After Ash silently prayed, he asked Professor Oak to take good care of the two types of stones and return them to him when he goes back in a few days.
Professor Oak nodded and then retrieved the Key Stone, his expression becoming serious.
"Is your next Gym challenge going to be at Viridian Gym?"
"Yeah, I just told you that, didn't I?"
"Do you want me to go and back you up?" Professor Oak's question seemed quite odd. Even for the strongest Viridian Gym, it shouldn't require him to be there.
After all, it's just a Gym challenge. If you lose, you lose. What could happen?
However, in reality, the Gym Leader Giovanni at Viridian Gym is the leader of Team Rocket. If Ash reveals anything and loses, he might really get stuck there.
Professor Oak had already heard about the Mewtwo situation from Blaine and knew Ash had something that Mewtwo was eyeing (Gardevoir), which is why he offered to be present at the scene.
If he's there, Giovanni wouldn't dare act recklessly, no matter how much he desires it. Even though Professor Oak is old, his combat strength is still highly rated within the entire league.
Oak is old, but that doesn't mean his Pokemon are old!
After Ash made such a splash previously, Professor Oak once went to warn Giovanni. If Ash didn't show anything extraordinary, with Oak's deterrence, Giovanni wouldn't have done anything.
But now, things are different. The Pokemon in Ash's possession is enough for Giovanni to ignore his warning, and even if Professor Oak is present, it's uncertain whether Giovanni would stop.
But no matter what, Professor Oak is determined to protect Ash, no one can make a move on him!
As for Giovanni's Mewtwo, which Blaine has hyped up, Professor Oak said it's worth checking out. As long as it's not Divine Domain Level, it's not an invincible existence.
Faced with Professor Oak's goodwill, Ash was momentarily stunned, then a warm stream flowed through his heart. Professor Oak truly cares for him! However, on the surface, Ash didn't know Giovanni was Team Rocket's leader.
For such a sudden request from Professor Oak, he certainly couldn't just agree, and he also had a strong card up his sleeve. Even facing Giovanni, he wouldn't panic at all.
"Forget it. I'm just challenging a Gym, Professor Oak. Why would you come? Even if Viridian Gym is the strongest Gym in Kanto, I am the strongest new Trainer in Kanto's history; I won't lose!" Ash smiled and gave Professor Oak a thumbs up, making a vow never to fail.
Looking at Ash's infectious smile, Professor Oak was slightly moved. He opened his mouth, then turned it into a smile: "Alright, I'll be waiting for you to return victorious, Ash. By then, I'll ask your mom to make a table full of good dishes to celebrate your eight badges!"
"What! That's my mom, why are you telling her to make a whole table of dishes? You just want to come to our house for a meal!" Ash rolled his eyes, exposing Professor Oak's intent.
Professor Oak gave an awkward laugh, chatted with Ash a bit more, and then hung up the phone.
After the call ended, the comical smile on Professor Oak's face disappeared. He pondered seriously for a moment, then dialed a number…
"Hello? This is Oak… Are you watching him in Viridian City recently? ...Yes, there's something, please help protect someone for me…"
...
After putting away the video phone, Ash checked the time. It was still early, he thought for a moment, and then took Pikachu and the other Pokemon for training.
Initially thinking he could have a nap, Pikachu instantly rolled its eyes, expressing its strong dissatisfaction toward Ash.
"You can go back to sleep if you want, but Riolu and I are going to train, and when Riolu, your junior, surpasses you, where will your face be?" Ash casually said, indicating Pikachu could rest if it wished, he wouldn't insist.
Hearing this, Pikachu immediately panicked. Already being caught up due to a bottleneck by the other juniors, if even the youngest junior caught up, where would its dignity go!
Currently, Riolu's strength had reached the Advanced Peak, just one step away from the Elite Level, but it didn't show any intention of evolving.
Riolu only needs its Aura reach a certain level and to have enough closeness with its Trainer to evolve into Lucario.
The closeness between Ash and Riolu was maxed out almost from the beginning, and as for Aura's progress, with Ash being a strong Aura user, how could Riolu's Aura be weak?
The reason his level advanced quickly was due to frequent Aura Fusion with Ash, sensing Ash's Aura, which significantly improved his own, thus rapidly increasing his level.
Regarding the Aura qualification, he could have evolved into Lucario a long time ago.
However, both he and Ash didn't intend to evolve at this time, as Riolu has only one stage of evolution. If used correctly, this sole evolution could potentially cause a massive boost!
Before that, it's better for Riolu to accumulate Aura and prepare for the enhancement.