After Pikachu's Thunderbolt of love, Ash and Pikachu reconcile.
During this period, Ash also realized he had pushed Riolu and the others too hard.
Overly intensive battles might improve strength quickly, but they could also backfire.
Long-term, it could even harm Riolu's growth.
Thankfully, Pikachu's "reminder" made Ash aware of the issue.
And so, Ash's daily life returned to its usual harmony.
A few days earlier,
Ash had challenged Bea—the Fighting-type Gym Leader from Galar—at the Karate Master's Dojo in Saffron City.
He sent out his freshly trained Farfetch'd and Riolu.
But Farfetch'd lost to Bea's Hawlucha,
and Riolu was defeated by Grapploct.
Because of those losses, Ash dropped to rank 950 in the Great Ball tier.
That was what prompted him to halt Riolu's special training.
During that time, nearly all of Riolu's sparring opponents were similar to Grapploct—
and without exception, Riolu lost every time.
Ash's ranking was even on the verge of falling out of Great Ball.
One more loss would've kicked him back to Poké Ball tier.
During Riolu's match against an Octillery,
Riolu once again lost as expected—
but Pikachu stepped in at the last moment,
keeping Ash from falling into Poké Ball rank.
That was also why Ash decided Riolu needed a break.
Ash's style was always aggressive fast-offense—
and against Bea's defensive counter-attacker Grapploct,
he was naturally at a disadvantage.
That day, Ash received a request from Professor Sakuragi.
He was asked to investigate a massive traffic jam caused by a sand tornado on the Vermilion City expressway.
The sudden assignment left Ash no time to lose.
He used Sakuragi's transfer machine to retrieve two Poké Balls from Professor Oak,
then headed toward the site with Goh.
When Ash and Goh arrived,
they finally grasped how serious the situation was.
Because of the sand tornado, traffic was backed up for a huge distance,
crippling Vermilion City's roads.
Even worse—
Ash soon learned from bystanders that several people had been drawn into the tornado by strange voices.
Their safety was unknown.
Because of the risk to human life, Ash couldn't simply destroy the sand tornado.
He turned to Goh, who looked nervous.
"I'm going in," Ash said. "Goh, are you coming with me?"
Facing the roaring tornado and the ground swallowed by swirling sand,
Goh was instinctively terrified.
But when she saw Ash's eyes,
she clenched her fists, encouraged herself silently,
and answered with determination:
"Of course I'm going with you!"
Ash, hearing her firm response,
grabbed her hand tightly.
Goh instantly turned bright red.
[Diantha: Goh is just too adorable… every time she blushes, I want to pinch her cheeks.]
[Goh: Champion Diantha! My face isn't bread dough!]
[Diantha: Aww~ even your pouting is cute.]
[Chloe: Ash really gets more charming with age. In earlier compilations he had spirit, sure, but he wasn't this attractive. Now he only needs to say a few words and Goh completely melts.]
[Goh: I do NOT!!]
[Prof. Sakuragi: sigh My daughter… You didn't even deny the question directly… My fatherly heart hurts…]
Freshly minted Doctor Sakuragi felt deeply wounded.
His cute daughter… slipping away right in front of him…
And into early romance, no less!
Even if it was in the future, he still felt heartache.
Luckily Ash didn't have dyed yellow hair—
otherwise Sakuragi might challenge him to a duel in the name of fatherly dignity.
On-screen —
After taking Goh's hand, Ash didn't rush in.
He reached into his pocket, took out two Poké Balls, and tossed them upward.
Two beams of red light flashed—
and a large and a small figure appeared before him.
The moment they materialized,
the surrounding sandstorm intensified visibly.
"Pika-pi!"
Pikachu called out.
The large figure froze instantly,
and the sandstorm settled back to normal.
The smaller, rounder one turned around—
and in the next second, appeared on top of Ash's head.
"Gible! That hurts!"
Ash's face twisted in pain.
Gible's bite force was terrifying—
it could chomp through almost anything.
And Gible had one habit that never changed:
It always bit heads.
Years passed, and the habit remained.
"Ow ow ow ow—!"
Ash used both hands and feet trying to pry Gible off.
But nothing worked.
Until—
The Tyranitar trained by Red—the lord of Mt. Silver—
poked Gible's belly with one claw.
It was like hitting a switch.
Gible immediately dropped off Ash's head.
"Come on, Gible… after all these years, can't you change that habit?
My head really hurts!"
Ash rubbed his throbbing skull, complaining at the Gible who was now happily greeting Goh.
Goh, who had been tense,
relaxed completely thanks to Gible's antics—
and even started playing with the adorable little dragon.
Only Tyranitar watched Ash with concern.
"I'm fine, Tyranitar," Ash reassured it warmly.
Gible, Tyranitar, and Pikachu—
these were the only three Pokémon Ash brought this time.
A desert tyrant and a future land shark—
top-tier configuration.
Ash's Gible had incredible talent.
Even as a Gible, it could learn the top Dragon move Draco Meteor—
and it was even a Shiny Pokémon.
The only reason it hadn't evolved all these years
was because of Gible's own wish:
rather than evolving alone in Oak's lab,
it wanted to grow through battles at Ash's side.
[Cynthia: I didn't expect future Ash to have a Gible—and a Shiny one at that. Your luck is impressive.]
[Brock: Tyranitar and Gible?! Are you kidding me?!
I'm supposed to be a Pokémon Breeder, sure,
but my actual job is Rock-type Gym Leader!
Ground and Rock are like family!
You bringing out two pseudo-legendary Ground-types is killing me with envy!]
[Misty: Don't worry. Worst case, Hanako can help introduce you to a girlfriend.]
[Brock: Truly?! My standards are extremely high!]
[Misty: Please—your type is literally "older and gorgeous." Everybody knows.]
[Hanako: I didn't realize Brock had this kind of taste.
But you look sturdy and you're tan—housewives would probably like you.
If you don't mind widows, Auntie Hanako can introduce you to someone.]
[Brock: Say no more! From today on, I am your loyal adopted son!]
[Ash: What are you talking about?! That's my mom!]
[Brock: It's fine, Ash. You and I are separate issues.
I call Auntie Hanako "Mother,"
but you and I are still the closest of partners!]
[Ash: Why do I feel like I'm being taken advantage of…?]
[Gardenia: I strongly suspect Brock has ulterior motives.]
Suspect?
He absolutely did.
Kanto, Oak's Lab.
Ten-year-old Ash couldn't understand Brock's intentions,
but something felt… off.
He turned to Pikachu for help—
only to see Red standing there with a pitch-black expression.
Ash didn't quite get it,
but he immediately realized:
Red understood.
Brock had poked the dragon—and now he would face consequences.
Ash silently prayed for Brock.
Sorry, Brock…
you were the one who provoked Big Brother Red.
On-screen —
After this brief chaos,
Ash and the others moved toward the sand tornado.
Goh had prepared herself for stinging sand in the eyes,
but Tyranitar was a desert tyrant.
With it present,
the tornado behaved like it had met its true master.
A passage opened at the base,
allowing them to enter.
Inside,
the wind had vanished—
but the whole expressway was buried under mountains of sand.
Immediately upon entering,
Ash heard cries for help in the distance.
"Over there! Let's go save them!"
He dashed forward with Tyranitar following.
Soon, a massive sand whirlpool appeared before them.
The cries came from within.
Ash rushed to the rim and looked down—
several people were being sucked into the vortex.
This was clearly unnatural.
This wasn't a normal sand trap—
it was the Pokémon move Sand Tomb.
Creatures trapped inside couldn't escape.
Humans couldn't leave the zone either.
Which meant these people were caught in a wild Pokémon's attack.
And in the wild,
few Pokémon specialized in Sand Tomb—
Trapinch was the most notorious.
Sure enough,
Ash spotted an orange-red head with starry eyes at the center.
No doubt—
a Trapinch.
"Banji!"
Tyranitar rumbled.
A tiny Trapinch dared to act up in front of a desert tyrant?
It was ready to strike—
until Ash raised a hand to stop it.
"Hold on, Tyranitar.
Let Gible handle this."
Ash pointed into the center of the Sand Tomb.
"Gible! Use a single-target Draco Meteor!"
Goh froze.
As a student in a proper Trainer Academy,
she knew Draco Meteor extremely well.
And she was very sure
that Draco Meteor was not a single-target move.
But before she could question him—
the unbelievable happened.
"Sha~!"
Gible's eyes lit up—
a command it hadn't heard in a long time.
If only Piplup were here—
then it'd be truly fun!
But the Trapinch in the pit would do for now.
Gible opened its mouth to the sky.
Light gathered rapidly.
For an unevolved pseudo-legendary,
Gible's power was overwhelming.
In mere moments,
a glowing oval sphere the size of Gible's whole body rose into the air.
Unlike the typical Draco Meteor that scatters into countless meteors,
this one didn't explode mid-air.
Instead, it ascended, wobbled strangely—
and dropped straight onto the center of the Sand Tomb.
[Dawn: That was weird… I saw strange flashes just now.
I feel like that Draco Meteor… will be connected to me someday.]
[Lance: Makes sense—Gible is a Sinnoh pseudo-legendary,
and Ash definitely found his in Sinnoh.
Those images you saw might've been your future!
Wait—can you see the future? Are you a Psychic?!]
[Dawn: I'm not! I'm completely normal!
It was just a flash—I didn't even see clearly.
I just… felt it had something to do with Gible and Draco Meteor.]
[Lance: Thank goodness…
You scared me.
You don't know what it's like—I'm practically traumatized by Psychics.]
[Sabrina: Oh? Seems the Elite Four's Lance doesn't like us Psychics very much.]
[Lance: ...…]
He'd said the quiet part out loud!
[Lance: It was an accident. Do you believe me?]
[Sabrina: Guess.]
On-screen —
The Draco Meteor hit, stirring up sand everywhere.
The spinning whirlpool stopped completely.
Trapinch had been one-shot by Gible.
The trapped humans scrambled out,
apologized to Ash,
and sprinted out of the tornado—
clearly terrified by what they endured.
Ash wasn't paying attention to them.
His eyes were glued to Gible.
Because Gible's body was glowing white.
The light of evolution.
After so long,
Gible had finally reached the threshold.
If it hadn't suppressed its evolution,
it might've become Gabite long ago.
But now—
after returning to Ash's side and fighting again,
Gible finally wanted to evolve.
Add the experience from battle, and—
Gible was evolving!
The bright light drew Goh closer.
Even Pikachu stared curiously.
Their old companion—
was finally evolving.
"Pika~" (You've got this!)
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