[Check Out My P4treon For +30 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!! And get chapters before publishing them here for free on my p4treon][https://p4treon.com/ThePlotHoleRefuge]
===
Bang, bang, bang~
By the river, Gligar was swinging its pincers and tail, using Slash and Iron Tail respectively to strike large rocks, producing a series of clanging sounds.
This was Gligar's next stage of training, instructed by Ash after flight training.
It was to improve its offensive capabilities by utilizing its pincers and tail.
The Slash skill wasn't difficult; with Gligar's learning talent, it quickly mastered this skill.
For the past few days, it had been constantly hitting rocks, and its mastery of the Slash skill was already very proficient.
As for the Iron Tail that Gligar mastered, it was exchanged from the backpack, and with daily training, it successfully mastered it in no time.
Adding Gligar's self-taught Steel Wing, all parts that could be used for offense had already mastered their corresponding moves.
The current task was to practice the relevant skills, and then master skills of other types after a while.
"This Gligar is truly smart; it mastered various skills so quickly~" Dawn exclaimed in admiration, watching Gligar cleave the giant rocks.
Every one of Ash's Pokémon had high talent, able to quickly master many skills, which made Dawn incredibly envious.
"It's alright, mainly because Gligar itself is hardworking!" Ash replied without turning his head.
As the saying goes, one must be strong to forge iron.
Although Gligar's talent was indeed good, if it didn't work hard itself, even if he gave Gligar a boost, it would be useless.
Fortunately, Gligar was a bit timid, but its attitude was good; it was a hardworking little fellow.
Even the Feebas that hatched recently seemed to be exceptionally hardworking.
Indeed, in his eyes, Feebas was diligently spitting water by the small river and playing with Happiny, the two fellows playing a little game of Water Gun.
Happiny kept laughing and dodging, making it impossible for the still-young Feebas to hit her.
But Feebas's temper seemed quite persistent; it would absorb water from the river without crying or fussing, then aim at Happiny and squirt water, looking as if it wouldn't give up until it succeeded.
This strange behavior left Ash stunned.
Because this was not quite like the Feebas he knew.
What about being self-conscious? What about being introverted? What about being difficult to communicate with?
Although the Feebas in front of him looked similar to the picture, not particularly good-looking, it didn't seem to feel self-conscious compared to other Feebas, and its eyes weren't dull.
For all this abnormality, Ash could only attribute it to having a Champion-level mother.
After all, with a pair of excellent parents, this Feebas's starting point was naturally higher than other Feebas.
All that was left was to systematically improve its appearance with Pokéblocks, and then find a Prism Scale, and it would probably evolve.
"Ash, it looks like dinner is almost ready, let's go!"
"Okay, let's go!"
Leaving the fed Feebas and Happiny to play there, Ash prepared to go with Dawn to the dining table about ten steps away.
The area would be supervised by Buizel, who was swimming by the river, and Bulbasaur was also napping there, so he could eat with peace of mind.
Seeing this, Ash turned and walked with Dawn, preparing to go to Brock's spot for dinner.
"Pikachu~"
Just a few steps later, Pikachu ran over slightly flustered, skillfully jumping onto his shoulder to complain.
"Hey, you over there!!"
Before Pikachu could explain, an impolite voice came from behind them.
"What is it?" Ash replied impatiently.
Through Pikachu's words, he roughly knew that the owner of the voice was the one who had flustered Pikachu.
And appearing before Ash was a young man with a Pichu and a Raichu; the other party spoke arrogantly:
"How about exchanging your Pikachu for my Mareep? I want to raise the strongest Pichu, Pikachu, and Raichu combination in the world, and now I'm just missing a Pikachu!"
"Ah, this... he's really a Trainer like a fanatic!" Dawn couldn't help but exclaim about the strange goal.
"Heh heh, dream on!" Ash flatly refused and rolled his eyes.
"Then how about I add Magnemite and Magneton as an exchange?"
Although the other party increased the stakes, Ash was unmoved.
"Sigh, really, is this not possible?"
Seeing Ash's cold refusal, the young man in front of him knew he couldn't force it and could only settle for the next best thing.
"Then how about we have a battle? Let me show you the power of the world's strongest Raichu!"
The other party's gentle attitude changed, becoming as arrogant as the Raichu at his feet.
"Pikachu, go!"
Ash turned to look at the Pikachu on his shoulder, preparing to let it deal with this troublesome fellow itself.
"Pikachu!"
Pikachu jumped to the ground on all fours, its red electric sacs flashing with golden currents, crackling loudly.
"Raichu, Iron Tail~"
"Pikachu, Iron Tail~"
The two confronted each other with the same skill.
"Hmph, how dare you challenge my world's strongest Raichu..." The other party smirked disdainfully at Pikachu's actions.
Daring to compare strength with his Raichu, wasn't that looking for trouble?
Then, the next second, Raichu's scream slapped him in the face.
In a clash of Iron Tail, Raichu was actually instantly defeated by Pikachu with an overwhelming blow, lying in a large crater on the ground.
"How could this be?"
The other party collapsed to his knees in front of Raichu, unable to accept the result.
Ash, on the other hand, pulled Dawn along, ignoring the distraught young man, ready to go eat.
Pikachu's current strength was quite formidable; instantly defeating the opponent's Raichu was no problem at all.
"Tsk~"
Under a large tree, Paul watched the black-haired young man leave, carrying Raichu, and snorted disdainfully, seemingly mocking the other party's overestimation of himself.
At the same time, he looked at Ash, who was happily eating, with considerable solemnity; after a few more glances, he set off for the next town.
Paul had no intention of challenging Ash, because he knew his current strength was far from enough.
...
After eating, the three of them didn't rest much, but instead quickened their pace.
The reason was that Lake Valor, the venue for the Wallace Cup, was not far from their current location, and the three intended to speed up their journey to arrive before dark.
After an afternoon of travel, the three successfully arrived at the venue of the Wallace Cup, and then proceeded to the Pokémon Center to register for accommodation.
Although they arrived at Lake Valor a while in advance, the Wallace Cup was incredibly popular, and the entire Pokémon Center was filled with Coordinators who had come to participate.
"Ah, I'm so tired~"
In the lobby, Dawn held the key, leaning weakly on a chair and exclaiming.
"There's nothing we can do, Mr. Wallace's popularity is just that terrifying!" Brock said with a smile, comforting her.
It was only because the three of them arrived early that they were able to get one room each.
If they had arrived any later, they would probably have had to camp outdoors.
Ash agreed deeply and was about to open his mouth to comfort Dawn.
But then Nurse Nurse Joy's voice suddenly came over the broadcast, saying there was a call from Snowpoint City.
----------
Early access to over 30 chapters.
P@t: ThePlotHoleRefuge