After asking about Lucario, everyone also inquired about what was going on with Venusaur. When did Ash send Venusaur over, and when did he get the MEGA Evolution Stone for Venusaur?
Especially Misty and Brock, who often train in the morning with Ash and might miss some enhancements — but when did he obtain the Evolution Stone for Venusaur?
During Ash's battle with Blaine, they already knew about MEGA Evolution and its conditions. Those huge Evolution Stones, if Ash found and took them, it wouldn't be possible for them not to notice.
However, apart from the stone over by Aerodactyl and the one in the Incredible Garden, Ash shouldn't have any extra Evolution Stones.
Misty and the others already knew the ownership of those two Evolution Stones — one belonged to Aerodactyl, and one to Gardevoir. Ash had told them this.
So here's the question: How did Venusaur get that Evolution Stone? Did it fall from the sky?
"That was collected for me by Professor Oak. Didn't I ask Professor Oak to help me gather MEGA Evolution Stones recently? He went over to Steven to scrape some up and got five Evolution Stones, one of which Venusaur can use."
Upon hearing this, the trio's faces showed a strange expression. They all knew Ash had asked Professor Oak to gather MEGA Evolution Stones. Gary even said that when they collected one he could use, Ash should give one to him.
After all, these were things his grandfather collected.
But they never expected that Professor Oak's collection was a result of snatching from the mouth of the Hoenn Champion!
If MEGA Evolution hadn't yet officially appeared in this world, Steven wouldn't have casually given out so many Evolution Stones, even if he couldn't use them himself. Even for a trade, it would still be better than giving them away for free!
Professor Oak simply took advantage of an information gap. Rather, it was Ash who took advantage of an information gap.
No wonder Ash didn't want to disclose the matter of MEGA Evolution; it turns out it was for this move!
However, now that Ash has demonstrated MEGA Evolution in front of the Elite Four of Kanto and Giovanni, complete exposure is actually not far off. The time he has left to pick up the remaining MEGA Evolution Stones is rapidly running out.
"Is it because Venusaur can undergo MEGA Evolution that you sent it over for this battle, Ash? I thought you would continue using Charizard, Pikachu, and Gardevoir," Misty asked curiously.
Ash not using one of the top three in his team is really surprising to Misty.
Previously, when facing high-level battles, Ash would usually send out these three Pokemon. These three not only have the highest levels in Ash's team but also have their own unique powers, all of which are experts in overcoming stronger opponents.
Apart from them, Ash's other Pokemon, though strong, are not really capable of competing in elite level battles — essentially those at the level of an Elite Four battle.
Therefore, Ash sending out Venusaur this time truly surprised both Misty and Brock.
Venusaur's evolution actually happened in less than a month, the kind who rises up afterwards, yet the power it gained from the Incredible Garden exceeded the two's imagination.
As for Gary... he didn't know much about the level of Pokemon in Ash's team. He just knew that Ash's top three were extremely overpowered, but he wasn't aware of the level of the other Pokemon or whether they were on par with the top three, stronger, or weaker.
He probably had never seen Ash battle with any Pokemon other than the top three.
However, after today's battle, Ash's team has gained two more Pokemon capable of explosive power — one is Venusaur, the other is Lucario. Now the top three have become the top five.
"I sent Venusaur over because Giovanni — Giovanni's most famous Pokemon are those that belong to the Ground Type. To counter Ground Type Pokemon, I obviously need to prepare some that are effective against them."
"Ground Type Pokemon often come with Rock attributes, in which case my Charizard would clearly be at a disadvantage, and many of Pikachu's moves are ineffective against Ground attributes. But Grass Type and Water Type can really restrain both Ground and Rock Type Pokemon, so of course I had to send Venusaur over. Why would I choose to fight in an unfavorable situation when I have the upper hand?"
Ash spread his hands in a matter-of-fact manner.
He could fight in a negative-attribute match, but not for no reason!
Wouldn't it be silly to send out Pokemon that are at a four-time disadvantage, especially when they're already at a level disadvantage? He'd have to have masochistic tendencies to do that!
So, before challenging the Viridian Gym, Ash went to a Pokemon Center, swapped Pidgeot, and brought Venusaur back.
He had already guessed that Venusaur would likely be needed in this battle, but Venusaur's progress had far surpassed Ash's expectations. He didn't expect that farming at the Oak's Research Institute would lead to such rapid improvement, and Venusaur had a really good grasp on Xerneas' powers too.
Among the Three Starter, both Venusaur and Charizard have found their own paths and ways of improvement. Only Blastoise hasn't caught up yet.