In a Black World –
Lorelei stiffly recalled Staryu, the Pokémon already unable to battle.
Then she stared at the "cute little thing" on the field—Dratini—like she was looking at a monster.
At first, she'd felt annoyed that Ash was "looking down on her."
Now she understood: it wasn't contempt.
Ash was simply confident in Dratini.
This little guy's battle power was completely inconsistent with its adorable appearance.
Just look at the ice field—the surface was cracked and shattered in multiple places.
The cuter it looked, the harder it hit.
And Ash's style was downright ruthless: before she could even react, he'd chained three or four commands in a row—
Thunder Wave to lock it down,Agility to close the distance,then a brutal Slam to finish.
Lorelei's confidence cracked.
She hurriedly threw her next Poké Ball.
A Cloyster appeared on the ice.
This one was clearly much stronger than Staryu.
Ash didn't bother using Aura to "scan" opponents in a match like this—frankly, his opponent didn't merit that level of caution.
Still, just by the sheen of Cloyster's shell, he could estimate the difference.
Stronger, yes… but still not enough.
"Thunder Wave."
A routine opener.
Lorelei immediately ordered Cloyster to dodge.
Dratini wasn't a natural Electric-type, and its Thunder Wave wasn't flawless—Cloyster slipped past it.
Ash didn't care.
"Smash the ice with your tail—Aqua Tail!"
"Draa—!"
A deep blue glow wrapped around Dratini's tail as it slammed the ice.
The shock sent countless shards and pellets of ice flying into the air.
"Now—Twister!"
A powerful mini-tornado formed instantly, sucking the ice pellets into its rotation and roaring toward Cloyster.
The Twister's damage spiked:
wind pressure to shred,ice shards inside to pelt and cut—
and most importantly…
it was fast.
Cloyster couldn't dodge it in time.
"Withdraw!" Lorelei snapped.
Cloyster clamped shut—
and got swallowed into the spinning Twister anyway.
Ice hammered its shell nonstop, producing a hard, crisp rattling sound.
Withdraw worked, though.
At least the damage was reduced.
Ash's lips curled into a sly smile.
"Alright, let's end it. Dratini—Thunderbolt!"
Lorelei's face changed.
In a tornado, Cloyster couldn't control its own position.
Even if Thunderbolt took a moment to build, dodging was impossible.
Golden electricity exploded from Dratini and surged into the Twister.
The entire tornado turned into a blazing, brilliant gold.
A second later—
the wind collapsed, and Cloyster dropped out.
Its shell was scorched black in patches.
Its eyes were spiraling.
Knocked out on the spot.
Dratini dashed back to Ash, leapt up, and flopped proudly into his arms.
Ash laughed. "That's my Dratini! But the match isn't over—we've still got one left!"
"Draaa—!"
But the reply wasn't just Dratini's cry.
A brilliant blue light burst from its body.
Ash blinked.
"…Evolution?!"
The glow intensified.
The small snake-like body in his arms lengthened and grew.
Moments later, the light faded—
and a much larger, elegant Dragonair coiled around him.
It hadn't changed wildly in shape, but the differences were unmistakable:
a small horn on its head,wing-like fins behind its head,a beautiful blue orb at its throat,and two more on its tail—
like polished sapphires.
Ash ran a hand over its smooth scales.
"Congratulations, Dragonair."
"Draaaar…"
Dragonair nuzzled Ash's cheek with an affectionate rub.
Since Ash had caught it, he'd handled everything—food, training, conditioning, routine drills.
Calling Ash its "second parent" wasn't even an exaggeration.
Ash chuckled. "Hey—tickles! Alright, focus. We're still mid-match."
"Finish this, and we'll go eat something amazing."
"It's on you, Dragonair!"
"DRAAA!"
Dragonair reluctantly slipped away from Ash and floated onto the field, wind pressure subtly lifting its body.
Even without wings, it could already hover and glide.
Its eyes burned with fighting spirit.
Win fast—then go back to its trainer.
Food was just a bonus.
Lorelei recalled Cloyster with hands that felt numb.
Watching your opponent evolve while they're steamrolling you…
does horrible things to your mental state.
Dratini was already beating her down.
Now it had evolved?
How was she supposed to play this?
She released her final—and strongest—Pokémon:
Arcanine.
Using Fire-types in an Ice Field was meant to be a surprise.
But the "surprise" didn't matter.
Arcanine was still a dish in front of an evolved Dragonair.
Dragonair whipped up a violent Twister, then—
"Dragon Rage!"
A brutal wave of draconic energy tore through the vortex and hit point-blank.
Arcanine collapsed immediately.
Lorelei silently returned it.
So that's the truth.
Compared to Dragonair, Dratini really was weak—
at least, relatively.
Dratini had still needed a sequence.
Dragonair?
No frills.
One Dragon Rage. Done.
...
[Lance: That Dragonair is trained well. Once it becomes Dragonite, it'll probably reach Elite Four level fast.]
[Clair: That evolution speed is insane. My Dratini took ages to become Dragonair. His took months—and it's strong.]
[Drake: And his Dratini's first-stage combat power was already ridiculous. Shame we don't get to see his full training process—there's a lot worth learning.]
They weren't wrong.
The "Dratini is weak" reputation wasn't a joke.
Most pseudo-legendary lines are underwhelming in their first stage.
So raising a Dratini to that level before it even evolved…
even Drake, the dragon specialist, couldn't help being impressed.
[Cynthia: If we watched all of his training, we'd be watching for two months straight.]
[Alder: And even if we watched it, we might not learn much. Don't forget—Black World Ash has Aura as a training assist.]
[Drake: True… that's probably his unique method. Maybe only Black World Ash—and White World Ash—could replicate it.]
[Caitlin: Did anyone notice? Aside from the first match, almost every fight afterward… his Pokémon evolved.]
[Iris: Huh? You're right! That can't be coincidence…!]
[Steven: He probably calculated they were close to evolving and used the Indigo Conference matches to push that last "experience" over the line.]
[Lance: Smart, but risky. If a Pokémon evolves mid-fight and the opponent doesn't stop in time, that's a free hit.]
[Bea: Aura exists. That risk is basically manageable for him.]
If something like that happened, Black World Ash could absolutely use Aura to protect the moment evolution started.
That's exactly why he dared to field Pokémon right on the edge of evolving.
...
In a Black World –
After winning his third match, Ash immediately spotted Misty, Sabrina, and Brock.
The first two times, Sabrina had waited at the exit.
This time, she'd come straight to the stands and waited with them.
Ash took two quiet breaths, then walked up to Misty and Sabrina.
"Let's go. I promised Dragonair we'd eat something good."
"We're heading out."
He took Misty's hand with one hand—
and Sabrina's with the other.
Both hands were soft, warm, and almost boneless.
Ash took another breath to suppress the panic in his chest—
and led two stunned girls toward the Indigo Conference exit.
Brock trailed behind them, rubbing his chin, completely baffled.
Why did Ash suddenly "understand" today?
Who was the big-shot mentor behind him?!
Holding both their hands like that was dangerous—almost scummy on the surface—
but in practice, it was the best way to do it.
Better to go from passive to active.
At least this way…
the killing intent between the two girls wasn't nearly as sharp.
Brilliant.
So—whoever taught Ash…
could they teach Brock too?!
That day, Ash didn't just eat at the market with them—
he took them to a big festival near the Indigo Plateau too.
Brock went off on his own, "exploring," and—of course—checking out every Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny he could find.
Good times never lasted long.
Around ten at night, the festival wound down.
Fireworks faded.
And the moment of parting arrived.
Ash and Misty were staying at the Pokémon Center.
Sabrina, meanwhile, was staying at a hotel she'd booked.
"Tomorrow… are we going out again?" Sabrina asked softly, eyes full of hope.
For her, today had been happier than all her previous days combined.
Two days ago, she'd only had a shallow meal and conversation with Ash.
Today felt like an actual date.
Even with a giant third wheel present, she didn't mind.
And strangely…
Misty seemed to be slowly accepting this "love rival," too.
Because after Ash held both their hands today—
he didn't look like someone who planned to give either of them up.
Give up?
No chance.
So both Sabrina and Misty looked up at Ash with big, pitiful eyes.
Ash grinned helplessly.
"Of course."
"Tomorrow's the fourth match. Win it, and we get two days off—and then the Top 16 move to the main stadium."
"So if we win… we'll have even more time."
"Pika! Pika-pi!"
Pikachu nodded hard.
Today had been fun too—even with Togepi to babysit.
Eat, drink, play. Perfect.
So tomorrow, Pikachu also wanted to go out.
(You two date, I'll watch the baby. Don't interfere with each other.jpg.)
But that only happens if they win.
If they lost tomorrow?
Forget Ash—Pikachu would be the first to refuse to go play.
That night, after Sabrina said goodbye and left, Ash finally started researching his last opponent in the prelims—
Erika.
...
[Lance: Sheesh. Play all day, then go back to study? Even the honor-student types don't grind like this.]
[Cynthia: That's why he wins. He can separate priorities. Date when it's time to date, grind when it's time to grind—clear structure.]
...
In a Black World –
The next day, the final match of the preliminaries began.
Ash stepped onto the field first.
His opponent, Erika, arrived in an extremely flamboyant way.
Not only that—Erika's fanbase was massive.
The cheering behind her nearly drowned out the entire arena.
Even Brock almost got hypnotized by Erika's "idol aura" and started leaning toward betrayal.
It was dangerous.
Because today Sabrina sat beside Misty—
and the moment Brock started acting up, Misty poked Sabrina, and Sabrina instantly understood.
A small psychic shock hit Brock, snapping him out of it.
The two girls had gained a weird little tacit understanding since yesterday.
On the field –
Facing Erika's "army pressing the realm," Ash wasn't fazed.
This match determined whether he entered the Top 16.
So…
he could not lose.
"That look in your eyes… you have a reason you can't afford to lose."
Erika smiled, petals swirling around her.
"But so do I. Only a winner's flowers bloom brightest."
In the storm of petals, she threw a Poké Ball—
and her first Pokémon appeared:
Beedrill.
Ash stared at Erika's petal-scented cheer squad behind her, speechless.
His fourth-match opponent…
was seriously this dramatic?
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