Chapter 141

Black World—

The Goldfish King fishing competition had begun; Brock didn't participate, instead he was looking around at beautiful women.

Ash accompanied Xiaoxia to participate in the competition.

While chatting and fishing, they also saw Shifu participating in this competition.

He also made it into the finals.

Finally, Xiaoxia faced off against Mosquito Coil and his Mosquito Coil Swimmer in a battle.

Mosquito Coil looked at the opponent across from it, and couldn't help but recall the scene of being bullied before; a strong fighting spirit welled up.

As it thought, an unprecedented power surged quietly within Mosquito Coil's body. Its body began to tremble slightly, and a warm light emanated from within, gradually enveloping its whole body.

Accompanied by a dazzling white light, Mosquito Coil's appearance began to change.

It was about to evolve!

Xiaoxia looked at Mosquito Coil in delight—no, it should now be called Mosquito Coil Warrior.

After evolving into Mosquito Coil Warrior, it became unusually excited, charging forward with a heavy punch that drove Shifu's Mosquito Coil Swimmer into repeated retreat, robbing it of battle capability, and successfully helped Xiaoxia secure victory.

"Mosquito Coil Warrior, you're amazing!"

Xiaoxia hugged the Mosquito Coil Swimmer; after evolving, it became domineering, yet gentle toward its own companions.

Celebi cheered, waving its little hands; the Mosquito Coil Swimmer happily rubbed Celebi, having trained so long that it finally had some strength to protect its partners, and unknowingly became this strong from regular training with Pikachu and the others.

I had thought the opponent was formidable, but it turned out not to be that strong, completely incomparable to Pikachu and its friends.

When training together with Pikachu, I seemed inept, but against Shifu's Pokémon, the Mosquito Coil Swimmer was very strong.

So the champion of the competition was Xiaoxia.

Shortly after, as they traveled, they encountered a roadblock Trainer who said they could only pass after battling his Pokémon.

Faced with such a request, Ash was naturally delighted—it was rare for someone to voluntarily step forward for a match.

"Come on, Pikachu!"

Ash sent out Pikachu.

"Pikachu?"

That Trainer glanced contemptuously at Pikachu, noticing a ring-like object on its tail, paid it no mind, and calmly said, "Let's have my Ground train a bit!"

Seeing the Trainer's contempt, Ash didn't want to say more; he would prove himself with strength.

"Ground, Electro Cannon."

Pikachu lightly jumped to dodge, and the Electro Cannon flashed past.

The Electro Cannon left only a shallow trace on the ground.

Even the amazingly accurate Electro Cannon was used...... Ash felt puzzled about this Ground Trainer.

Next came Iron Head and then Explosive Punch.

Ash inwardly wondered, because these moves were not the Psychic-type techniques Ground excelled at, but rather leaned toward physical close-combat attacks. Pikachu, relying on its agility and precise anticipation, deflected each of Ground's attacks and seized the chance to counterattack.

Under Pikachu's offensive, Ground gradually fell into a defensive position.

Pikachu used Electro Ball, which it had suddenly learned while playing.

After a few more exchanges, Ground was defeated.

The Ground Trainer looked at the unimpressive Pikachu before it; the moves Ground used couldn't hit it, and moreover were countered.

His heart filled with shock and bewilderment. He had thought his Ground could easily handle this battle, but he never expected to encounter such a formidable opponent.

This time he had blocked a 'big shot' and got crushed!

Pikachu also felt somewhat confused about this battle; this Ground was strange, a Psychic-type Pokémon that didn't use Psychic moves but instead engaged in close combat.

Could Ground have a dream of close combat?

【Xiaomao: Black Satoshi beat that Ground, what should I, Black Xiaomao, fight?】

【Ash: Why does this Ground mostly use close-combat moves; where are its Psychic abilities?】

【Xiao Erlang: I know, Ground wants to become a Fighting-type.】

【Nazi: It's the Trainer's problem; he isn't using Ground at all, completely clueless.】

Just after finishing the battle with that Ground Trainer, I saw Xiaomao coming over with an Umbreon.

Xiaomao's gaze shifted back and forth between Pikachu and Ash, his eyes holding both admiration and reluctance; having just witnessed Pikachu's battle, he felt the gap between him and Ash growing ever larger.

Seeing the Umbreon also wearing a Weight Ring identical to Pikachu's, Ash's eyes lit up slightly; that was specially custom-made to help Pokémon boost power and stamina.

He was a little curious about Xiaomao letting Eevee evolve into Umbreon.

Feeling Ash's gaze directed at him, Xiaomao glanced at Ash, his expression complex; just having seen Pikachu's performance, he felt pressured, as Pikachu hadn't even taken off its Weight Ring earlier.

Wearing the Weight Ring, they could win this easily.

Now I must work harder to catch up to Ash; hearing from my grandfather about Ash's performance in the Orange Islands, in every aspect Ash surpasses me.

After a brief exchange, they all agreed to meet again for a battle at the Silver Conference.

Xiaomao declared he would not lose again!

【Xiaomao: No, no, Black World, how has the natural order been overturned? It shouldn't be that Ash is always behind me; how did I end up behind, challenging Ash? Black Satoshi is just too absurd.】

【Professor Oak: Black Xiaomao was stimulated, went hiking, and also carried a custom-made Weight Ring; it seems Black Satoshi gave him a lot of pressure!】

【Ma Zhishi: I think Black Satoshi doesn't just give pressure to Black Xiaomao; he brings tremendous pressure to every battling trainer.】

In addition, the two Friends traveling with him have now adapted and feel no pressure; at first, Brock was under immense pressure, but later got used to it and felt no pressure.

Black Xiaomao considers Black Satoshi a strong rival; seeing Black Satoshi make such great progress, he now feels immense pressure.】

Black World—

Ash and his party arrived at the Burnt Tower in Enju City.

"What's wrong?"

Looking at the slightly dazed Ash, Xiaoxia asked.

「We came here guided by this rainbow feather. 」

Ash took out the rainbow feather of the Rainbow Grand Prosperity.

Unlike before, the rainbow feather's waves of energy at this moment made them feel a surge of comfort all around, with no fatigue, feeling exceptionally spirited.

「The rainbow feather was left by the Phoenix King; now that we've come to this tower and it's showing this reaction, could it be that the Phoenix King resides here? 」

But according to legend, hasn't the Phoenix King left this scorched tower?