Although there was nothing too dramatic in this capture,
That didn't mean the Squirtle Ash caught was weak!
The one he captured was the leader Squirtle who wore the sharp sunglasses.
And among all the Squirtle Squad, his talent was the strongest!
[Name: Squirtle]
[Gender: Male]
[Trainer: Ash]
[Attribute: Water]
[Level: Ordinary Advanced]
Ability: Torrent
[Moves: Water Gun, Tackle, Rapid Spin]
[Talent: Elite]
Special Move: None
[Entries: Has Not Been the Boss for Many Years (Gold), Commanding Style (Red), Agility (Orange), Precision (Purple)]
[Has Not Been the Boss for Many Years (Gold): Even though the turtle no longer fights in the arena, the world is still filled with its legend! When wearing his exclusive sunglasses, all attributes increase by 70%, and he becomes immune to intimidation from any Pokémon.]
[Commanding Style (Red): When leading four subordinates in battle, their overall strength increases by 30%, coordination increases by 100%, and when training together, efficiency increases by 50%.]
[Agility (Orange): I may be a turtle, but I'm no joke! My agility increases by 50%.]
[Precision (Purple): Increases the hit rate of all moves by 20%.]
There were four entries for Squirtle.
The first was gold, just like Ash's other two starter Pokémon.
However, Charmander and Bulbasaur both had double gold configurations.
Squirtle had only one gold, but the red one was no weaker.
Although it was classified as red, its actual value was close to gold.
It was listed as red only because of its strict activation condition.
The entry's effect only worked when accompanied by other Squirtle Squad members.
This made it especially powerful in team battles.
It had an effect similar to Pidgeotto's Kingly Aura.
The Agility entry, on the other hand, was rather normal.
Squirtle had no restriction preventing evolution.
Even after evolving, its entries would remain valid.
However, once it evolved into Blastoise,
That 50% boost in flexibility would be almost meaningless.
As for dismantling entries and reusing them on other Pokémon—
That wasn't possible.
Entry dismantling was Ash's unique ability.
Other Pokémon could not remove their entries; they could only replace them.
Replaced entries could only become experience packs.
If entries could be freely dismantled and transferred,
Then whenever Ash encountered a strong Pokémon,
Wouldn't it be too easy to just strip their entries and equip his own team?
That would break the balance completely!
So, he decided to keep the Agility entry on Squirtle for now.
When a better one appeared later, it could serve as upgrade material.
After all, it wasn't particularly rare compared to others.
And the final Precision entry was an upgraded version of Butterfree's Blue Precision.
It no longer restricted itself to powder-based accuracy boosts.
Squirtle's entries overall were slightly weaker than Charmander's and Bulbasaur's,
But as long as Ash gathered enough entry experience,
It would be easy to catch up later.
To upgrade a colored entry, at least three entries of the same color were required.
That was extremely difficult to achieve normally.
Because of this, most Pokémon's entries would stabilize around gold-tier in the end.
Of course, Ash still needed to meet all the right conditions first...
...
At Professor Oak's laboratory,
When he saw Ash teleport back two Squirtles and a Pidgeotto,
He nearly thought his eyes were deceiving him.
Ash hadn't sent any Pokémon back for so long,
So Oak assumed he was taking his time perfecting his team.
It had been months, and Ash still hadn't caught a seventh Pokémon—too slow in Oak's opinion.
Gary already had twenty or thirty Pokémon, all in decent shape.
And now suddenly, Ash sent back not one, but two Squirtles!
Normally, finding a wild Squirtle was almost impossible.
Yet Ash had caught two at once.
What kind of absurd luck was that?
But when Oak received Ash's call,
He realized his earlier judgment was far too shallow.
This wasn't just good luck—this was divine fortune!
In such a short span, Ash had already encountered and captured all three Kanto starters.
And that Pidgeotto he sent back wasn't ordinary either.
Ash had asked Oak to teach it new move discs—Flamethrower, Hydro Pump, Burnout, and more.
At first, Oak thought Ash had lost his mind.
Was this some kind of joke?
Pidgeotto learning elemental moves from every type? Impossible!
But when that Pidgeotto used Water Gun, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, and Sword Dance before his eyes,
Professor Oak's jaw dropped.
That Pidgeotto… was no normal bird!
This ordinary-looking Pokémon was rarer than a mythical beast!
Even legendary Pokémon couldn't bypass nature's rules and master moves like this!
Pidgeotto was breaking reality itself!
Oak didn't even bother listening to Ash's next words.
He was already completely obsessed with studying it!
Having such a Pidgeotto in front of a researcher was like showing a hungry tiger fresh meat.
Well, perhaps that analogy was too intense—
But the meaning was clear: Oak had to study it, right now!
...
Meanwhile, in the small town, Ash looked helplessly at the phone after Oak hung up.
He wasn't sure if the professor even heard his message.
He sighed and decided to wait two days until they reached the next city before calling again.
(End of Chapter 37)