"That kind of guy can train a Gym Advanced Level Pokemon in just a year and a half? I can't accept it!"
"Ash, if you meet him in the match, you must teach him a good lesson!"
The three of them had strong opinions about Paul's actions. The Pokemon fought hard for you and lost its battle ability, only for you to dismiss it as useless?
What's the difference between Paul's actions and Team Rocket's! Even Team Rocket's trio cared for their Pokemon more than Paul by hundreds of times!
That kind of person who has absolutely no regard for Pokemon, can actually train a Pokemon to become that powerful? Is there no justice in this world?!
As Paul sent out his Torterra, there was no need to watch the rest of the battle. Although Ash's Pokemon weren't weak, against a Gym Peak-level Torterra, they stood no chance at all.
Moreover, Torterra didn't even exert itself. Even if someone wanted to collect data on Torterra for analysis, there simply wasn't enough information.
All they knew was that Torterra's level was Gym Peak, and there was no other information available. This was the reason Paul chose to release Torterra as his second Pokemon.
Torterra was his trump card. If the information leaked, it wouldn't be favorable for him. But conversely, for a trump card Pokemon to deal with weaker trainers, there was no need to go all out. Even if Torterra fought, no one could gather data on it.
Others could at most discern that Torterra's level was Gym Peak, but any other information would be impossible to collect. Since some of Torterra's information had already been revealed during the Holy Fire incident, he decided to let Torterra continue fighting.
This was Paul's strategy.
In fact, this strategy was quite successful. Even though Paul used Torterra to sweep three opponents, those around who were observing Paul's info still couldn't make out anything.
Only Ash fully understood all the information about Torterra.
"I didn't expect that Paul's Torterra was already at Gym Peak. He indeed continued to improve these past few months!" Gary looked at Paul withdrawing his Torterra from the field, walking away coldly from the stage, muttering with some calculation in his mind.
He felt that this guy was just showing off, but he had no evidence.
Although Paul was cold, his looks weren't bad. The cold aura he emitted even added to his charm, which made quite a few girls around cheer for him and boldly confess.
Of course, Paul naturally wouldn't pay attention to such things, but Gary was a little annoyed by others stealing the limelight like this.
Forget about Ash, he indeed couldn't compare...
But who is Paul really! At best, he just traveled a little longer. If given the same amount of time, Gary was confident he could trounce Paul!
But then again, the current competition was about current strength. If future potential could be counted in, everyone would be borrowing against the future, so Gary's indignation was of no use.
"That Torterra isn't just at the Gym Peak level. If this year's Quartz Conference puts enough pressure, it might be able to advance to Elite Level." Ash suddenly spoke up, having analyzed Paul's Torterra to a conclusion that it wasn't merely at Gym Peak but had been stuck there for a while.
The evidence was that Torterra's various ability values were already fully trained, with one ability value reaching S level, and that was physical strength.
Without long-term training, it's almost impossible to max out ability values.
Now with Torterra's ability values maxed, advancing to Elite Level should just be a matter of opportunity. As long as it gains enough battle experience in the tournament, or faces enough pressure, it can ascend to Elite Level.
Gary was right, Paul indeed was his rival, the biggest competitor in this Quartz Conference. Just judging the Pokemon levels alone, only Pikachu in his hand could match Paul's Torterra. Without using special means, it would be hard to say who would win between them.
But when it comes to serious battle, Ash certainly wouldn't be foolish enough to hold back, naturally using all the means he has.
After Paul's match ended, the few of them watched the following match, found it uninteresting, and decided to leave.
Upon leaving, some people noticed Ash, but with Misty's shushing, they managed to avoid a big commotion, only signing a few autographs before successfully leaving.
Now Ash, not exactly a big celebrity, was fairly easy to recognize without wearing a mask.
Once out peacefully, they planned to go to a nearby restaurant for a meal. Participants received free lunch and dinner and could bring up to three family members. With Gary and Ash together, they could bring a total of six people, and now there were only two, leaving plenty of room.
The food around Quartz Plateau couldn't be said to be bad, but it was quite ordinary. After taking a couple of bites, Ash realized it was far inferior to his own cooking and suddenly couldn't continue eating.
This even puzzled Ash himself. Could it be... he had spoiled his taste with his own cooking skills? Wow, is that even possible?
Pikachu didn't have such demands; as long as there's ketchup, anything is edible!
Anyway, Ash couldn't understand the combination of ketchup and rice.
Naturally idle, Ash looked out the window and his expression froze.
"You guys continue, I'm going out for a bit." Ash said, scooping up Pikachu who still had ketchup on its lips and ran out, leaving Brock and the others bewildered, having no idea what happened.
Until Gary looked out the window...
"Isn't that Paul? And is the Pokemon Chimchar? What are they doing there?" From the window, you could see a small lawn outside, with Paul and Chimchar standing face to face, Chimchar's face showing great distress, while Paul maintained his usual indifferent demeanor.
"Looks like Ash either heard or sensed Chimchar's situation. Judging by Chimchar's state, it hasn't even recovered at the Pokemon Center." The scene also made Brock's face stiffen.
"Going through a battle and not recovering at the Pokemon Center for so long, what kind of Trainer is Paul?"
"Let's go out and take a look."
"Alright."
...
Outside, Ash brought a clueless Pikachu to the lawn, just as Paul opened his mouth: "Leave, I don't need you here anymore."
"Gasp." Chimchar raised its head, full of disbelief, seemingly thinking it heard wrong.
"I don't have the ability to train you. From wherever you came... forget it, go wherever you want. There's no place for you here, my team doesn't have weaklings."
Paul initially wanted to say go back to where you came from, but considering this wasn't the Sinnoh Region, he slightly changed his words. However, the general meaning remained: he wanted Chimchar to leave his team.
Chimchar was already discarded.
"Chimchar!!" Hearing Paul's words, the usually timid Chimchar raised its voice, Paul didn't understand Pokemon language, but he could roughly guess that Chimchar was pleading not to be abandoned.
But Paul was resolute.
It had been months since Chimchar was captured. In every Gym Challenge in Kanto, Chimchar was sent out, but without exception, Chimchar lost every time.
After months, its level only went from the initial Ordinary Peak to the current Advanced Junior Level, and the progress was rather disappointing...