Ash had no idea what was happening between Lysandre and Celosia.
After the battle ended, Ash continued toward the nearby Pokémon Breeding Street with Serena, Clarissa, and the others.
His newly hatched Shiny Fennekin had outstanding natural talent, but it was still in its infancy. For the foreseeable future, there was no way it could participate in serious training.
In fact, the opposite was true.
During this period, Ash, as its Trainer, would have to invest a tremendous amount of time and energy into caring for the little Pokémon. For any Trainer, taking care of a Pokémon during its infancy was arguably one of the most exhausting and demanding stages of raising it.
But Ash genuinely loved Pokémon.
He had loved them in his previous life, and after transmigrating into the Pokémon world in this life, his affection for these pure and wonderful living creatures had only grown stronger.
Even Trainers who placed great importance on emotional bonds, enjoyed catching Pokémon with relatively low strength, and preferred raising them from the very beginning rarely chose to raise an Egg or an infant Pokémon.
Most considered it too troublesome and exhausting.
Instead, they preferred Pokémon that had just passed beyond infancy and were already capable of beginning systematic training.
But when it came to Ash, things were completely different.
He didn't dislike or reject the process at all.
Quite the opposite—he found it enjoyable.
Ash genuinely enjoyed taking care of Pokémon. He enjoyed the precious time he spent together with them. He enjoyed the feeling of being relied upon by a Pokémon that might one day become one of his strongest aces.
Most of all, he enjoyed accompanying a Pokémon as it grew.
And although Fennekin had yet to leave its infancy, its mind was still immature, and its body had not yet fully developed, meaning it couldn't undergo conventional physical training, training wasn't limited to strengthening a Pokémon's body, improving its six core stats, or mastering moves.
Building an emotional bond could also be regarded as a form of training.
The feelings between a Pokémon and its Trainer could gradually develop into a powerful bond.
And the emotional bond between a Pokémon and its Trainer provided a tangible boost to their combat strength during battle.
Since an emotional bond could increase battle power, then naturally, cultivating that bond with a Pokémon could also be considered a form of training.
It was simply that the Pokémon League and high-level Trainers didn't want to make this aspect overly utilitarian or encourage unhealthy trends among ordinary Trainers.
That was why they never openly promoted this idea.
But in reality, they themselves had been practicing it throughout the process of raising their Pokémon.
Otherwise, why did so many high-level Trainers frequently keep their Pokémon outside their Poké Balls and take them everywhere?
Was it merely to show off?
And why did most high-level Trainers design their hairstyles, clothing, and overall appearance around the Pokémon under their command, sometimes even dressing in styles similar to their Pokémon?
Aside from the pure and simple reason that they genuinely liked their Pokémon, there was undoubtedly another purpose behind it—to increase their Pokémon's affection and deliberately cultivate a deeper emotional bond.
Of course, whatever other Trainers did was their business.
For Ash, he simply enjoyed spending time with Pokémon.
Spending time together could cultivate an emotional bond.
An emotional bond could increase battle strength.
And if taking care of a Pokémon during its infancy could provide an increase in strength and grant a permanent beneficial buff that would remain with the Pokémon throughout its entire life…
Then what if the process was exhausting?
Why worry about it at all?
"Mrrr~! (^^)/"
Looking at the adorable Shiny Fennekin nestled in his arms, Ash suddenly remembered the Champion-level Beedrill Egg his teacher, Giovanni, had given him.
Beedrill was not particularly powerful or highly rated as a species.
For a Beedrill to withstand and truly match Champion-level potential, its development inside the Egg had to be extraordinary.
It needed to undergo an extended period of abnormal growth before hatching.
Only then could the adaptability, physical strength, learning ability, and comprehension of the Weedle that emerged from the Egg reach a level compatible with Champion-level potential.
When Giovanni had given Ash the Beedrill Egg, it had actually been laid only a short time beforehand.
Furthermore, Giovanni had used certain biotechnology techniques to deliberately delay the Egg's hatching process.
Only after the Egg was handed over to Ash did its development return to its normal pace.
When Ash first received the Beedrill Egg, its extraordinarily high potential meant that it would already have required nearly three years to hatch.
For more than half a year afterward, Ash had continuously used his Viridian Force to nourish the embryo inside the Egg, cleansing and strengthening its foundations while further improving its potential.
As a result, the already extraordinary Beedrill Egg had become even more exceptional.
But this improvement came with a price.
The Beedrill Egg, which had already required an extremely long incubation period, had its hatching cycle extended even further.
Combined with its original incubation period of nearly three years, the further improvement in its potential had eventually pushed the total hatching period to almost four years.
However, it had already been more than half a year since Ash had received the Beedrill Egg from his teacher, Giovanni.
And Ash had only celebrated his seventh birthday two months ago.
Now, after passing the halfway point of its incubation, the Beedrill Egg's remaining hatching time had been reduced to roughly three years.
Ash himself also had another three years before he could officially set out on his journey.
In other words, the Beedrill Egg had roughly three years left before it could hatch as well.
"I wonder which will happen first—the Beedrill Egg hatching, or me setting out on my journey."
Ash gently stroked the Shiny Fennekin in his arms, his expression becoming increasingly soft as he thought about the Beedrill Egg.
"I hope the little guy inside that Egg can hurry up a little."
Because Ash had needed to leave the house today to take care of some matters, he had stored the Beedrill Egg inside his system storage rather than carrying it around with him.
Even so, simply thinking about it made his gaze grow warmer.
"Oh, right, Ash. Do you know that woman from earlier?"
As they left the small park where the battle had taken place and continued toward Pokémon Breeding Street, Shauna noticed that Ash had fallen silent and took the initiative to start a conversation.
"She actually dared to ignore League laws and directly order her Pokémon to attack other people! That's way too much. She's completely crazy!"
"I don't know her."
Ash shook his head and told a well-intentioned lie.
"But I'm very familiar with the kind of presence she gives off and the way she conducts herself."
"She isn't a good person."
"Her presence and the way she conducts herself?"
Shauna, who had started the conversation, exchanged thoughtful looks with Clemont, Tierno, Trevor, and the others.
Clearly, none of them had expected Ash to give such an answer.
But then they suddenly remembered something from their visit to Professor Sycamore's research institute that morning.
Ash had asked Sycamore and the others to temporarily keep his psychic abilities and his ability to heal the genetic conflict within Pokémon Eggs a secret.
At the time, Ash had also told them that he had previously been targeted for assassination and attacked multiple times by Team Rocket, the evil organization entrenched in Kanto.
The methods used by Team Rocket to attack Ash were remarkably similar to what that woman had just done.
Furthermore, Ash, who was normally easygoing and approachable toward everyone, had suddenly displayed such an unusually forceful attitude.
The realization quickly dawned on everyone.
They began forming their own suspicions about the identity of the woman who had attacked them.
"Was she from Team Rocket?"
"Or perhaps she's from an underground criminal organization in Kalos that's similar in nature to Team Rocket?"
The thought left everyone feeling somewhat heavy and worried.
The woman from earlier clearly wasn't an ordinary Trainer.
And if she truly belonged to an underground organization comparable to Team Rocket, then today's incident might only be the beginning.