Four days later, Ace landed at Professor Oak's Laboratory in Pallet Town.
He had spent too much time training in the Johto region; the Ninth Indigo Plateau Conference had already concluded. As expected, Professor Oak withdrew after defeating Blue, and Ash defeated Gary, becoming the champion of the Ninth Indigo Plateau Conference.
So, when Ace went to Professor Oak to share his experiences with Pryce, he happened to run into Ash, who was also at Professor Oak's.
"Professor Oak, I'm back! What are you two researching?" Ace walked into the lab, looking at Professor Oak and Ash, who were examining a Pokémon on an instrument, and asked.
"Ace, you're back!" Ash turned around and said, "Abby evolved! It evolved into a new form, and Professor Oak is currently recording the data."
Ash turned around, revealing the Espeon on the instrument. The 'Abby' Ash referred to was the Eevee he had caught in Celadon City, which could freely change its form. However, now that it had evolved into Espeon, its ability to change forms had disappeared.
Still, it was a good thing for Eevee. After all, it was a failed experiment by Team Rocket, and form-changing was a painful process for it.
Ace nodded, but soon, he noticed something was off. Ash's Eevee wasn't supposed to evolve until the Johto region storyline, was it? Why had it evolved so much earlier now?!
Ace's heart skipped a beat, and he instinctively realized that this was a change caused by his interference with the plot. The original storyline might be taking a different turn!
"Oh, by the way, where's Cynthia?" Ace quickly shook off that thought, noticed Cynthia was nowhere in sight, and asked Professor Oak.
"Cynthia went back to Sinnoh," Professor Oak said to Ace after finishing his data entry and putting down his notebook. "She also asked me to tell you to visit Sinnoh sometime. And that tracker, he should no longer be in Kanto, so you can rest assured."
Ace was momentarily stunned, then smiled wryly. It seemed that idle mission was likely going to remain incomplete. But even if he had completed it, Ace doubted he'd receive a very good evaluation for it now, so it didn't matter if it went unfinished.
However, Ace was quite understanding about Cynthia returning to Sinnoh. After all, she was destined to become the Sinnoh Champion; it was impossible for her to stay in Kanto forever. Her return was inevitable.
Professor Oak saw that Ace wasn't overly emotional and sighed inwardly, deciding not to tell Ace that Cynthia had actually cried on her way back. As for the specific reasons, Professor Oak, through his connections with the Alliance, had a rough idea. He could only say that it was fate, and he could only hope that the Alliance would quickly deal with its internal issues, otherwise, overly rapid development would always lead to some bad apples spoiling the whole barrel.
While Professor Oak was reflecting, Ace also shared his experiences with Pryce with him. Professor Oak just nodded after listening. He understood Pryce's current situation; he hadn't moved on. Those two Lapras were a permanent thorn in his heart!
Upon hearing that Ace had gone to Johto for a period of training, Ash couldn't contain his desire for battle and proposed a spar to Ace. Ace naturally agreed. His Trainer Level was currently stuck at 29, and he needed a push to reach level 30. He knew that reaching level 30 would earn him the title of Elite Trainer, and the physical strength and reaction speed boosts from wearing that title would be a significant improvement for Ace.
Ace and Ash hit it off immediately. Then, they bid farewell to Professor Oak and went together to a small river on the outskirts.
"One Pokémon battle to decide it, what do you say?" Ash and Ace distanced themselves from each other and Ash asked.
"No problem." Ace nodded. He opened a Poké Ball, and Lapras landed in the small river.
"Heh heh, let's see how strong your Lapras is now!" Ash said excitedly. He threw a Poké Ball, and his starter Pokémon, Poliwrath, also landed in the small river.
"Double Team!"
"Ice Beam!"
Ace and Ash called out simultaneously without any prior setup. Poliwrath's figures spread across the river, surrounding Lapras. Lapras, however, remained calm. An Ice Beam instantly froze the entire river with a thick layer of ice.
All the Poliwrath in the river instantly dispersed. Ace and Lapras simultaneously looked up. In mid-air, Poliwrath's muscles bulged as it slammed a Mega Punch down towards Lapras.
"Boom!"
Lapras's speed on the ice was astonishing. It dodged Poliwrath's attack with a quick sidestep. When Poliwrath landed on the ice, the previously solid ice surface instantly shattered under the force of Mega Punch. The unified ice sheet became scattered ice floes.
"Strong power."
"Fast speed."
"Then..."
"Then..."
"Poliwrath, Mind Reader, then Seismic Toss!"
"Lapras, Blizzard!"
The ice was broken, but Ash wasn't concerned about Lapras's speed. Poliwrath closed its eyes, using Mind Reader to lock onto Lapras's position. Lapras, meanwhile, opened its mouth, and a compressed pillar of wind shot straight at Poliwrath. The extreme cold froze Poliwrath in a block of ice before it could even use Seismic Toss.
"Indeed, your Poliwrath has the Damp ability, so it has a lot of moisture inside, making it too easy to freeze," Ace said with a slight smile. A Pokémon's ability, when used well, can be incredibly effective, but when used poorly, it can easily be exploited.
"Is that so? Guess I'll have to be careful next time," Ash scratched his head, then said seriously, "But that much damage isn't nearly enough for Poliwrath! Break free, Poliwrath!"
The frozen Poliwrath's muscles swelled, and cracks gradually spread across the ice. It would be able to break free in at most three seconds!
"Indeed, it's not enough. Freezing Poliwrath was only to buy Lapras time," Ace said, smiling at Ash. "You lose. Lapras, Sheer Cold!"
Lapras immediately recalled its previous energy flow, and energy gradually converged.
"Crack!"
Poliwrath struggled to break free from the ice, but Lapras finished gathering its energy. The aura of Sheer Cold instantly shot towards Poliwrath. Poliwrath tried to dodge, but the chilling cold permeated its entire body. Even if it broke free from the ice, returning to a normal state was clearly unrealistic!
The next moment, Poliwrath was frozen again. The bone-chilling cold permeated its entire body. Poliwrath's vision went black, and it fainted.
Ace snapped his fingers, and the ice block encasing Poliwrath shattered. If Ace had wanted to, that last move, made just a bit stronger, would have been enough to kill Poliwrath!
"Title Mission (Trainer) completed. Mission Reward: Elite Trainer!"