[Bruno: Why did Ash give away his Primeape? Come on, that Primeape was a champion! And you handed it to the runner-up to "train"? Are you serious?!]
[Lance: Hmm… that guy, Anthony, seems a bit obsessed to the point of delusion. He can't win the championship himself, so he takes Ash's champion Primeape to "train"? Isn't that like adopting someone else's victory? What kind of fake champion is that supposed to be?]
[Cynthia: Even if we try to justify it by saying Ash's training skills weren't good enough, that still doesn't explain why Anthony's supposed to be so great at it.]
[Cynthia: If he's really that good, why hasn't he won any Fighting Tournament in all these years? Let's be honest — he just mooched off Ash's Primeape.]
[Diantha (Kalos Champion): In the end… if he were really just helping with training, fine. But Ash — up to now, have you even seen your Primeape again? Have you seen the results of its training?]
[Ash: …No.]
[Ash: Mr. Anthony, if you can see this — and if you can reply — could you please tell me how my Primeape is doing right now?]
Ash did, from time to time, think about his Primeape. But it had never crossed his mind that Anthony might have deceived him. Now, with everyone reminding him, realization hit. Right — he was the one who won the championship, not Anthony. Anthony had trained for years and never won a single title — so what gave him the right to claim he could "train" Primeape for him? And all this time, Anthony had never once contacted him, even though Ash had left his contact info — the man could've easily reached Professor Oak directly. A faint sense of unease rose in Ash's heart.
[Anthony: I'm sorry, Ash… I was blinded by greed back then and kept Primeape here. But I swear I never mistreated him! I trained him well — he's grown incredibly strong!]
[Anthony: Primeape has helped me win many tournaments, but I can tell… deep down, he still wants to return to you.]
[Anthony: I'll call Professor Oak later and transfer the Poké Ball back immediately. I'm truly sorry, Ash — for keeping your Primeape in my hands for so long…]
At least Anthony hadn't completely lost his conscience. He chose to return Primeape to Ash. Seeing that, everyone stopped criticizing him. After all, there are plenty of people who lose themselves to fame and ambition — Anthony turning back was already better than most. The white screen dimmed. Then, the black screen lit up again. Now — the story of Black Ash began!
In the Black World—
Ash and his friends had left Saffron City, heading toward Celadon City. As usual, Ash kept up his training along the way. During their practice sessions, Charmeleon's evolution had stirred envy among Squirtle and Bulbasaur alike. Squirtle's face showed longing and excitement, while Bulbasaur's expression held not only envy — but also deep conflict. Ash, ever perceptive, immediately noticed. He thought back to Pikachu's situation, and understood what Bulbasaur was struggling with. One night, Ash quietly slipped out of his sleeping bag, walked a bit away from camp, and released Bulbasaur. "Bulbasaur, you don't want to evolve, do you?" "Bulba… saur…" A little conflicted. I don't know what to do… "Bulba… saur." I want to prove that even in this form, I can still become stronger.But… I don't want to hold you back. Hearing that, Ash sat down beside Bulbasaur. Under the soft moonlight, he smiled warmly. "I'm really happy, Bulbasaur — that you think of me that way." "But… whether you evolve or not, that's your choice. What I want to say is — no matter what, I'll make you stronger!" "Bulbasaur has Bulbasaur's own training methods. Venusaur has Venusaur's own training methods." "The path to strength isn't limited to evolution. Just look at Pikachu — he never evolved, yet he's still so strong!" "Of course, I'm not saying evolution is wrong — evolving can definitely make you stronger.
But what's even more important than evolution… is your belief." "If you don't want to evolve, yet force yourself to do it just to grow stronger — you might actually end up weaker than you are now." "So don't worry about it, Bulbasaur. Do whatever you believe will make you stronger!" Bulbasaur looked up at Ash, eyes sparkling with admiration. He really hadn't chosen the wrong trainer. Training under Ash was tough — but he grew stronger so quickly! And more than that… Ash always cared about him, no matter what.
Bulbasaur made up his mind in silence— "Bulba— saur!" I want to evolve! I want to become stronger!I can't let down Ash's expectations! Ash laughed and rubbed Bulbasaur's head affectionately. "You little guy… don't say stuff that's gonna make me cry…" After that heartfelt talk, they set off toward Celadon City the next day. Misty and Brock had no idea what had happened the night before — they only noticed that during training, Bulbasaur was giving it everything he had. They simply thought Bulbasaur had been motivated by Charmeleon's evolution.
[Lance: I'm not crying — you're crying! Both of them are thinking about each other. Neither is selfish at all!]
[Cynthia: Hmm, technically speaking, Bulbasaur isn't human though~]
[Caitlin: …Way to ruin the mood, Cynthia.]
[Drayden: Haha, even the regular Ash has that kind of faith in his Pokémon — he's just not as emotionally perceptive as Black Ash. But that kind of insight can be learned."]
[Ash: My Bulbasaur can evolve freely now, so I don't envy Black Ash anymore! But… I really do need to learn how to notice when my Pokémon are troubled like that."]
[Flint (Sinnoh E4): Seems like Ash's the one benefiting most from this whole stream. We're just here for the show — he's actually learning!"]
[Champion Leon: Not just him — that whole speech from Black Ash hit home for me too. A Pokémon can only become truly strong when it believes it can!"]
[Volkner: Yeah… that makes perfect sense."]
Author's Note:
As for Anthony, I'll just let fate handle him — returning Primeape is good enough.
The TV script only made him take Primeape to nerf Ash, after all.
If Primeape had stayed, Ash definitely wouldn't have stopped at the Top 16 —
that monkey was a beast.
That said, Anthony wasn't entirely a villain.
It's true that Ash didn't really know how to train Primeape back then,
but that's no excuse to keep someone else's Pokémon!
Anyway, I never liked that guy much.
Throwing away his family just to chase a P1 Championship?
That's… pretty deranged, if you ask me.
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