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Ash was still very sensitive to negative emotions; otherwise, he wouldn't have vaguely recognized Team Rockets every time he saw them without using Aura.
As for Paul, he didn't have much ill will towards him; he just felt that he was a bit too extreme, and his methods of treating Pokémon were wrong. For such a person, it would be enough to correct him.
However, today, he had a new understanding of Paul. Paul was not as cold and emotionless towards Pokémon as he appeared on the surface. At least, Ash had truly sensed his feelings for Monferno.
Paul had also done many things today that he wouldn't normally do. Ash didn't know Paul particularly well, as they had only recently met, or perhaps not even truly met. However, Ash had learned some information about Paul from his parallel world.
It was still the same saying: he and Damian were not the same kind of people.
"Oh?" Ash's words made Monferno look up, his intelligent eyes fixed on Ash, as if to confirm whether what Ash said was true or false.
"Of course it's true. That guy cares about you quite a lot, so we also need to work hard and not disappoint that tsundere's expectations! Let's strive to have the strength to fight him in the main competition!"
"Hoo-cha!!" Monferno nodded vigorously, his face showing excitement. He was already eager to train.
During this period, Ash had hardly trained him, always letting him relax, playing with his Pokémon, and strolling around Indigo Plateau with Ash, playing games... These few days were arguably Chimchar's most relaxed time. The relaxation of his mind and body allowed Chimchar's inner strength to be unleashed in today's battle.
This was also the reason why Chimchar's strength could soar to the Superior peak after evolving into Monferno. If it weren't for the fact that his current level hadn't fully consolidated and further advancement wasn't ideal, he could have even reached the Superior level after defeating Gengar.
However, leveling up too quickly was not a good thing, so Ash also had Monferno try to suppress his level, waiting for his Ability values to increase before leveling up.
The league battles in the next few days would definitely allow Monferno to reach a whole new realm!
...The subsequent matches proceeded in an orderly manner without any incidents. Ash and Gary both defeated their opponents in the third match.
In the third match, Ash continued to use Monferno, but he only used Monferno to defeat the opponent's first Pokémon before switching. If Monferno kept fighting, it would be somewhat unfair to the other Pokémon.
So, in yesterday's battle, Ash had both Tauros and Gengar participate.
Tauros fought a difficult battle but still won, while Gengar... He played around on the field for a full five minutes before defeating his opponent. If he had been serious, the battle would have ended in a second. But he rarely got to battle, having always been a teacher in the backyard, so in this match, he also held back significantly, deliberately appearing to be evenly matched with his opponent.
Finally, after he had played enough, he made it look as if he had barely managed to defeat his opponent, securing the victory. Ash was quite helpless about this. Although it was a bit unfair to the opponent, if it made his Pokémon happy under controlled circumstances, then he would let them play.
On the eighth and final day of the Indigo Plateau Conference, the fourth round of matches began. If they won their fourth match, they would enter the top 32 of the Indigo Plateau Conference.
In other words, this fourth match could also be considered the round of 64.
This was the last day of the Indigo Plateau Conference preliminaries. Gary looked at his opponent for the round of 64. It was a teenager wearing shorts and a short-sleeved shirt, who looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old.
However, the Indigo Plateau Conference did not allow Trainers who had been traveling for more than two years to participate, so theoretically, the teenager's age should be around seventeen.
But this wasn't what Gary was concerned about. He was concerned about the nightmare that had been plaguing him for days. For several nights, he had dreamt of being eliminated in the round of 64 at the Indigo Plateau Conference. This nightmare was simply too terrifying.
The strength of his group was not high; there were fewer than one person who could rival him. If he were to fall in the round of 64, he might as well slit his throat.
His opponent today was also the strongest in the four preliminary matches, but for him, it shouldn't be a problem. As long as he went all out, the problem shouldn't be big.
Therefore, Gary decided to bring out all of his trump card Pokémon, except for those capable of MEGA Evolution. The goal was to reach the top 32 first.
Ash's opponent this time was a person named Jeanette Fisher. The other party seemed to be a young lady from a prestigious family. She appeared beautiful, and her clothing and attire were all very elegant.
Although he hadn't seen her in person yet, Brock's eyes were already filled with hearts, and he looked like a lovesick pig just from seeing her photo.
The last time Brock looked like this was when he saw Cynthia, but because Cynthia was very far away, Brock's infatuation didn't last long.
Coupled with Cynthia's inherent Champion demeanor, Brock had restrained his infatuation. But this time, there was none of that... On the fourth day of the competition, Ash still fought first in the morning, while Gary's match was in the afternoon.
This time, the stage was a grass field. With the host's shouts, Ash and Jeanette Fisher both walked out from the contestant platform. Ash's entrance was unremarkable, while Jeanette Fisher's was much more exaggerated.
A red carpet was laid out from the contestant lounge all the way to the contestant platform. Jeanette Fisher, holding an umbrella and wearing a kimono, walked out gracefully, step by step. As she emerged from the dimly lit contestant lounge into the outdoors, countless flower petals, from who knows where, showered down from the sky.
Jeanette Fisher, holding her umbrella, moved with light steps amidst the falling petals, appearing very beautiful and graceful, exuding the Aura of a noble young lady from within.
They say Giselle is a young lady, but compared to Jeanette Fisher, it's like a minor witch meeting a great one. This person clearly comes from a truly prestigious family.
The serene woman walked gracefully amidst the cherry blossoms. If this were a fashion show instead of the Indigo Plateau Conference, this opening alone would have earned her full marks!
However, Ash felt nothing about this. His only impression of Jeanette Fisher was that this person was too ostentatious!
Is this a competition or a performance?
"You also think it's too ostentatious, don't you, Pikachu?"
"Pika Pika~" Pikachu nodded helplessly. Jeanette Fisher was the most exaggerated in her entrance among the four contestants, and also the one with the loudest cheers and applause from the surrounding crowd.
Almost more than half of the audience were cheering for Jeanette Fisher. Those people all had headbands with Jeanette Fisher's name on them, and some even had chibi versions of Jeanette Fisher printed on them. They were all clearly devoted fans of Jeanette Fisher.
This was the first time in Ash's four battles that his side's cheers were surpassed by the opponent's, which showed Jeanette Fisher's influence.
Whether her strength was great or not, the atmosphere and cheerleading squad were absolutely the strongest in the entire Indigo Plateau Conference, without a doubt.
After all, being able to drown out the cheers for Ash, isn't that fierce enough? Ash's fame and strength were among the top tier in the Indigo Plateau Conference, yet his fans seemed incredibly weak when faced with Jeanette Fisher's cheerleading squad.
It's not that our side is too weak, but that the enemy is too strong!
Jeanette Fisher's fans all seemed to be fervent fans. Whether they were skill-based fans or not, they were definitely Appearance fans. "Beauty is the primary productive force.jpg."
"It's an honor to meet you, Ash from Pallet Town. I am Jeanette Fisher from Maiden's Town. Please guide me." Jeanette Fisher said, bowing slightly to Ash, her etiquette impeccable.
"Uh... Ah... I'm Ash from Pallet Town. Please guide me." After a moment of stunned, Ash also returned a proper bow. This was the first time he had been so polite at the Indigo Plateau Conference. Usually, after meeting, both sides would just nod and then start the battle.
After both sides exchanged greetings, the contestant platform rose, the referee waved the flag, announcing the start of the match, and both simultaneously took out Poké Balls and threw them.
"Victory brings flowers, defeat leaves only withered petals! I will not yield the victory of this battle!"
"It's decided! Butterfree!"
With a flash of light, both Pokémon appeared on the field. Ash sent out Butterfree, who hadn't had a formal battle in a long time, while Jeanette Fisher sent out Beedrill!
Butterfree's level was Professional Advanced, having just leveled up yesterday, while the opponent Beedrill's level was only Superior Advanced.
Beedrill is the final evolution of Weedle, and Butterfree is the final evolution of Caterpie.
These two Pokémon are among the most numerous Pokémon living in Viridian Forest, and also the favorites of bug-catching experts, known as the two most classic Bug-type Pokémon.
However, the upper limits of these two Pokémon are very limited. Generally speaking, they rapidly advance to the Superior peak, and then enter an extremely slow phase. There are certainly many Gym Leader Level Pokémon in the world, but Bug-type Gym Leader Level Pokémon are extremely rare.
For Jeanette Fisher to train a Pokémon like Beedrill to Superior Advanced is already a very good foundation, but Ash is even better!
"Beedrill, use Twineedle!"
"Butterfree, use Gust!"
Beedrill swung its sharp twin needles and charged towards Butterfree, while Butterfree flapped its wings in place. Suddenly, a strong wind picked up on the field, blowing many grass roots directly into the air!
The charging Beedrill was directly caught in the Gust!
Jeanette Fisher's expression changed in surprise, and she cried out Beedrill's name, but Beedrill had already lost itself in the Gust. Finally, swept away by the storm, it fell and heavily slammed onto the ground.
"Bang!!"
Grass roots flew from the lawn field. Beedrill lay on the field as if asleep, having already lost its ability to battle.
Flying-type moves are super effective against Bug-type Beedrill. Coupled with the level difference between the two, even a relatively low-power Gust could knock it out in one hit!
This scene directly silenced Jeanette Fisher's cheerleading squad. As loud as their voices were just now, their silence was now just as quiet.
Although they were fans of her appearance, Jeanette Fisher had also relied on her own strength throughout her journey; her fans couldn't fight for her.
So, this first battle ending so cleanly and quickly was far beyond the fans' expectations.
"Beedrill is unable to battle! Butterfree wins!"
The fans were silent, but the referee's voice arrived as expected.
The referee, who had seen many of Ash's previous matches, was not surprised by this result. Rather, he felt it was somewhat to be expected.
Ash's opponents were basically no match for him, and one-hit KOs were a normal occurrence. Sometimes, battles would be close, but Ash would still ultimately win.
Don't let the many Pokémon Ash has used throughout his journey deceive you; none of his Pokémon have ever lost the ability to battle, and there have been no instances of one Pokémon defeating three. More often, Ash simply wanted his Pokémon to gain more experience.
He was not on the same level as most of the other contestants in the Indigo Plateau Conference.
"As expected of that legendary person, he truly has some skill..." Jeanette Fisher lightly bit her red lip, her face slightly grim as she recalled Beedrill.
After a brief silence, the cheerleading squad behind her erupted into even more deafening cheers. The entire field seemed to vibrate at that moment!
Ash and Butterfree were both startled: "What was that? An off-field attack?!"
Such a sound indeed affected the state of the combatants on the field. Even if it wasn't Jeanette Fisher's intention, with this cheerleading squad present, her opponent would indeed be considerably weakened.
"Ash, go!!!" Brock's shout echoed behind Ash. He was probably sitting in the middle of the audience, and his voice was able to cut through so much noise to reach Ash's ears, indicating he was shouting with all his might.
Ash didn't turn around, but instead gave a thumbs-up behind him.
Although Brock was a lecher, when it came to serious matters, he was always a brother who stood behind him. At such a time, he would not cheer for the opponent.
After calming down for a while, Jeanette Fisher also pulled out her second Poké Ball: "Next up is the second one... Go, Scyther!"
With a flash of light, a completely emerald green mantis appeared on the field.
Scyther, a Bug-type Pokémon, is one of the most powerful Bug-type Pokémon.
Bug-type Pokémon not only have low Ability values but also generally have low potential, but Scyther is different. He is the king among Bug-type Pokémon, capable of possessing extremely high Ability values and potential even without evolving.
However, after evolving into Scizor, there isn't much change in its abilities. The Scizor form is more of a form change than an evolution, with different focuses for each.
Jeanette Fisher's Scyther had also reached Superior peak, but it still seemed somewhat inferior when facing Butterfree.
However, Ash recalled Butterfree...