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Actually, compared to Riolu, Primeape had too great of a level advantage. What level was Riolu when he fought Hitmonchan? Novice Peak!
And what level is Primeape now? Elite Level!
This is Elite Level without any buffs. After Aura Fusion, Primeape's strength can go up another level. Plus, with the Aura's ability to sense with closed eyes, if Hitmonchan could even touch Primeape once, Primeape would have lost, okay?
After Hitmonchan fell to the ground, Ash and Primeape finally opened their eyes. Ash looked at Anthony and said, "Uncle Anthony, are we still fighting?"
..."No, I surrender." At this moment, Anthony felt an unparalleled sense of powerlessness rise within him, a feeling that he could never defeat his opponent.
Primeape hadn't even made a move, and Hitmonchan was already close to exhaustion. At this point, if Primeape had thrown even one punch, the battle would have ended.
The gap between the two was self-evident. If they continued to fight, what would be the difference between him and a clown?
As Anthony surrendered, the announcer also declared the results of the match. Although this final did not feature an exceptionally fierce confrontation, Ash's battle style drew cheers from the entire audience.
Fist-to-fist battles were happening in every match, but this kind of battle, where one dodged all of the opponent's attacks with closed eyes, was something they had never seen before.
This battle was less of a fight and more of a one-sided performance by Primeape. Many people even recorded this match, planning to upload it online later to explore the secret behind Primeape's ability to dodge attacks with its eyes closed.
The awards ceremony was very simple: someone presented the golden belt, a few photos were taken, and finally, the host chattered for a bit, announcing the time of the next competition and so on...
The total time spent was no more than five minutes. Ash casually put the golden belt on Primeape. He wouldn't be short on money once the first portion of the perfume sales arrived in a few days.
So there was no need to sell this symbolic belt; it was perfectly fine to just use it as a decoration for Primeape... After the awards ceremony, Ash and the others left early to avoid being surrounded by the audience. They had already arranged to meet Rebecca at her house.
About ten minutes later, Rebecca arrived at her doorstep with a dejected Anthony. Ash and the others were already waiting there.
When Ash saw Anthony's appearance, he felt a little apprehensive. He hoped he hadn't overdone it and completely crushed the opponent. If Anthony not only gave up on Pokémon battles but also on life in general, that would be troublesome.
So Ash forced a smile and went up to Anthony, saying, "Uncle Anthony, don't be so dejected. One failure doesn't mean anything."
Anthony shook his head dejectedly and said, "Don't comfort me, Ash. I clearly understand now. I truly have no talent for Pokémon battles, and I've woken up. A competition that a Trainer who debuted two months ago can sweep, calling it a fight to determine the Kanto's best fighter… that's just a self-satisfying gimmick."
It must be said, Ash truly woke him up this time.
No matter how gifted Ash was, his age was a factor. If someone Ash's age could defeat him to this extent, what about other Trainers who were naturally talented and had ample time to grow? There was no need to even mention them.
So, Kanto's best fighter... perhaps 'street's best fighter' would be more believable.
Anthony's obsession with fighting competitions was completely extinguished.
"Uncle Anthony, you don't need to belittle yourself. Actually, Hitmonchan is really well-trained. It's just that I'm a bit special. If I hadn't participated this time, perhaps you, Uncle Anthony, would have been the Champion of this fighting competition."
"But if you, Uncle Anthony, had won the Champion, you might have thought about going home at first, but if the competition started again later, there's a high chance you would abandon everything and go participate."
"There's nothing wrong with pursuing your dreams, but if you pursue them without regard for everything around you, it can cause significant harm to those close to you," Ash said with deep feeling.
Like Brock's father and… his father, both were people who would stop at nothing for their dreams.
Actually, Ash himself was like that at first. Before he started his journey, he was solely focused on becoming a Pokémon Master, not wanting to deal with anything else, not even wanting to call his mom.
But with the guidance of many parallel-world versions of himself in the group chat, he understood one thing: dreams can be pursued, but you cannot ignore the people around you.
His mother only saw his father once every few years; he couldn't be like that too, only seeing her once every few years. What would be the difference then from the father he had complained about not being around since he was a child?
This time, Ash helped Rebecca not only because he was somewhat interested in fighting competitions, but primarily because he saw a reflection of himself in Rebecca.
His father was even more excessive than Rebecca's father.
Under Ash's persuasion, Anthony finally completely resolved the knot in his heart. He stated that even if he trained again in the future, he would absolutely never neglect Rebecca and her mother.
Out of gratitude to Ash, Anthony gave Ash a treasured item: a black, strap-like binding.
..."Don't underestimate this small item. I actually found it from a reclusive fighter. It greatly aids in physical training. Although wearing it will make your limbs inconvenient, requiring three or even four times the effort for things that normally take one, it can help your Pokémon increase their physical training efficiency by at least fifty percent!"
"A fifty percent increase?!" Ash's heart trembled as he looked at the small item in his hand.
The perfume he got from 'Richest Ash' could only boost physical training by about twenty-five percent, yet this thing could boost it by fifty percent, or even more!
What kind of item is this? Can such a heaven-defying item truly exist in the world?
"That's right, my Hitmonchan can't even fully utilize the effects of this item. It's a waste to keep it with me, so I'll give it to you, Ash."
"No... I can't. How can something so precious..."
"Don't refuse. You pulled me out of my obsession and allowed me to see my family. I have nothing good to repay you with, so just take this thing." Anthony waved his hand, pushing the training device back to Ash.
Under Anthony's persuasion, Ash finally accepted the training device. The saying "good deeds are rewarded" was materialized at this moment.
Ash bid farewell to Anthony, then found a moment to enter the chat group and roughly described the training device Anthony had given him, subsequently receiving an answer.
This item is called a Forced Training Device. Its effect is not a fifty percent increase as Anthony said, but a one hundred percent increase!
That's right, a one hundred percent increase!
However, this Forced Training Device's one hundred percent increase applies to Ability Values, not levels. While levels also receive an incidental boost, the primary effect is on Ability Value training.
For Pokémon with high Ability Value caps, this item is indeed a divine artifact, because the further along the Ability Values are, the harder they are to raise.
If it takes four or five days to train from B-rank to A-rank, then it will take ten days to train from A-rank to S-rank.
Therefore, many Pokémon level up without having trained their Ability Values to the limit. The higher the level, the harder it is to raise Ability Values. If you can't train your Ability Values to the limit before leveling up, you'll have to put in even more effort later!
This is equivalent to entering a vicious cycle.
Although Ash has the Insight Eye and can determine when a Pokémon reaches its maximum Ability Value before allowing it to level up, sometimes, level increases cannot be suppressed.
For example, Bulbasaur, Wartortle, and Pidgeot all leveled up before their Ability Values reached their limits, which is unavoidable.
Compared to other people, he already has a great advantage, but with this Forced Training Device, Ash dares to guarantee that he can absolutely raise his Pokémon's Ability Values to their current peak before allowing them to level up.
Unfortunately, there is only one Forced Training Device, so Ash can only rotate its use among his Pokémon... Time flew by, and two more days passed. Ash and the others arrived at a city called Black Cloud City. This city is the last transit point; not long after passing it, they will reach Fuchsia City.
However, although this place is called a city, its desolation is even more exaggerated than a town. They arrived in Black Cloud City at night, but there wasn't even a street light, and it was pitch black.
Misty checked the general situation of Black Cloud City. Originally, it was a prosperous city, but due to overdevelopment, a large number of factories were built, leading to the pollution of the entire city's surroundings, making it unsuitable for human habitation.
So many people evacuated, leaving behind only a large number of factories and a portion of people to guard them.
But for Ash and the others, these things weren't very important, after all, they were just passing through, staying for one night, sleeping and then leaving.
However, the atmosphere here was not only eerie, but there was also a foul smell lingering around, which Ash and the others found unbearable. So the three quickly ran to the Pokémon Center and found Joy to get a room for temporary stay.
Due to the special nature of Black Cloud City, there were still rooms available even at such a late hour.
After washing up, the three prepared to go straight to bed. Even Ash, a training fanatic, had no desire to train in this environment.
Stepping outside meant a terrible stench; who could endure that?
However, just as they lay down, the Pokémon Center's alarm went off. Ash, still in his pajamas, rushed out in a hurry, only to learn that the Pokémon Center had lost power.
As for the reason... Joy only knew that there was a problem with the power plant, but she wasn't quite sure what the specific problem was.
In short, if the Pokémon Center remained without power, it would cause big problems for the Pokémon undergoing treatment. That's why Joy rang the alarm, asking the resting Trainers to come out and help investigate.
Besides Ash, there were other Trainers who came along, but upon hearing they had to go to the power plant, many showed expressions of reluctance.
It was already past one in the morning. Not only could they not sleep, but they also had to endure the stench outside to get to the power plant. Wasn't this pure torture?
"Such a large Pokémon Center, and it doesn't even have a backup power supply?!" someone couldn't help but question.
As a hospital facility where a power outage could endanger healing Pokémon, how could it not even have a backup power supply? Was the Pokémon Center really such an irregular place?
Although Ash also felt something was strange, now was not the time to deal with such matters: "Joy, is there any power generation facility here that electric-type Pokémon can provide power to?"
"There is, but to provide power for such a large Pokémon Center, the electricity needed is not a small amount. One or two electric-type Pokémon wouldn't be enough, and if they were to generate power all night, even with many electric-type Pokémon, it would be an overload."
"It's okay, my Pikachu can do it." Ash set his Pikachu down from his shoulder, then squatted down and said to him, "Pikachu, I'm leaving this to you. You generate power temporarily to maintain everyone's condition. I'll be back soon."
"Pikachu!" Pikachu nodded, patting his chest with his little hands, indicating he had it covered.
"Pikachu? How much electricity can that Pokémon generate?"
"Exactly, it probably couldn't even power the Pokémon Center for ten seconds."
"Forget it, having Pikachu come over and just make a show of it isn't as good as going to the power plant early and fixing the power supply."
"..."
The sarcastic remarks from the people around them made Misty stand up in uncontrollable anger and scold, "What sarcastic remarks are you all making here! Ash is willing to let Pikachu come out and generate power for the entire Pokémon Center. If you're not grateful, fine, but you're still speaking ill of him here!"
"Are there no Pokémon of yours among those lying inside? Even if there aren't, when you see Pokémon in life-threatening danger, shouldn't your first thought be to worry about them? Why do you still have time to make sarcastic remarks here?!"
"If you're so capable, then go to the power plant yourselves! Don't let a Trainer who debuted two months ago do such a thing!"
Misty wanted to continue, but Ash patted Misty's shoulder. When the latter's gaze shifted to him, he shook his head, indicating not to say any more.
Now, restoring power to the power plant was the most important thing. If it had been when he first started out, Ash probably would have cursed these people even more fiercely than Misty. A group of people who talk without consequence, why should they look down on his Pikachu?
And now, Ash had not only grown in strength but also matured greatly in his mentality. Even if he was angry inside, he knew what was the highest priority right now.
"Pikachu, I'm counting on you with the Pokémon Center." Ash said, releasing Gardevoir. Then, with Aura spreading, after locking onto the power plant's location, he and Gardevoir vanished from the spot.