Apricorn Balls were made from Apricorns, and because the Poké Ball itself possessed many special effects, plus its distinct appearance compared to ordinary Poké Balls, it was also very popular with the public.
However, the production of Apricorn Balls was demanding, and the ripening of Apricorns was quite troublesome, so Apricorn Balls were always in short supply and existed in limited quantities.
But this wasn't a problem, because the founder of Apricorn Balls, Mr. Kurt, had the ability to make any number of them, no matter how many Apricorns he received. He was good friends with Professor Oak, and Ash was a junior whom Professor Oak valued.
Furthermore, Ash had sent Professor Oak a large number of Apricorn Balls, so Kurt said that no matter how many Apricorns Ash and his friends collected, he would help them craft the Balls.
Since that was the case, Ash naturally wouldn't hold back either. They followed Maizie to the mountain behind Azalea Town, where the mountainside was full of Apricorn trees. Maizie led the group in identifying ripe and unripe Apricorns, and also pointed out which fruit absolutely couldn't be picked.
After all, the conditions for the Apricorn to mature were harsh, and the yield wasn't unlimited. Even wasting a single one was heartbreaking.
This wasn't a problem for Ash. Everything had life, and everything had an Aura signature. As long as he could clearly perceive the intensity of the Aura after an Apricorn ripened, he could pick precisely the right ones.
However, although Mr. Kurt had said he'd help them craft whatever they picked, they clearly couldn't take too many Apricorns back. That would be too much trouble for someone else.
So Ash and Brock each took one of each type, while Misty and Serena tended to take more of the Blue, Pink, and Red Apricorns. For a girl, a cute Poké Ball was the first thing that mattered, and since Misty was quite fond of Water-type Pokémon, using the Blue Apricorn to make Lure Balls for Water-types was naturally even more to her liking.
The four of them harvested a total of twenty-eight Apricorns, about seven per person. The harvesting process was relatively simple. Ash used Aura Power to pull one down with a single motion, leaving Maizie wide-eyed and speechless.
The Apricorn trees were usually surrounded by a large number of guardian Pokémon, especially the Ariados, which were similar to Voltorb or Electrode. They'd attack at the slightest provocation.
So the normal process of collecting Apricorns was usually very arduous, requiring careful avoidance of the guardian Pokémon, defeating them head-on, and sifting through a large number of fallen Apricorns to find the perfect ones. With all these restrictions, the number of Apricorns collected at once was usually small.
With five people collecting them, Maizie had originally thought that gathering two or three Apricorns would be considered a good harvest. But who could have imagined that Ash had a special ability? He could not only communicate with Pokémon, but also simply move his finger to pluck Apricorns from the tree.
This was literally a flick of his fingers. He only slightly bent a finger, and the Apricorns seemed to be pulled toward something, flying straight into his chest. It was simply outrageous.
Maizie rarely watched TV, so she didn't know much about Ash. At most, she'd only occasionally heard his name, and she'd long forgotten those brief mentions. So all of Ash's actions greatly shocked her.
After collecting the Apricorns, the group was preparing to return to Mr. Kurt's place, but the long-unseen trio from Team Rocket reappeared, declaring they wanted to take all the Apricorns. Ash, however, just said, "Wherever you go, wait for us there," and had Pikachu use Thunderbolt.
The result was a surge of electricity through their vacuum equipment, which caused their power to reach maximum output. They almost uprooted the entire Apricorn tree. Seeing this, Ash quickly used Aura Power to protect the surrounding Apricorn trees, and inwardly marveled at Team Rocket's technological advancement.
Pikachu was now Mid Elite Four. Even a Mid Elite Four Thunderbolt couldn't break through their power-absorbing equipment. These three were truly specialized against Electric-type Pokémon. However, only Electric-types were the issue for them.
When Ash released Lucario and unleashed an Aura Sphere, those three were sent flying into the sky along with their scrap metal, with the familiar cry of "We're blasting off again!"
Ash felt everything return to normal.
Experiencing something like this for the first time, Maizie just stared blankly at the performance, like a spectator at a circus.
After dealing with Team Rocket, Brock casually captured a ball-shaped snake that had been sucked down by Team Rocket's powerful vacuum. The opponent had almost been sucked away by Team Rocket, but Brock had managed to hit it with a Poké Ball in time, and then retrieved it.
In a situation lacking real combat setup, instantly capturing a Pokémon like that had extremely low odds.
Afterward, the group returned to Mr. Kurt's residence and handed over the harvested Apricorns.
"How did you do it? You picked so many Apricorns in such a short time?" Mr. Kurt stared at the mountain of Apricorns before him, completely bewildered. From a rough estimate, there were at least twenty of them. Including the walking time, they'd only spent about fifteen minutes collecting all of these?
"Grandpa! Grandpa! Ash has superpowers! With just a flick of his finger, he can pull Apricorns down from the trees, and he can even communicate with the guardian Pokémon that we usually can't communicate with! It's amazing!" Maizie excitedly shared the wondrous sight she'd witnessed.
Hearing this, Mr. Kurt was also stunned, and immediately patted Maizie's little head, laughing. "Haha, really? That's truly an eye-opener for our little Maizie. You can leave the Apricorns here, and come back to pick them up tomorrow."
"Also, Professor Kurt's research findings on the GS Ball. Tomorrow we'll know the details clearly."
Ash nodded. "Understood, Mr. Kurt. We'll wait for your good news."
In just one day, Kurt manufactured twenty-eight Apricorn Balls, and moreover, included research on the mystery of the GS Ball. Something only Kurt could accomplish.
Of course, there was nothing more for them to do the next day. Ash and the others bid farewell to Kurt's family and immediately found a place to make a video call to Professor Oak. The main purpose was to let Professor Oak know that the GS Ball had been submitted, and also to explain their next destination.
"Hmm, the nearest city to Azalea Town is Goldenrod City. Goldenrod City is a city in the western part of Johto, and also the largest city in the region, with the strongest economic and technological capabilities. Its status is comparable to Saffron City in the Kanto region."
Goldenrod City, judging from its name, had a similar naming logic to Saffron City. Both were high-ranking city names. Just like they both gravitated toward the "precious" theme, this city was of course similar to Saffron City. As a strategically important area of Johto, there should be a very powerful Gym Leader stationed there.
"The current Gym Leader of Goldenrod City is named Whitney. She's a very famous Trainer in Johto, and she single-handedly defeats most challengers who come to challenge her." Professor Oak flipped through his notebook, checking information about Goldenrod City.
"Whitney? I've never battled her Pokémon before. Do you know her specific level?" Ash asked curiously.
"According to some challengers, even a Champion-level Pokémon wouldn't find her that easy to deal with. Furthermore, the Goldenrod Gym only offers Mid and High difficulty levels. There are no low-level challenges. Theoretically, the weakest Pokémon at Goldenrod Gym is Elite-level, and it requires at least a three-on-three match."
Hearing this, Ash's face showed a thoughtful expression. The weakest was Elite-level and it required a three-on-three match. That clearly wasn't suitable for Serena to challenge. It seemed Serena's Badge-collecting progress would need to be delayed a bit.
"Except for Goldenrod Gym itself, in Goldenrod City there's also a powerful external structure of a completely different tier. Calling it an external gym isn't quite right. It should be called the Battle Frontier, specifically the Battle Pyramid."
"Battle Frontier?" Ash's face was full of confusion. He'd heard of countless Gyms and similar structures, but a Battle Frontier, specifically a Battle Pyramid, was something he'd never heard of before.
"You can think of it as a battle structure similar to a Gym, but it doesn't follow the same rules." Professor Oak explained seriously. "The Battle Frontier exists in the Kanto region originally. Defeating the seven leaders of the Battle Frontier allows you to dominate it. And only by defeating the first six battle facilities can you unlock the location of the seventh, the Battle Pyramid.
The Battle Pyramid, to be precise, is an extended battle facility within the Frontier presided over by a powerful leader. This leader is known as the Pyramid King, possessing Legendary Pokémon, whose strength is comparable to that of a Champion-level Trainer."
After Professor Oak's explanation, Ash had a general understanding of the Battle Frontier. In its initial form, it could be considered a single area with the seven battle facilities representing seven Gyms. However, after obtaining the certification of these seven facilities, there were no further tournaments to participate in, but challengers would receive the title of "Frontier Brain conqueror," a title that symbolized strength and honor.
Countless people had challenged the Battle Frontier for this title, but only a handful ultimately succeeded.
The first six battle facilities were relatively straightforward to reach, but the final one, the Battle Pyramid, was not only a secret location but also possessed formidable strength. Even if you managed to locate the Battle Pyramid, it would still take considerable time to reach it, because the Battle Pyramid was different from other battle facilities. It was mobile.
Although defeating the six battle facilities would give you a Battle Pyramid locator, even following the locator would take an unknown amount of time. Once you found an opportunity to challenge it, you'd only have one chance.
After the Battle Pyramid flew away, you'd need to challenge the six battle facilities again to regain the locator. Unless you could find its next landing point after the Battle Pyramid flew away.
The seven facilities of the Battle Frontier weren't in any particular order, except for the Battle Pyramid, which was recognized as difficult or impossible to find. As for the other six, you could choose which one to start with and which one to end at.
Even for the Battle Pyramid, if you could find it, even without any Battle Frontier certification, you could still challenge it directly, considering it your starting point.
In the past, the Battle Pyramid was elusive. Without the location provided after defeating the six facilities, you couldn't find it at all. Now, the Battle Pyramid was located in Goldenrod City, and everyone knew about it. Therefore, the level of ferocity among challengers was unimaginable.
The entrance to the Pyramid was usually packed. Some even started queuing at the entrance from the evening before, and even then, they might not be able to challenge on the second day. Some had waited two days, or even three.
After all, according to the Pyramid King's announcement, he would only stay in Goldenrod City for one month. A week had already passed, so these challengers naturally wanted to seize every second to challenge. What if they won? Then what about the other six battle towers? They'd be practically not worth mentioning.
The title of "Frontier Brain conqueror" was practically insignificant compared to defeating a Champion. Even without a real win, their reputation would be immense, and this reputation could be converted into many things.
Therefore, the already bustling Goldenrod City had recently become incredibly crowded. It was said that in just one week, the GDP had surpassed the previous two months' worth, or even more.
After listening to Professor Oak's complete explanation, even Ash's mouth dropped open. This Battle Pyramid was just too much. You couldn't even get a slot with a three-day queue. But then again, this so-called trainer possessed Champion-level strength and even Legendary Pokémon, so it was no wonder so many challengers were attracted.
Even if a challenger were defeated by a single blow, that could still be a bragging point, they'd fought against a Champion-level Trainer and Legendary Pokémon. There were probably only a few who truly aimed to defeat the Pyramid King, but the vast majority just wanted the experience. That was a new draw in itself.
So only the Battle Pyramid could truly claim to be "this popular."
"Sounds intense!" Ash quickly decided. "I want to challenge the Pyramid too!"
"I knew you'd say that. Based on your pace, it should only take two weeks to get there. But you should be careful, Ash. The Pyramid King has the three Regis in his hands. With your current strength, you'll probably have a hard time fighting them."
The three Regis were Regice, Regirock, and Registeel. These three Regis were on the tier of the Legendary Birds and the Legendary Beasts, equivalent to tier-two gods. The Pyramid King was able to command all three Regis by himself, meaning that setting aside the Legendaries, his own strength was already terrifyingly powerful.
"I understand. So the next goal is decided. The Gym Badge will go to the Goldenrod Gym, and training and improvement will depend on the Pyramid King. I hope to have a spectacular battle with him!" Ash's voice was filled with anticipation.
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