Ash could only give a rough explanation of Venusaur's fire-resistant ability, since it concerned Xerneas, the god of life. Even though he had a good impression of May and Max, he wouldn't casually reveal such a thing.
The principle can be explained, but how the principle came about cannot be explained.
May and Max exchanged a glance, both seeing disbelief in each other's eyes. Although Ash's explanation was reasonable, it was still hard to believe.
To force Grass-type moves to become immune to Fire-type moves through growth and vitality... what kind of outlandish idea is that?
It's not that this idea is impossible to implement, but rather that it would require a great deal of vitality to make it feasible.
Grass-type Pokémon do have more vitality after leveling up, but that vitality is usually in their own body, so why put it into their moves?
Isn't this a complete waste? Does Venusaur have minerals inside its body? How can it waste its life force like this?
However, Ash's expression didn't seem fake. Besides, if Ash didn't want to tell them, there was no need to use such an excuse; he could have just said it was a secret.
After all, they've only known each other for less than a day; there's no need for them to reveal everything.
So... however unbelievable this reason may be, it is probably the truth.
"Ash, your Pokémon are truly...extraordinary!" May thought for a long time before finally coming up with this word.
Besides these four words, she didn't know what else could describe Ash's Pokémon.
Ash simply scratched his head and chuckled in response. His Pokémon's abnormal strength wasn't something that happened overnight. Without some skill, even with Aura Fusion, it would be impossible to fight a level higher than his opponent.
Afterwards, May and Ash discussed some details of the battle, and it took about an hour for May's Blaziken to fully recover.
The reason it took so long to recover was not only because Blaziken is the top Pokémon in the Gym, but also because there were just too many people in New Leaf Town.
You can tell how many people are fighting in Ruoye Town just by the fact that they have to wait in line for half an hour at the training ground.
After a battle, you'll definitely need to come to the Pokémon Center to recover. Although the recovery area and registration area aren't as crowded...
It's comparable, but the workload is on a completely different level. One only requires registration, while the other involves medical treatment. The latter is undoubtedly dozens of levels more difficult than the former.
So even though the number of visitors wasn't on the same level, the recovery area at the Pokémon Center was still incredibly busy, which is why May's Blaziken took so long to recover.
After Blaziken recovered, everyone got up and set off for Violet City.
On the way, Ash asked May about her age. May looked to be about the same age as him, but he couldn't tell exactly how old she was.
May said that she is now over sixteen years old. The two compared their ages and found that May is about half a year older than him, which means they have about six months more to travel.
It took about a year and two months to acquire it.
The Pokémon at the top of the gym—this level of talent is genius-level among all trainers. Even Shinji, the Sinnoh trainer who battled Ash before, is probably only at this level.
The main point is that May, a girl, was able to do this. Ash didn't mean to belittle girls, but girls generally don't like battling. Even though Serena said she was going to challenge the Silver Conference, she wasn't very enthusiastic about battling.
If aimless travel together weren't truly detrimental to growth and learning, Serena wouldn't have signed up for the Silver Tournament. Why would the City League hold a grand competition?
Therefore, girls like May who actively seek out battles are a very small minority. Because the number of girls who enjoy battling is relatively small, there are very few strong female trainers.
Of course, although the number is small, the quality is not bad, such as the six champion trainers who are currently known.
On the other hand, there are two female trainers. It is said that Alder, the champion trainer from the Unova region, has already found a candidate for the next champion, and that person seems to be a girl as well.
With May's current talent, becoming a top player in the future is a sure thing, and even becoming a champion wouldn't be difficult. But who can say for sure about the future?
Time flew by, and a week passed. Ash and his group of five successfully arrived in Violet City.
When they arrived in Violet City, May and Max felt as if they had been in another world. The events that had happened in just seven days were beyond their comprehension.
First, there's the endless training tools Ash has. Although May also often uses tools sold outside for training, the variety and effectiveness of those tools are nowhere near what Ash has.
The items that Ash brought out were all more effective than the training items sold on the market. Some of them were top-of-the-line items currently on the market, such as the rare and highly sought-after Psychedelic Rosemary.
Besides, the food that Ash cooked also amazed them!
Without exaggeration, the food Ash made was the best they had ever eaten. It was like a delicacy sent from heaven!
They already thought their mother was a great cook, but who would have thought that a sixteen-year-old boy could be even better than a housewife who had cooked for most of her life!
Talent is a real thing!
Even if Ash started training in cooking from the moment he was born, it would only be less than sixteen years. That's still less than the time his mother has spent cooking, which only proves Ash's natural talent for it.
Extraordinary.
But when May learned that Ash had honed his culinary skills to this level in just six months while training and nurturing Pokémon and constantly traveling, her rosy lips remained pursed for a long time.
That's fucking outrageous!
Max remained silent, simply focusing on eating.
Besides these everyday occurrences, they also encountered Team Rocket three times in these seven days!
Three times in seven days! Every time Team Rocket appears, Ash sends them flying with Pikachu. Occasionally, they use a device to limit electricity to catch Pikachu, but Ash immediately releases Charizard or Gardevoir to annihilate them.
Given that they always seem to fly away every time they appear, the fact that they managed to come knocking on our door three times in seven days is truly bizarre!
Sometimes Ash really wants to take them apart to see what their bodies are made of. Even if he were blasted into the sky and then fell down like that, he would probably be in pain for a long time.
What kind of body does he have? What kind of body does a normal person have? A normal person falling from that height would be like being hit by a meteorite, and would have long been unable to take care of themselves.
But what about those three Rockets players? To say they're made of iron would be an insult to their bodies, an overstatement.
Even blocks of iron aren't as hard as their bodies.
Ash and his friends were alright, as this wasn't the first time they'd seen something like this. But for May and Max, it was the first time they'd ever witnessed something so bizarre.
It's absolutely bizarre! There's no way anyone in the world could be like that!
The key point is that, apart from being unharmed when they were blasted away, they were able to pinpoint their location precisely every time. If everyone hadn't carefully checked that they didn't have any tracking devices on them, they would have thought that the Team Rocket trio had installed tracking devices on them.
Team Rocket's three visits all ended in failure, but Ash was once again tricked by Team Rocket and ended up getting a hand in his favor.
It was during a trip through a forest when Team Rocket caused trouble. In order to extract sap from the trees, they drove away the group of Pinsir that had been living there.
Ash and his friends passed through the territory of Heracross. The Pinsir had been driven out by Team Rocket, so they were fighting with Heracross's group for territory.
The strength of the Great Armored Clan was roughly equal to that of Heracross's Clan, but Heracross's Clan was more peace-loving. So, after another dispute arose when the Great Armored Clan came to claim the property, they ultimately chose to back down.
However, after all the Heracross left, one Heracross remained to draw sap from the tree, and that Heracross was beaten by the Scylla group as a result.
Even after being severely beaten, Heracross did not leave. Ash and his friends happened to be passing by and used Venusaur to rescue Heracross and drive away the Pinsir.
After some investigation, Ash and his friends learned the whole story. After driving Team Rocket away, the Pinsir tribe successfully returned to their home, and the Heracross tribe also returned to their home.
However, Heracross, who was left behind, insisted on staying with Ash. The reason... was probably because Venusaur's nectar was too delicious. That guy was a complete glutton. The reason he didn't leave the group's place in the first place was because of his gluttony. Even when he was beaten, he was unwilling to leave.
Now it's because of Venusaur's nectar that I want to...
Ash readily agreed to let Heracross follow him.
Although this Heracross looks a bit goofy, its aptitude is quite good. Its defenses are both B-rank, its special attack, speed, and stamina are A-rank, and its attack power is even S-rank.
Despite having so many S-rank Pokémon, Ash is actually one in ten thousand in the entire Pokémon species, and one in a hundred thousand has two S-rank Pokémon.
Therefore, this Heracross is already considered to be among the top in the Heracross race in terms of aptitude.
Being able to capture this Heracross was definitely a stroke of incredible luck for Ash.
Aside from catching Pokémon and encountering Team Rocket, Ash and his friends spent the rest of their time training their Pokémon.
May also learned a lot from it, even though she...
She's older than Ash and has been out in the world for longer, but in terms of experience, she's nowhere near Ash's. This makes May sigh, realizing that talent is truly an insurmountable chasm!
A week later, the group finally arrived in Violet City.
Violet City is a very prosperous city. In addition to the commercial centers and other places that are common in normal cities, there is a very iconic building in this place, namely the Bell Sprout Tower.
Bellsprout Tower holds the memories of everyone who set out from Bellsprout City. When trainers feel lost, they can return to Bellsprout Tower to rediscover their original passion for travel.
This magical building, which allows one to rediscover oneself, is the key reason why it has become a landmark of Violet City.
"Finally back!" Max stood on a small hill and roared to the sky, his voice echoing throughout the heavens, demonstrating...
He was thrilled by the small victory.
On one hand, Max really missed his parents, and on the other hand, he couldn't wait to see his father and Ash compete!
Only after personally following Ash's side could Max realize what an amazing trainer Ash is, and that's precisely why defeating him is worthwhile!
In Max's heart, his father, Norman, is still the most powerful trainer. Although Ash is strong, he is still far behind his father. He is eager to prove this point, so on the way back, Brock is more enthusiastic than anyone else.
Anyone who didn't know better would think that Max was coming to Violet City to challenge the gym.
"Vitia City is quite large. The original Violet City Gym was located in the area on the left side of the city, while our Gym is located on the right side, the side with Bellsprout Tower. The Violet City Trainer Academy is also located here."
"The academy is there, and Dad sometimes goes there as a lecturer." May said softly to Ash, her hands behind her back.
"Now, Mr. Norman..."
"He should be at the Trainer Academy right now. Judging by the time, it's his turn to give a lecture today. Let's go find him." With that, May took the lead, followed closely by Ash and the others.
Half an hour later, Ash and his friends arrived in front of an academy. The academy was not large, but it was quite exquisite. They could hear excited shouts from inside, showing that the students inside were very excited.
When Ash and his friends went inside, they saw a middle-aged man with a mohawk hairstyle lecturing on Pokémon. Most of the students below were only about ten years old, some even older.
Although they were small, they were all responding enthusiastically to the middle-aged man's questions, looking extremely excited.
Ash and his friends' arrival also caught the middle-aged man's attention. He looked in the direction they had come from, eventually focusing on May and Max: "May, Max, you're back! And this is…."
"This is Ash, a big celebrity in the Kanto region! He's here to challenge you, Dad." May stepped forward and introduced Ash, explaining the purpose of his trip.
Upon hearing this, Norman's gaze instantly sharpened: "So that's how it is. You're Ash Ketchum? The legendary supernova of Kanto, a trainer who is expected to surpass Leon. I've heard so much about you, but I didn't expect to meet you so soon."