I'm back.
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There were only a few days left before the grand opening of the Ever Grande Conference. The two mothers, Delia and Caroline, have already arrived at Ever Grande City after they had fun sightseeing a few of the major cities around the Hoenn Region. They are being accompanied by Gary and May to go around to see new things and of course go shopping.
Ash, of course, as someone who falls under the category of a rich young master, paid the bill with his card as he left it to his mother.
And Gary made sure it was used well, buying every random shit he could get his grubby little hands on.
Ash, who had more than enough money with him, made sure that his mother and those around him never had to worry about such miscellaneous things. To him, paying such small amounts to see their happy faces was more than he could ask for.
Before the tournament begins, Winona will come to cheer for him, just like she promised.
Additionally, although his other women all also wanted to come and see him, they didn't have the pleasure of time.
——
Ash, Brock and Max took the young Pokémon for some special training. This time he planned to give them some opportunities to practice before and after the preliminaries tomorrow, and of course he would have a backup just in case things go south.
The preliminaries of the Ever Grande Conference were equivalent to the selection rounds of the Johto Region Silver Conference. The purpose was to eliminate the more than 600 contestants to the 256 people who will participate in the official competition in a 2 versus 2 battle.
"Ral ra!"
As soon as Growlithe came out of its Poké Ball in excitement, Ralts cheered up and used Teleport to sit on Growlithe's now much stronger back.
The two of them spent a lot of time together with Ash during the beginning of his Hoenn Journey. They became very familiar with each other's scents with them being such good friends, and they were also born around the same time, so they had a special bond going on.
However they couldn't meet each other that often as it was sent to train with the Jenny Clan and then had to train with Entei to catch up with the rest of its companions. Ash was only able to occasionally exchange it when he stayed at Pokémon Centers to see how things were, and then he would exchange it back when he set off again with some tips and pointers to where it should better train in.
So the friends had little time to spend whenever they met each other.
Ralts usually misses Growlithe very much, so much so that Ash now has to carry a Growlithe doll in his backpack at all times.
"Woof!"
Growlithe was also very happy to see his Trainer and Ralts after their last meeting, and kept rubbing its face on Ash's arms, wagging its little tail. Although this little guy looks cute, he had been trained by the Jenny Clan in their elite training program and also by Entei, and not only that, he also has terrifying innate power inside of his little body.
Moreover, his character has become much more arrogant compared to his past "good little boy" style, much like his teacher Entei. Except for his beloved Trainer Ash, who has a very high Bond Value with him, and its closest companions, he will never behave like this.
"Ash, look here, for I'm here!" Just when Ash and his group were beginning to enjoy themselves, they suddenly heard a very energetic voice.
They turned around and saw that it was none other than Morrison, someone they met a little while ago in the wilderness. It seemed that he had successfully obtained his eighth official Gym Badge and was ready to do his best in the Ever Grande Conference.
"Morrison, you look great!" Brock stood up from next to Ash and smiled at Morrison, seeing that he's still as healthy as he was before, maybe even more now.
"Of course, I finally got my last official Gym Badge!" Morrison said as he took out a dull blue badge from his backpack. Ash didn't have this badge, so it was not one of the eight he had challenged or one of the ones that he remembered from the games.
[I mean just look at that dull color, and you'll know that it's from some small Gym.]
Ciel said sassily, angry that Ash couldn't spend some more time with her in the bed.
'There's no need to be rude, Ciel. I'll be with you in a moment.' He said to calm down his sassy AI wife.
As he spoke, Morrison noticed the Pokémon looking at him from behind Ash.
Seeing an outsider coming to interrupt his time with Ash and his friends, Growlithe was a little annoyed but Ralts and Togetic took him to the side to play.
Of course, Pikachu like always was by Ash's side.
The remaining two Pokémon with Ash were naturally his Phanpy and his Lairon, who had their own training plan to follow. They were doing one-on-one training not far away, and that area was filled with dust and rocks.
Just looking at the momentum of that area, Morrison exclaimed, "Are those all really your Pokémon?"
"Yeah, most of my other Pokémon are training back at the lab, these ones are the ones I exchanged to do some special training before the Ever Grande Conference begins." Ash picked up Pikachu, put it on his shoulders, and calmly said to Morrison.
"My Pokémon will not lose to you, you hear that Ash!" Morrison regarded Ash as his biggest rival and the one that will be waiting for him in the finals. He wanted to battle against Ash no matter what, so he immediately threw the six Poké Balls on him.
"Everyone, come out and meet our future opponent!"
Standing in the middle at the leader position was the Hoenn Region's Royal Water-type Pokémon, Swampert.
Obviously, this was Morrison's Starter Pokémon that he most likely got from the Hoenn Region Pokémon League.
Amongst the five other Pokémon's, there was a Growlithe, a Gligar, a Girafarig, a Steelix, and the Beldum the group saw before with him.
Ash looked at their eyes and saw that they all seemed very happy to be with Morrison, and that they also looked decently strong, something he was grateful for.
As if sensing the smell of the same kind, Ash's Growlithe came over again, and Ralts and Togetic also returned to Ash's side.
The two Growlithes stood opposite to one another, just enough for the humans to see the difference between them.
Ash's Growlithe was obviously younger than Morrison's Arnold, but without a doubt its size was much larger than Morrison's one.
It was no longer the cute and adorable looking lion cub it was just a while ago while being with Ash. The orange and black fur all over its body is blowing along with the wind, glowing a faint red, as if it was now the leader lion is admonishing its own junior.
He stood proudly in front of Morrison's Growlithe, showing off its majestic aura.
What he was doing was double suppression in terms of strength and bloodline.
[Yeah, your Growlithe's bloodline is a direct result of the Heaven Reaching True Flame Guardian Arcane Fang mixing with the ancestor of the ancient Growlithe.]
Ciel said in a manner Ash recognized but calmly chose to ignore.
After all, Ash's Growlithe was the result of the best that has been cultivated and optimized by the Jenny Clan for generations.
Especially now knowing it was the direct descendant of an Arcanine that was considered a true hero of the Jenny Clan a generation ago.
It was then entrusted to Professor Oak as a reward for Ash not long after it was born.
Professor Oak then later gave it to Brock to give to Ash after he was done running a "few" little tests on it.
And maybe just not even a previous generation ago, this was an Arcanine who will continue to be a hero for dozens more generations, all part of Ash's harem umbrella.
Since she had made great achievements for the Jenny Clan, so it was without a doubt that her own strength was exceptionally strong, most likely in the Champion-level.
This Growlithe had unimaginable innate advantages compared to others of its species, and coupled with the elite training he got from the Jenny Clan and from fuking Entei itself, the heights it can reach in the future can only be imagined for now.
Morrison knew that he had lost when he saw that his little Growlithe was ashamed in front of Ash's more dominant Growlithe and looked like she was about to surrender herself to him.
"Ahem! By the way, Morrison, have you gone to the attendance office to register your participation data and get a number?" Brock suddenly asked, breaking the awkward situation knowing what kind of brain Morrison had.
"Attendence office and register? What is that? What are you on about?" Morrison had just arrived on the island without a clue and was now looking at Brock with a confused startle, seeing Brock's eyes go wide, "WHAT?! You still haven't done any of that yet?! You know this is a very important necessary procedure to even be able to attend the Ever Grande Conference! Five o'clock in the afternoon today is the deadline for you to put your information in!"
Morrison was shocked when he heard the news,
"Oh no, I had no clue I had to go through so many formalities! Shoot!"
In a hurry, he quickly took back all of his Pokémons into their respective Poké Balls and ran towards the Pokémon Center according to the direction given to him by Brock like his dear life depended on that.
Without any outsiders here, Growlithe immediately turned its face into the cute look again. He snuggled into Ash's arms and got a pat before he went to play with Ralts and Togetic. It was rare that he didn't need to train, so he was more than happy to use it to play with dear friends.
——
The Hoenn Region Ever Grande Conference preliminaries were finally about to begin.
This was a one-on-one battle. Once defeated, it would mean the end of one's journey in the Ever Grande Conference, and the end to most Pokémon Trainers Hoenn adventures.
Before Ash's battle, there was the preliminary battle of Morrison, who somehow was ahead in number order despite being one of the last ones to get their things in the registration office.
The one that he chose to use was surprisingly his Beldum, which he seemed to be currently focusing on training up the most.
But that was honestly quite a bad idea in Ash's opinion, choosing to use a literal one-trick-pony (Take Down) to battle in what might just be an all out gamble.
The opponent in front of me sent out an Electabuzz, but this one was simply nothing compared to the one Gary had, the same one he caught and trained after deciding to stop pursuing his career as a Pokémon Trainer.
But that big dude with a small peni—mind was so proud of himself that when he saw Beldum's Take Down that he actually gave up on all his plans and shouted, "Hey, this fight is too boring! At least try to make me feel a little nervous! Electabuzz, use Protect!" "
The Protect move was a very powerful defensive skill, one of the best and for obvious reasons.
This person seems to be playing tricks on Morrison and his Beldum. He kept using Protect several times in row to defend against Beldum's Take Down and not even attacking while he had the chance to do it multiple times. Beldum hit the protective shield and the damage kept continuing to accumulate.
"Come on, Beldum! I know you can do it!" Max yelled from his seat to cheer for Beldum, but because it can only use one move in Take Down, the situation seemed very unfavorable for it.
But even so, Morrison didn't seem to mind it and constantly ordered his Beldum to collide head-on.
"Ash, look at that. Even though you are the luckiest mf I ever saw, even you couldn't catch a Beldum." Gary sat next to Ash and said condescendingly, which was all for the love of the game.
He really envied Ash's luck, for more times than he can count. He got all the nine of the Royal Starter Pokémon's from all three of the regions he traveled around on.
Meanwhile, he had probably caught around a hundred or so Pokémon's in the Kanto Region alone, not to mention the Johto Region, but he failed to catch, or even see one in the wild.
His only Royal Starter Pokémon was his Blastoise, which didn't count as it was given to him as his Starter Pokémon by his grandfather, so not one he caught.
"Oh… why do you envy others' luck? You know that only brings more bad luck to you, right, Gary? I learned these teachings from a sacred book written by a monk from an ancient eastern sect, the Tibetan Aura Monks."
Ash didn't give Gary a chance to retort at all, "I admire you more than enough for your ability to capture so many Pokémon while you have to take care of a car and so many cheerleaders while traveling."
"Um..." Knowing that this was a light jab from Ash and just thinking about the ridiculous things he did in the past, Gary felt a little speechless and immediately changed the subject, "Abem! As I was saying, that friend of yours is going to lose if he doesn't do something about his situation. Honestly, looking at his battle style, he really is like you when we were traveling around the Kanto Region, a completely hot-blooded idiot doing things without any plans in mind!"
"Honestly, yeah, I agree," Ash said with a nod, agreeing with Gary, "but still, it's too early to say anything. You know how I was back in the day, so do expect a surprise from him."
Sure enough, as soon as Ash finished speaking his opinion, Beldum began to glow and evolved into a Metang mid-fight, finally breaking through the shackles of being a weak Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon, newly reborn, turning the situation around, and defeating Electabuzz to win Morrison another chance to battle in the Ever Grande Conference.