Chapter 40

How come other people's dads are more and more reliable, but the one in his own house...

It's really a long story.

Wu Neng: "Ahem, Xiaogang, that was all in the past. The current me has already become a responsible dad."

Xiaogang: "Heh."

Furong: "Wow, so romantic. I seriously suspect that Sabrina has already fallen for Ash. Can't blame Sabrina though — young and promising, and so strong. Who wouldn't love a guy like that?"

Sabrina: "Don't talk nonsense, or I'll sue you for defamation."

Furong: "Hey, Sabrina, I'm not talking about you, I'm talking about the Sabrina from another world. What are you getting anxious about? Could it be that you've actually fallen for Ash too?"

Sabrina: "You?!"

Misty: "For real?"

Misty was about to explode.

When did Ash become so popular?

The alarm bells in Misty's heart rang out again.

Should she speed things up?

Otherwise, in the future she'd probably really only be able to cry out in pain — "I was here first!"

(Thanks to the big shot Xiaoyue Youxue for the monthly ticket! The other stats didn't move much today — could any other big shots help throw some flowers and evaluation tickets? Monthly tickets would be even better! Please, please, please, please, please!)

63: Psyduck joins the team — the release master Ash shows his power again!

The black-framed screen had already gone dark; the white-framed screen lit up again.

The image appeared.

【With Gastly's help, Ash successfully obtained the Gold Badge. His next destination was Celadon City.】

【On the way to Celadon City, Ash encountered a mischievous Mankey that not only snatched Ash's rice ball but also stole his precious hat.】

【To take back his hat, Ash battled the Mankey. In the end, he defeated the Mankey, which had evolved into Primeape. Along with retrieving his hat, he also caught the Primeape.】

【Carrying the joy of his new catch, Ash arrived at Celadon City. He had wanted to press on and win his fifth badge at the Celadon Gym, but his companions were drawn by perfume and filed into the perfume shop one by one.】

【When he tried to drag Misty and Brock out of the perfume shop, Ash once again showed his clueless side. Right in front of the shop owner, he brazenly declared that perfume was just something women used to confuse men. That stirred up a hornet's nest — the shop staff tossed Ash straight out of the store.】

【Feeling indignant, Ash couldn't be bothered to argue further. He went to the Celadon Gym alone, intending to challenge its Gym Leader, Erika.】

【But a scene of despair appeared before Ash. The Celadon Gym's Gym Leader was the very same shop owner from the perfume shop. Because of Ash's disparaging remarks about perfume, he was banned from entering the Celadon Gym.】

【Ash thought his plan to challenge the Celadon Gym was about to fall through, but just then he ran into the three-person Team Rocket, who had been strung up in a tree for stealing.】

【Under Team Rocket's three's coaxing, Ash disguised himself as a girl, and together with Jessie and James posed as a family of three, sneaking into the Celadon Gym.】

Bruno: "Wow, Ash, do you really want to take it that far?"

Bruno had spent a few days with Ash, so he still understood him — a steel-clueless straight man. To challenge the gym, he didn't hesitate to cross-dress. The price he paid was just too great.

Ash: *sniff sniff* "I was completely led astray by Jessie and James back then."

He really couldn't be blamed — he was just too desperate to get the Rainbow Badge.

Karen: "Look at him, Erika — look at what you've driven a straight man to!"

Erika: "Can't blame me either. If you have to blame someone, blame Ash's terrible EQ. Disparaging perfume in a perfume shop — how on earth did he come up with that?"

Wallace: "Let's set the perfume matter aside for now. Let me share my take on cross-dressing — there's only zero times and countless times. I predict Ash's cross-dressing spree at gyms won't be stopping anytime soon."

Lance: "Yo, Wallace, you seem to know a lot about this, huh?"

Steven: "Of course. Wallace is the original cross-dressing master. When it comes to cross-dressing, who could be Wallace's match?"

Wallace: "Keep it low-key, keep it low-key. This sort of thing doesn't need to be so high-profile."

Caitlin, Cynthia: "..."

【Ash had originally intended to hide his identity and challenge Erika, but Misty and Pikachu, who were attending class inside the gym, saw through his disguise.】

【Seeing that Xiaozhi had dressed up as a girl just to challenge her, Erika had no choice but to accept his challenge. She was afraid that if she refused, this strange guy might do something even more terrifying.】

【Just as Xiaozhi and Erika's battle reached its most critical moment, Team Rocket appeared and interrupted their duel. Team Rocket had originally planned to catch every Pokémon present in one sweep, but Meowth accidentally pressed the wrong button on the bomb. Not only did they fail to catch any Pokémon, they ended up getting blasted away themselves.】

【At that moment, accompanied by the sound of the explosion, the Rainbow Gym was engulfed in a sea of fire.】

【Having escaped outside the gym, Xiaozhi gazed at the Rainbow Gym, now a sea of fire, and felt nothing but regret. If he hadn't brought Team Rocket into the gym, none of this would have happened.】

【Just then, Xiaozhi noticed Erika, who was in a panic. Upon asking, he learned that Erika's Gloom had gone missing and was very likely still inside the gym.】

【Without a moment's hesitation, to make up for the mistake he had caused, Xiaozhi charged into the sea of fire without looking back.】

【Thanks to Xiaozhi's efforts, Gloom was successfully rescued. To thank Xiaozhi for saving Gloom's life, Erika gave him the Rainbow Badge.】

【"But the legendary perfume was stolen by the Team Rocket people — what do we do?" Xiaozhi asked worriedly.】

【"That? That's the raw material for making perfume — Gloom's extract."】

Musashi: "Bleeeaaargh! The moment you mention perfume, I can't help but want to throw up. The aftereffect of that stuff is just too strong."

Kojiro: "I never want to see another Gloom for the rest of my life."

Meowth: "Meowth's gonna faint, gonna faint."

Xiaozhi: "Hmph, this is the retribution you deserve. Who told you to harbor evil intentions!"

Erika: "Watching it again, I still think Xiaozhi's act of charging into the sea of fire was incredibly manly. Don't you agree, Gloom?"

Xiaoxia: "Hey, Erika, have you fallen for Xiaozhi too?"

Erika: "Hehe, who knows?"

Professor Oak: "Making mistakes is no big deal — as long as you have the courage to take responsibility and work hard to make amends. Xiaozhi, you really did well this time."

Xiaomao: "Another badge for free. Xiaozhi's luck is really something."

Damarangci Badge: "This time it wasn't luck. Other people don't have the same courage as Xiaozhi. The Rainbow Badge — I think Xiaozhi earned it fair and square."

Karen: "Exactly, exactly. Besides, if Team Rocket hadn't interrupted the duel, even if the battle had continued, Xiaozhi might not necessarily have lost."

Hanako didn't care about badges or anything like that. What Hanako cared about most was still Xiaozhi's safety.

Hanako: "Oh my, when you're out and about you really need to keep your wits about you. From now on, you absolutely mustn't let yourself get tricked again, Ash."

Ash: "Mom, I got it."

【In a new city, Ash and his companions successfully resolved the crisis caused by Sullyboo and found the missing children. By a twist of fate, Misty also captured a new Pokémon—Psyduck.】

【Psyduck has officially joined the team.】

【Not long after Misty obtained her new Pokémon, Brock also met an outstanding Pokémon breeder named Suzy. Suzy entrusted her beloved Vulpix to Brock's care, and so Brock also gained a new Pokémon.】

【Where there is meeting, there is parting. Just as Misty and Brock both obtained new Pokémon, Ash once again had to say goodbye to one of his.】

(Thanks to the great boss Meiying Qingjue for the monthly ticket! Thanks to the great boss a9528 for the monthly ticket! Also thanks to all the other bosses for the flowers and review votes. Thank you everyone for your support. This book is also about to be put on the shelves, and it will go on sale tomorrow at 12 noon sharp. The first day on the shelves, the author's updates absolutely will not let everyone down!!!)

64: How can there be such a handsome Pokémon as Basculegion in this world?

【Ash and his group met an uncle in the mountains who was training a Hitmonchan. From the uncle's daughter, they learned that the uncle's name was Shendu.】

【In order to win the championship of the Pokémon Fighting Tournament P1 Grand Prix, Shendu had been training deep in the mountains, paying no attention to matters at home.】

【To bring Shendu back to his family, the girl pleaded with Ash and the others to defeat her father Shendu.】

【Faced with a beautiful girl's request, Brock had absolutely no resistance. Just like that, he dragged Ash along to participate in the P1 Grand Prix.】

【Unfortunately, Brock's Geodude lost in the very first round, and Ash's Primeape also took quite a beating from his opponent's Machop during their first-round match. When Primeape was thrown from the ring, Ash risked his own life to catch Primeape with his body.】

【It was precisely because of Ash's reckless act that Primeape was completely moved. It began to truly regard Ash as its trainer. Working together with one heart, they finally fought their way into the finals.】

【Only, Ash and Primeape's opponent in the finals was not Shendu and his Hitmonchan.】

【Shendu and Hitmonchan were defeated by Team Rocket through underhanded tactics in their match, and regretfully stopped at the semifinals.】

Shendu: "Damn it! If it had been a fair and square battle, my Hitmonchan wouldn't have lost to Sawk!"

However, when an old man loses his horse, who knows it is for the best. Although his Hitmonchan did not win the P1 Grand Prix championship, he obtained a Pokémon stronger than Hitmonchan. When you think it over carefully, he got the better end of the deal.

【In the finals, Primeape successfully avenged Hitmonchan, defeating the Sawk that Team Rocket had stolen, and won the P1 Grand Prix championship.】

【This should have been a happy moment, but at the championship celebration, Shendu appeared. He asked Ash to hand Primeape over to him to care for, promising that he would train Primeape into a true P1 champion.】

【After leaving Primeape with Shendu, Ash set off on his journey once more.】

Why would Ash hand Primeape over to Shendu?

Bruno truly could not understand it.

Was that Pokémon trainer named Shendu really that skilled at raising Fighting-type Pokémon?

If he really were that good at raising Fighting-type Pokémon, then he wouldn't have been unable to win the P1 Grand Prix championship for so many years.

To put it bluntly, Shendu's ceiling was right there. He was a very mediocre breeder. Bruno didn't think handing Primeape over to him was a good choice.

However, this was the decision Ash had made, and the only thing he could do was respect it.

At this moment, the screen with the white border gradually dimmed, and in its place, a screen with a black border lit up.