After hearing Ash's evaluation, the gloom on Giselle's face instantly melted away, and the smile she showed became noticeably brighter.
"Do you really think so?"
"Of course," Ash replied without hesitation. "With your talent, as long as you keep traveling for a few years, you'll definitely become an amazing Trainer." He nodded firmly.
Giselle's smile widened further. Then she curled her lip and said, "You're clearly a rookie Trainer too, and you're even younger than me. Why are you acting like a senior?"
"As the saying goes, the one who… well, whatever," Ash waved it off casually. "Anyway, I'm stronger than you, so there's no problem with you treating me like a senior." He released Giselle's soft hand, placed both hands behind his head, and grinned.
"It's 'the one who achieves mastery first.' I seriously don't know how you studied."
"It's good enough that I even know the phrase," Ash replied cheerfully. "Anyway, see you later."
Seeing that Giselle had clearly recovered from her low spirits, Ash waved goodbye and turned to leave with Pikachu.
Giselle stood alone at the center of the field, watching Ash's retreating figure until he disappeared from sight. Only then did she turn and walk back toward the players' stand.
Though she was unwilling to accept it, her journey at the Indigo Plateau Conference had ended here. This time, her result was far from satisfactory. Her original goal had been at least a top-eight finish, after all, she had not had much time to train.
Still, there was the Silver Conference in a little over half a year. The competition there would be even more intense, but she would participate no matter what. Next time, she would earn a ranking she could be proud of.
After the match with Giselle concluded, Ash and the others prepared to head to a nearby restaurant to eat and celebrate. Gary's match was scheduled for the afternoon, so they had plenty of time. Once again, it was just the four of them. Delia and Professor Oak did not come.
They had originally planned to watch both Ash's and Gary's second preliminary rounds, but the two boys persuaded them otherwise. Running back and forth was too troublesome, and passing the preliminaries was practically guaranteed. It made more sense to wait for the main tournament.
Once the main tournament began, the schedule would be far tighter. As long as they kept winning, there would be matches every day. That would be the perfect time to come and cheer.
Just as Ash and the others exited the venue, a figure stepped forward and blocked their path.
When Ash saw who it was, the grin on his face vanished instantly, replaced by a serious expression.
"Paul."
The person standing before them was none other than Paul, the Trainer who had abandoned Chimchar.
"That useless… so that Chimchar was caught by you." Paul stopped midway through his sentence, hesitated, and corrected himself.
Because Chimchar was no longer useless.
Paul was harsh, but he would never deny strength. Strength was strength, weakness was weakness, and uselessness was uselessness.
The Chimchar from before had been like a Grimer beyond saving. The Monferno of today was a genius standing in the spotlight. The difference between the two was like clouds and clay, and the only real change was the Trainer.
By that logic, perhaps the truly useless one was not Chimchar, but himself, the Trainer who failed to awaken its potential.
"That's right," Ash said calmly. "I caught Chimchar immediately after you released him."
To some people, catching a Pokémon discarded by another Trainer might seem shameful, but Ash did not care in the slightest.
Several of his main partners had been picked up just like that.
Charizard, Blastoise, Venusaur. All three Kanto starters had been taken in after being abandoned. What was one more Chimchar?
Besides, Chimchar's experience closely mirrored Charizard's. The only difference lay in the Trainers involved.
Daisuke had lied and abandoned his Pokémon outright. Paul, at the very least, had released Chimchar openly after realizing they were incompatible.
Daisuke was a genuinely useless Trainer. Paul, on the other hand, had tried, failed, and then made a cold but honest decision.
Though the two appeared similar on the surface, both pursuing powerful Pokémon, they were fundamentally different people.
That was why Ash did not treat Paul with the same contempt he held for Daisuke. Paul still possessed the qualifications of a Trainer. He had simply chosen the wrong path.
"Only three days have passed since I released that Pokémon, correct?" Paul asked. "How did you train him to this level in just a few days? Don't misunderstand. I'm not asking for Monferno back. Once a Pokémon is released, that's final."
He paused, his voice lowering slightly.
"I just want to know what I did wrong."
Ever since his older brother had been utterly crushed by Brandon, Paul had devoted himself to one goal: taking his brother's place and defeating Brandon himself.
To that end, he had adopted the harshest training methods imaginable, pushing his Pokémon to their absolute limits. As long as a Pokémon had sufficient potential, he believed he could train it to the peak of the world.
That belief had guided him for years.
Today, Ash shattered it.
Ash proved through action that Chimchar's potential had never been the problem. The problem had always been Paul's methods.
In Paul's hands, Chimchar could not even use a fraction of its true strength. Had Chimchar been trained by Ash from the beginning, it might have already evolved into Infernape, with its power reaching unimaginable heights.
Paul needed to know why.
How had Ash awakened Chimchar's potential? How had he pushed it this far in such a short time? Where exactly was the gap between them?
Only by understanding this could Paul become stronger.
"The biggest mistake you made," Ash said calmly, "was being too harsh on Chimchar."
As he spoke, Ash took out a Poké Ball and released it. A flash of light appeared, and Monferno landed beside him, full of vitality.
Immediately after the match, Ash had already used Tokiwa Power to treat Monferno. Although Monferno's injuries had not been light, Ash's Tokiwa Power had grown far beyond its earlier state. This was a power that evolved with experience and understanding.
For a Pokémon at Monferno's level, full recovery took less than two minutes. It was even faster than a Pokémon Center.
Ash had effectively become a mobile Pokémon Center, and one stronger than most.
As soon as Monferno appeared, he glanced around excitedly, clearly thinking another battle was about to begin. The two consecutive victories had filled him with confidence and joy.
Victories had been rare under Paul. In Ash's care, his very first battle had already been against a stronger opponent, and he had won.
The feeling was intoxicating.
But when Monferno's gaze fell on Paul, his body stiffened instantly.
How could he possibly forget his former Trainer?
Monferno hadn't expected that only a few days would pass before his former Trainer appeared before him again, just as he had grown stronger.
Did Paul want to take him back?
With his current strength, returning was certainly possible. If he maintained this rate of growth, he could even become Paul's ace.
But Monferno didn't want to go back.
His current Trainer was simply better. Better than Paul in every way that mattered.
He had never resented Paul's harsh training, never complained that Paul rarely smiled, and never blamed him for refusing to treat his injuries after battle.
Monferno wanted to stay with Ash for one simple reason: Ash was better. It had nothing to do with grudges.
"Don't worry, Monferno," Ash said gently, immediately sensing his unease. He knelt down and rubbed Monferno's furry head with a smile. "Paul isn't here to take you away. And even if he wanted to, I wouldn't agree. You're my Pokémon now. My partner."
Ash's words instantly soothed Monferno's anxious heart. Gathering his courage, he finally met Paul's gaze.
Paul looked at Monferno for a moment. A strange flicker passed through his eyes, gone almost as soon as it appeared. In the end, he showed no expression at all and turned his attention to Ash instead.
Why had Ash released Monferno just now?
Was it simply to let him see how well Monferno was doing?
"Do you see any difference between the current Monferno and the Chimchar you had before?" Ash asked.
"He's stronger," Paul replied.
"Stronger? In what way?"
"Is there any other way besides strength?"
"That's where you're wrong." Ash stood up, his expression serious. He clenched one fist and tapped it against his chest, speaking clearly and firmly. "What became stronger wasn't his strength. It was his heart. Because his heart grew stronger, he was able to become strong like this."
Paul fell silent.
"When Chimchar was with you, he trained desperately," Ash continued. "But he never tasted victory. No matter how much effort he put in, he only experienced failure. And instead of reconsidering your approach, you thought the environment wasn't harsh enough. That the pressure wasn't enough."
"I know what you wanted to do. You wanted to force Chimchar into a corner and trigger the power inside him, just like the flames Monferno showed today. But that kind of power isn't something pressure alone can awaken. Even when it does appear, it's just coincidence."
"Power born from coincidence can't be controlled without a strong heart. You saw Monferno lose control earlier. If he were still with you and that power awakened, the result would have been total rampage, burning himself out until nothing remained."
Paul's eyes narrowed slightly, as though picturing the scene.
He had always believed that control could come later, that awakening the power was the priority.
"If it couldn't even be awakened," he had thought, "how could control matter?"
But the reality was harsher than he had imagined. That power wasn't something that could be mastered simply through repetition.
Without a strong heart and unwavering spirit, Chimchar, no, Monferno, would never control it.
"You want to know why Chimchar became so strong in such a short time?" Ash said calmly. "Why he leapt straight to Mid level after evolving? The truth is, I didn't train him these past few days."
Paul's eyes widened.
"I healed his body. I helped him relax. I took him out to play. Occasionally, I helped him consolidate his strength. That's all."
Paul stared at him in disbelief. "That's impossible. Without training, strength doesn't grow. Are you saying Pokémon can become stronger just by playing?"
If Ash had said they trained harder, or that he used his special power, or even that Chimchar resented him, Paul could have accepted it.
But playing?
Was Ash saying that casual play surpassed all his brutal training?
"It wasn't just playing," Ash replied evenly. "It was balance. Work and rest. The 'work' part… you already did for me."
He met Paul's gaze and explained patiently.
"When Chimchar was with you, he trained far too much. His body was riddled with hidden injuries. Every bit of strength he gained was weighed down by damage, suppressing his growth."
"I healed those injuries, helped him adjust his body, and let him relax. What happened afterward wasn't growth from nothing. It was simply releasing the results of all the training you had already forced into him."
Paul fell silent.
By Ash's explanation, Chimchar's rapid growth was partly his doing.
Paul looked at Monferno with a complicated expression, his emotions tangled.
He didn't regret his choices. That was how he trained Pokémon.
But he couldn't deny a sense of loss.
Because of his methods, he had missed a Pokémon with extraordinary potential. Even if Chimchar had stayed with him forever, he would never have unlocked that power.
That was reality.
"Thank you for the explanation," Paul said at last. "We'll settle the rest in the main tournament."
He gave Ash a slight nod, slipped his hands into his pockets, and walked away without a single backward glance.
Monferno watched Paul's retreating figure, disappointment flickering in his eyes. In the end, he still hadn't received Paul's recognition.
And Paul hadn't looked back even once.
"Don't look at him like that," Ash said, resting his hands on his hips. "He does have feelings for you. When he saw how strong you'd become, there was no jealousy. He was actually a little happy. And regretful."
He smiled faintly.
"He's just terrible at expressing himself."