Ash also admitted that he had indeed been somewhat negligent of Muk, rarely attending to it or visiting it since he caught it, and hadn't even used it in a battle.
However, Muk didn't mind at all. Its feelings for Ash weren't very deep, but it still considered Ash as its Trainer and was willing to follow Ash's orders. Besides Ash, Muk also held deep feelings for Professor Oak.
Whenever it saw Professor Oak, it would pounce to play with him. Although Professor Oak wasn't fond of Muk's smell, he didn't mind Muk, and eventually got used to it over time.
So what level is Muk, which was only at the Advanced Junior Level when it was caught, now?
Elite Peak!
This level of improvement was far beyond Ash's imagination since Muk was caught before they reached Fuchsia City, which was roughly three months into his journey.
After capturing it, about a month passed before Ash personally trained Muk, and it wasn't until a month and a half back in Pallet Town that he started training Muk himself.
But aside from Muk, Ash also had more than a dozen other Pokemon to train, and with special sessions for Blastoise, it's quite shocking that Muk reached the Elite Peak.
In terms of speed of improvement, Muk is among the top in the entire team. Although its current strength still doesn't rank high within the team, if it continues to improve at this speed, Muk might just become one of the leaders in Ash's team.
Besides Muk, Primeape, who has always been guided by Gengar, has now also reached the Elite Peak level. In fact, it should already be able to reach the Professional Level, but Primeape chose not to level up.
Because it is currently at a crucial moment, with another attribute's power forming within its body!
Knowing that Primeape could have further evolutionary potential, Ash has intentionally been nurturing it in that direction, letting Gengar train Primeape to guide Ghost Type energy to emerge in its body.
The results are promising, with the Ghost Type energy within Primeape gradually growing. Once it fully develops the Ghost Attribute, it will be time for Primeape to evolve!
But Ash has always found it strange why Primeape's evolution is so complicated.
It's not the only Pokemon that gains attributes upon evolution. To name a few, Charizard gains Flying Type upon evolution, and Lucario gains Steel Attribute.
Both of these Pokemon gained attributes upon evolution, yet neither was as complicated as Primeape, which has to cultivate the power of the attribute within its body to evolve.
Ash asked the experts in the group for an explanation, and Champion Ash gave him a cryptic answer — Primeape's evolution is not allowed in this world.
The evolved form of Primeape, called Annihilape, was only discovered upon the arrival of the Paldea Region. Since the Paldea Region hasn't appeared in Ash's world, Primeape's evolution is currently not permitted.
If Primeape wants to evolve now, it's akin to defying nature, which is why it seems so difficult.
To put it bluntly, even if it manages to develop the Ghost Attribute, Primeape might still not evolve. This near-final step is the hardest part.
But if Primeape could evolve, the benefits would be enormous, as it would be the first Primeape to evolve into Annihilape in the world, achieving an evolution against nature.
The more difficult the evolution, the greater the benefits. The most evident benefit is that Primeape's level increase post-evolution wouldn't be just a minor level increase like other Pokemon, and its talent will receive a heavenly endowment due to its unique evolutionary form, leading to further enhancement.
While Ash doesn't know what the heavenly endowment is, he understands that post-evolution, the level will significantly increase.
So Ash's goal upon returning was to train Primeape to put in its full effort for a successful evolution.
To this end, even the power to raise levels has been infused into the Ghost Attribute. Although the Ghost Attribute is indeed growing larger, no matter how much it improves, it still lacks that final touch to form!
This is much further than Ash's initial prediction of being one step away from evolution. So recently, Ash is considering letting Primeape first break through to the Professional Level, and to discuss evolution later.
As the group experts said, evolving Primeape is an act against nature that isn't easy to accomplish, with a considerable probability of failure. Hence, the matter of evolution should be set aside; raising its level is more crucial.
Finally, regarding Tauros and Kingler's situation, Tauros is similar to Muk, with Ash never having taken it out for battle since its capture, nor having trained it significantly.
It was only after he returned to Pallet Town that he started training Tauros personally, and the bond with Tauros quickly warmed up.
In terms of Pokemon care, there's no questioning Ash's dedication, but he has so many Pokemon, and without a Clone Technique, naturally, he can't attend to them all, which is why Tauros has only advanced from the Advanced Junior Level upon capture to Elite Junior Level, which is still less than Muk's improvement, and can only be considered ordinary.
Lastly, there's Krabby, the last Pokemon Ash captured, which was only at a Normal Junior Level during capture. But Krabby's training diligence is second only to Charizard and Gardevoir among all the Pokemon.
Charizard and Gardevoir are known as the hardest workers in the team. Although Pikachu's level is higher than theirs, Pikachu's training time and intensity aren't as high as those two Pokemon.
Even Krabby's training intensity and time exceed Pikachu's!
It's not that Pikachu isn't diligent, it's that they are too diligent!
As Pikachu puts it — "Who can outwork them?"
As long as he follows his normal rhythm, it's fine. If he were as intense as them, he'd be exhausted to the point of questioning his own life as a mouse.
But to prove itself, repay Ash's guidance, and compensate for its lack of talent, Krabby is training fiercely, ranking in the top three in the team.
This led Krabby to evolve into Kingler in just two short months!
It also reached the Elite Junior Level, spanning a major level and two minor levels!
While Kingler's level within the team isn't high, and its Ability Value isn't among the top, Ash believes it will show its style at the Quartz Conference, making the world remember its name!
...
After wrapping up his team selections, Ash had no plans to continue training. He thought about relaxing for the next couple of days, as they are set to depart for the Quartz Plateau soon. During this period, the Pokemon can freely do as they please, and he intends to casually hang out with them.
It's not good to keep everything too tense.
"Ash, the research results on the black dumbbell are out!" Just as Ash was planning to call it a day, Professor Oak suddenly appeared in the backyard with the black dumbbell.
Gengar cast a casual glance at the black dumbbell, but in the next second, it abruptly fixed its gaze on the dumbbell in Professor Oak's hand and then swiftly floated over to Professor Oak: "Ash, is this dumbbell yours?!"
"Um... yeah, why?"
"Give it to me, I have great use for it!"
"I suppose I could, but what do you need it for?"
"Hey, haven't you been bothered about how to bring out Primeape's Ghost Attribute within? Just using this thing, if your Primeape's Ghost Attribute still doesn't come out, I'll chop my head off for you to play ball with!"