Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, three days have passed.
Ash and the other two finally came out of the Viridian Forest.
During this period, Ash's Froakie left the novice stage and reached the normal level.
And it's ordinary high-level!
Although it is faster to level up when the level is low,
But in three days, to improve a large level and gain a small level —
If it happened to anyone else, even an Elite champion, it would be horrifying!
It can't be this fast!
At this rate, if he doesn't hit a bottleneck, he'll probably become an Elite in less than a year!
In addition to Froakie's hard training and constant search for Pokémon to fight,
It's closely related to Ash's cooking and his successful training.
Not to mention Froakie, a top-tier Pokémon.
Even a pig, with Ash's layers of buffs, could improve dramatically!
The two Pokémon, Pidgeotto and Caterpie, were also impressed by Ash's cooking these past few days.
If you want to conquer a Pokémon, you must first conquer its stomach!
With some common Pokémon dishes, Ash could master them in minutes!
Although he couldn't see the intimacy levels directly, he could feel it.
Both Pokémon's affection for him had skyrocketed!
With Ash's cooking, Pidgeotto no longer stared at Caterpie as food.
After all, compared to Ash's cooking, insects no longer looked appetizing!
Caterpie also evolved into Metapod the moment it left Viridian Forest.
Its strength reached the normal primary level — the level of assisted evolution.
Even after three days of training, Metapod couldn't overcome the bottleneck of the normal level.
After all, it didn't carry any weight, didn't fight much, and its talent wasn't as high as Froakie's.
How could it catch up with Froakie's improvement speed?
But once it evolved again, that would be another story.
Pidgeotto's strength improved slightly, but its level didn't rise.
Pikachu, on the other hand, broke through to the advanced level of the gym!
That was the result of daily training, a breakthrough that happened naturally over the three days.
Instead, a gym-level Pokémon improving that quickly was something even Ash couldn't do himself.
If he could, Pikachu wouldn't still be at gym level — he'd already be Elite!
Except for Ash, Misty and Serena's Pokémon also had their own levels of improvement.
One person's effort can inspire others.
Not to mention, Serena had already developed a strong interest in Pokémon training and battles under Ash's influence.
A group of three finally arrived at Nibi City.
In theory, Misty should have said goodbye to Ash right here and now.
But Misty didn't say anything, and Ash pretended to have forgotten about it.
As for Serena...
After spending three days together, her impression of Misty skyrocketed.
Putting aside the possibility of becoming a love rival, with Misty in the group, the atmosphere was livelier and there were more things to talk about.
So Serena stayed quiet.
In this way, the three came to the Pokémon Center in Nibi City and restored their Pokémon first.
Then they went straight to the Nibi Gym!
On the way, Misty said to Ash,
"Ash, I heard that Brock, the leader of the Nibi Gym, has amazing accomplishments in Rock-types!"
"Pikachu and Pidgeotto are both countered by his Pokémon, and Caterpie has no combat power after evolving into Metapod."
"All you have available is Froakie. Do you want me to lend you a Water-type Pokémon?"
Hearing this, Pikachu smiled disdainfully.
"Pika! Pika-Pika! Pikachu-Pika!!"
Misty: "...What is he talking about?"
Ash glanced at the confused Misty and explained with a smile,
"Haha, Pikachu said that Attribute restraint doesn't work in front of him at all."
"Actually, he's right. In a Pokémon battle, you can't just look at Attribute restraint."
"If you think you'll lose just because your opponent's Attribute counters yours, then what's the point of battling?"
"The opponent's Attribute restrains you, so are you just going to admit defeat?"
"Today, I'm going to teach you a lesson!"
After saying that, the three were already standing in front of the gate of Nibi Gym.
It was afternoon, and the gym doors were open.
As they entered, the lights of the gym turned on one by one.
Finally, the spotlight centered on the battle stage.
The gym leader, Brock, stood there with his arms crossed, looking down at them with a calm yet imposing expression.
Even though his eyes were half closed, there was still an air of confidence around him.
"Who among you is the challenger?"
Facing Brock's serious tone, Ash paused for two seconds before replying,
"Why were you standing on the gym's battle stage the moment we arrived? Were you standing there the entire time?"
Brock: "..."
No, buddy, this is a gym challenge! Seriously!
How was he supposed to answer that?!
He couldn't say he saw them coming on the security cameras, turned off the lights, and rushed to the stage just to look cool!
If anyone found out, his image would be completely ruined!
Normally, the gym leader and challenger exchange a few words, the leader offers some advice, and then the battle begins.
But this challenger clearly wasn't following the script!
Brock stayed silent for ten seconds before finally ignoring the question altogether.
"Are you the challenger?"
"Yes, I'm Ash from Pallet Town."
"How long have you been traveling? Do you plan to challenge me with that Pikachu?"
"Are you here to check the household registration?"
Ash's response made Brock freeze again.
Why did this challenger play by his own rules?!
From his confidence and tone, he didn't sound like a rookie at all!
Serena and Misty couldn't help but cover their mouths and laugh.
They had never seen Ash's witty, teasing side like this before.
(End of the chapter)