As the time they spent together grew longer, Ash maintained an attitude toward his junior brother Steyn that was neither excessively close nor deliberately distant. On the surface, he remained cordial and polite, but inwardly, he was extremely cold toward him, even deliberately ignoring him at times.
Compared with Ash's moderate and neutral attitude, however, Ashtwo's state of mind gradually began to develop in a far more negative direction.
Although Ash had been born into an ordinary civilian family with no connections, background, or resources, he had started from nothing and achieved one remarkable accomplishment after another through his own efforts. At first, this had filled Ashtwo with admiration and even a sense of worship.
But then he saw how Ash, the original body, had become a household name throughout the Kanto region, adored and pursued by countless fans. Ash frequently appeared on television and in various media outlets, dazzling everyone beneath the public spotlight.
Ashtwo, however, possessed talent and potential no weaker than Ash's.
Yet simply because he was a clone...
Despite having the exact same appearance as Ash, he had to wrap himself up tightly every single day, like a Rattata hiding in a filthy sewer, unable to see people or sunlight.
Under these circumstances, as time passed, a sense of unwillingness gradually emerged within Ashtwo.
That unwillingness soon combined with resentment and jealousy, eventually transforming into something far more extreme—
Jealous hatred and hostility.
His name was Ashtwo.
Giovanni, whom he regarded as family and even as a father, had created him because he valued Ash's talent.
And the purpose of Ashtwo's existence was to surpass Ash, the original body.
The seed of confrontation that Giovanni had planted at the very beginning had naturally taken root and begun to sprout as time passed, even without deliberate cultivation.
In fact, the reason that seed had grown so quickly had a great deal to do with the way Giovanni and Ash had unknowingly nurtured it.
As Ash's clone, Ashtwo was exceptionally intelligent. He naturally had a complicated mind and tended to think too much about things.
On top of that, he had only been born recently. His mentality was still immature, his life experience limited, and he had yet to develop a complete worldview.
Under such circumstances, Giovanni's indifference and Ash's cold distance became fertile soil for the growth of hostility and hatred within Ashtwo.
At first, Ashtwo had genuinely considered getting along peacefully with Ash.
He wanted to become friends with Ash—the original body and his senior brother.
And in the beginning, Ash's easygoing, polite, and friendly attitude had indeed made Ashtwo extremely happy.
But after Ashtwo awakened his Aura and gradually developed the vague ability to sense the emotions of those around him, he finally discovered something that shocked him.
It turned out that Ash's supposed "easygoing," "polite," and "friendly" attitude toward him...
Was all fake.
At first, Ashtwo had genuinely considered getting along peacefully with Ash, the original body, and becoming friends with his senior brother. Ash's easygoing, polite, and friendly attitude had indeed made him extremely happy.
But after Ashtwo awakened his Aura and gained a vague ability to sense the emotions of others, he finally realized that Ash's apparent friendliness and closeness toward him were nothing but an act.
The real Ash—the original body and his senior brother—was actually extremely cold toward him internally.
He could even be said to have completely ignored him.
Ash's attitude completely enraged Ashtwo.
Already sensitive and emotionally fragile, Ashtwo began to feel that Ash looked down upon him because he was a clone, even though Ash had no idea what his true identity was.
In short, from the moment the Aura within Ashtwo fully awakened, something changed.
Ash's attitude changed.
Ashtwo's mentality changed as well.
Neither of them continued struggling with their complicated emotions, but their attitudes began moving in completely opposite directions.
After half a year of interaction, Ash had become increasingly cold and indifferent toward his junior brother Steyn, while Steyn had become increasingly hostile toward Ash, the original body and his senior brother.
Those who possessed Aura could sense whether the people around them held goodwill or hostility toward them. They could even faintly hear the thoughts within another person's mind.
Ash had no particular desire to learn too much about his junior brother Steyn. He didn't want to become too deeply entangled with Steyn or with Team Rocket, so he had never deliberately listened in on his junior brother's thoughts.
However, their interests and positions were ultimately different.
Because of that, Ash would occasionally use his Aura to sense whether his junior brother Steyn harbored any hostility toward him.
When they had first met half a year ago, Ash had felt that his junior brother Steyn was as innocent and naive as a blank sheet of paper.
Most of Steyn's emotions toward him had consisted of curiosity, closeness, admiration, and even worship.
But as time gradually passed, especially after Ash sensed that Steyn possessed Aura originating from the same source as his own, the faint hostility Steyn had originally held toward him gradually became stronger and more obvious.
Ash didn't know what had caused the change.
But now, just after Ash had cured the hereditary genetic disease within him, Giovanni—their teacher—had immediately decided to separate the two senior and junior brothers.
Perhaps Giovanni had begun brainwashing him.
After all, Team Rocket and the Pokémon League were mortal enemies. It was a relationship where it was essentially either you die or I die.
I've chosen to stand with the League.
Steyn is Giovanni's true disciple. In the future, he'll become one of Team Rocket's pillars, perhaps even its successor.
The two of us were destined to stand on opposite sides.
Now that we've begun treating each other with hostility, isn't this exactly the outcome I expected from the beginning?
After all, I was the one who first chose to distance myself.
Ash silently reflected on the situation.
"Thank you, Senior Brother Ash. I'm about to leave now. Before I go, may I ask you for a small favor?"
Compared with the naive and innocent boy who had first been born half a year ago, Steyn now possessed considerably more awareness of human relationships and the ways of the world.
"Oh? What kind of request? Go ahead and tell me, Steyn. If it's something I can do, then as your senior brother, naturally I have no reason to refuse."
Hearing his junior brother's words, Ash was slightly stunned for a second. Then the familiar easygoing and friendly smile once again appeared on his face.
"My request isn't difficult. I'm sure Senior Brother Ash can definitely do it."
"I've studied alongside Senior Brother Ash for half a year. We're both Pokémon Trainers, yet during all this time, the two of us have never actually battled each other."
"Now that we're about to part, I don't know when we'll have another chance to meet."
"So, at this moment of separation, I want to have a Pokémon battle with Senior Brother Ash."
"Is that okay?"
Although Steyn was asking Ash directly, after finishing his request, his gaze shifted toward his teacher, Giovanni.
As Ash's clone, Steyn's identity was extremely sensitive.
Under normal circumstances, he should have avoided meeting Ash—the original body—as much as possible.
But because of his physical condition, Steyn had been forced to meet Ash every day, receive treatment from his Aura, and study knowledge related to the Pokémon Trainer profession alongside him.
Therefore, before coming to Viridian City, Giovanni had given him several strict instructions.
He had to keep himself completely covered.
He was not allowed to leave the Viridian Gym.
He was not allowed to interact excessively with Ash.
And among all those conditions, there was one particularly important rule:
He was not allowed to battle Ash.
Whether it was to prevent his identity from being exposed, or because Giovanni didn't want Steyn to battle the genius Ash before Steyn had caught up in strength and risk having his confidence shattered...
There were many reasons behind that restriction.
To Steyn, Giovanni was not merely his teacher.
He was also his father.
His family.
Therefore, Steyn deeply respected Giovanni, and throughout these past six months, he had strictly followed all of his teacher's requirements.
But now...
They were about to part.
And Steyn simply couldn't suppress the desire any longer.
He wanted to have a Pokémon battle with Ash.
For Steyn, this wasn't merely a casual battle.
This was his chance to finally stand across the battlefield from the person whose existence had defined his own from the very beginning.
The original body.
His senior brother.
And the person he had been created to surpass.