Chapter 126: Black Satoshi Wants to Steal Skills at Charizard Valley!

Ailan: Are all the Charizards in Charizard Valley that strong? Ash's Charizard being the weakest there seems unlikely.

Ma Zhishi: Didn't he still defeat Shabo's Duckbill Fire Dragon? It shouldn't be that weak.

Ji Ke: The Charizards in the valley train constantly, just like Black Satoshi's Pokémon do; they're not weak at all.

Di Emperor: With so many strong Charizards, when I have time I'll go challenge them.

Team Rocket watched the Charizards inside the White Light Curtain, still feeling proud; the Charizards could become very strong, and they also had a share of the credit.

Moreover, when they wanted to limit the Charizards' strength, they recalled how they had helped the Charizards regain their self-respect.

In the White World—

Ash was battling a Trainer.

First was the battle between Lada and Grassleaf; since Grassleaf was injured, Ash wanted to switch it out and send Pikachu in, at which point Grassleaf appeared unhappy and didn't want to be withdrawn.

After Miss Joy's heart therapy, Ash learned that Grassleaf was jealous, jealous of Pikachu.

Because just when it was about to defeat Lada, Ash let Pikachu take its place, so Grassleaf thought you loved Pikachu more.

The spectators knew Grassleaf was female, so it had those girlish thoughts; Grassleaf surely hoped Ash would also be affectionate toward it.

So Grassleaf sneaked out of the Pokémon Center at night, ignoring Pikachu's pleas, and decided to run away.

【Lily: Grassleaf is jealous, how cute! This is the first time I've seen a jealous Pokémon; Grassleaf really likes Ash.】

【Xiaoxia: Definitely, Grassleaf is really clingy to Ash; sometimes when someone gets close to Ash, it gets angry, drives them away, and then clings to Ash itself.】

【Lilia: He likes Ash so much, truly a likable Pokémon.】

【Professor Oak: I don't know whether other Pokémon like Ash, but Grassleaf definitely likes him; ever since Ash sent it back, it hasn't seen him, and here at my lab it's been crying and throwing tantrums, until after a phone call with Ash and being soothed did it agree to stay.】

【Cynthia: Grassleaf's infatuation with Ash comes from his sincerity, just as Ash said—he treats every Pokémon the same, with no favoritism; the reason he took Grassleaf back was seeing it injured, wanting it to go recover.】

Grassleaf hid in an abandoned factory, then encountered Flame Monkey, Power, Flying Leg Guy, and Quick Fist Guy; unexpectedly, Grassleaf defeated several of them and even became like a big sister.

Finally, Team Rocket appeared, building a huge machine to capture Pikachu.

Facing the crisis created by Team Rocket, Ash stepped forward, letting Heracross carry him onto the robot they built; after several failed attempts, it was ultimately Grassleaf that helped Ash.

Through this crisis, Ash made Grassleaf have a change of heart.

It became again a jealous, clingy spirit, and started clinging to Ash once more.

From the White Light Curtain, everyone saw the physique of a super genuine newcomer, incredibly astonishing; they dare not do such a thing—Ash truly is gifted.

Having recovered Grassleaf and Pikachu, Ash and his companions continued their journey.

This time, during the journey, they met Muramasa, a Trainer who uses Giant Claw Mantis; after witnessing Ash's Trainer skill, Muramasa invited Ash to his dojo and asked Ash to teach his son Shinwu what a real battle is.

Shinwu is also a Giant Claw Mantis Trainer, but being young and energetic, after winning a few battles he found it boring and devoted himself to researching Pokémon data.

He doesn't avoid battling now; instead he battles using data analysis, needing no heed of inner instinct, only needing to derive the opponent's Pokémon weaknesses and move shortcomings from data analysis.

Ash naturally disagreed, wanting to battle Shinwu to make him realize his mistake.

And after another assist from Team Rocket, Shinwu finally agreed to battle Ash.

Team Rocket indirectly helped Ash once again.

Ash sent out Heracross, while Shinwu naturally sent out Giant Claw Mantis.

At the start, Heracross was being pressed and beaten; later Ash powered up, and Heracross deflected Giant Claw Mantis's high-speed movement, after which Shinwu saw his own Giant Claw Mantis being pressed and beaten,

At that point he finally realized that Shinwu knew Pokémon battles aren't relied on solely by data, and truly enjoying Pokémon battles still requires following one's inner instinct.

Finally, Shinwu put down his data analysis equipment, deciding to face Ash head-on with his own intuition and instinct; although he lost this battle, he recognized his shortcomings.

Afterwards, Ash's group learned that there were Flame Mice inhabiting this forest; Ash, who had always wanted a Flame Mouse, became eager and began searching for them.

However, they encountered a Trainer who tried to stop Ash from capturing the Flame Mouse, claiming the Flame Mouse was his to catch, and that he had only heard there were Flame Mice here.

Trainers have an unwritten rule: generally, whoever discovers a Pokémon first gets to capture it first.

This Trainer didn't care, believing the Flame Mouse could only be captured by him.

Ash ignored him and began searching for the Flame Mouse.

But Team Rocket also joined the Flame Mouse-capturing squad; the robot they built ended up doing the work for Ash, and the Flame Mouse was still captured by Ash.

After capturing the Flame Mouse, Ash and his group came to Cypress City in the Johto region to challenge the Cypress Gym.

This is a Bug-type Gym.

Ash's newly captured Flame Mouse showed its power, defeating the Gym Leader's Flying Mantis, and finally he obtained the second badge.

The White Light Curtain's image faded, and then it was time for the Black Light Curtain to light up.

In the Black World, Ash's group had just finished challenging the Gym, and Ji Ke happened to see them.

She knew Ash, and knew Ash was the champion of the Crystal Conference.

She knew Ash had a Charizard, and by scent she detected a strong odor of having been with a Charizard on Ash, so she wanted to see Ash's Charizard.

Ash agreed, and released his Charizard.

Ji Ke carefully examined the Charizard from head to tail, looking very closely.

"This body, this flame, these wings!"

As she looked, she marveled, her eyes full of amazement.

"Ash, you've raised your Charizard very well."

"Are you interested in bringing your Charizard to Charizard Valley? There are many Charizards there."

Ji Ke invited Ash to go to Charizard Valley.

Charizard Valley is a place where Charizards gather, described as a Charizard paradise and the best training ground. In this valley, Charizards can communicate, train, and even battle, which is very important for their growth and for improving their combat skills and social abilities.

"Alright, let's go!"

Ash wanted to bring his Charizard over; there would surely be many strong Charizards there, so his Charizard could go and spar a bit.

Brock followed Ji Ke, riding in her Charizard's hot air balloon; he wanted to chat more with Ji Ke, and then let Ash and Xiaoxia be alone.

It was simply perfect.

「Ash, you want to let the fire dragon go to Fire Dragon Valley to fight those fire dragons? 」

Xiaoxia looked at Ash's side profile.

「Yes, I want to see how the fire dragons in Fire Dragon Valley are training, see what they are training, if it's useful, then learn a bit, for the fire dragon to use. 」

Ash had this idea in mind; he originally wanted to go to Fire Dragon Valley to take a look.