This isn't something you can describe as just luck; it's like destiny has determined it belongs to Ash.
"It's so great, Togepi, from now on, I am your Trainer!" Ash lifted Togepi up, beaming with smiles.
He was the first to know the type of Pokémon inside the Poke Egg. Even so, he was extremely surprised to see Togepi hatch and adored Togepi greatly.
Perhaps this is the attraction between lucky ones. It's said that Togepi is inherently a very lucky being and brings luck to Trainers who are kind to it. On top of that, Ash's Togepi has the hidden Ability Super Luck, making the lucky aura even stronger.
"jioji togepi?" Togepi looked at Ash, tilting its little head to the left, then happily laughed.
Having just hatched, she was like a newborn child, with a temperament even simpler and more innocent than Ralts back then.
The reason she was laughing now was simply because the Trainer, who was the first person she saw, was laughing, so she laughed too.
As for what Trainer meant, she actually didn't understand, but she knew that this human she saw first was her closest person.
The hatching of Togepi was a minor episode, and after tidying up a bit, the group resumed their journey to the next destination.
Since Ash sent Venusaur back, he had an empty slot for Pokémon, which was perfect for placing Togepi's Pokeball.
Previously, Ash saved one of his seven Pokémon slots for Riolu, who couldn't train.
Now that Riolu was not only back to normal but also progressing rapidly, Ash planned to reduce the Pokémon slots to six, as making exceptions wasn't always a good thing.
It was understandable before, but since Riolu had recovered, keeping seven slots was unnecessary.
Now it was fine; there was no need to reduce slots, and the seventh slot would be left for Togepi.
After all, looking at Togepi, it didn't seem like it could be trained or fight, much like Ralts back then, perhaps even more frail.
Ralts was just small and newborn, but her intelligence and comprehension were extraordinary. After evolving into Kirlia, she had no rivals among her peers and could even fight against those slightly at a higher level, truly a Valkyrie!
And Togepi... besides being small, her thinking was naive, and aside from being cute, she didn't seem to have any other functions. Training her was unimaginable.
So the extra slot would be left for Togepi as a mascot to be adorable.
...
Seven days later, under the sunny sky, on a luxury cruise, Ash stood on the deck, leaning against the railing, comfortably enjoying the sea breeze.
Pikachu sat steadily on Ash's shoulder, gazing at the endless ocean.
"Ash, that should be Cinnabar Island, right?"
Next to Ash, Misty, holding Togepi in one hand, pointed at a small dot-like island in the distance with the other.
"It should be, right? Where else would this ship go besides Cinnabar Island?" Ash shrugged.
However, this action almost made Pikachu on his shoulder fall off. He was standing well, but the 'ground' moved, how could he not almost fall?
"The journey to Cinnabar Island sure takes a long time. We've been traveling for just over three months, and it took a full month just to get to Cinnabar Island," Brock, also leaning against the railing, remarked with emotion.
They had been traveling for a little over three months, yet the journey to Cinnabar Island alone took a whole month. In comparison, they only spent two months on the first six Gyms, but this seventh Gym took an entire month!
Moreover, there's no guarantee they could challenge the Gym successfully, not because Cinnabar Gym is incredibly difficult, but because the Gym Leader Blaine might not even be on Cinnabar Island.
"I wonder if Blaine, the Gym Leader of Cinnabar Gym, is still on the island," Ash murmured, clearly worried about whether Blaine was still at the Gym.
Though he had already anticipated the possibility of the Cinnabar Gym being closed when he arrived, human nature is such that even when prepared for failure, there's still a bit of disappointment when it actually occurs.
"If he's not there, then he's not there. Cinnabar Island is a booming tourist destination now. If Blaine isn't there, we'll just relax for a day or two on Cinnabar Island, then head to other cities to collect another Gym Badge before finally going to the Viridian Gym," Misty comforted Ash.
As long as they treated this trip as a vacation, even if they didn't encounter Blaine, the disappointment wouldn't be as great.
"Yo, isn't that Ash?" A rather arrogant voice came from behind Ash. He turned to see a spiky-haired boy in beachwear and sunglasses, standing nonchalantly on the deck.
"Gary? What are you doing here?"
"Hey, what kind of question is that? Where else would this ship go besides Cinnabar Island?" Gary scoffed, rolling his eyes beneath his sunglasses.
"Are you also going to challenge the Cinnabar Gym?" Ash ignored Gary's sarcastic tone and asked directly.
"Cinnabar Gym? Isn't it already closed? I was planning on it, but after hearing it's shut, I went elsewhere to collect badges. I've already collected all eight badges now!" Gary boasted with pride.
Collecting all the badges in just three months is a remarkable pace among starter Trainers, clearly putting him ahead of the pack!
Throughout Kanto's history, there are only a handful of Trainers who have managed such a feat!
"Heh, are you proud of driving your fancy car from city to city? If I had a car, I would've collected all eight badges too," Ash retorted with a sarcastic chuckle.
Although he only had six badges, he didn't think he had lost to Gary. For one, Gary had a car while Ash was on foot, making the time spent on their journeys incomparable.
Additionally, the value of these six badges was unprecedented; two were normal badges, but the Vermilion Gym badge came from defeating a Professional Level battle.
The Saffron Gym badge was earned by defeating an Elite Level, and the Celadon Gym badge was won by overcoming two elites and one Professional Level. Finally, the Fuchsia Gym badge came from defeating three Elites!
No rookie Trainer could achieve such feats!
Gary knew this too, so he didn't use the badge count to attack Ash; he only flaunted his eight badges. Ash, however, turned the tables by criticizing his use of a car.
Gary's face darkened; he really wanted to say—what's so great about walking?!
But he didn't say it because walking was genuinely impressive.
To walk for three whole months, such willpower was beyond what he could currently accomplish. He only walked occasionally and mainly traveled by car. Asking a wealthy young master to travel on foot? What a joke!
"Don't worry about how I collected my eight badges. You should think about how you'll get your eight badges first! Are you going to find Blaine at Cinnabar Gym this time?" Gary inhaled deeply, rebutting coldly.
"Yes, we are looking for Blaine."
"You know Cinnabar Gym is closed, right? How many badges do you have now?"
"Yes, we know. We're just taking our chances. Even if Blaine isn't there, we'll just treat it as a trip to Cinnabar Island. As for badges, I only have six for now."
"I hope you remember that there's only a bit over two months until the Quartz Conference. If you don't gather eight badges to compete by then, I'll be very disappointed," Gary hinted to Ash both overtly and subtly.
With just over two months left until the Quartz Conference, Ash still hadn't collected all the badges. Although one could register a week before the conference to participate, if Ash stubbornly chose to challenge the Viridian Gym and failed, he might indeed miss the deadline.
If such a thing happened, that would be quite an embarrassment.
"Don't worry, I'll definitely collect all eight badges because I plan to defeat you in the Quartz Conference and take the Champion title," Ash declared, clenching his fist with determination, looking at Gary with fighting spirit.