Chapter 98

Ka-ka

Flame Dragon spat out a little flame, then used its claws to dig out the ice block.

Soon, the Flame Dragon finished, beating Xiao Dan's Pokémon and taking the second round.

Splash!

Flame Monkey placed its fists on the Flame Dragon's tail flame to warm them, trying to make this ice boat, its hands froze stiff.

Pika!

Pikachu too.

Flame Dragon suddenly increased its firepower; the flame on its tail surged up with a whoosh, instantly engulfing Flame Monkey and Pikachu.

Cough!

Pikachu's face was soot-covered, blinking its big eyes, I just wanted to warm up a bit...

Splash!

Flame Monkey's veins on its head twitched, angry at Flame Dragon's sudden increase in firepower.

They started fighting!

How did they start infighting?

Gym Leader Xiao Dan had just handed the White Wave Badge to Ash when he saw Flame Monkey and Flame Dragon start fighting.

Don't mind it, they often do this.

Ash smiled, watching Flame Dragon and Flame Monkey fight; both were bare-handed, using only close-combat moves against each other.

Really fierce... seeing this made Xiao Jian's blood boil, wanting to release his furball to battle them.

But that's just a thought; if his furball joined the fight between Flame Monkey and Flame Dragon, it would just be a punching bag for them.

The badge from the Orange Islands is really easy to get, completely unlike the one from the Kanto region.

Looking at the White Wave Badge in his hand, Ash felt the Orange Islands' Gym badges were also too good; two Gyms in a row were like this, only testing Pokémon's familiarity with moves, without battles like in the Kanto region.

Ash always felt something was missing: the strategy needed for battles, lacking the previous tension.

After all, he's fought the psychic Naza, beaten Gym Leader Xia Bo of the Crimson Gym, and even battled the Johto region's prepared Elite Four member Ah Ju; such a leisurely Gym challenge feels indeed a bit lax for him.

Do you feel our Gym challenge is too simple?

Xiao Dan saw Ash's thought: "Don't worry, there will be surprises later!"

But with your rapport with your Pokémon, I think... it should be very simple.

The scene froze on the showdown between Flame Monkey and Flame Dragon.

【Xiaomao: Flame Monkey is really fierce, able to trade blows with Flame Dragon.】

【Xiba: That power, that speed—I didn't expect Professor Oak's training equipment to be so useful; Black Satoshi also trains them, and even makes suitable Energy Blocks for them to eat; Flame Monkey would surely grow.】

【Ji Xian: And there's the Riding Dragon—how does Black Satoshi feel so good at raising Pokémon?】

【Ya Xuan: Actually it's somewhat related to Wave Guidance Power; Wave Guidance Power can sense a Pokémon's condition; Black Satoshi might be training each Pokémon differently this way.】

It was Bai Shijie's turn.

Ash and his friends arrived at Fruit Seven Island, which produces abundant pomelos (yuzu); as the name suggests, Fruit Seven Island consists of seven small islets, each year yielding a large amount of pomelos, making it a major pomelo-producing area.

Ash and his friends also encountered a Snorlax stealing pomelos on the island; it had eaten many pomelos from one island and still wanted to eat more; just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, they saw the Snorlax jump into the sea, heading toward another island, and it was using the butterfly stroke.

Snorlax can actually swim, which really startled everyone.

【Qianli: What a nimble Snorlax, and it even does the butterfly stroke—are you serious?】

【Misty: Snorlax is quite the eater, but Snorlax swimming is strange, and doing the butterfly stroke is rare.】

【Ash: My Snorlax is just that unique; it's not just this one trait, it's also very strong in battle, and it helped me a lot at the Silver Conference.】

【Da Ye: You caught it? Snorlax has decent potential; if properly trained, it'll definitely be a major force!】

The Elite Four is the Elite Four, truly perceptive!

Maybe that's when I realized.

Snorlax successively ate all the pomelos on Fruit Two Island, and half of the pomelos on Fruit Three Island were also eaten.

To stop Snorlax, Ash and his friends teamed up with the Team Rocket Trio to make Snorlax sleep, which included counting Snorlax, hypnosis, and even pretending to be a Snorlax mother.

However, it was useless, only disturbing Snorlax, which retaliated with a million-ton heavy kick against Team Rocket, giving them the sensation of flying.

Afterward, they had to let the Pink Devil step in, hypnotizing Snorlax, and Ash took the chance to capture it.

Snorlax joined Ash's group.

After resolving the island's pomelo crisis, Ash and his friends set off on their journey, hearing that a league trophy from 400 years ago had just been salvaged; eager for the champion's throne, they hastily decided to go to the museum to investigate.

But that trophy was salvaged by the old acquaintance Team Rocket; in the ensuing chase, they accidentally discovered that the Gastly and Haunter on the ghost ship caused the sunken ship protecting the seabed to float to the surface, merely wanting to safeguard that trophy belonging to their master.

Next, Ash and his friends arrived at Markut Island, which hosts many Bug-type Pokémon.

For Bug-type enthusiasts, this island is practically paradise.

And here Ash and his friends encountered a Flying Mantis with relatively poor physical condition; after learning, they found out this Flying Mantis used to be the leader of the Flying Mantis, but now it had been defeated by a new Flying Mantis and driven out of the group.

Thanks to Team Rocket's assistance, that Flying Mantis defeated Team Rocket with its own strength, established a friendly relationship with Xiao Jian, and also gained the respect of the new Flying Mantis leader.

By then, Xiao Jian had captured the Flying Mantis.

After traveling for a while, Ash and his friends arrived at an uninhabited island where fruit resources were abundant, so they rested there.

Here, the Fire Dragon and the Flying Mantis developed a conflict, and again with Team Rocket's help, both sides acknowledged each other's strength.

Ash and his party arrived at Orange Island.

At this time, Ash was still battling Poké Ball trainers.

Upon learning that Elite Four Kenan would give a lecture on Orange Island and also have a battle, Xiaoxia, being a fan of Kenan, really wanted to watch; coincidentally, Kenan was right beside them, so Ash hurriedly issued a challenge to Kenan!

But Kenan only looked at the scenery and did not respond to Ash's battle request.

【Brock: What? Kenan the Elite Four is also there? Why didn't I come with Ash!】

The audience watching the film could see Brock's current state; he must be extremely regretful!