Chapter 57

【After leaving the town where the carnival was held, Ash and his friends arrived in a deep mountain.】

【After stocking up on enough medicine at a pharmacy in the deep mountains, Ash began new special training with his Pokémon in the mountains.】

【The main target of this special training was Ivysaur. After more than half a month of practice, Ivysaur's release of Substitute had reached a level of pure perfection. It was time to move on to the next stage.】

【"The skills Ivysaur needs to learn this time are Protect and Toxic."】

【Substitute, Protect, Toxic—this was the tactic Ash tailored for Ivysaur.】

【Use Substitute and Protect for defense to stall for time as much as possible, and then slowly drain the opponent's stamina through Toxic.】

【Toxic is different from regular poison; its effect is that as time passes, the poison damage gradually stacks. So as long as Ivysaur can hold its ground, theoretically, it can wear down all enemies.】

【Ash named this tactic 'Sub-Protect-Toxic'.】

Lance: "Isn't this tactic too sleazy?"

Although Lance hadn't seen the Sub-Protect-Toxic tactic used in battle yet, just thinking about it, he knew this tactic was quite sleazy.

As long as the opponent couldn't quickly take down Ivysaur within a few turns, the only outcome awaiting them was being toyed to death by Ivysaur.

Misty: "Ash, look at others. Everyone is Ash, but Dark Ash has already created his own tactics. What about you? You haven't even memorized the type effectiveness chart!"

Ash: "I, I can also create my own tactics."

Ash retorted stubbornly.

Misty: "Could it be the 'Quickly Dodge, Stand Up' tactic?"

Koga: "The door to a new world has been opened. I must write it down, write it down."

Koga took out a notebook and wrote down the core of the Sub-Protect-Toxic tactic one by one.

Lorelei: "This is bad."

Koga was already a master of poison, and if he learned the essence of the Sub-Protect-Toxic tactic, they would probably be annoyed to death the next time they encountered Koga in battle.

Just when Koga thought that by learning the Sub-Protect-Toxic tactic he would sweep through Kanto, reality gave him a hard slap in the face.

【"Wow, what a powerful tactic. In that case, wouldn't Ivysaur be invincible?" Misty exclaimed. As long as the opponent isn't too much stronger than Ivysaur, this tactic is basically invincible.】

【Ash shook his head and said, "Where in the world is there an invincible tactic?"】

【Sub-Protect-Toxic is quite useful, but it really can't be called invincible. Ash alone had several ways to crack it in his mind.】

【1. Pokémon with the Infiltrator ability. Use Pokémon like Crobat or Seviper that have the Infiltrator ability to ignore Substitute and barriers and launch attacks directly.】

【2. Steel-type and Poison-type Pokémon, which directly ignore the poisoning effect of Toxic.】

【3. Gliscor and Breloom with the Poison Heal ability; Toxic won't hurt them, but will instead increase their stamina.】

【4. Status-changing moves like Taunt and Encore.】

Koga: "..."

Koga directly tore up the notebook he had written in.

What's the point of playing now?

Dark Ash directly listed four major ways to crack the Sub-Protect-Toxic tactic; this is clearly not letting him have fun!

It's simply too hateful.

Ash: "Taunt? Encore? What kind of skills are those?"

Ash, who had always only taught his Pokémon attack-type skills, was hearing about Taunt and Encore for the first time.

Misty: "Sigh, you're hopeless, Ash."

Brock: "Encore: Makes the opponent use the move they just used three times in a row. Taunt: Makes the opponent angry. For 3 turns, the opponent can only use moves that deal damage."

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Ash: "So troublesome. Still didn't understand."

Misty, Brock: "..."

【After a week of special training in the forest, Ivysaur, which had learned Toxic and Protect, had a friendly match with Brock's Geodude. The result was that Brock's Geodude was tormented to the point of wanting to die by Ivysaur's Sub-Protect-Toxic tactic. Throughout the match, it basically didn't deal any damage to Ivysaur, while it just kept losing health there.】

【The training match was won, but Ash was still a bit dissatisfied. Ivysaur's Toxic effect was still far from his expectations.】

【"When I have time, I must go to Fuchsia City again and ask Gym Leader Koga for advice," Ash muttered to himself.】

【Among the people and Pokémon Ash knew, no one could compare to Koga in the study of poison, including Mew.】

Koga: "Dark Ash still has a good eye. When it comes to poisoning, no one in all of Kanto is my match!"

Agatha: "~"Oh, is that so?"

Koga: "Oops, forgot about Agatha. -Except for Agatha."

Although Agatha holds the title of Ghost-type Elite Four, if you look at her Pokémon, you will know that she is actually a genuine Poison-type master.

【After staying in the city that never sleeps for one night, just as the sky was turning bright, Ash and his friends packed their bags and set off. This place really isn't for normal people to stay in. It's brightly lit all day, and there's never a time when the city is dark.】

【And this city is just too noisy. After staying in the Pokémon Center for one night, Ash didn't fall asleep for even an hour.】

【They didn't dare to stay any longer; if they continued to stay, they would probably end up with a nervous breakdown.】

【After walking for more than two hours, they finally left the city that never sleeps far behind, and the three of them breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.】

【After resting for a while in a cool place, Brock began to prepare breakfast.】

【This is the best part of traveling with Brock; there's no need to worry about food at all, as Brock will have everything prepared properly.】

【Just as Brock finished preparing a sumptuous breakfast and everyone was about to start eating, a round, pink Pokémon suddenly appeared in their sight.】

【The moment they saw the Pokémon, Misty and Brock dropped their bowls and chopsticks and rushed in front of the Pokémon with lightning speed. The two of them started arguing over the ownership of the Pokémon.】

【"I saw this Igglybuff first," Misty stared fiercely at Brock.】

【"Wrong, wrong, I was the one who wanted to see it," Brock retorted without showing any weakness.】

【Seeing that there was really no way to make the other person take a step back, the two decided to ask Ash for help, letting Ash judge who the Pokémon should belong to.】

【Ah?】

【Actually, Ash himself quite wanted to catch this Igglybuff, but seeing that Misty and Brock both wanted to catch it, he felt embarrassed to say it out loud.】

Ash: "What's there to be embarrassed about? If you see a Pokémon you like, you have to say it bravely. Love must be spoken out loud!"

Cynthia: "This is the Jigglypuff from a year ago, right? It's really cute."

Diantha: "Ah? My Jigglypuff. It was clearly the one I had my eye on, and now it's going to be snatched away by others."

Malva: "Your Jigglypuff? You really are a shameless woman."

Diantha: "Who are you calling shameless? Want to fight? Malva. I've been annoyed with you for a long time."

Malva: "Fight then, who's afraid of who!!!"

Siebold: "Women are really scary."

【Ash ultimately didn't say out loud that he also wanted to catch the Igglybuff. People, you still have to be content. Throughout this journey, the Pokémon he wanted to catch were not snatched by Misty or Brock, so what would it look like if he snatched it from them now?】

【As for helping to judge who the Igglybuff should belong to, Ash felt that this matter could be put aside for now. The most important problem now was to find the Igglybuff that had run away.】

【That's right, while Misty and Brock were arguing, the Igglybuff had already slipped away quietly.】

【After devouring their breakfast at top speed, the three of them started a carpet search for the Igglybuff in three directions.】

【The three of them acted separately. Ash's original intention was that whoever found the Igglybuff would get it. But unexpectedly, the Igglybuff was finally found by him.】

【When Ash returned to the camp with the Igglybuff's Poké Ball, Brock and Misty looked at him with resentment.】

【"Ahem."】

【Ash ultimately didn't keep the Igglybuff. It wouldn't be good to cause a rift in the team for the sake of a Pokémon he met for the first time. But who should the Igglybuff be given to?】

Misty: "Of course it's mine. I'm a girl."

Brock: "Are you from the old era? It's the 21st century now, and we emphasize gender equality. It should be given to me."

Diantha: "Can it be given to the me from that world? I really want it too."

Cynthia: "Diantha, have you gone crazy? You even want to snatch a child's Pokémon."

【"If you both want it, then let's decide with a Trainer's method."】

【This is the fairest way.】

【And in Ash's view, the chances for both sides in this battle were equal. Brock's advantage was that he was 4 years older than Misty, and Misty's advantage was that her Pokémon were Water-type, which completely countered Brock's Pokémon.】

【Ten minutes later.】

【"Nice, the Igglybuff is mine," Brock cheered, waving his fist.】

【While Brock was cheering wildly, Misty was like a frost-bitten eggplant, her whole person wilted, as if the whole world had no hope.】

【In the end, it was Ash who stepped forward to comfort her and promised to help Misty catch a Pokémon as cute as the Igglybuff, which made Misty regain her spirit.】

【"Ash, that's really great," Misty smiled happily.】 ===== CHAPTER 58 =====