomi had taken no damage at all, she was surprised. At first, she assumed it was simply a matter of level difference, but Brock had more thoughts on the matter.
"Protean?"
"Yeah—an Ability that lets a Pokémon change its type depending on the move it uses. If that's the Ability in play... then Ash is now up against a Ground Type Pokémon..."
While the two on the sidelines formed their hypotheses, Ash remained unaware. His understanding of Abilities wasn't deep to begin with, let alone rare ones like Protean.
Among all discovered Pokémon, only Kecleon, the Greninja family, and some individuals in the Meowscarada family are known to possess this Ability.
"Slam Pikachu into the spikes!"
"Pika?!"
Before Pikachu could even react to what was happening, its body had already soared into the air.
"Meow~"
After Nekomi gave a little wave in Pikachu's direction from across the field, Pikachu's body was violently slammed down into the ground.
"Pika!!"
The hidden spikes beneath the surface activated at the moment of impact, dealing a significant amount of damage to Pikachu.
Even before Ash could shout a command, Pikachu could already feel something wrapping tightly around its body. It instantly released a surge of electricity in an attempt to break free—but to no effect.
At that moment, Nekomi's body seemed to be an extension of the ground itself—a pure insulator. The electricity had no effect on it whatsoever...