Chapter 146: Having a Psychological Shadow Toward the Freeze Bird

On their journey, Ash and his friends encountered a hot air balloon being piloted by a young man named Small Fly, along with his Pokémon partner, Big Beak Bird.

Ash, who loves excitement, became very interested in this hot air balloon race and wanted to participate.

The rule of this hot air balloon race was to use hot air balloons in coordination with Pokémon, following the designated route to the endpoint, and then dropping the corresponding markers toward the finish line.

The Team Rocket Trio also came to join the fun, but were defeated by Ash and Small Fly; moreover, the markers thrown by Ash and Small Fly both landed at the center of the finish line, so both were declared champions.

The prize was a high-performance burner that was no longer usable, and Ash gave it to Small Fly.

Immediately afterward, they encountered a surfing Kabutops and helped Miss Hui Li subdue it.

Later, they arrived at Shallow Onion City, where Ash immediately ran to challenge the Shallow Onion Gym, immediately battled the Gym Leader, and sent out his Little Saw Croc, whose Water-type move had no effect on the Big Rock Snake.

Later, the true Gym Leader Ami arrived and explained that the trainer they had just battled was a Gym intern, and she had applied waterproof wax to the Big Rock Snake.

Although they had seen the true Gym Leader, Ami said she could not accept Ash's challenge because her Electrode was ill, and moreover, the lighthouse in Shallow Onion City still relied on the glow of the Electric Tail, so they had to go to Azure City to get medicine.

Originally, it was meant for Xia Xia to fetch the medicine, but she was not present, so Ash and his friends volunteered to get it instead.

Ash and his friends encountered a bare-fisted old man sparring with a Machamp; Ash followed him and discovered he was the Gym Leader of Azure Gym, A Si.

After finishing their meal, A Si and Ash battled in the Gym match.

Ash sent out Pikachu, but was defeated by A Si's Mosquito Swimmer; Ash later used bay leaf to defeat A Si's Mosquito Swimmer.

Then A Si sent out Machamp, which immediately attacked A Si, wildly striking him with knife-hand blows.

Brock noticed the intention behind A Si and Machamp's actions.

It was to boost morale, allowing the trainer and Pokémon to become one in heart.

Machamp was fierce, using Hell Roll, nearly defeating Bay Leaf, but Ash and Bay Leaf still had a slight edge, successfully turning defeat into victory.

Ash won the Strike Badge.

【A Si: Ash and Bay Leaf have more fighting spirit than I and Machamp.】

【Cai Dou: My senior brother still has that fighting spirit, though he has met someone with even more fighting spirit in Ash.】

A Si is the Fighting-type Gym Leader of the Johto region; in his youth, he traveled various regions and once studied karate at a Gym in the Galar region, and the Gym Leader there was Cai Dou's father, so A Si is Cai Dou's senior brother.

【Ash: Speaking of fighting spirit, I will not lose to anyone.】

Those who have battled and traveled with Ash, yet still recognize his words, because among the trainers they know, they have truly never seen anyone with more fighting spirit than Ash.

But after seeing the Black and White Light Curtain, they realized there is someone with more fighting spirit than Ash—namely, the Team Rocket Trio.

Despite having failed to catch Pikachu so many times, they remain highly spirited and still want to catch Pikachu.

Seeing the comment on the bulletin board claiming they are the most spirited, the Team Rocket members looked strange—was this praise or mockery?

"How rare, they actually praised us for being spirited!"

Xiaojirou laughed happily, feeling delighted about this.

"Idiot!"

Meow Meow rewarded Xiaojirou with frantic scratching, shouting angrily: "They're mocking us!"

"Saying we've failed to catch Pikachu for so long—that's them scolding us for being useless."

Musashi and Xiaojirou suddenly understood.

Ash and his friends in the Black World also made their way all the way to White Snow Mountain.

From a couple they met, they learned this place used to not be a snowy world, and from A Che they learned that the Freeze Bird had appeared here before, so this place was frozen by the Freeze Bird, with snow covering the ground.

The Fire Ball Mouse was being led by the Little Saw Croc, and they played together in the surroundings.

At this moment, the Fire Ball Mouse evolved, after persistent training during this period and the mysterious nourishment of the Rainbow Feather, its internal energy had reached a critical point.

The Fire Ball Mouse evolved into the Fire Rock Mouse, gaining a flame-like crest on its head resembling hair, and its body became longer.

"Wa ne!"

The Little Saw Croc laughed happily, running around the Fire Rock Mouse.

"Ma wu!" the Fire Rock Mouse cried out.

"Use Sunny Day!"

Ash had the Fire Rock Mouse use Sunny Day, restoring normality to this place.

"The Fire Ball Mouse has evolved, and the Little Saw Croc is getting faster too—usually I see it also enjoys training."

Brock looked at the Little Saw Croc Na and indeed found it very lively, even more lively than Xiaoxia's Little Saw Croc.

Turning his head to look at the Chrysanthemum Leaf perched on Ash's shoulder, he could tell it refused to evolve; if it evolved, its body would become too large, making it unable to perch on Ash's shoulder and snuggle close to him.

Along the way, they also encountered A Che, from whom they learned the Freeze Bird had appeared here, and they wanted to go over to take a few photos of it.

【Xiaoxia: The Fire Ball Mouse has evolved, but I see Black Ash's Chrysanthemum Leaf won't evolve like in the original world—it will cling to Ash even more, truly never leaving his side.】

【Peony: Hey, you can't even beat the Chrysanthemum Leaf.】

【Xiaoxia:......】

【Brock: The Chrysanthemum Leaf just likes Ash, but whenever it sees someone approaching Ash, it becomes unhappy.】

【Hanako: Such an adorable Chrysanthemum Leaf—why didn't I notice it before?】

【Professor Oak: I think Ash should still carry the Chrysanthemum Leaf with him; just in case he gets teleported back to the lab and can't find Ash, he'd have to worry again. Moreover, the Chrysanthemum Leaf in the Black World likes Ash even more.】

Black World—

Coincidentally, they met the Team Rocket at the Pokémon Center; from Miss Junsha and Miss Joey they learned the Freeze Bird is the guardian deity of White Snow Mountain, some trainers get lost in the snow mountain, and the Freeze Bird rescues them—the Team Rocket were precisely those rescued by the Freeze Bird.

Having notified Miss Junsha in advance to detain the Team Rocket Trio, and having dealt with them so many times, Ash said he could not leave the Team Rocket unchecked, otherwise they would cause trouble.

Miss Junsha immediately apprehended the Team Rocket, and Ash and his friends followed A Che to search for the Freeze Bird.

Following the sensed waveform, they finally saw the Freeze Bird.

Although its appearance is the same, Ash felt no aura like that of the Orange Islands from it, and moreover, this Freeze Bird has a gentle temperament; sensing Ash and A Che walking forward, while ahead was pure white snow with no visible cliff, the Freeze Bird appeared and blocked their path, warning them not to continue forward, as further advance would mean the cliff.

"Don't go on—just take the photo here!"

Ash stopped A Che, having already understood the Freeze Bird's intention.

"Hmm!"

Ache immediately clapped.

"This gentle Articuno makes me feel very uncomfortable!"

Ash clearly sensed that this Articuno was not the same one as the Articuno from the Orange Islands.

Moreover, since the Articuno before him was merely the guardian deity of the snowy mountain, Ash dismissed the idea of battling it, as the blizzards here were all controlled by this Articuno.

If he were to battle the Articuno, it would immediately intensify the snowstorm on the mountain.

After Ache finished taking photos of the Articuno, Ash and the others said goodbye to him and continued onward toward Shallow Onion City.

【Xiba: Black Ash's teasing remark was quite fitting—he still couldn't forget how, back in the Orange Islands, the Articuno had chased him relentlessly.】

【Fuluola: Indeed, just watching it in the temple made one's heart race with fear.】

【Xiaoxia: Given the circumstances at the time, staying that calm was already impressive, and moreover, Ash charged forward—the Articuno went all out to hinder him, and just watching it left one with a psychological trauma toward the Articuno.】