The meeting between Blaine and Mewtwo did not cause much of a ripple. Although the former had not let go of the Mewtwo affair, Mewtwo had. She now wanted to explore this world together with Ash; the rest... was no longer important.
After a brief exchange with Blaine, Ash put Mewtwo away and headed to the backyard of Oak's Research Institute.
He was going to continue his training.
There's about a month and a half left until the Quartz Conference, and within this time, he needed to raise the level of all his Pokémon another notch. That way, even without using Aura Fusion, he could go head-to-head with those veteran Trainers.
Ash was somewhat averse to using Aura Fusion during the Quartz Conference.
Although he'd used Aura Fusion repeatedly and without hesitation in Gym battles before, that was against opponents who far exceeded him both in age and strength.
Now, at the Quartz Conference, he was mostly facing peers, and if he had a choice, Ash naturally didn't want to rely on his personal enhancements to defeat his opponents. Instead, he wished to rely on his Pokémon's strength to squarely defeat them!
Therefore, the actual strength of the Pokémon was extremely important.
Currently, Gardevoir, Charizard, and Pikachu had all reached Gym Level, and the next step was to see if they could reach even higher within the remaining half month, and if the others could also cross over to the Gym level.
...
Time flew by, and one and a half months passed. During this time, Ash's fame gradually dimmed.
No matter how booming your fame is, if you're absent from the public eye for a long time, it'll eventually fade away, unless you become an everlasting legend!
While Ash was famous, he hadn't reached that level. So in this period of obscurity, his fame was eclipsed by other matters.
The first matter was that Team Rocket was recently struck down by the League in a manner that was unbearable to witness!
It had been a few years of peace between the League and Team Rocket, but the recent actions of Team Rocket were quite significant and largely counterproductive, messing themselves up without the League even stepping in.
Naturally, the League wouldn't let this opportunity slip by. Strike when the iron is hot! With Team Rocket revealing huge gaps, the Elite Four of Kanto led a powerful purge of Team Rocket.
In a month and a half, Team Rocket suffered heavy losses, and nearly all of their bases in Kanto were destroyed, rescuing many abducted Pokémon from Team Rocket and dismantling many of their evil experiments.
In no time, the murky places throughout Kanto were swept clean, and from then on, Team Rocket was said to be erased from Kanto.
As for Team Rocket's secret bases and hideouts elsewhere, the League stated they would never show leniency. Currently, investigations are underway; any detected will have a senior League Trainer lead a team to strike directly!
The organization of Team Rocket can basically be pronounced as having become history.
However, there are still a few hidden dangers, namely the three top executives of Team Rocket have not been caught, and the leader Giovanni remains missing. As long as they are not found, there's still a chance for Team Rocket to make a comeback.
Since the League has chosen to act, they naturally aim to hit them completely. Hence, as soon as Giovanni and the three executives dare to show themselves, the League will certainly strike with lightning speed to capture them in one fell swoop!
Now's not the time for small skirmishes like in the past; Giovanni no longer has the capital to contend with the League. Barring any special circumstances, Team Rocket will soon become history.
Apart from the Team Rocket situation, another matter has been stirring up excitement lately—the Quartz Conference is about to start!
As the annual grand event of the Kanto League, the attention given to the Quartz Conference is, needless to say, significant, and this year's conference is particularly unique.
The Quartz Conference, as a cradle for new Trainers, typically doesn't receive an enormous focus, but the rewards for this year's conference are unexpectedly generous.
It's an exclusive sponsorship by Lance of the Elite Four of Kanto, from the Dragon Taming Race—a chance to go to Dragon Island and choose any Pokémon!
Dragon Island of the Dragon Taming Race is quite famous; countless Trainers outside have longed to go there, but basically, apart from members of the Dragon Taming Race, others never had the chance to enter at all.
Yet this time, the opportunity to enter Dragon Island was released as a reward for the Quartz Conference. How could this not drive Trainers to swarm in!
With the official announcement that the top three of the Quartz Conference could enter Dragon Island, many Trainers who previously didn't know the inside story flocked to Kanto, collecting eight badges in just a month and a half!
For some veteran Trainers, collecting eight badges isn't anything remarkable. After all, Gym battles serve more as a trial for novice Trainers.
Their prowess as Gym Leaders surpasses many ordinary Trainers, yet when facing ordinary Trainers, they don't use their full power, which is colloquially known as—I have the strength, but I won't use it.