I have added this story to my Patreon. You can support me and read the 40 latest and advanced chapters there. It also fed and motivate me to write more chapters!
Free Members will get 10 Chapters Ahead of the schedule on Patreon!!!
Link: Patreon.com/AVRKingsTL
—------------------—
After asking about Lucario, everyone also inquired about Venusaur. When did Ash transfer Venusaur over, and when did he get Venusaur's MEGA Evolution Stone?
Especially Misty and Brock. It's understandable that they don't know about some of Ash's morning training improvements, but when did he get Venusaur's Mega Evolution Stone?
They already knew about MEGA Evolution and its conditions when Ash battled Blaine. It's impossible for them not to see it if Ash found and collected such a large Mega Evolution Stone.
However, besides the one by Aerodactyl and the one in the Mysterious Garden, Ash shouldn't have any extra Mega Evolution Stones.
Misty and the others already knew the ownership of those two Mega Evolution Stones: one for Aerodactyl and one for Gardevoir. Ash had told them about it.
So, the question is, what about the Mega Evolution Stone on Venusaur? Did it fall from the sky?
"Professor Oak helped me collect that. Didn't I ask Professor Oak to help me collect MEGA Evolution Stones a while ago? Professor Oak went to Steven's place and 'scraped' some, getting five Mega Evolution Stones, one of which Venusaur could use."
Hearing this, the three of them showed strange expressions. They knew that Ash had asked Professor Oak to collect MEGA Evolution Stones. Gary even said that once an Mega Evolution Stone he could use was collected, Ash should give him one.
After all, these were collected by his grandfather.
But they never expected that Professor Oak's collection involved snatching from the Champion of Hoenn!
It's just that MEGA Evolution hasn't officially appeared in the world yet. Otherwise, Steven would absolutely not give away so many Mega Evolution Stones casually. Even if Steven couldn't use them himself, trading them would be better than just giving them away!
Professor Oak completely exploited an information asymmetry. No, rather than Professor Oak, it was Ash who exploited an information asymmetry.
No wonder Ash was unwilling to reveal the matter of MEGA Evolution. It was all for this move!
However, Ash has already displayed MEGA Evolution in front of the Kanto Elite and Giovanni, so it won't be long until it's fully exposed. His time to continue picking up MEGA Evolution Stones is running out.
"Is it because Venusaur can MEGA Evolve that you transferred Venusaur over for this battle, Ash? I thought you would continue to use Charizard, Pikachu, and Gardevoir." Misty asked curiously.
It was really surprising to Misty that Ash didn't use one of his team's 'Big Three' this time.
Previously, when facing high-level battles, Ash would basically send out these three Pokémon. These three Pokémon are not only the highest level in Ash's team but also each possess their own special powers, all excelling at fighting above their league.
Besides them, although Ash's other Pokémon are also strong, it's basically impossible for them to participate in high-level battles, like Elite battles.
So, Ash sending out Venusaur this time surprised both Misty and Brock.
Venusaur actually evolved less than a month ago, a late bloomer, but the power it gained from the Mysterious Garden clearly exceeded their imagination.
As for Gary... he doesn't know much about the Pokémon in Ash's team. At most, he only knows that Ash's 'Big Three' are extremely overpowered. He has no idea about the strength of the other Pokémon, whether they are on the same level as the 'Big Three', stronger, or weaker.
After all, he has hardly ever seen Ash battle with Pokémon other than the 'Big Three'.
However, after today's battle, Ash has two more Pokémon that can burst with power: one is Venusaur, and the other is Lucario. The 'Big Three' have been upgraded to the 'Big Five'.
"I transferred Venusaur over because Giovanni's... Giovanni's most famous Pokémon are Ground-type Pokémon. To deal with Ground-type Pokémon, I, of course, have to prepare some countering Pokémon."
"Ground-type Pokémon often have the Rock typing, which would be very disadvantageous for my Charizard. And Pikachu's moves are ineffective against Ground-types. Grass and Water-types completely counter Ground and Rock-type Pokémon, so of course, I have to transfer Venusaur over. Why fight an uphill battle when I can fight with the Tailwind at my back?"
Ash spread his hands, saying with a matter-of-fact expression.
He can fight against type disadvantages, but not without reason!
Ignoring a four-times effective attack only to send out a Pokémon that is four-times weak to the opponent, and completely at a disadvantage in terms of level, he must have some masochistic tendencies to do that!
So, before challenging the Viridian Gym, Ash went to a Pokémon Center and swapped Pidgeot for Venusaur.
He had already guessed that Venusaur would likely be needed for this battle, but Venusaur's progress also far exceeded Ash's imagination. He didn't expect it to improve so quickly just by farming at Oak's Laboratory, and Venusaur also has a very good grasp of Xerneas's power.
Among the Kanto starters, Venusaur and Charizard have both found their own paths and methods of improvement, leaving only Squirtle yet to catch up.
He caught his Kanto starters consecutively, and Squirtle was indeed the last one caught, but now it's too far behind the other two. It had barely managed to almost overtake Bulbasaur, but Bulbasaur's evolution instantly left Blastoise far behind.
Currently, Blastoise is only just Professional-level Beginner, while Venusaur is already close to Professional-level Peak. The gap between them is widening, and Venusaur, possessing the power of a deity, will only leave Blastoise further behind in the future.
So Ash must also find a path for Blastoise. But currently, Ash is still at a loss. After all, when Ash asked in the group about Water-type Legendary Pokémon, it seems there are only Kyogre from the Hoenn region and Palkia from the Sinnoh region.
As for Suicune... although it is also called a Legendary Pokémon, it is still quite far from the likes of Kyogre and Ho-Oh. If Ho-Oh and them are called First-tier Legendaries, then Suicune can only be considered a Second-tier Legendary.
The quality of energy between the two can only be described as vastly different. Even if Blastoise gained Suicune's power, it would still be unrealistic to catch up to Charizard and Venusaur. It still needs to be Kyogre, a First-tier Legendary.
Although Palkia also has the Water typing, its authority is space, completely unrelated to water.
As for Lugia, known as the Guardian of the Seas... Ash only recently found out that Lugia actually doesn't have the Water typing. He was so shocked at the time, thinking, 'What the heck, the Guardian of the Seas has no Water typing? Is this logical?!'
Regardless of whether Ash was willing to believe it, it was a genuine fact. It was indeed a bit hard to accept that the Guardian of the Seas had no Water typing, but Lugia is called the Guardian of the Seas because it can control ocean currents, thereby indirectly controlling the sea, and can even cause the sea to split apart directly.
This is also why people call Lugia the Guardian of the Seas; they can only see the surface—that Lugia can control the sea—but in reality, it only controls ocean currents.
All in all, to enhance Squirtle's power, Ash can only set his sights on Kyogre and see if there's a chance to obtain Kyogre's divine artifact... Half an hour later, Lucario and the other Pokémon had all recovered. Ash and Gary took their Pokémon, went outside Viridian City, released them all, and checked them.
Ash's Pokémon include Pikachu, Charizard, Gardevoir, Lucario, Blastoise, Venusaur, and Togepi, a total of seven Pokémon, basically Ash's strongest lineup.
If he wanted to go a step further, he would swap Lucario and Blastoise for Aerodactyl and Gengar, which would be his true full-strength lineup. That lineup might even be able to contend with an Elite in a full six-on-six battle.
However, Aerodactyl and Gengar are not Pokémon that Ash personally trained, so there might be coordination issues. Moreover, Ash deliberately avoids using them in battle.
It's not because he's distant from them due to catching them later; Ash just feels that he doesn't even have a single Gym-level Pokémon that he trained himself, so commanding them might be somewhat inappropriate.
Although his current Trainer level is more than enough to command them, after all, he didn't use any underhanded methods to catch them, but rather caught them fair and square through battle (a real fight).
So, they would definitely obey commands. It's just that Ash couldn't get past this hurdle in his own mind.
But at the Indigo Plateau Conference, Ash will definitely let all his Pokémon make an appearance. How could he not let every single one of his Pokémon participate in such an opportunity to stand on the spotlight stage?
Gary also released six Pokémon. Compared to Ash's six Pokémon, their aura was actually much weaker. Ash casually glanced at Gary's Pokémon, taking in the levels of all of them.
The strongest of Gary's Pokémon was Blastoise, reaching Elite-level Peak. Gary started his journey at the same time as Ash. Even though his strongest Pokémon is far behind Ash's, this level of improvement is definitely considered genius-level among Trainers.
If Gary were given a few years, at this rate of progress, he would become a Champion-level Trainer sooner or later. However, by that time, Ash might have already reached the pinnacle of the Champion rank.
Ash roughly estimated that at the Indigo Plateau Conference two months later, based on Gary's rate of improvement, he would definitely have Professional-level Pokémon. Although that would still be a significant gap from Ash's main team, it would be no problem to keep up with his second team.
When facing Gary at the Indigo Plateau Conference, he still needed to be careful not to suffer an unexpected defeat.
While Ash was looking at Gary's Pokémon, Gary was also observing Ash's Pokémon: the robust Charizard, the vibrant Venusaur, the elegant and imposing Gardevoir... and the adorable Togepi.
These are all of Ash's current Pokémon.
Gary doesn't have Ash's Eye of Insight ability, so he can't see the exact levels of Ash's Pokémon without battling, but he can estimate.
His initial estimate... except for Togepi, none are below Professional-level. This guy is truly a monster!
If one Pokémon is well-trained, it can be said that all resources and effort were focused on that single Pokémon. But if a group of Pokémon are all well-trained, then it's not just a matter of resources.
How does he train them?! Why, no matter how hard he tries, he can't catch up to Ash?!
Gary sighed inwardly, his mood slightly low, but he quickly cheered up. Discouragement was never his style. Even if he was far behind, so what? Where there's a will, there's a way. If he can't catch up in one year, he'll try for ten; if not ten, then twenty!
He will eventually surpass Ash and trample him underfoot!
"Hey, Gary, what are you thinking? You're smiling so disgustingly, drooling and everything!" Ash's voice brought Gary back from his pleasant fantasy. He subconsciously wiped the corner of his mouth, realizing there was no drool.
"You rotten Ash, what nonsense are you spouting?!" Gary shouted angrily at Ash, extremely displeased with Ash's behavior that made him lose face.
"Who told you to make such a sinister smile... Where are you going next?"
Gary originally wanted to continue arguing with Ash, but Ash's words made him stop the thought of arguing. After thinking for a while, he replied, "I'll go back to Pallet Town. I haven't been back for a while. I'll report my safety to Grandpa and also see if any of the MEGA Evolution Stones Grandpa got are ones I can use."
Gary was still thinking about the MEGA Evolution Stones Ash mentioned his grandfather had gotten from Steven.
If there was one he could use, he would have a better chance at the Indigo Plateau Conference.
Ash's face showed a strange expression: "Actually... there was one in the Mega Evolution Stones Professor Oak collected that you could use, but I took it."
"What?! You already have two MEGA Evolved Pokémon, and you're still snatching mine!!"
"Ahem, but there was only one of that MEGA Evolution Stone, and it's really hard to find an Mega Evolution Stone that matches your own Pokémon, okay?"
"Which Mega Evolution Stone are you talking about that I could have used?" Gary quickly calmed down after his anger. After all, although it was his grandfather who collected it, if it weren't for Ash, he wouldn't have known about MEGA Evolution at all.
Moreover, Ash asked his grandfather to collect them, so it's only right that Ash has priority in obtaining them. However, Gary was still curious about which Pokémon Ash said the Mega Evolution Stone he could have used was for.
"Blastoise."
Gary:!!!