Chapter 159 Hatching and Ambition
Articuno, flying out of the cave, didn't choose to flee directly. Instead, it decided to ambush Ash, crouching outside the cave entrance, its Psybeam ready to fire.
However, unfortunately, Ash possessed the unreasonable Aura, rendering Articuno's ambush completely useless.
Ash commanded Moltres to unleash a scorching tongue of flame from inside the cave, aimed in Articuno's direction.
Articuno's attempt to gain an advantage backfired, as it was caught directly by the sudden burst of flames. The three dark blue feathers on its head were singed black, leaving the entire Pokémon looking disheveled.
Taking advantage of Articuno's disarray, Ash ordered again, "Gardevoir, Moonblast! Pikachu, Thunderbolt! Moltres, final Flare Blitz!"
As the attacks from the three Pokémon landed on Articuno, it plummeted from the sky like a kite with a broken string.
Throughout the entire battle, Articuno felt that Ash was exceptionally 'martial-virtuous.' This was even more 'martial-virtuous' than the Trainers who had sought it out before. Those previous Trainers at most used a few Elite Pokémon, but they wouldn't be like Ash, who not only brought a fellow legendary Pokémon but also a yellow-skinned mouse with more electricity than a frizzled bird, not to mention that Psychic-type humanoid Pokémon, as Psychic-types are inherently strong.
Seeing Articuno grounded, Ash promptly threw a Master Ball, successfully capturing it.
After the capture, he readily fulfilled his promise, giving Articuno its sacred feathers. He then thoroughly ransacked Articuno's nest, and only after confirming that only ordinary ice shards remained in the lair, Ash descended the mountain with satisfaction.
After capturing Articuno, Ash took the others to explore several more islands, thoroughly 'fleecing' Oak before embarking on the journey back to Pallet Town.
"Serena, how long do you plan to stay in Pallet Town?" Misty asked curiously.
"Hmm... let me think. Lorelei said she wants me to visit her in a few days, and my teacher also asked me to find some time to study for a while. So, I might only stay in Pallet Town for a day or two before heading back."
"You're leaving so soon?"
Misty felt a mix of emotions. She wanted to travel with Ash again, just like they did in Kanto, but she also didn't want to part with Serena.
"It's fine, Ash said that in at most two months, we'll be able to chat freely on our phones."
Serena didn't mind it much; if she wanted to meet, she could always come when she had time. It was just that she might not have much time going forward, as her teacher, Baxi, was about to formally arrange her courses, and Diantha would also guide her whenever she had time.
"That's true. Misty, next time you have free time, I'll come to the Kalos region to visit you. I heard Lorelei say that it's quite troublesome to go to other regions once you become a regional Elite, so I plan to travel to other regions when I have time."
Hearing Misty's words, Ash could only think that Misty was overthinking it. Before long, she would have to go back and take over for her three unreliable sisters, and dutifully return to Cerulean City to guard the gym.
"Ash, Serena, Misty, come quick! The Pokémon eggs you bought last time are about to hatch!"
At this moment, Tracy's joyful voice rang out from inside the ship's cabin.
Ever since Ash's Viridian Power upgraded to Natural Power, he discovered that he could manipulate natural energy to compensate for the deficiencies of those Pokémon eggs. Coupled with the life essence liquid purchased from the system, under this dual blessing, the five Pokémon eggs successively returned to normal in just a few days.
"Are they finally hatching?"
Serena and Misty had been waiting for this day for a long time.
Ash casually chose an uninhabited island to dock the ship, then returned to the cabin.
Of the six Pokémon eggs, Ash and Serena each had two. Ash's two were Partner Eevee and Carvanha, Serena's were Azurill and Phione, and Misty's were Wingull and Lapras.
When Ash arrived in the cabin, all six Pokémon eggs were glowing with white light, and the frequency of the light flashes was gradually increasing.
Pikachu, Jirachi, and the two Gardevoir's gazes were fixed on the six Pokémon eggs on the table. For some reason, when Pikachu saw the Partner Eevee's egg about to hatch, it felt as if something was about to split.
Jirachi and Serena's Gardevoir were more curious; they had rarely seen the process of a Pokémon egg hatching.
Two minutes later, after a dazzling flash of white light, a small Eevee with a heart-shaped pattern on its tail appeared before Ash.
The hatching of Partner Eevee seemed to stimulate the other Pokémon eggs, and they too Shell Smashed out one after another.
Eevee opened its large, watery eyes to look at Ash, then sniffed Ash's scent, and finally, with a flying pounce, landed in Ash's arms.
Seeing this scene, Pikachu finally understood what he had felt splitting just now. It turned out that love really could be transferred.
Carvanha also carefully observed Ash, confirming that Ash's scent was very similar to the person who had been taking care of it. So, it also turned into a 'husky' and desperately rubbed against Ash's feet. There was nothing it could do; after all, it was a fish and couldn't jump very high even if it wanted to.
Serena and Misty's situations were similar to Ash's. During this time, all three of them would go to their Pokémon eggs at every opportunity to build up their affection.
Pokémon inside their shells are not completely unaware; on the contrary, they are aware of what is happening outside the shell and know who is taking care of them.
After recalling the two Pokémon into their Poké Balls, Ash's mind also received a system prompt.
"Ding, detected host has captured rare Pokémon—Partner Eevee, rewarded 50,000 points, Special evolution stone *1."
Special evolution stone: Can transform a Pokémon into any stage of its form. After transformation, it can freely use the skills of that form and recover all injuries sustained in its current basic form. CD: three hours.
"Ding, detected host has captured Carvanha, rewarded 3,000 points, Sharpedo super evolution stone *1."
"Hmm? I didn't expect the evolution stone to have an upgraded version."
Ash was delighted; this item seemed quite suitable for Partner Eevee. Normally, Partner Eevee and regular Eevee, aside from minor appearance differences, had their biggest distinction in that Partner Eevee couldn't evolve. However, when the Trainer's intimacy with Partner Eevee reached a certain level, they could use Partner moves. Eevee had a total of nine Partner moves depending on its type.
But now it seemed that as long as this Special evolution stone was given to Eevee to wear, it could choose different evolved forms to battle according to different situations, which seemed quite interesting.
He would have Pikachu teach Eevee some self-cultivation for actors later, letting this little guy learn how to conceal the evolution stone and stage a breakthrough evolution comeback in battle.
As for Sharpedo's super evolution stone, it gave Ash some ideas. If the system was truly generous enough to give him a corresponding Evolution Stone for every Mega Evolution Pokémon he caught, then he really planned to build a Mega Evolution army next.
After all, 'wool' is 'wool' no matter whose it is, and once he gets it, it's his own.
The most crucial point was that Ash found his physical fitness improved at an incredibly fast rate after upgrading to Natural Power. He had a feeling he could truly compete with Elite-level Fighting-type Pokémon. With improved physical fitness, he could endure more in terms of Mega Evolution and the use of other combat systems.
Plus, he wasn't restricted by Poké Balls. If he really formed a Mega Evolution army, and some evil organization with no sense came knocking, he alone would be an army of thousands, guaranteed to beat them so badly their own mothers wouldn't recognize them.
"Serena, your Phione is so cute!"
Misty looked at the small blue creature in Serena's arms, extremely envious. Originally, seeing pictures in Ash's Pokédex wasn't much, but when the actual Pokémon appeared before her, it was heart-melting.
"Misty, your little Lapras and Wingull are also very good!"
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