Chapter 57

After hatching Celebi, Ash and his friends continued their journey, battling with Trainer passersby along the way.

After Bulbasaur finished battling, the seed on its back emitted blue light; only after checking at the Poké Ball Center did they realize it was a sign of imminent Evolution.

Bulbasaur did not want to Evolve, so Pikachu tried to persuade it, but Bulbasaur was tied up by other Bulbasaur and taken to the place where they hold their ceremony to Evolve.

The unwilling-to-Evolve Bulbasaur was hostile toward Venusaur and Ivysaur; Ash stepped forward to shield Bulbasaur from the vine whip and respected Bulbasaur's wish.

Then Team Rocket appeared, sucking them all up with a powerful suction; in the end, Bulbasaur, in desperation, grasped Solar Beam and helped Ivysaur escape Team Rocket's clutches!

Finally, Bulbasaur earned the approval of Venusaur!

【Xiba: Blocking Poké Ball moves with the flesh, strong and brave!】

【Dandi: Whether Black Satoshi or White Ash, they both respect Poké Ball's wishes. Even without Evolution, they can become stronger through training; Bulbasaur even mastered Solar Beam with Team Rocket's help—indeed, Poké Ball can be strong without Evolving!】

【Dawoo: Bulbasaur's personality is very stubborn, somewhat like Ash and Pikachu; it might also know that Pikachu, without Evolving, can defeat evolved Raichu through its own training, so it also thinks it can be like Pikachu without Evolving!】

【Professor Oak: This older brother Pikachu has taken the lead!】

【Cynthia: Ash is open-minded, not demanding too much about whether Poké Ball Evolves, but he is very concerned about Poké Ball's safety!】

Finally praised once, at last not complaining!

Watching the Black Light Screen and bullet comments, Ash rarely showed a contented expression.

Bai Shijie—

Ash and his friends joined the training of the police dog Katy, wanting to make Pikachu stronger.

Early in the morning they had to experience Miss Jenny and Katy's training; Ash and Pikachu kept making mistakes, and the challenge failed.

Team Rocket came again, using chemical weapons to interfere with Katy's sense of smell, while also altering the voices of Ash and his friends and Miss Jenny; at this point, Katy was misled by Team Rocket's fabricated Miss Jenny voice, mistakenly thinking Team Rocket was her owner.

But Pikachu, deeply bonded with Ash, saw through it and was not fooled by Team Rocket.

Finally they drove Team Rocket away!

Immediately afterward, Ash and his friends took the Poké Ball Proficiency Exam, which is a related test held for adults or those unable to undertake Gym travel; if they pass the exam, they also gain eligibility to participate in the Poké Ball League.

In the Poké Ball Proficiency Exam, besides practical combat, understanding Poké Ball is also required material for Trainers; in the first test, presented as true/false questions, examinees must choose O or X to judge correctness.

The second exam is also a written test, where one must guess the correct Poké Ball from silhouettes.

But this doesn't seem to be Ash's strong suit.

The third Poké Ball battle is very interesting, because it is not an ordinary Poké Ball battle; instead, one must select a Poké Ball randomly prepared by the instructor and battle with an unfamiliar Poké Ball.

Kojiro chose Charizard, Ivysaur, and Pikachu, while Ash chose Weezing, Snorlax, and Meowth.

In the end, Team Rocket couldn't afford to lose, tried to cause trouble again, but was still blasted away as usual.

After experiencing the Poké Ball Proficiency Exam, Ash felt that collecting Badges on his own was still more suitable for him.

Later they arrived at a very popular foster home, only to discover that this foster home was actually stealing fostered Poké Ball on behalf of Team Rocket.

However, Ash and his friends found that the Team Rocket causing trouble this time was not the previous Team Rocket Trio, but Musashi's teammates, and their relationship was not friendly.

In the end, it was Xiaoxia who stepped up, gathered evidence of Team Rocket's crimes, and rescued Ash, Brock, and the others.

After many experiences, Ash and his friends finally arrived at Crimson Island!

Thus, the White Light Curtain's display disappeared!

【Youlija: I didn't realize Team Rocket had affiliates; I always thought it was just those three!】

【Shitron: Looking at the faces of the two new Team Rocket members, they seem stronger than Musashi and her group.】

【Ash: Still the same—we beat them.】

【Xiba: Do they always use these lines when they appear? Feels kinda awkward.】

【Meowth: We're the originals, and furthermore Amado and Sanro can't compare to us!】

Black World—

Ash and his friends were just resting; Pikachu didn't notice choking on an apple, but they saw Team Rocket.

They were old acquaintances, so upon seeing Team Rocket, Ash knew what they wanted; as before, Team Rocket indeed aimed to steal the Poké Ball inside the hospital.

Pikachu blasted them away in advance, so the Poké Ball in the hospital could have a peaceful, undisturbed place for treatment.

After dealing with Team Rocket, Ash and his friends also arrived at another town.

Since it was March 3, Girls' Day, Ash accompanied Xiaoxia on a shopping trip, while Brock wandered around looking for attractive older sisters, and also let the two have some alone time.

Food, drink, play... Ash accompanied Xiaoxia for all of it.

Both were happily playing, enjoying a rare moment of private time.

Learning that a makeup contest was soon to be held here for those dolls, Xiaoxia wanted to join; she did her makeup, let her hair down, and her demeanor instantly became quite different.

Seeing the different Xiaoxia, Ash's eyes lit up and he straightaway praised her.

Upon hearing that, Xiaoxia revealed a shy smile!

【Brock: Good thing I wasn't in the Black World, otherwise I'd have eaten my fill!】

【Hanako: Black Satoshi is really enlightened; he proactively takes Xiaoxia out to play, his mouth is sweet, he praises girls—Ash, you should learn more; there's a lot Black Satoshi has that you need to learn!】

【Xiaomao: Ash has studied enough; maybe he's still a straight guy, only caring about Poké Ball.】

【Yinghua: Our Xiaoxia is also pretty; changing her hairstyle makes her become ladylike.】

【Xiaoxia: ……】

At this moment, Cerulean Gym.

Xiaoxia watched the Black Light Screen showing her interactions with Ash, feeling both envious and happy yet somewhat disappointed; her world's Ash was too Wooden‑headed, and she didn't know when he would change.

Perhaps after he finishes watching this video played by the Black Light Screen, he will have an epiphany.

Suddenly, I am really looking forward to meeting in Pallet Town!