dmims Chapter 359 Ash vs. Gary, a referee of god-like caliber.
Chapter 359 Ash vs. Gary, a referee of god-like caliber.
Chapter 359 Ash vs. Gary, a referee of god-like caliber.
Ash wasn't surprised that Gary knew he was going to the Orange Islands, since the whole world probably already knew about his battle with Lorelei.
That wasn't just a battle to challenge the Elite Four, but also a battle that showcased his possession of a legendary Pokémon: Lugia, the legendary sea god. Although its size and physique differed somewhat from the legendary images, it was definitely the real Lugia.
Lugia is a first-level god, even rarer than the three legendary birds and the three legendary beasts. Even without a divine position, it has a very high probability of advancing to become a god-level spirit. If it is the leader of them, it can even reach the peak of the god realm, a level that only exists in legends.
Ash's Lugia obviously cannot possess divine authority, let alone reach the level of a god, but this cannot negate the infinite possibilities that Lugia possesses!
With Ash's abilities and Lugia's talent, it's safe to say that Ash is a shoo-in for having a legendary Pokémon in the future. All Ash lacks now is time.
That battle with Lorelei propelled Ash's fame to new heights, but it also made him a target for many people.
After all, that was a first-level legendary Pokémon that hadn't fully grown. Although Lugia defeated Lorelei's main Pokémon, in reality, that Lugia was only at the Elite Four level. It was only thanks to Ash's help that it was able to defeat Lorelei's main Pokémon. It's no secret that Ash has special methods to increase the strength of his Pokémon.
Therefore, with Lugia's current power, if he really wanted to steal it, he wouldn't be without a chance.
Besides Team Galactic, there were quite a few others who were eyeing Ash, but only Team Galactic noticed the most unusual part of Lugia's body, but it didn't really matter.
Whether it's Team Galactic or anyone else, anyone who dares to mess with Ash who has Mewtwo is practically asking for death.
Ash suppressed his thoughts, put on a smile, and said, "I had some business in the Orange Islands, so I figured I might as well go sightseeing. By the way, Gary, where have you been for the past month? Did you participate in the Silver Conference?"
Ash wouldn't gossip about what happened on the Orange Islands, since it involved four legendary Pokémon with divine authority. Although telling Gary wouldn't be a big deal, explaining it would be too troublesome.
This is also a sign of Ash's growth. If it were before, he wouldn't care about all that and would have started showing off to Gary. After all, the things that happened in the Orange Islands would be something anyone could brag about for a lifetime!
Not to mention showing off in front of your childhood best friend. Being able to resist such temptation is a sign of growth, isn't it?
Shigeru also realized that Ash had something to hide, but since Ash wouldn't say anything, he wouldn't ask any further questions.
"I've been training hard during this time. I feel that with my previous level, participating in this year's Silver Tournament would only make me cannon fodder. Whether it's at the trainer or Pokémon level, I'm still far from being good enough. So I've been taking some time to reflect and improve."
"Secluded cultivation?" It's hard to imagine that these two words would come out of the arrogant and domineering Xiao Mao's mouth, but seeing Xiao Mao again this time, judging from the completely different aura he exudes, this is really no joke.
Putting aside the Pokémon, just looking at the trainers, the current Gary is a completely different person from the one at the Indigo League.
It's not just that he's more composed; you can also vaguely sense a kingly aura emanating from him, an aura that only comes from seasoned champion trainers.
Xiao Mao's aura is not yet fully developed, but it already has a rudimentary form.
"Want to play a round?"
"That's exactly what I was thinking, but you didn't come here to see me first, did you?" Gary accepted Ash's challenge without hesitation, but he didn't lose his composure because of the challenge. Instead, he calmly reminded Ash of the reason he came to Professor Oak's lab.
Ash obviously didn't know he was back, so Ash came here not to see him, but to see Professor Oak.
Ash immediately realized what was going on and scratched his head sheepishly, saying, "Right, right, I came to find Professor Oak. I'll come and battle you after I've found Professor Oak!" With that, Ash and Pikachu rushed into Professor Oak's lab.
Inside Professor Oak's lab, Professor Oak was examining Onix with a magnifying glass. After the battle, Ash teleported Onix back and traded it for other Pokémon.
Since it was a vacation, he wanted the other Pokémon to enjoy the vacation feeling as well, so in a week, Ash traded all the Pokémon in Professor Oak's lab.
Professor Oak already knew that Ash had caught the Crystal Onix. In fact, he also wanted to study the structure of the Crystal Onix, but Ash was busy raising the Crystal Onix, so there was no chance to send the information back to Professor Oak's lab.
After the match ended, Ash finally had time to relax, so he teleported the Crystal Onix back first.
Professor Oak has been studying the structure of Crystal Onix day and night for the past few days. It can be said that Crystal Onix is a completely new species, except for its appearance, which is the same as that of ordinary Onix.
This situation is somewhat different from regional Pokémon. In addition to their different types, regional Pokémon also have other differences in appearance besides color. However, Crystal Onix is like a Shiny Pokémon with a changed type.
Aside from the different colors and attributes, they look exactly the same.
How exactly this structure was formed remains a mystery to Dr. Oak.
"Hey, Ash, you're back." Hearing the noise at the door, Professor Oak looked up and greeted Ash with a smile when he saw it was him.
"Professor Oak, you're still researching Crystal Onix?!"
"Yes, upon further investigation, we discovered that the Crystal Onix holds far more secrets than I had imagined. Even if we studied it for three more days and nights, we still wouldn't be able to finish!" Professor Oak said with a sigh.
"Then you can study it later. Let's take a look at this GS Ball first." Ash said, taking the GS Ball out of his backpack and handing it to Professor Oak, along with the data on Professor Oak's USB drive.
Dr. Uchiki's team only used machines to investigate and analyze the composition of the GS spheres. In terms of professional expertise, Dr. Oki's team is more professional.
Professor Oak took the GS Ball and data from Ash, put them aside, and said with admiration, "You've really worked hard, Ash, in every way."
The hardship mentioned here obviously doesn't just refer to Ash taking the GS Ball back and forth, but rather to the fact that Ash's journey was arduous.
Professor Oak is one of the few people who knows why Ash went to the Orange Islands. He also knows what happened there. Given his relationship with the Elite Four and the League, knowing these things is a piece of cake for him.
The sheer danger of this incident even made this veteran champion realize how perilous it was.
Adding Ash's Mewtwo, that's a total of five battles at the God Realm level—battles that even the world's top trainers couldn't get involved in!
Even Cynthia, the world's second-ranked Sinnoh champion, could only stand there like a block of wood; the Divine Realm level is still too far away for humans.
Knowing her own powerlessness, it is said that Cynthia has now begun searching for a power that can enhance her combat strength.
In order to avoid being a wooden puppet when faced with a similar situation again, Cynthia actually began to actively pursue the power of the gods. Given her personality and abilities, the chances of success should be quite high.
To obtain the power of the gods, besides defeating the divine beasts head-on, you can also gain their approval and temporarily use their power for your benefit.
For mythical beasts, even spending a lifetime by a human's side is just a blink of an eye. A human's lifespan of a hundred years is nothing to them. Therefore, it is not impossible for a mythical beast to accept a human and stay by their side until the human grows old.
It seems that similar things have happened before in human history.
However, there is no way to verify whether that history is true or false, but Dr. Big believes that with Cynthia's abilities, if she really finds a legendary Pokémon, gaining its approval should not be a difficult task.
"It wasn't too tough. This battle was a great experience for both me and Mewtwo. Mewtwo even became stronger because of this battle. As for being thrilling—well, it wasn't that thrilling." Ash scratched his head and said somewhat embarrassedly.
Professor Oak might think Ash was just being modest, but he was actually genuinely embarrassed!
Because the risk of this battle is indeed almost non-existent. As long as it's not Arceus, the creator god, that comes when the champion Ash takes action, there is no danger. So when Ash said that it wasn't very hard, he wasn't being modest; it really wasn't that hard!
No amount of maneuvering or strategy can compare to a single numerical value!
The champion Ash and Mewtwo represent the highest stats in the Pokémon world, second only to Arceus!
Only Rayquaza's Mega Evolution, which possesses divine authority, has the potential to rival Mewtwo.
Therefore, even when facing a corrupted Lugia, there is no danger whatsoever. Not to mention that a corrupted Lugia is weaker than its normal state, even if Yveltal's power completely corrupts Lugia later, it can only barely reach the level of a weak normal state, still not comparable to Lugia in its prime.
Furthermore, Lugia cannot use divine powers. In its corrupted state, Team Galactic has not yet found a way to enable legendary Pokémon to use divine powers. Otherwise, just facing the three legendary birds with divine powers would be a very troublesome matter.
In conclusion, what was originally a very dangerous journey was transformed into a pure training exercise for self-improvement with the help of Tsukumo.
Professor Oak just doesn't know that.
"I'll be going now if there's nothing else. I have a battle scheduled with Gary." After handing the items over to Professor Oak, he didn't have anything else to do, so he took advantage of the free time to have a match with Gary.
He was still very curious about what Xiao Mao had gone through in the past month and why he had changed so much. Everything would be revealed in the battle.
"Xiao Mao? Oh right, Xiao Mao said he was coming back today. I forgot. Go on, go on. I don't know where that kid has been for the past month. I thought he went to Chengdu, but I haven't heard a single phone call in a month. I even called his cell phone but no one answered. If he hadn't called me back yesterday, I would have been ready to call the police."
Professor Oak only realized after hearing Ash's words that his grandson, Gary, had also come back today.
Unlike Ash, who clearly stated he was going to the Orange Islands, Gary had no idea where he was going. He initially thought the Silver Conference had started and he was going to Johto to get his badge.
Normally, Xiao Mao would send him a message or make a phone call every seven days. Now that there are mobile phones, it's much easier to let him know that he's safe. But Xiao Mao hasn't called him for a whole month, and no one answers when he calls Xiao Mao.
Then it simply shut down.
If Gary had called him any later, Professor Oak would have really called the police. Before, when there were no means of communication, it wasn't a big deal if we couldn't contact each other for a month or two. But now that we have cell phones, it's a problem if we can't contact each other for ten days or half a month.
As for where Xiao Mao went for the past month and why he didn't answer the phone, he glossed over it all with a single sentence: he went into seclusion to cultivate.
Gary didn't reveal much else, and Professor Oak didn't ask any further questions, as long as Gary was alright.
When Gary came back today, he didn't see Gary at all; instead, he saw Ash first.
"Can't contact him for a month? Is that a big deal? Where did he go into seclusion?" Xiao Zhi said with a sigh.
"Who knows? Anyway, it's good that you came back safe and sound. If you're going to battle, remember to have Mewtwo set up a barrier, otherwise the aftershocks alone could blow my lab away," Professor Oak reminded him solemnly.
Both Ash and Gary are already trainers with Gym-level Pokémon. The aftershocks of a Gym-level battle are no joke. Let alone a Gym-level Pokémon, even a Pro-level Pokémon would probably be able to completely destroy their research lab.
Therefore, it is essential to take preventative measures during battles, as he does not want to rebuild Oak's laboratory.
"Okay, okay!" Ash ran off with Pikachu without looking back, leaving Professor Oak shaking his head helplessly.
Outside Professor Oak's lab, Ash and Gary stood facing each other on a flat area, with Mewtwo floating between them.
"The match is one-on-one. If there are no problems, bring out your Pokémon." Mewtwo's voice echoed in both of their minds, and a strange expression appeared on her face.
Who would have thought that she, a divine-level elf, would one day become a referee?
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