With that idea in mind, the first Pokémon Ash thought of was Lucario from the Sinnoh region. Just picturing it made Ash's heart race—Lucario was definitely a top-tier Fighting-type and looked cool doing it.
"Wait, Cynthia has a Lucario, right? I could borrow hers for observation. Better to prepare in advance than to scramble during a capture," Ash thought.
He wasn't worried about actually catching one—setting aside his own strength, the influence of the Dragon Clan and the Ketchum family made obtaining a Lucario relatively easy.
"Cynthia!"
Energized by the thought, Ash stepped out of the tent. Thanks to his recent physical enhancements, he no longer felt the weakness from before.
"Ash, you're out? Are you feeling okay?"
Seeing him emerge, Cynthia quickly put down the dishes she'd been preparing and rushed over to him, concern in her voice.
"I'm fine now. Don't worry," Ash reassured her with a smile. "Actually, could you bring out your Pokémon? I want to examine Lucario's body structure and meridians. I plan on catching a Fighting-type once we get to Sinnoh."
Relieved, Cynthia nodded and released her Pokémon. When Bite-lu and Lucario appeared, Ash immediately activated his Sharingan, studying Lucario with intense focus.
He pulled out a fresh notebook and began sketching Lucario's body in precise detail, annotating the diagram with the positioning of key meridian points. It had been a while since Ash had done something like this.
"You're… drawing?" Cynthia asked curiously. Though she knew Ash was good at art, she still found it a bit puzzling.
"Yeah," Ash replied while continuing his sketches. "I want to mark Lucario's meridian structure now, so when I do catch one, I can jump straight into training without wasting time on reanalysis."
He studied Lucario deeply, frowning slightly.
"It's a shame I don't have a Riolu to compare. I hope their meridians aren't too different after evolution, or I'll have to start from scratch."
"If you want a Riolu, I can give you one," Cynthia offered, noting his interest.
Ash shook his head with a smile. "Thanks, but I prefer catching Pokémon on my own. It's part of the experience—it's not the same if it's handed to me."
Once he finished recording Lucario's data, Ash released his own Pokémon for dinner. No matter how many times it happened, the moment they appeared was always awe-inspiring—anyone who saw them would find it hard to believe he'd once been a novice Trainer.
As soon as his Pokémon were out, they roared energetically and made their way toward the pre-prepared food, diving into it without hesitation.
Ash watched them proudly. He was no longer just some upstart Trainer—he was a Champion now, and each of his Pokémon was a powerhouse in their own right.
"Scizor, how's your body after evolving?"
He walked over to the red-armored mantis and asked with concern. Back in Lamport City, Professor Oak had given him a Metal Coat, which allowed his Scyther to evolve into Scizor.
During the evolution process, Ash had infused the Scizor's body with Earth-elemental energy collected through his Sharingan. It was the first time he had attempted an elemental-assisted evolution—but only after extensive research and Scizor's full consent.
Ash had no intention of using his Pokémon as lab material. He'd only used elemental infusion after confirming it was safe and free of side effects.
"Scizor!"
In response, the red insect raised its massive pincers and performed a powerful strike in front of Ash, its body radiating confidence and pride.
Ash could tell it was pleased. Since evolving, its strength had definitely reached the Champion level.
The fighting style had changed too—pre-evolution, Scyther fought like a bladed duelist. Post-evolution, Scizor was a powerhouse that combined speed with raw strength. Its steel pincers could crush metal like it was paper.
If Scyther was a swift swordsman, Scizor was a brutal juggernaut wielding heavy gauntlets. Its offense had reached terrifying levels. But there was a drawback: flight.
During evolution, its wing structure had changed, and it could no longer fly the way it used to. While its attack power and defense had risen, its aerial mobility had taken a hit.
Ash had expected that. Compared to Scyther, Scizor had gained a lot in strength and durability—but it came at the cost of its agility in the air. He'd need to find a solution to help it regain aerial capabilities.
Unlike most Scizor raised by other Trainers, Ash's Scizor didn't rely on constant wing vibration to toughen its flight muscles.
Some believed that repeated motion would eventually form calluses, increasing wing durability over time. While this method allowed for limited flight, the resulting aerial speed was nowhere near enough to keep up in real combat situations.
Ash's Pokémon had an excellent bond with one another. Their strength was evenly matched across the team, which naturally led to frequent friendly battles. More than once, those sparring sessions had helped deepen their friendships through hard-earned respect.
Among them, Dragonite and Suicune were the two big sisters of the group. That's right—sisters. After some time training and interacting closely, Ash had confirmed that his Suicune was indeed female.
According to Suicune herself, the remaining two of the Legendary Beast trio—Entei and Raikou—were both male.
No wonder, Ash thought, that their temperaments in the original stories had always leaned toward aggression. Suicune, on the other hand, was elegant and poised—more like a refined lady than a battlefield brute.
"Well, one step at a time," Ash muttered to himself. "Let's start by teaching them Shave. It's just a shame not everyone will be able to learn it."
Indeed, it quickly became clear that not all of his Pokémon could adapt to the high-speed movement technique.
His Venusaur, Steelix, and Pidgeot were immediate write-offs.
Venusaur was undoubtedly one of his top-tier Pokémon in terms of raw strength and durability. But its heavy build significantly limited its speed.
Thankfully, the presence of Wood Release techniques (Mokuton) meant Venusaur rarely needed to move much in battle—it could manipulate terrain and roots to fight from a distance. So the inability to use Shave wasn't really a problem for it.
Steelix was even more of a no-go. Its serpentine steel body made the idea of using Shave outright impossible. It simply wasn't built for that kind of explosive footwork.
And as for Pidgeot—asking a Flying-type to perform high-speed ground movement with its feet was absurd. The moment Ash thought of it, he couldn't help but chuckle at the image.
...
TN:
I didn't realize that Bulbasaur had evolved into Venusaur, and I'm still not entirely sure. It's only mentioned as "Wonderful Frog Flower," which could really be anything 🌸🐸—but it gets translated as Venusaur. I'm not sure, but the description of a "heavy build" makes me think it might be Venusaur 💪🌿.
...
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