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Black Cloud City wasn't very large. After Ash used his Aura Power to locate the power plant, Gardevoir used Teleport twice to get them to the scene.
Upon arriving at the power plant, Ash spoke with the staff there and learned that a group of Grimer had clogged the drainage system, preventing the generators from working.
Not only that, but the group of Grimer had even started to invade the power plant.
Since it was a problem caused by Pokémon, it was within Ash's ability to solve.
Ash told the staff to open the gates, assuring them he would handle all the Grimer. However, when actually facing the Grimer, Gardevoir, for the first time, cowered behind Ash.
Because those Grimer… were incredibly stinky!
So stinky and dirty, Gardevoir didn't even consider using Confusion to take them down. If she accidentally got touched, she might have psychological trauma for the entire month!
Girls, even if they are Pokémon, are very clean. It's natural for them not to want to battle a Pokémon like Grimer.
Gardevoir even felt that just battling Grimer would make her smell bad!
So, for the first time, when facing a battle, Gardevoir chose to hide behind Ash.
This surprised Ash, and he soon understood the whole story through Gardevoir's telepathic message.
Although he found it a bit amusing and frustrating, Ash respected Gardevoir's choice, so he released Wartortle and Bulbasaur.
While there were many Grimer in this group, their strength was average, with none even at the Advanced Level. For Wartortle and Bulbasaur, they were relatively easy to deal with.
With the two Pokémon working together, all the Grimer were continuously blasted out of the power plant. However, no matter how many Grimer Bulbasaur and Wartortle defeated, the power plant couldn't resume operation, meaning there was still a pile of Grimer blocking the drainage system.
Ash frowned slightly and activated his Aura Power to detect how many Grimer were truly there. The result shocked him: there were already over a hundred Grimer just inside the power plant.
Including the Grimer blocking the drainage system, there were probably over two hundred!
With such a large number, even if his Pokémon had a level advantage, it would take an unknown amount of time to defeat them all.
However, among the many Grimer, Ash noticed one with particularly strong Aura. That might be the leader of the Grimer. If he could defeat it and then have it order the other Grimer to leave, the problem should be solved.
So Ash left Bulbasaur and Wartortle to hold off the Grimer, while he and Gardevoir Teleported to the Grimer leader's location.
Upon seeing the Grimer with the particularly strong Aura, Ash immediately understood why this Grimer was different from the others: it had evolved! It wasn't a Grimer, but a Muk!
As long as this Muk was dealt with, the problems with the other Grimer should also be easily resolved.
Ash glanced at Gardevoir, whose little head shook so fast it blurred. She still didn't want to fight!
"Hey, usually you and Charizard are fighting over who gets to battle. It's rare to see you not wanting to fight at all."
"Gardevoir~" Battling this kind of opponent would cause psychological trauma.
"Alright, then, Charizard, I choose you!" Since Gardevoir didn't want to battle, Ash didn't waste any time and immediately sent out Charizard.
This Muk was at the Advanced Level Initial Stage, and could actually be used for Riolu to practice, but the situation at the power plant and Pokémon Center was urgent, so there was no time for such things.
It was better to finish the battle quickly.
Facing the Elite Level Advanced Charizard, there was no suspense in this battle. One Flamethrower and the battle was over.
Ash thought for a moment and still threw a Poké Ball. This Muk was exceptionally stinky, which was unacceptable to Gardevoir, but for him, it was fine.
Capturing Muk was, first, to have him command the other Grimer to leave the power plant and return to their original habitat, as the power plant had been operating normally before, which meant the Grimer had a place where they originally lived.
Secondly, this Muk's ability value and aptitude were decent, and this Pokémon could be used in battles to unexpectedly deal with some difficult opponents; its stench was its greatest weapon.
For a Pokémon like Muk, the stronger its stench, the more it indicates its extraordinary nature. If one can tolerate Muk's stench, this Pokémon is actually quite good.
Coincidentally, Ash's acceptance of such Pokémon was quite broad, as long as their nature wasn't bad.
After capturing Muk, Ash released it, used Viridian Power to restore it a bit, and used his Pokédex to Lock-On Muk, ensuring it wouldn't be sent back temporarily.
Then, under Gardevoir's somewhat disdainful gaze, he took it back to the power plant.
Ash brought out the somewhat recovered Muk and had it command the Grimer to leave.
The process went relatively smoothly. Soon, the power plant returned to normal, and Ash also unlocked Muk's Lock-On, sending it back to Oak's Laboratory.
Under the grateful thanks of the staff, Ash had Gardevoir use Teleport to take him back to the Pokémon Center.
As expected, the Pokémon Center had returned to normal, and those who had made sarcastic remarks earlier were no longer in the Pokémon Center's lobby.
It was unclear if they felt ashamed because Ash restored the Pokémon Center, or if they were disheartened to see a tiny Electric-type Pikachu single-handedly support the entire Pokémon Center.
In any case, they felt they had no face to stay there, so they slipped away before Ash returned.
Upon seeing Ash return, Joy also thanked Ash profusely. In addition to verbal thanks, Joy also provided some tangible items.
She learned that Ash was going to challenge Koga of the Fuchsia Gym, so she gave Ash a file on Koga.
This was much more reliable than the superficial information available outside.
By the time Ash had completely resolved the matter, it was already close to three in the morning. Misty and Brock would have been asleep much earlier if they hadn't been waiting for Ash.
But now, Ash had obtained Koga's information and wouldn't be going to sleep anytime soon. The two of them, however, couldn't stay awake any longer. After telling Ash, they went straight to bed.
Ash, meanwhile, sat cross-legged on his bed, flipping through Koga's file. With his eyesight, he could clearly read the text in the file even without light.
About ten minutes later, Ash closed the file in his hand, his expression complex. Koga's strength was much greater than he had imagined.
First, regarding his main team, the opponent was a genuine Elite Trainer, possessing six Elite Four level Pokémon!
The strongest of his Elite Four level Pokémon had reached the Elite Advanced Level, making him a mid-to-upper-tier presence even among Elite Trainers.
To put it bluntly, aside from Ash himself, even if he used all his Pokémon, it would be impossible to defeat even one of the opponent's Pokémon.
The level gap was too large, a gap that was difficult to bridge by any means.
Currently, his strongest Pokémon was Pikachu, who was at the Professional Initial Stage. When using Aura Fusion, Partner Form, and with the Light Ball in its body, Pikachu could probably contend with Gym Level Pokémon.
But Elite Four level… he had no idea how to win, honestly.
However, in reality, he probably wouldn't encounter Koga's main team. What kind of fool would expect an Elite Trainer to use his main Pokémon to battle a Trainer who had only been traveling for two months?
As long as he didn't make such a foolish suggestion, Koga wouldn't do something like that.
So, the information he needed to pay attention to was Koga's non-main Pokémon. Below Elite Four level Pokémon, Koga also had Gym, Professional, and Elite Level Pokémon. Unlike other Gyms, Koga's lowest difficulty was Elite Level.
Therefore, challenging the Fuchsia Gym had a certain threshold; an ordinary Rookie Trainer would be overwhelmed just by looking at the Fuchsia Gym.
After careful consideration, Ash finally decided on the difficulty he wanted to challenge — Professional Level!
If it was a one-on-one battle, battling a Professional Level would be no problem. If it was a three-on-three, battling a Professional Level would also be no problem.
His three strongest Pokémon all had the ability to contend with Professional Level Pokémon. As long as Koga sent out Professional Initial Stage Pokémon, Ash wouldn't even need to use Aura Fusion.
Unless Koga's Professional Level Pokémon also had S-rank ability values.
After determining Koga's Pokémon, Ash put the file aside and lay down on the bed.
Pikachu, sleeping soundly nearby, smacked its little lips, rolled over, and continued to sleep sweetly. Ash smiled, ruffled Pikachu's little head, then closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep... The next morning, after waking up and washing, Ash first called Professor Oak, explaining the origin of Muk and his reasons for catching it.
As for how to train Muk, he would have to rely on Professor Oak. Muk's training method was different from ordinary Pokémon; in addition to ensuring nutrition, Muk also needed to eat some garbage and waste, which was essential for maintaining its toxicity and growth.
But the most important thing in training Muk was to endure its stench. Ash could do it, and Professor Oak... should be able to too, right?
Anyway, Professor Oak in the video call looked very happy being pinned down by Muk, Ash thought silently, then ignored Professor Oak's pleading gestures in the call and hung up directly.
Misty's mouth twitched, and she said with some concern, "Professor Oak really won't be crushed to death by Muk, will he?"
"Don't worry, don't worry, he's a professor, he's seen everything. Muk is definitely a small matter for him," Ash waved his hand, saying leisurely.
"Let's go, time to head to Fuchsia City." Ash said, stepping out of the Pokémon Center first, and continued towards Fuchsia City... Five days later—
Ash and the others finally arrived at the entrance of Fuchsia City.
During this time, the group encountered Team Rockets once again. To Ash's surprise, the Pokémon of those two 'experience packs' had actually evolved, from Ekans and Koffing into Arbok and Weezing.
Their strength had also improved, reaching the Advanced Level Peak, but in front of Pikachu, they were still just an easy meal.
The two, full of confidence, came to cause trouble this time without any equipment, and were then happily sent flying into the sky.
Facing the Professional Middle Level Pikachu, the two Advanced Level Peak Pokémon couldn't even withstand a single blow.
Aside from the Team Rockets interlude, Ash also met Gary midway. After they talked, Ash learned that Gary already had six badges and was planning to go to a Gym in Blue Smoke City next.
The Gym in Blue Smoke City was not famous, only considered a relatively ordinary Gym, with a difficulty probably similar to the Pewter Gym.
Gary's mood was also very complex after seeing Ash again, as Ash's reputation was gradually spreading throughout Kanto.
In terms of the number of Gym badges, he was actually not weaker than Ash, and even had more, but the quality of the Gyms was far inferior.
Although he had also defeated the Saffron Gym, the Saffron Gym he battled and the Saffron Gym Ash battled were not of the same caliber in terms of difficulty.
Then for his fifth Gym, he also went to the Celadon Gym, but he only chose a mixed difficulty of Elite and Advanced, and barely managed to win in the end.
After Erika learned that he was from Pallet Town, she also told him about Ash's challenge.
Upon learning that Ash had actually defeated Erika's Professional Level Pokémon, Gary felt completely disheartened.
He knew that Ash had used an Elite Four level Gengar to defeat the Saffron Gym, which wasn't a Pokémon he had personally trained. Even with this, Gary could still barely say that he hadn't lost too much to Ash.
But when battling the Celadon Gym, Ash hadn't used Gastly. Instead, he used a Gardevoir and a Charizard, both of which were Pokémon Ash had raised from the beginning. Now, he could even use these two Pokémon to defeat Professional Level Pokémon.
In contrast, Gary was still struggling at the Elite Level... Being slowly distanced by his rival was a very unpleasant feeling for Gary.
And this time, Gary also learned from Ash that he was going to challenge the Fuchsia Gym!
The lowest difficulty challenge at the Fuchsia Gym was Elite Level; there were no Advanced Level Pokémon, and the Elite Level Pokémon there were not as simple as the Initial Stage.
That's why Gary hadn't chosen the Fuchsia Gym.
However, after learning that Ash was going to challenge Fuchsia, Gary also secretly made up his mind that once he got his seventh Gym badge, he would also go to Fuchsia to test his limits. He couldn't let Ash pull too far ahead!
After meeting and talking for a while, the two went their separate ways. Now that Ash had arrived in Fuchsia City, Gary had probably already reached Blue Smoke City.
Fuchsia City, while called a city, was more like a small town.
There were no dazzling high-rise buildings here, but rather many small houses.
In this modern city, these houses looked more like something from ancient times or a rural area, but this was Fuchsia City's unique charm.
Koga, the Gym Leader of Fuchsia City, was a candidate for the Elite in the Johto region. This title alone would probably scare away countless Trainers.
Therefore, Ash and his companions had expected that the Fuchsia Gym would not have many challengers.
But when they entered Fuchsia City, what they saw was a bustling crowd. This was not a place with no challengers; this was a freaking sea of people!!