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Upon hearing Ash's evaluation of her, Giselle's slightly gloomy expression instantly melted away, and the smile on her face seemed to brighten.
"You really think so?"
"Of course! I believe with your talent, as long as you travel for a few years, you'll definitely become an amazing Trainer!" Ash nodded affirmatively.
Giselle's smile grew even wider, then she pouted and said, "You're just a rookie Trainer yourself, and you're even younger than me. Why are you acting like a senior?"
"As the saying goes, 'the early bird catches the worm' or something like that. Anyway, I'm stronger than you, so it's fine for you to treat me as a senior," Ash said with a grin, releasing Giselle's fair hand and putting his hands behind his head.
"It's 'the accomplished one takes precedence.' I really don't know how you study."
"It's good enough that I even know the phrase, alright? Well, see you later." Ash saw that Giselle seemed to have emerged from her gloom, then waved goodbye to her and turned to leave with Pikachu.
Giselle stood in the center of the arena, watching Ash walk further and further away, before finally turning and heading towards her contestant's platform.
Although she was very unwilling, her Indigo Plateau Conference journey ended here. This time, her performance was not even satisfactory; her goal was originally at least the top eight, especially since she hadn't trained for very long.
However, the Silver Conference is in more than half a year, and the competition will be even fiercer, but she still plans to participate and achieve a good ranking there!
...After the battle with Giselle, Ash and the others planned to go to a nearby restaurant to celebrate. Gary's match wasn't until the afternoon, so there was still plenty of time. This time, it was still the four of them; Delia and Professor Oak didn't come.
They had originally planned to watch Ash and Gary's second preliminary match, but the two of them persuaded them not to, citing that running back and forth was too troublesome.
It was basically a foregone conclusion that they would pass the preliminaries, so there was no need to watch it live. It would be better to wait for the main competition.
By then, the main competition schedule would also be much tighter. As long as they kept winning, there would be a match every day, and it wouldn't be too late to come and cheer then.
Just as Ash and his friends walked out of the arena, a figure blocked their path. Ash saw the person standing in front of him, and his grinning expression instantly turned serious: "Paul."
Blocking their way was none other than Paul, who had abandoned Chimchar.
"That useless... that Chimchar was caught by you, huh?" Paul's opening words were cut short, as if he remembered something, and he then changed his phrasing.
Because the current Chimchar was no longer useless. Although he was very harsh towards Pokémon, he would not deny a Pokémon's strength. Strong was strong, weak was weak, useless was useless.
The previous Chimchar was a Grimer that couldn't be helped. The current Monferno was a talent admired by all. Compared to before, it was a world of difference, and the only difference was a change in Trainer.
By this analogy, it seemed that the useless one was not Chimchar, but him, who couldn't unleash its potential.
"That's right, I caught him immediately after you abandoned him." Ash nodded, admitting it directly. Catching a Pokémon discarded by others might seem embarrassing to some, but Ash didn't care at all.
Weren't several of his current main forces 'picked up'?
Charizard, Blastoise, Venusaur—all Starter Pokemon were picked up. What difference would one more Chimchar make now?
Moreover, Chimchar's experience was so similar to Charizard's, except that the Trainers were indeed somewhat different. Damian and Paul both released their Pokémon, but the former was genuine deception plus abandonment, while the latter could actually be described with the nicer term 'release.'
Beyond that, Damian as a Trainer was truly useless. Paul, at least, trained Chimchar without success, and realizing he wasn't compatible with Chimchar, then released him.
But Damian? Forget it, there's nothing good to say.
In short, although these two seemed very similar, both pursuing powerful Pokémon, they were actually two completely different people.
So Ash didn't treat Paul as a scumbag like Damian. He was different from Damian; he possessed the qualifications of a Trainer, but... he had gone down the wrong path.
"It seems only three days passed since I released that guy, right? How did you manage to train him to this extent in just a few days? Don't misunderstand, I won't ask for Monferno back. Once released, it's released. I just want to know... what did I do wrong?"
Paul would do anything to become stronger. Ever since his brother suffered a crushing defeat to Brandon and became dejected, he had made up his mind to take his brother's place and defeat Brandon!
For this, he would use the most rigorous methods to train Pokémon, bringing them to their strongest form. The only thing that could restrict him was a Pokémon's potential. As long as a Pokémon's potential was sufficient, he could train it to the peak of the world!
This had always been Paul's belief, but that belief was shattered by Ash today.
Ash proved with his actions that Chimchar's potential was not the problem; his training method was.
In his hands, Chimchar couldn't even unleash one-tenth of its potential. If Chimchar had been with Ash from the start, it would probably have already evolved into Infernape, its strength elevated to an unknown degree.
That's why Paul wanted to know, how did Ash do it?
How did he unleash Chimchar's potential, bringing it to its current state? What was the difference between them?
Only by knowing these things could he become stronger!
"The biggest mistake you made was being too harsh on Chimchar." Ash said, taking out a Poké Ball. The Poké Ball sprang open, and a spirited Monferno appeared beside Ash.
Immediately after the battle ended, Ash had already used Viridian Power to heal Monferno. Although Monferno's injuries were not light, his Viridian Power was also no longer what it used to be. This was a power that could grow; with increased usage and understanding of Viridian Power, its healing ability would also become stronger.
For a Pokémon of Monferno's level, it only took less than two minutes to recover, faster than a Pokémon Center.
Now Ash was a mobile Pokémon Center, even stronger than a Pokémon Center.
Upon appearing, Monferno excitedly looked around, thinking there was another battle to be fought. The previous two victories had given him enough confidence and allowed him to enjoy the thrill of winning.
In Paul's hands, he couldn't even get one win, but in his very first battle with Ash, he defeated an opponent above his level. This feeling was incredibly satisfying!
However, when Monferno's gaze shifted to Paul, he instantly froze. How could Monferno forget his former Trainer?
He hadn't expected that only a few days had passed, he had just gotten stronger, and his former Trainer had reappeared before him.
Was he trying to take him back?
With his current strength, he could indeed return to Paul's side. If he could maintain this growth rate, he could even become Paul's ace!
But Monferno no longer wanted to go back... His current Trainer was great, even better than Paul!
He had no complaints about Paul's rigorous training, no complaints about Paul not smiling, and still no complaints about Paul not healing him after battles.
Monferno simply wanted to stay with Ash because Ash was better, unrelated to any grievances.
"Don't worry, Monferno, Paul isn't here to take you away. And even if he wanted to, I wouldn't agree. You're my Pokémon now, my partner!" Ash saw Monferno's worry. He squatted down and stroked Monferno's fluffy head, saying with a smile.
Ash's words instantly eased Monferno's worried heart, and he boldly met Paul's gaze.
Paul looked at Monferno's appearance, and a strange emotion flashed in his eyes. That emotion was fleeting, and in the end, Paul showed nothing, instead turning his gaze to Ash, seemingly wondering why he had released Monferno.
Was it merely to show him how well Monferno was doing now?
"Do you see any difference between the current Monferno and the Chimchar that was with you?"
"...He got stronger."
"Stronger? In what way?"
"Besides strength, in what other way could it be?"
"That's where you're wrong." Ash stood up and looked at Paul seriously. He clenched one hand into a fist, pounded his chest, and said word by word, "Monferno didn't get stronger in his physical strength, but in his heart. Because his heart became stronger, he was able to become this powerful."
Paul: ..."When Chimchar was with you, he trained very hard, but he never experienced the taste of victory. No matter how much he improved himself, he always failed, and you only thought the environment wasn't harsh enough, that the pressure on Chimchar wasn't enough."
"I know you wanted to push Chimchar to its limits to awaken the flame within him, just like the flame Monferno displayed in the arena just now. But that kind of power can't be awakened by pressure or desperation alone. Even if it is awakened, it's just a coincidence."
"Power awakened by coincidence, without a strong heart, is impossible to control. You saw Monferno's initial rampage earlier, didn't you? If he were still in your hands and that power was awakened, the result would be a complete rampage, unstoppable until his stamina was exhausted."
Paul's gaze narrowed slightly, as if he imagined that scene. In reality, he also knew how difficult that power was to control, but he had always thought of first awakening Chimchar's power, and as for controlling it, that could be dealt with later.
If it couldn't even be awakened, then what was there to control?
But in reality, the impact of that power was far more exaggerated than he had imagined. It wasn't a power that could be mastered by repeatedly awakening it and getting used to it. Just as Ash said, without a strong mind, a strong spirit, Chimchar... Monferno, would never be able to control that power.
"You want to know why Chimchar got so much stronger in this short time? Why, after evolving, he could leap straight to the advanced peak, right? Actually, I haven't done any training these past few days. I've just been constantly regulating Chimchar's body, taking him around to play and have fun, and occasionally solidifying his power. That's all."
Paul's expression froze, then his face showed an incredulous look: "How is that possible? Without training, one simply cannot get stronger. Are you saying you can get stronger just by playing?!"
If Ash had said he underwent rigorous training, or that he used his special abilities to help Monferno improve, or even that Monferno had a grudge against him, he could accept any of those reasons.
However, Ash said he had only been playing these past few days... What did that mean? Was he trampling on his philosophy of raising Pokémon?
Did it mean that merely playing could easily surpass all of his diligent training?
"It's not simply playing, but a balance of work and rest. It's just that you've already done the 'work' part for me." Ash looked at Paul, slowly revealing the truth about Monferno's strengthening.
"The previous Chimchar received far too much training, yet at that time, he was covered in injuries. All the results of his training were suppressed by his injuries, which ultimately led to Chimchar's strength making no progress."
"I healed Chimchar's injuries, then helped him adjust his body, and finally took him to relax. As for improvement... all that was needed was to release the training results that had accumulated within him. So, the 'work' part, you already did for me."
Paul: ...According to Ash, his contribution was also part of why Chimchar could reach this level in just a few days?
Paul looked at Monferno with complex emotions, his heart a mix of feelings. He didn't regret anything he had done, because that was how he treated and trained Pokémon.
However, he still felt some regret. He had missed a Pokémon with excellent potential due to different training methods. What wasn't his wasn't his. Even if Chimchar stayed with him for a lifetime, he would never be able to unleash Chimchar's power; that was the reality.
"Thank you for the guidance. Let's see the real results in the main competition." Paul nodded slightly to Ash, then put his hands in his pockets and walked away coolly, showing no lingering attachment to Monferno.
Monferno watched Paul decisively leave, a flicker of disappointment in his eyes. In the end, he still hadn't received Paul's acknowledgment, and the other party seemed to not have him in his heart at all.
"Don't look at him like that; he actually still has feelings for you. After seeing you get stronger, he didn't feel jealous, but rather a little happy. Besides that, there was also some regret. Overall, these are all positive emotions; he's just an unforthcoming person, that's all," Ash said with his hands on his hips, a look of emotion on his face.