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Early the next morning, Ash and the others set off back to Pallet Town. Although Brock was very puzzled as to why the atmosphere between Ash and Misty had changed again after they returned that night, it was the couple's private business, and he couldn't pry into everything.
He could clearly feel that whether it was Misty or Ash, after returning last night, they seemed to have suddenly grown up a lot. It wasn't a growth in mentality or age, but something deeper.
Brock vaguely guessed something, but he didn't dare believe his own guess. If it were truly as he guessed, their progress would be a bit too fast, wouldn't it? They only confirmed their relationship yesterday, and they hit first base last night? Surely not—
This question might only be answered one day in the future. In any case, Ash and Misty couldn't exactly run up to Brock and say, "We kissed last night." That would be a bit asking for a beating.
After returning to Pallet Town, the three of them naturally went straight to Ash's house to drop off their luggage. Delia greeted them warmly and instantly sensed the unusual atmosphere between her son and Misty.
The vibe between the two was completely different from the last time they returned. If it could be said that before it was just Misty's one-sided love, now the two had a feeling of mutual affection. As someone who had been through it, Delia saw it at a glance.
Without waiting for Delia to ask anything, Ash took Misty's small hand after putting down the luggage and stood before Delia, saying, "Mom, this is my girlfriend, Misty."
"He—Hello, Aunt Delia—" Misty bowed to Delia with a flushed face. She knew she would have to tell Delia sooner or later, but Ash's exposure was too abrupt. In the blink of an eye, she was suddenly introduced as his girlfriend to Delia, without any psychological preparation at all!
Mainly because Ash hadn't told her on the way back that he would tell Delia directly; she thought it would be after some time!
But then again, Ash's upright acknowledgment of her status as his girlfriend in front of his mother also made Misty feel warm and full of security.
This was Ash; he was straightforward no matter the situation and never hid anything. For a person like this, even if he cheated in the future, he would probably say it directly to her face—
Seeing her guess come true, Delia couldn't be happier: "Good, good, good. I really didn't expect such a day to come. Mom thought you were going to be alone forever. Misty, thank you for liking our Ash. If Ash bullies you, tell me, and I'll definitely help you teach him a lesson!"
Misty covered her mouth and chuckled, while Ash's mouth twitched as he said somewhat irritably, "Is there anyone who disparages their own son like this? I'm not that bad, okay!"
"Your looks inherited from Mom are naturally not bad, and your abilities as a Trainer are also commendable, but your EQ is too low, Ash~ Mom was always worried about what you'd do if you couldn't get a wife. Now it's fine; it's great that someone can put up with you."
Ash rolled his eyes and didn't refute Delia's words. To be fair, there was nothing wrong with what Delia said. With his previous EQ, it would indeed be hard to find even one girlfriend. He didn't know how Gary got his six girlfriends.
But he was a man with a girlfriend now, so he wouldn't be stepped on by Gary in this regard. Although Gary had six and he only had one, girlfriends are about quality, not quantity.
Not to mention how good-looking Misty was, her status as a Gym Leader alone could totally crush Gary's group of girlfriends, okay!
After getting the good news, Delia happily went to the kitchen to start preparing lunch for Ash and the others. Since the groceries she bought this morning weren't particularly many, she couldn't make a whole table of celebratory dishes even if she wanted to. But it didn't matter; making them for dinner would be the same.
While Delia was cooking, Ash and Misty went to the Oaks Laboratory. There, they saw Professor Oak still researching Annihilape and Gary training his Pokémon.
Although he achieved a good result of Fourth Place at the Indigo Plateau Conference, it wasn't enough for Gary. What he wanted was to surpass Ash and take first place!
However, to achieve this, ordinary effort was definitely not enough. So, he had to double his training during the time Ash was relaxing!
As a result, during his training, Ash actually found a girlfriend. This point completely exceeded Gary's expectations.
That blockhead could also find a girlfriend? This was Gary's first reaction.
And his second reaction was that after having a girlfriend, Ash's rate of progress would inevitably slow down!
After all, there were several times before when his own waist was so sore in the morning that he couldn't get up. Although Ash only had one, there are only exhausted bulls, never worn-out fields.
It was only a matter of time before Ash became like him. This was the time for him to come from behind!
Now Gary understood: women only affect the speed of swinging a Poké Ball!
But having said that, it was impossible for him to abandon his girlfriends. It was just that before surpassing Ash, he might have to neglect them for a while. Unless there was truly no hope at all, he would not give up!
After arriving at the Oaks Laboratory and re-introducing Misty to the two of them, Ash went to the backyard. His Pokémon all gathered around, their faces showing joy.
In the Indigo Plateau Conference, everyone had a chance to fight, and basically everyone defeated at least one Pokémon. This result was also because of Ash's reasonable allocation, which allowed them to achieve this.
Otherwise, with the intensity of this year's Indigo Plateau Conference and their rankings in Ash's team, it would have been quite difficult for them to take the field and defeat the opponent's Pokémon.
Among them, the one most grateful to Ash was Infernape. He was the Pokémon who had been on the team for the shortest time, but his feelings for Ash were unusually deep. If not for Ash, he wouldn't be who he is today.
Regarding Paul, Infernape actually didn't harbor any resentment. Even though Paul's training was very strict and harsh, even leaving him in a near-death state multiple times during training without treating him, in reality, Paul was only trying to stimulate his potential.
Before coming to Ash's side, the only time he triggered the Super Blazefire Ability was when he was pushed into a desperate situation, almost dying, and his body's potential exploded, knocking down all his opponents.
This was why Paul used such harsh training and didn't treat him.
Toward other Pokémon, Paul was strict but definitely not to the point of abuse. On the contrary, Infernape was like he was born to a stepmother—not enough to eat, not sleeping well, and unable to go to the Pokémon Center to recover.
Even so, he didn't have any complaints toward Paul. Infernape only blamed himself, why—
Why couldn't he become stronger even like this? Until he was abandoned by Paul, Infernape felt that he was the one who let Paul down.
Ash's taking him in allowed his heart to be redeemed. Not only did he experience unprecedented gentleness from Ash, but he also felt the sensation of becoming stronger. By Ash's side, those difficult-to-achieve wishes all seemed within reach.
In the end, all his regrets had been made up for, except for one—getting Paul's recognition. This was also why he fought so hard in the final Champion battle.
That desperate fighting spirit even made Annihilape and Charizard marvel. The two of them were desperate enough, but this one was even more of a heavyweight!
Infernape was able to advance to the current Superior level in a short time by relying on his willpower that far exceeded ordinary Pokémon and his unremitting efforts.
Now, after treatment from Ash and Venusaur, Infernape has fully recovered without any lingering side effects. However, Ash still warned Infernape that he must not rashly use that way of fighting in the future, as the risks to be borne were simply too great.
This time, if it weren't for the obsession in Infernape's heart almost overflowing, Ash would never have agreed to Infernape fighting like that.
Infernape naturally nodded repeatedly in agreement. As for whether he would do that in the future—that would depend on what kind of battle he faced. Now, he only fought for one person, and that was Ash!
If a battle for Ash's sake had to be won, then even if it meant risking his life, he would definitely win it for Ash!
After spending some tender time with the Pokémon in the backyard, Ash also released all the Pokémon on his person. After the Indigo Plateau Conference, the Pokémon he carried were only Pikachu, Charizard, Gardevoir, Lucario, Mewtwo, and Lugia.
The others were fine, but as for the last one, many Pokémon in Ash's backyard had never seen it before. When they first saw Shadow Little Lugia, all the Pokémon's eyes showed curiosity. When did their Trainer catch such a pitch-black Pokémon?
Among the Pokémon present, only the well-traveled Gengar recognized Lugia's species at a glance: "Ash, how did you get a black Lugia? This is the God of the Sea! You even managed to get a Shinny God of the Sea?!
What kind of dog-shit luck is this!!"
Gengar also knew the concept of Shinny Pokémon. In general Pokémon Clans, they could be considered almost one-in-a-ten-thousand existences. And among Legendaries, those with Clans were few to begin with, and even if there were, the entire Clan probably wouldn't exceed ten or so.
In this situation, for a Shinny species to appear was simply dog-shit luck among dog-shit luck, okay!
"What Shinny? This is Little Lugia having been tampered with by villains—" Ash refuted irritably, and then briefly explained what Little Lugia had encountered and the place they were going next.
"—So that's what happened. In other words, next you're going to the Orange Islands to find those guys called Team Galactic, and find Lugia while you're at it to see if you can get this little guy back to normal, right?" Gengar summarized.
Ash nodded. Although Little Lugia's current state was quite good, whether the dark-type was a disgrace to the Lugia Family, whether the Lugia Family would be very traditional and not want a dark-type, etc.—
These were all unknowns.
It would be best to change back to the original Psychic-type; the dark-type is the archenemy of the Psychic-type!
With Little Lugia's Psychic-type converted to the dark-type, it's hard to say that the Lugia Family will definitely accept her.
So this trip to the Orange Islands had two purposes. One was to find Team Galactic and help Cynthia completely eradicate Team Galactic's base here. The other was to find Little Lugia's father and see if Little Lugia could be changed back to her original type.
If the Lugia Family couldn't change Little Lugia back and were unwilling to acknowledge her, Ash would definitely not let them lay a hand on Little Lugia. As for Little Lugia's future whereabouts, that would depend on her.
In short, this trip to the Orange Islands was not a vacation but a mission; the so-called vacation was just incidental.
And before going to the Orange Islands, the place he was going to was—Dragon Island.
Time flew by, and five days later, Paul, Ash, and Gary all arrived at the Indigo Plateau. Lance was waiting for them there early, and with Lance were three Dragonites behind him.
Through the Eye of Insight, Ash saw that these three Dragonites all had Elite Four Class strength. Was this the foundation of Lance's Family? Any random Pokémon was an Elite Four Class pseudo-legendary? Elite Four Class is so common!
"Next, you need to be blindfolded and then ride on Dragonite to head to Dragon Island. The map of Dragon Island has already been transferred to your Pokédexes. The higher the ranking, the larger the range of the map, and some places can only be entered by the first-place winner. If the runner-up and the Fourth Place winner want to enter, they will have to pass some small tests."
"In addition, Dragon Island is not absolutely safe. There are many Dragon-type Pokémon on it with a sense of territoriality. If you step into their territory, you are likely to be attacked by them. If you don't have enough strength, you might not see tomorrow's sun. So—if you can't win, run quickly. As long as you leave their territory, you won't continue to be pursued. Do you understand?"
Lance spoke about the precautions in great detail. Although Dragon Island was a possession of their Dragon Tamer Clan, they only guarded Dragon Island and did not interfere with the various situations of the Pokémon on the island. As long as a Pokémon wasn't in a near-death state or something similar, they let the Pokémon on Dragon Island develop freely.
Therefore, after letting the Dragonites take Ash and the others into Dragon Island, he would have the three Dragonites withdraw, and he would not follow them in.
"Finally, I must tell you, the time to stay on Dragon Island is three days. During these three days, you have to solve your own food and shelter. After three days, whether you have captured a Pokémon or not, you must gather at the entrance of Dragon Island. Violators will face the consequences." At the end, Lance's expression also became serious.