In the dark-screen world—
After receiving that emerald-green light, Venusaur's strength rose noticeably.
Ash didn't recognize what it was at first,
so he pulled out his Pokédex to scan it.
"Beep—Miracle Seed. When a Pokémon holds it, the power of its Grass-type moves is boosted."
"So it's a Miracle Seed, huh…"
The Miracle Seed was an enhancement item,
and even in the outside world there were very few places that actually sold it.
Besides boosting Grass-type damage when held,
it also helped a Pokémon grow more adept at using Grass-type moves in general.
It was the sort of item you could hope to encounter,
but never really hunt for.
He hadn't expected Venusaur—or rather, the so-called Tree Spirit—to just hand him one for free.
Curious, Ash extended his Aura and probed toward the giant tree,
trying to see what this "Tree Spirit" actually was.
But… all he saw inside the ancient trunk
was a massive stone tablet—nothing else.
When he wrapped his Aura around the tablet to get a closer look,
the slab, which had looked utterly ordinary before, suddenly erupted with a terrifying power.
That force ripped his probing Aura to shreds in an instant.
Outside, Ash's eyes snapped open, a trace of cold sweat on his forehead.
That stone tablet… what is it?
Without Aura, it was just a plain slab.
But once he touched it with Aura,
an overwhelming energy surged forth.
Compared to that power, his Aura was like a small boat in a storm—
completely helpless.
"Ash, what's wrong?"
Misty immediately sensed that something was off.
"I'm… fine," Ash replied lightly. "Since the festival's over, let's head back."
He turned to leave with the other two.
If he recalled Venusaur right now, in front of the others,
it might cause another commotion.
Better to let Venusaur return on its own.
[Lance: Did you all see that just now?]
[Bruno: Yeah. That enormous stone tablet!]
The scene Ash had observed with his Aura was shown to everyone as well.
Because it was Aura vision,
everything was tinted blue.
The stone tablet itself was only a vague outline, with no fine details—
but inside that giant tree, there had been nothing else.
So… was that slab the so-called "Tree Spirit"?
[Cynthia: A stone tablet… a "tree god"… green energy… could it really be that thing?]
[Professor Oak: Yes, that's what I'm thinking too. To revive everything, make a dead tree bloom, and forcibly trigger the evolution of countless Bulbasaur and even Ash's Ivysaur… there's only one thing in the world that fits.]
[Bruno: Hey, enough riddles—just say it already!]
[Cynthia: According to legend, there exists a god that created the world itself. It's called Arceus, the Original One. On Arceus's body are plates that correspond to every type.]
[Cynthia: We don't know exactly what those plates look like—but we do know this: the only stone tablets in the world that can unleash that kind of power are Arceus's Plates.]
[Cynthia: In other words, that slab inside the giant tree is probably one of Arceus's Plates—the Grass-type one, known as the Meadow Plate.]
Because she'd been focused on the broadcast,
Cynthia hadn't yet opened the Sinnoh historical text she'd been rewarded with.
But with her own knowledge, she was well acquainted with Arceus lore.
That's why the first thing she thought of was an Arceus Plate.
Nothing else in the world could do something like that.
[Lance: Arceus… the Creator… so there really is a god like that in this world?]
[Alder: I wonder who'd win—our Unova dragon trio, or this "Creator God"?]
[Grimsley: Champion Alder… are you sure you're awake? We're talking about something said to have created the entire world. Forget your three dragons—add all the legendaries in the world together and they probably still wouldn't beat it.]
[Alder: You don't know until you try…]
Alder muttered under his breath.
He wasn't about to stand there and let his own dragon gods be dismissed like that.
[Cynthia: According to the records, Arceus's Plates correspond to all known types. When Arceus holds them, it's immune to damage from those types entirely. In other words… complete type immunity.]
[Alder: … I withdraw everything I just said. Please pretend I wasn't here.]
Complete immunity to all damage…
At that point, what was the point of comparing anything?
No dragon was winning that fight.
[Caitlin: Aw, I liked you better unruly, Alder. Go back to that.]
[Alder: And stop calling me "uncle"! I'm still young!]
[Professor Oak: Ahem. In any case, that slab is very likely the Meadow Plate of legend. It's a shame we have no idea where the Miraculous Garden actually is… as for whether it truly is the Meadow Plate, I'll have to confirm that later.]
[Cynthia: If it is the Meadow Plate, that raises another question: Arceus's Plates are incredibly important to it. So why would one be in Kanto?]
Cynthia glanced at the sacred history text in her hands.
Her instincts told her that somewhere inside it,
she'd find the answer she wanted.
But books could be read any time.
If she missed something in the live broadcast, there'd be no replay.
She'd have to leave that research for later.
In the dark-screen world—
Not long after Ash and the others returned to the Pokémon Center,
Venusaur slowly walked up with the steady steps of an old man.
Honestly, it had never been very keen on evolving before.
But now that it had evolved,
its goal was to reach the peak.
And somehow, it had evolved before Charmeleon—
and straight to its final form, no less,
and under perfect conditions at that.
Now it could finally show off a bit.
Let that lizard know who the second strongest was.
The top? The top was obviously Pikachu.
When Venusaur came back, it found its Trainer waiting at the doorway.
"Welcome back, Venusaur. Congrats on evolving."
"Venu! Venusaur!"
"Heh, what, you're already itching to find Charmeleon? He's asleep. Wait until tomorrow—if he hears you beat him to the finish line, he might just evolve out of sheer frustration."
Ash walked over and gently patted Venusaur's broad head with his calloused palm.
"Venu, venu!"
He's the one who started it! Always flaunting his evolution in front of me!
Ash laughed.
"It's a shame the next Gym happens to be Fire-type, or I'd let you lead the fight."
"Anyway, I wonder if those three are around this time…"
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all peoples within our nation!"
"…Here we go."
As soon as Ash said it, the Team Rocket trio dropped down in front of them,
striking their usual dramatic poses.
Ash's smile brightened.
What a coincidence.
He'd just been thinking he needed someone to test out Venusaur's new strength on—
and here came the perfect test dummies.
Their motto finished, Team Rocket launched into yet another attempt to steal Pikachu.
And were promptly beaten senseless… by the newly evolved Venusaur.
In the end, Venusaur's freshly learned ultimate move—Frenzy Plant—
sent the trio blasting off again, sparkling into the sky.
[Jessie: Hey, hey, hey! This is abuse! Do we not have human rights?! How did we become your "combat test dummies"?!]
[James: Exactly! I demand emotional and physical compensation!]
[Ash: You're the ones who keep walking up to me. It's not my fault my other self uses you as practice.]
[Ramos: That Venusaur packs quite a punch. Learning Frenzy Plant immediately after evolving… its future's looking bright.]
[Erika: We might not be the strongest, but we are Grass specialists. My prediction? That Venusaur is easily Elite potential at minimum.]
[Cynthia: Elite? I'd say Champion's more like it.]
[Cynthia: Let's set the Plate aside and just call it a "Tree Spirit" for now. What kind of Tree Spirit would break its own rule and allow an already evolved Ivysaur to join a Bulbasaur-only ceremony? What does that say?]
[Cynthia: It says this particular Bulbasaur line has unimaginable talent. Otherwise, why make an exception? So my conclusion is: that Venusaur—and the Bulbasaur Ash has in our world too—both have the potential to reach Champion level.]
Ash's eyes sparkled as he read Cynthia's message.
Finally… finally, a Champion who gets it!!
This Champion named Cynthia really knew how to talk.
He'd definitely have to meet her if he ever got the chance.
In the dark-screen world—
Ash watched Team Rocket's trail of starlight fade,
then patted Venusaur's broad leaf proudly.
"Not bad at all. Your power's jumped up a ton after evolving. But with Overgrow as your Ability, you won't be relying on speed anymore. We'll have to adjust your training plan."
Venusaur wasn't actually slow—
its straight-line sprint and short bursts were definitely faster than when it was a Bulbasaur.
It was just that in terms of agility and nimbleness,
there was no comparison.
If it had Chlorophyll, Ash could've built a speed-attack strategy around it.
As things stood, Venusaur was better suited to playing an anchor role in battle.
Right now, Ash's main team consisted of:
Dratini, Infernape, Charmeleon, Aerodactyl, Venusaur, and Pikachu.
Squirtle had been sent back to Professor Oak's lab.
By all logic, Squirtle should have been on the verge of evolution by now,
but it stubbornly hadn't evolved.
Ash suspected it was a matter of environment.
Without a stable water source on the road,
Squirtle wasn't as comfortable as it could be.
So he'd sent Squirtle back to the pond in Professor Oak's backyard to soak for a while.
Now that Venusaur had fully evolved,
once Ash finalized its training regimen,
he'd teleport Venusaur back to the lab as well.
The environment there was perfect for its growth—
and Oak could help him monitor Venusaur's progress.
In exchange, he'd bring Squirtle back.
By then, Squirtle should have evolved into Wartortle,
and then he could head to Cinnabar Gym with a proper Water-type powerhouse.
Perfect plan.
Time flew by—
A few days later, Ash and the others arrived in a city called Doll City.
The city was hosting a large annual tournament on March 3rd,
and the grand prize was an exclusive set of local limited-edition dolls.
Misty immediately fell in love with the dolls,
but she knew that with just her own Pokémon,
it would be hard to win such a big event.
So she turned to Ash with hopeful eyes.
Ash exchanged a glance with Pikachu and smiled helplessly.
Then Pikachu leapt into Misty's arms on its own.
After traveling together for so long,
there were some things they didn't even need to say out loud.
Since Misty wanted the dolls,
Pikachu would go and help her win them.
As expected, with Pikachu's strength,
this kind of competition was basically bullying.
Misty's final and strongest opponent turned out to be Jessie from Team Rocket.
Jessie had just caught a new Pokémon—Lickitung—
and had been rampaging through the competition up to that point.
But in the end, it was still no match for Pikachu.
All you could say was—
rough timing.
[Erika: Black Ash really treats his Misty differently over there…]
[Misty: Hmph, don't remind me! Back then when I asked to borrow a Pokémon, Ash in my world didn't agree right away at all! It was Pikachu who took the initiative to step up!]
[Ash: Hey… can we not bring up ancient history…]
[Misty: Ancient? That episode just aired not long ago!]
As the saying goes,
there's no harm without comparison.
If it weren't for seeing how Black Ash treated his Misty,
this Misty wouldn't have felt so upset.
After all, the fact that Ash let her use his Pokémon in the first place
was already pretty generous.
Normally, who would casually lend out their own partners?
But…
after seeing the contrast,
she couldn't help how she felt.
In the dark-screen world—
Once the Doll Festival ended,
Ash swapped out Venusaur for Squirtle.
There wasn't much distance left before Cinnabar Gym,
and Squirtle, rising to the occasion,
successfully evolved into Wartortle before they arrived.
The newly evolved Wartortle finally relaxed.
No one but Ash really knew how much pressure it had been under.
Both of its fellow starters had already evolved—
one of them even into its final form.
And as one of Kanto's three starters,
Squirtle still hadn't shown any sign of evolving at all.
It was enough to make anyone doubt themselves.
Thankfully, it had really been an environmental problem.
After spending a few days soaking in Professor Oak's backyard pond,
the urge to evolve finally came—
and not long after that, Wartortle returned to Ash's side, fully evolved.
On the way to Cinnabar, Ash also tore down a hidden Team Rocket base by accident,
sending a man named Flamethrower and a man named Kosaburo straight to prison,
and earning himself another hefty bonus on the side.
Then they finally reached Cinnabar Island.
But when they arrived, they found that Cinnabar Gym was closed.
An old man passing by told them that,
because Cinnabar Island had become a major hot spring resort,
tourists were constantly showing up wanting to "try a Gym battle for fun."
Gym Leader Blaine couldn't stand it anymore,
so he simply shut down the Gym altogether.
Ash and the others were stunned.
They'd traveled all this way to challenge Cinnabar Gym,
only to find it closed for business.
Even Ash, who always tried to plan ahead,
hadn't seen that coming.
He'd researched Blaine in advance and everything.
And the Gym just… wasn't there anymore.
Not on any of his mental flowcharts.
With no other options, they decided to find a place to stay first.
Unfortunately, Cinnabar's tourist industry was booming,
and every inn and hotel was fully booked unless you had a reservation.
They were left with two choices—
take a boat back, or sleep on the streets.
Ash didn't like either option.
They'd made it all the way to Cinnabar once;
if they left without a Gym match or a dip in the hot springs,
it felt wrong—not just to Misty and Brock, but even to Ash.
So, treating it as a last-ditch effort,
they went to check the final inn on their list—
an extremely remote hot spring hotel whose address came from the same old man.
In the end, they managed to get a room at that lonely little place,
and finally enjoyed a good soak in the springs.
Shortly after, they discovered by chance that the hot spring here hid a secret passage.
Following it down, they ran into the same old man again—
only to learn that he was actually Blaine,
the Gym Leader of Cinnabar Island.
PS :
Blaine is the highly intelligent, Fire-type Gym Leader of Cinnabar Island, known by his title "The Hotheaded Quiz Master". In some stories, he is also a former scientist for Team Rocket and the creator of the legendary Pokémon, Mewtwo.
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