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Blaine and Mewtwo's encounter didn't cause much of a stir; while Blaine hadn't let go of the matter concerning Mewtwo, Mewtwo herself had moved on.
What she wanted to do now was to explore this world with Ash, and everything else… was no longer important.
After a brief exchange with Blaine, Ash recalled Mewtwo and headed to the backyard of Oak's Laboratory.
He was going to resume his training.
The Indigo Plateau Conference was still about a month and a half away, and within this time, all his Pokémon had to advance another level.
That way, even without using Aura Fusion, he could go head-to-head with those veteran Trainers.
Ash was quite resistant to using Aura Fusion at the Indigo Plateau Conference.
While he had used Aura Fusion repeatedly and without hesitation during his Gym battles before, that was against opponents who far surpassed him in both age and strength.
Now, the Indigo Plateau Conference battles would mostly be against peers.
If he had a choice, Ash certainly didn't want to defeat his opponents by relying on his own power-up; instead, he wanted to defeat them fair and square with the strength of his Pokémon!
Therefore, the actual strength of his Pokémon was extremely important.
Currently, Gardevoir, Charizard, and Pikachu had all reached Gym Leader Level.
The next step was to see if they could advance another level in the remaining half-month and if his other Pokémon could also reach the Gym Leader Level… Time flew by, and a month and a half passed.
During this month and a half, Ash's fame gradually faded.
No matter how popular a reputation, if you don't appear in the public eye for a long time, it will eventually disappear, unless you can become a figure whose name is remembered for ages!
While Ash was famous, he hadn't reached that level, so during this period of disappearance, his reputation was overshadowed by other events.
The first thing was that Team Rockets had recently been severely hit by the Kanto League!
The Kanto League and Team Rockets had been at peace for several years, but Team Rockets had been making many moves recently, and all of them were counterproductive.
Team Rockets had already fragmented itself without the Kanto League needing to lift a finger.
The Kanto League naturally wouldn't miss this opportunity: strike while the iron is hot!
With Team Rockets showing huge vulnerabilities, the Kanto Elite Four led a powerful crackdown on Team Rockets.
In a month and a half, Team Rockets suffered heavy losses; almost all their bases in Kanto were destroyed.
Kanto rescued many abducted Pokémon from Team Rockets and dismantled many of Team Rockets' evil experiments.
For a time, all the murky places in Kanto were swept clean, and from then on, Team Rockets could be said to be removed from Kanto.
As for Team Rockets' secret bases and habitats in other regions, the Kanto League stated that it would never tolerate them and was currently intensifying investigations.
Any detected locations would have high-level Trainers from the Kanto League leading teams to strike directly!
The organization Team Rockets could basically be declared history.
However, there were still some hidden dangers: the three highest-ranking executives of Team Rockets had not yet been caught, and Team Rockets' leader Giovanni was still nowhere to be found.
As long as these four were not found, Team Rockets still had a chance to rise again.
Since the Kanto League had chosen to act, they naturally intended to wipe them all out in one fell swoop.
Therefore, as long as Giovanni and the three executives dared to show their faces, the Kanto League would surely strike decisively and capture them all!
Now was not the time for petty skirmishes; Giovanni no longer had the capital to contend with the Kanto League.
If there were no special circumstances, Team Rockets would become history in the near future.
Besides the Team Rockets matter, another event had been causing a stir recently: the Indigo Plateau Conference was about to begin!
As the Kanto League's annual grandest competition, the Indigo Plateau Conference naturally garnered a lot of attention, and this year's Indigo Plateau Conference was particularly different.
As a cradle for new Trainers, the Indigo Plateau Conference's attention wasn't usually very high, but the rewards for this year's Indigo Plateau Conference were unexpectedly generous.
It was a reward exclusively sponsored by Lance, one of the Kanto Elite Four and a member of the Dragon Tamer Family—a trip to Dragon Island to choose any Pokémon!
Dragon Island of the Dragon Tamer Family was very famous; countless Trainers outside coveted the chance to go to Dragon Island, but basically, no one had the opportunity to enter except for the Dragon Tamer Family members themselves.
But this time, the opportunity to enter Dragon Island was offered as a reward for the Indigo Plateau Conference, so how could it not attract a rush of Trainers?
After the official announcement that the top three of the Indigo Plateau Conference could enter Dragon Island, many Trainers who didn't know the inside story also flocked to Kanto, gathering eight badges in just a month and a half!
For some veteran Trainers, collecting eight badges was not a big deal, as Gyms, as trials, were more for testing novice Trainers.
Their strength as Gym Leaders was stronger than many ordinary Trainers, but against ordinary Trainers, they wouldn't use their full power—it was the common saying: 'I have the strength, but I won't use it.'
After all, the main role of Gym Leaders was to assess, not to defeat the opponent.
As long as they determined that the opponent had the corresponding strength and met the standards to participate in the Kanto League, the Gym Leader would grant them a badge.
If veteran Trainers had to battle Gym Leaders at full strength, then even a Trainer who had traveled for two years might not be able to overcome a Gym Leader's full power.
Except for a few special Gym Leaders, most Gym Leaders' main Pokémon were at least Professional level, and it's not easy to reach Professional level in two years; it still requires some talent.
Someone like Ash can only be described as a freak among freaks; there's no comparison.
Therefore, even for veteran Trainers, challenging a Gym didn't mean having to contend with the Gym Leader's main strength, but rather demonstrating enough strength to earn their approval.
With available transportation, a month and a half was enough for them to obtain eight badges in Kanto, making this year's Indigo Plateau Conference unprecedentedly lively.
Compared to veteran Trainers who could obtain badges with ease, it was very difficult for Trainers with less than a year of travel experience to obtain eight badges.
For ordinary Trainers, a year's time is barely enough to train a formed team of Pokémon, which is quite disadvantageous when facing Gym battles with diverse types, and their Pokémon's levels also couldn't keep up.
For Trainers of this caliber, even ignoring the travel time in between, it would take at least several months to obtain badges.
In this situation, two anomalies appeared in the Kanto League.
Among the participants, there were two Trainers who had not even traveled for half a year but had already obtained eight badges.
Both of them came from Pallet Town, and one of them even had a record of battling and defeating an Elite.
Although there were also losses, those losses were only narrow defeats.
Those two people, needless to say, were Ash and Gary.
This year's Kanto was very lively… At Ash's home—
Ash and his group were enjoying a feast at the dining table, with Pikachu and Togepi also enthusiastically eating.
Unbeknownst to them, a month and a half had passed, and only less than three days remained until the Indigo Plateau Conference began.
After this meal, Ash and his friends would pack their things and prepare to head to the Indigo Plateau.
The Indigo Plateau wasn't very far from Pallet Town; even walking wouldn't take half a day.
Ash could even return to Pallet Town to eat and sleep after the competition.
However, the preliminary rounds would last for several consecutive days, so Ash didn't plan to return before entering the main competition.
Running back and forth was too troublesome, so Ash was about to go pack his luggage and clothes.
At this moment, the news anchor on the television was still reporting on the trending topics.
"Lance, the Dragon Tamer Elite of the Kanto Elite Four, successfully raided the fifteenth Team Rocket HQ in Kanto today!"
"Team Rockets is in decline, and Kanto is in great shape!"
"This year's Indigo Plateau Conference will be a fierce competition, with hundreds of Trainers participating, including many with two years of travel experience!"
"…"
Ash and the others listened to the relevant information from the news while eating.
Just as they finished lunch and put down their chopsticks, the female anchor on the TV news suddenly showed panic and, with an extremely fast yet precise delivery, read out a breaking news report.
"We interrupt this program for an urgent news update.
Two giant Pokémon have appeared in a wild mountainous area in the Kanto Region! Their appearance is suspected to be Gigantamaxing from the Galar Region!"
"These two Pokémon are currently fighting each other, causing significant environmental damage to the surrounding area.
The Kanto League is urgently dispatching personnel, but it will take approximately thirty minutes.
Residents in the surrounding area are advised to evacuate immediately, and Trainers with sufficient strength are encouraged to help stop them."
As her words fell, a small screen box appeared next to the TV anchor, showing a giant Gengar and a giant Alakazam fighting each other!
Every punch and kick from the two Pokémon caused the surrounding mountains and trees to continuously shake.
The forest beneath their feet had been devastated by their struggle, and each of their attacks left a strange stone in the affected areas.
If left unchecked, the entire region would be destroyed by their conflict.
The moment Ash saw the two Pokémon, his pupils constricted sharply, because the strange patterns on these two Pokémon were extremely similar to the strange patterns on Dragonite back then!
Rather than saying these two Pokémon had become like this due to Gigantamaxing, it was more accurate to say they were actually ancient Pokémon!
"Ash, are these two Pokémon related to the Dragonite at Bill's Lighthouse?"
It wasn't just Ash; Misty and Brock also noticed the connection between the two Pokémon and the Dragonite at Bill's Lighthouse the moment they saw them.
Ash nodded, confirming their thoughts: "Let's go, we'll head over.
Regardless of their connection to Dragonite, we can't let them continue to cause destruction right now.
That's the back mountain of Pallet Town! If they keep fighting, they'll reach Pallet Town!"
Coincidentally, the place where the two Pokémon were fighting was precisely near Pallet Town.
Ash was all too familiar with the environment shown on the TV screen, as he had been training there for the past month and a half.
It just so happened that for these past two days, he had been organizing, sorting, and planning for his Pokémon, so he hadn't gone to the back mountain, and then this incident occurred in the back mountain.
Isn't that a coincidence?
"Wait, Ash, are you two going?"
Seeing Ash put down his chopsticks and about to leave, Delia quickly stood up, grabbed Ash, and asked.
"Yes, Mom, didn't the person on TV just say so?
They asked strong Trainers nearby to help stop them.
The reinforcements dispatched by the Kanto League won't arrive for another half an hour, so I definitely have to go help!"
Ash said naturally; both emotionally and logically, he had to go help, otherwise, it would be too late if those two guys fought their way to Pallet Town.
Delia was silent for a moment, then released her grip on Ash's clothes.
The worry on her face disappeared, replaced by a smile as she said, "Be careful, Ash, and don't do anything beyond your capabilities, okay?"
"Don't worry, don't worry, if it really comes down to it, there's still Mewtwo.
You know how powerful Mewtwo is, right?"
Ash said, waving to Misty and Brock, then dashed out with Pikachu.
Misty, holding Togepi, and Brock followed closely behind.
Delia watched Ash rush out the door, her smile slowly fading, her brows furrowed with worry.
Ash had also introduced Mewtwo's existence.
Even Delia, who wasn't a Trainer, could clearly feel her immense power.
With Mewtwo there, Ash's safety would be somewhat guaranteed.
But what mother wouldn't worry about her child?
The sight of those two behemoths wreaking havoc on TV was very worrying!
Even if Ash's strength was assured, could he really handle such monstrous things?
If Mewtwo knew Delia's thoughts, she would probably find it both amusing and exasperating.
If physical size were the standard for judging a Pokémon's power, then with her size, she would probably be directly excluded from the top-tier Pokémon industry.
Mewtwo could see the outside scene from inside her Poké Ball, and she took in the power of those two Pokémon's clashes.
To put it bluntly, those two combined would probably be a nine-to-one match against her.
She could take them out nine times in one second.
They were just paper tigers, a bit larger in size, nothing major… On the way to the back mountain, Misty, panting, followed behind Ash, constantly complaining: "Why have the TV crew already arrived, but the Kanto League's reinforcements will still take half an hour?
Can Mr. Lance and his team be slower than the TV crew?"
With Lance's Dragonite's speed, theoretically, even if it were a thousand kilometers, he should arrive in less than ten minutes.
Could it be that Lance wasn't in Kanto?