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From the moment Chimchar gained consciousness in the wild, he was constantly bullied by other Pokémon. It wasn't until he was cornered by numerous Zangoose that he accidentally unleashed an unparalleled power, which then caught Paul's attention.
After being recruited by Paul, he didn't actually have a good time in Paul's team. But Paul was the only person he had met since birth who would extend a hand to him. No matter how poor Paul's attitude towards him was, Paul was the only one in his heart.
For Paul, he tried his best to repay him. He knew Paul valued power and that Paul caught him because he saw the flame he accidentally unleashed. However, no matter how hard he tried afterward, he couldn't unleash that powerful flame again.
Even though Paul constantly pushed his body to its limits, putting his life in precarious situations, all to make him unleash that flame in a near-death state to survive, for some reason, even on the verge of death, he couldn't harness that power within him.
Not only Paul, but even Chimchar himself wondered if that one power burst was a once-in-a-lifetime miracle. In fact, when that power burst, he had no consciousness at all. It was Paul who told him that he possessed such terrifying power within him.
He believed Paul, so he also tried his best to dig and stimulate it, but the final result was not very good.
Unable to unleash the bursting flame, Chimchar wanted to improve in another direction. If the bursting power wasn't working, then he would just enter a stable state.
That was to raise his level.
However, even if he worked hard in another direction, there were no results. His level couldn't be raised, his strength couldn't be improved, and the bursting flame couldn't be unleashed. In Paul's words, he was useless.
Being abandoned by Paul was something that could have been foreseen, but Chimchar didn't want to accept that reality and didn't dare to think about it.
But reality is reality, and he was still abandoned by Paul. What he didn't expect was that immediately after he was abandoned by Paul, someone chose to take him in.
This made Chimchar feel incredible, and at the same time, he questioned whether he deserved it.
He had already disappointed that person. Should he also disappoint this person, who had a good impression of him from their first meeting and completely healed his body?
In the future, if this person saw how useless he was, a Chimchar that couldn't be helped, would this person also choose to abandon him?
"Don't think so much, Chimchar. You have unparalleled potential. I dare not say you are the Pokémon with the strongest potential in the world, but I can confirm that you are definitely the Chimchar with the strongest potential in the world. That person couldn't bring out your power, but that doesn't mean I can't!"
Ash's voice reached Chimchar's ears, making Chimchar suddenly raise his head and meet Ash's gaze.
From Ash's eyes, he saw many emotions: concern, encouragement, trust... These were emotions Paul had never given him, nor had Paul ever shown. That person's emotions seemed to be only one: indifference.
"I will show that guy with action that it's not you who's useless, but him. Let me unleash your potential and give that guy a big surprise!" Ash once again extended his hand to Chimchar. This time, Chimchar responded.
He placed his small hand on Ash's, a gesture that represented his willingness and Ash's kindness being reciprocated... The realities of the world are always full of drama, just like Ash originally only wanted to dissuade Paul, but instead, he caught the abandoned Chimchar.
In fact, when Chimchar entered his Poké Ball, Ash himself felt as if he had just woken from a dream. He had just caught such a Chimchar with heaven-defdefying potential?
Just catching a Sinnoh Starter Pokemon like this was already lucky enough, not to mention this Starter Pokemon had SSS-level aptitude and was abandoned by others... This was even more outrageous than a TV drama plot. It was hard to imagine such a situation happening in the real world.
Speaking of which, his Charmander's story was actually a carbon copy, except that Dahao was even more excessive than Paul, and Ash didn't catch Charmander the moment Dahao abandoned him.
The process of catching Charmander was much more circuitous, while catching Chimchar felt like a natural process, almost as if the heavens were spoon-feeding him, or rather, Arceus was spoon-feeding him... Paul's reason for participating in the Indigo Plateau Conference was to go to Dragon Island to catch a Pokémon with strong aptitude and a strong species, but he would never have imagined how strong the potential of the Chimchar he had just abandoned was!
This is a being that has the chance to achieve the Divine Realm in the future. I wonder if Paul will regret it when he learns about Chimchar's aptitude... Given that person's personality, probably not.
Although they hadn't interacted for long, Paul's personality could be seen from his battles. Ash even felt his completely opposite personality from their first meeting.
Based on Ash's guess, he most likely wouldn't feel regret. But what Ash wanted wasn't for him to regret, but for him to acknowledge Chimchar's strength!
It's not Chimchar who's useless, but you yourself who can't bring out his potential!
...After the little interlude at noon, Ash and the others continued to watch the Indigo Plateau Conference matches. In the afternoon, Conway's battlefield was a grass field. The Trainer named Conway was a person wearing glasses, looking very refined.
His battles also made the audience feel pleased, flowing smoothly, as if everything was within his calculations. Every step of his opponent was calculated by him. Although their strengths were not far apart, his opponent was beaten without any ability to fight back.
The surrounding spectators were comfortable watching, but Conway's opponent couldn't have been more miserable. Every step he took was within the opponent's calculations. His strength was similar to the opponent's, but he couldn't even exert seven-tenths of his full power. It was truly disgusting.
Fighting an opponent like Conway would surely shorten one's lifespan by ten years.
After the battle, Conway didn't lose a single Pokémon, defeating all three of his opponent's. Although the battle couldn't be described as a complete rout, the opponent was indeed beaten without any ability to fight back.
Furthermore, in this battle, Conway didn't reveal any valuable information. The Pokémon he used were only Professional Level. This was definitely not Conway's true strength. According to old information, Conway's main Pokémon were all Gym Leader Level.
The current Professional Level Pokémon were probably just at the end of his main team, or even from his second team. As an expert in gathering information, he naturally knew the importance of information. How could he possibly use his full strength when he could completely control his opponent's information?
Therefore, this battle left many Trainers who wanted to observe and collect information on Conway's Pokémon strength empty-handed.
Ash and the others also didn't collect any useful information about Pokémon, but Ash did learn Conway's battle style. This was actually quite important, even more important than the Pokémon's strength and information.
Pokémon can be countered by Pokémon, but Trainers can only be countered by Trainers. The strength confrontation between Pokémon is one aspect, and the Trainer's strategizing is another. What Ash needs to do is not lose to his opponent in Trainer strategizing, then his Pokémon will not disappoint him and will defeat the opponent.
"Let's go. There probably aren't any more worthwhile matches to watch today. I'm going to train Chimchar first. I plan to let him shine in the next battle and regain some confidence first!" Ash stood up, said this to everyone, and then ran directly out of the arena.
Misty and the others watched Ash run off without calling him back. They knew that what Ash wanted to do most now was to help Chimchar prove himself to Paul, and this was probably even more important than him winning the Indigo Plateau Conference Championship...
Time flew by, and it was already the fifth day of the Indigo Plateau Conference. By the fifth day, the first round of preliminaries had basically concluded. Four days of preliminaries had directly eliminated half of the participants. The next second, third, and fourth rounds combined would probably only take four days.
Two days for the second round, one day for the third round, and one day for the fourth round.
Then there would be a week of rest and preparation before the Top 32 of the Indigo Plateau Conference began. The schedule was still very tight. To stand out in the conference, one needed to be well-prepared not only on the battlefield but also off it.
Getting good rest and making tactical preparations were also very important. In the first round of matches, many Trainers had already revealed their trump cards. If they didn't make tactical changes in the second round, they would probably find it very difficult to advance to the third round.
Ash's match was at ten o'clock on the morning of the fifth day, one of the earlier matches. This time, his audience seats were still full, and Cynthia and Dande, who hadn't appeared for several days, surprisingly appeared in the special viewing area once again.
At this point, even an idiot would know that Cynthia and Dande appeared at the preliminary venue probably to watch Ash's match. They came specifically for Ash.
Upon learning this information, many people were shocked. Ash was indeed famous and powerful, but was he really worth two Champions personally attending, watching every preliminary match without fail, just for him?
These two Champions were even the top two in the world! Was Ash's influence that great?
And in reality, Ash's influence really was that great... The two Champion Trainers were here just to watch Ash's matches. Ash had already given them quite a surprise in the first match. They just wondered if Ash could show anything unexpected in this second match.
In an inconspicuous spot in the stands, Paul, wearing a blue long-sleeved jacket and with a cold expression, stood with his arms crossed, his gaze fixed on Ash. Regardless of what he said last time, he actually held Ash in high regard.
The strength to defeat a candidate Elite could not be ignored. The necessary information still had to be collected.
"Welcome everyone to the Indigo Plateau Conference! This match is the one everyone has been looking forward to, featuring contestant Ash! And contestant Ash's opponent is a beautiful young lady from the Pokémon Academy, named—Giselle!"
"There's a rumor that contestant Giselle seems to have battled contestant Ash before and narrowly lost. If this rumor is true, then this match will be contestant Giselle's revenge battle! Can she successfully get her revenge on contestant Ash at the Indigo Plateau Conference? Let's wait and see!"
Under the host's warm-up, Ash and Giselle slowly walked into the arena. Giselle's face was a bit more mature than when she first met Ash, and her figure had become more curvaceous. She looked not far from becoming a mature and beautiful woman.
Even Ash, seeing Giselle for the second time, was slightly shocked by her beauty, but more than shock, he felt a sense of strangeness... Who would have thought that they would meet in their second preliminary match? This old friends' showdown came earlier than expected. In fact, Giselle was quite unlucky, as there were at least dozens of battle combinations in one group, and she just happened to meet Ash in the second match.
"We meet again, Giselle."
"I didn't expect to be up against you in the second match, Ash. I'm not the same as I was back then, but it seems you've also grown a lot." Giselle's gaze at Ash was slightly complex.
She had actually improved by more than a little compared to her time at the academy, but Ash's progress was even more exaggerated, so exaggerated that she almost couldn't believe Ash was the same beginner boy she battled at the academy.
Who would have thought that that boy would reach such a level in just half a year? To be precise, in just three months, he could already battle Elite Four Class Trainers. Back at the academy, he could only do simulated battles on a computer. Three months later, he could directly battle real Elites.
The world is truly dramatic enough.
One of Giselle's goals in participating in the Indigo Plateau Conference was to battle Ash, but when it came time to battle Ash, she felt it seemed a bit too early... Why did they face each other in the second preliminary match? If she lost, wouldn't her first Indigo Plateau Conference result be very embarrassing?
"Both contestants, please release your first Pokémon!" The referee, seeing that the two were still chatting and showed no intention of releasing their Pokémon, finally couldn't help but remind them.
Ash and Giselle both showed awkward smiles. They were so caught up in reminiscing that they almost forgot they were still in a match.
"Go, get your revenge, Marowak!"
"I choose you, Chimchar!"