In the Black World —
Ash recalled his Croconaw to Professor Oak's research institute, then called the Professor to explain a few things—about Zapdos, and about Phanpy.
The call connected, and Professor Oak's face immediately filled the screen.
"Ash!! What have you done?!"
Ash: "?"
"Zapdos! This is Zapdos! You went and caught a Zapdos without a word and transferred it here! Good heavens! What on earth happened out there?!"
"Not only that, but the Zapdos you sent wasn't even seriously hurt. After I treated it and it woke up, it just looked completely traumatized… What in the world did you do to that Zapdos?"
Professor Oak finished with a deeply perplexed expression.
Ash smiled helplessly.
"I didn't do anything to it. It was just a regular Pokémon battle. It lost, so it became my Pokémon."
"It's just… maybe because it was defeated by Pikachu, it's having trouble accepting it."
Hearing this, Professor Oak understood. Defeated by a Pikachu… that expression made sense.
The abnormality of Ash's Pikachu wasn't something a normal person could wrap their head around, let alone a Zapdos, a spirit hailed as the God of Thunder.
The God of Thunder, beaten by a Pikachu one might compare to a stray… psychologically, that would be hard for anyone to bear!
"Oh, and I beat it in two moves."
Professor Oak: "…"
Right. An even more terrifying psychological blow. Defeated by a Pikachu in two moves.
Would that Zapdos be left with permanent psychological scarring?
More importantly… had Ash's Pikachu improved that much already? It could take out a Zapdos instantly with two moves now?
"Anyway… Professor, could you bring Zapdos over? I need to talk to it."
"Also, send Blastoise over, please."
Professor Oak nodded and soon had both Pokémon by the videophone.
Zapdos saw Pikachu on Ash's shoulder, and its expression visibly soured. Pikachu, however, gave a casual nod of greeting.
Who the hell wants your greeting?!
Zapdos screamed internally, but on the surface it forced a neutral expression, as if acknowledging Pikachu.
Ash noted the obvious tension between them, but that was normal. Who could have a pleasant chat with someone who'd knocked them out cold just a short while ago?
Blastoise waved happily at the trainer it hadn't seen in a while, a joyful grin spreading across its simple turtle face.
Thinking about it… Ash really hadn't called for Blastoise in some time.
It couldn't be helped. Even with Ash's frequent team rotations, he simply had too many Pokémon now.
Counting temporary departures like Mewtwo and Lapras, Ash currently had thirty Pokémon in his care!
So even with rotations, it took a long while to cycle through everyone.
When Ash had switched in Bulbasaur a while back, he'd found it had already broken through to the Elite Four–level.
Now, among his original six Kanto starters, only Pidgeot and Blastoise hadn't made that breakthrough.
As for Pidgeot… two words: let it be.
Some Pokémon lived for battle, others for a peaceful life. Pidgeot was the latter.
With a pink-feathered girlfriend, its days consisted of training and spending time with its partner.
Ash, who also had a girlfriend, could understand the approach. For him, making time for his girlfriend was important, but so was never falling behind in strength. And Pidgeot wasn't weak by any means—mid-tier Gym-level strength, achieved without held items and while in a relationship, had honestly exceeded Ash's expectations.
At the same time, Ash also learned from the call that Blastoise was now just a hair's breadth away from breaking through to Elite Four–level!
While delighted by the recent progress, Ash hadn't forgotten the real reason he'd called Blastoise over: to train Croconaw!
After explaining Croconaw's training regimen and growth path to Blastoise, and receiving a reassuring pat on its shell in return, Ash finally felt at ease.
Then there was Zapdos…
Naturally, Ash didn't know much about training methods for Legendary Pokémon.
He could only share some of Pikachu's insights on utilizing lightning; the rest would be up to Zapdos's own comprehension.
After all, Pikachu couldn't fly. Many of its techniques, like mid-air maneuvers and the Thundercloud Line, were invented to achieve free movement in the air. But Pikachu wasn't without techniques it could teach… such as the Thunder Kirin! However, learning the Kirin was nearly impossible without Ash's direct assistance. Still, it could give Zapdos an idea—to use the power of nature to improve itself!
Zapdos was muttering dismissively at first, but soon began to listen intently. The student has surpassed the master, it realized; this Pikachu possessed many advanced combat methods! So it secretly resolved… to drain this Pikachu of all its knowledge, and then defeat it in turn!!
This call involved more explanations, so it lasted longer. Fortunately, Ash was speaking from a secluded corner, so no one peeked at the screen. Thus, Zapdos standing beside Professor Oak didn't attract undue attention for too long.
Ash finally finished his explanations, and Professor Oak couldn't wait to hang up. In his words, Ash was interrupting his research! The newly arrived Zapdos was an excellent subject for observation! He and Tracey would be very busy.
Ash put the Pokégear away, hoping Zapdos had taken his training advice to heart.
After a brief rest, the group set off for their next destination: their final goal—Blackthorn City!
After about ten days of arduous travel and numerous incidents along the way, they finally arrived at their destination—Blackthorn City!
Blackthorn City was a city nestled in a jungle. Lush trees were everywhere, with large, leafy boughs surrounding every building. The entire place was lined with verdant greenery, the air was fresh, and clear streams flowed—a perfect place for a reclusive life.
One gets the feeling the person living here must be some kind of peerless master… Just as Ash was thinking this, a beautiful figure came into view.
She had a fair, lovely face, sky-blue hair tied in a single ponytail, and azure eyes that were staring intently at something in the lake. She wore simple hiking clothes, which did nothing to hide her curvaceous figure.
Brock saw a beautiful woman and teleported in front of her.
"Ah! This fair maiden, I am Bro—eep eep eep!"
Before Brock could finish, his body began to float upward, then was yanked back to his original spot.
Sabrina's face darkened.
Even as a Psychic, she couldn't watch Brock every single second. And Brock's speed just now had been so extraordinary that Sabrina hadn't reacted in time. By the time she did, Brock was already in front of the woman. Being so embarrassed in front of a stranger… no wonder Sabrina's expression was stormy.
"Um… can I help you?"
The blue-haired beauty seemed startled by Brock's sudden approach, then noticed the group of four: a boy, a dark-skinned young man, a relatively mature woman, and a girl about the boy's age. A traveling party of four?
Huh? Traveling with a Pikachu? That's rare. A Pokémon like Pikachu should be…
Wait a minute!
After a moment of internal monologue, the look in the woman's eyes as she regarded Ash changed abruptly.
Ash didn't notice the change and began his introductions.
"I'm Ash from Pallet Town. These are my companions."
He introduced Sabrina and the others one by one to the woman before him.
"You must be the Blackthorn City Gym Leader, Clair!"
After the introductions, Ash pointed out the woman's identity.
As an information supremacist, how could Ash not have researched the Blackthorn Gym Leader?
Especially since this Leader was a Dragon-type specialist, possessed Elite Four–level strength, and was even the cousin of Lance!
With credentials like that, Ash had to prepare carefully before his challenge, lest he capsize in the harbor. Therefore, he naturally knew what Clair looked like.
Clair let out a light sigh of surprise.
"You know who I am? I mean, I know I'm somewhat famous, but not to the point where just any traveler would recognize me, right?"
"Well, actually, I'm here to—"
"You're here for a Gym challenge, aren't you? The trainer with a Charizard."
"Huh?"
Ash was taken aback. The trainer with a Charizard… how did she know he had a Charizard?
"Red and white hat, blue jacket, carrying a Pikachu, followed by a man and two women… That's how Liza described you to me."
"She said a young trainer named Ash would be coming to the Blackthorn Gym soon to challenge me, and told me to be careful."
"And she also said… if you don't use Pikachu or Charizard, I might still have a chance. But if you do… I have no chance at all."
"Hah, some best friend she is! I'm one of the top trainers in Johto, you know. She must be looking down on me way too much!"
Clair finished with a soft laugh, complaining about her best friend Liza.
Now Ash understood where she got her intel. It was from the Charicific Valley. Liza…
"You and Miss Liza are close?"
"Yeah, we're good friends. She always brings her Charizard here to play. Though in the past, it was usually just her little Lisa. A while back, she brought another Charizard I didn't recognize."
"To be honest, that Charizard is ridiculously strong. I battled it with my Gym team, and the result was a near-total loss unless I sent out my main team. And I got the feeling it wasn't even going all out."
"That Charizard must be yours, right?"
Ash gave a slight nod. The one accompanying Miss Liza's Lisa… that was definitely his Charizard. After all, Lisa was Charizard's girlfriend now.
But… had Miss Liza been bringing his Charizard here to train?
Or to battle?
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