Chapter 63

Shiba: "Blaine, how on earth could you pat your chest and guarantee that nothing would go wrong?"

Steven: "The most ridiculous part is that Blaine himself was deeply convinced of it."

If he hadn't truly believed that the Cinnabar Gym wouldn't have any issues, Blaine wouldn't have held such an intense battle inside it.

Drayden: "It didn't end in a GAMEOVER, did it?"

Diantha: "Pah, pah, pah! Don't jinx it. Even if you were in trouble, Black Ash wouldn't be!!!"

["Ash and Blaine won't be hurt, right?" Looking at the ruins before her, Misty was on the verge of tears.]

["Probably, most likely, maybe, there shouldn't be a problem." Brock said hesitantly.]

["Mew, why didn't you save Ash and the others?" Misty pointed her finger at Mew.]

["Mew?!"]

[Whatever the matter was, weren't it and Pikachu pulled out by Misty?]

["Uh, well, I was just afraid you'd get hurt." Misty said awkwardly.]

[Mew rolled its eyes and said nothing more.]

[There was movement in the ruins. The first to come out was Magmar. It was carrying Blaine, whom it had shielded under its body when the building collapsed, and it stumbled out of the ruins step by step.]

["I'm sorry, Magmar." Blaine was extremely regretful now. If he hadn't been so stubborn about holding the duel inside the Cinnabar Gym, this situation would never have happened.]

[Now it was a mess; his Magmar was covered in injuries from being crushed, and what made him even more devastated was that his opponent, Ash, was still missing and his fate was unknown.]

[Ash, please don't be hurt! Blaine prayed silently in his heart. If something really happened to Ash, he would truly be unable to shirk the blame.]

[There was another sound; there was more movement in the ruins. Under everyone's gaze, a massive load-bearing beam was pushed aside, and deep within the ruins, Ash slowly walked out, carrying Charmeleon.]

[Unlike the partnership of Magmar and Blaine, in the moment of crisis, it was Ash who stepped forward in this partnership. It was Ash who took the heavy blow and shielded Charmeleon beneath him, so despite such a major catastrophe, Charmeleon remained unscathed. What shocked everyone present even more was that Ash's injuries were lighter than Magmar's. Is there no justice in this world?!]

Lance: "Is this still a human? Can a human really do this? I seriously suspect that Black Ash is a strange creature from outer space."

Steven: "Isn't this too fierce?! And Black Ash is too good to his Pokémon. The first thing he did when the gym collapsed was to protect his Pokémon? This is really not something an ordinary person can do."

Wallace: "Ordinary people don't have this ability. Take Blaine, for example; even if he had the heart, does he have the capability?"

Blaine: "..."

Diantha: "At this moment, I just want to say those seven words—Black Ash is the GOAT."

[The first challenge at Ash's Cinnabar Gym ended in such an anticlimactic way.]

[The second challenge was scheduled by Blaine for seven days later. The reason it was set for seven days later was that the Cinnabar Gym was completely destroyed, so he had to find a new battle stage, and also because Magmar was in the hospital and needed at least a week of recovery.]

["Perfect, a week's time is enough." Ash muttered to himself.]

[One week later.]

["I'm really sorry, the time was too rushed, so I can only use this volcanic crater found by Magmar as the arena for our battle." Blaine said with a smile.]

["The rules are the same as last time, so let the match begin. My Pokémon is still the same one, Magmar."]

[Because of the sudden collapse of the gym during the last battle, he hadn't been able to enjoy it to the fullest. This time, he was determined to have a real showdown. Blaine couldn't wait to start the battle.]

["Alright, no problem. Go, Charizard." Ash threw the Poké Ball in his hand heavily into the sky.]

["Charizard?!" Blaine said in surprise.]

[Ash replied with a smile: "Yes, my Charmeleon evolved into Charizard two days ago."]

[It was at least two and a half meters tall, its wingspan exceeded three meters, the flame at the tip of its tail was burning fiercely, and what impressed Blaine the most were Charizard's eyes. Those eyes were filled with passion and hot-bloodedness.]

Misty: "So big!!!"

There is no harm without comparison; Ash's Charizard looked like an underdeveloped child in front of Black Ash's Charizard.

Ash: "Can Charizard grow that big?"

Brock: "An ordinary Charizard certainly can't grow that big. But Black Ash's Charizard is a bit different. During its Charmeleon stage, its daily training volume was several times higher than that of an ordinary Charmeleon."

Just training hard alone definitely wouldn't work; the daily nutrition also had to keep up.

Black Ash did this perfectly as well.

The money he spent on Charmeleon every month was at least six figures.

Rigorous training, scientific feeding, and enjoying Mew's healing every day—it was under these conditions that this one-of-a-kind Charizard was forged.

Misty: "Speaking of training, Ash's Charmeleon has never trained, right?"

After evolving from Charmander to Charmeleon, it only knew how to sleep all day, so it couldn't blame anyone else for being so short and small; it brought it upon itself.

Ash: "Sigh."

Chat room.

Shiba: "Lance, can your Charizard beat Black Ash's Charizard?"

Lance: "Don't be ridiculous!"

His Charizard, after all, is a Charizard capable of competing in the Elite Four league; how could it lose to a Charizard that just evolved?

Lorelei: "It can definitely win now, but in half a year, that might not be the case."

Lance: "Nonsense, no matter what, it would take at least a year!"

Blaine: "Why do I feel like I'm about to get crushed in the video?"

Drayden: "No need to feel, you are about to get crushed. Even before it evolved into Charizard, it could go toe-to-toe with your Magmar; now that it has evolved, your Magmar definitely won't be able to hold up."

Leon: "I'm really looking forward to the future of Black Ash's Charizard. How great would it be if I could have a battle with it."

[The battle Blaine had been looking forward to for a week still disappointed him. There was no exciting collision of fists, only a one-sided crushing.]

[After evolving into Charizard, Magmar was no longer a match in any aspect.]

[In less than five minutes, Magmar was defeated.]

[After taking the Volcano Badge from Blaine, Ash had finally collected the eight badges required to participate in the Indigo Plateau Conference.]

[After playing on Cinnabar Island for a few more days and enjoying the island's unique hot springs, Ash and his group prepared to leave Cinnabar Island by boat.]

[It had been a while since he left home, so Ash planned to go back and visit.]

[The plan was originally going well, but who knew that a group of suddenly appearing Squirtle and Wartortle would change Ash's plans.]

[In their conversation with the Squirtle and Wartortle, Ash learned that the island they lived on, Kamex Island, was holding a party, and they had come to invite Trainers who owned Squirtle and Wartortle to the island to participate.]

[Just like that, Ash and his group followed the Squirtle and Wartortle to Kamex Island.]

[Although they were invited to attend the party, Ash didn't completely relax; he still took Wartortle for daily training on the island every day. When he first arrived on the island, Ash discovered that the Water-type energy on this island was particularly abundant, and Water-type Pokémon could achieve twice the result with half the effort training here. It was no wonder so many Squirtle and Wartortle made their home on Kamex Island.]

[After staying on the island for ten days, Ash's Wartortle finally evolved into Blastoise. With this, Ash was only missing the final evolution of his starter Pokémon, Ivysaur. However, he believed it wouldn't take long; once Ivysaur fully absorbed the energy of the Miracle Seed, it would be able to evolve into Venusaur.]

[After saying goodbye to the Squirtle and Wartortle on Kamex Island, Ash and the others took a ferry back to Cerulean City.]

[Cerulean City, Cerulean Gym.]

["Misty, you're finally back."]

[As soon as Misty returned to the Cerulean Gym, her three sisters surrounded her, crying and wailing. Misty initially thought her sisters missed her too much, but after asking, she realized it wasn't like that at all.]

["The recent challengers have been too arrogant!" Daisy said indignantly.]

["Yeah, yeah, they're all just a bunch of brats, yet they all talk so big." Violet was also quite angry.]

["What's even more annoying is that they told us the Cerulean Gym has been marked as a 'weakling' by them, and countless challengers will come to challenge us every day." Lily's head was about to explode. "If this really happens, where will we have time for our underwater ballet performances?"]

["Exactly, exactly." Daisy and Violet echoed from the side.]

["You three are truly hopeless!!!" There's no such thing as a free lunch; they were truly up to no good. She really shouldn't have held any expectations for her three sisters.]

[But she couldn't just not help; she could ignore the fate of her three sisters, but she still had to care about the reputation of the Cerulean Gym.]

[In order to restore the prestige of the Cerulean Gym, Misty resolutely took over the position of temporary Gym Leader. Within a week, she would defeat all the challengers.]

["So, Ash, could you lend me your Blastoise?" Misty asked weakly.]

[She had a total of 5 Pokémon: Staryu, Cloyster, Psyduck, Seadra, and Omanyte. (Note: Togepi had not hatched yet.)]

[Of the 5 Pokémon, only 3 actually had combat capability: Staryu, Cloyster, and Seadra. Relying solely on these three Pokémon to defeat the challengers was definitely not enough.]

["No problem." Ash not only agreed to lend Blastoise to Misty but also took the initiative to help train Misty's Pokémon during this time.]

["That's so great, Ash." Misty stepped forward and hugged Ash.]

[Ash's kindness was too great; she had no way to repay him, so she could only offer herself.]

Lance: "Ahem, ahem, ahem, girls should still be a bit more reserved."

Diantha: "Reserved? Misty, don't listen to Lance's nonsense; good boys are very popular. If you're too reserved, it's easy for others to snatch them away. So, being proactive is no problem."

Cynthia: "Diantha, you seem to know a lot about love. May I ask, how many boyfriends have you had?"

Diantha: "0."

Cynthia: "..."

Malva: "Cynthia, don't make fun of Diantha; aren't you exactly the same as her? Your romantic experience is also 0."