After catching the Moxie Heracross, Ash and his friends decided to find a place for special training.
Soon, they arrived at a wide valley.
"Perfect—let's do our special training here!"
Ash was very pleased with this valley: it was a spacious place, with enough room for several Pokémon to move freely.
But just as they were about to enter the valley, the ground suddenly began to shake.
"What's going on, is this an earthquake?" Misty instinctively grabbed Ash's arm.
"It doesn't seem like an earthquake—more like the move of some Ground-type Pokémon. Let's go take a look!" Ash swept the area with Aura Power, but didn't find anything unusual.
Soon, the group spotted a Donphan at the side of the mountain path.
"This Donphan must have a trainer!" Ash judged.
As soon as he said that, an attractive young lady appeared next to the Donphan.
"My lady, if you don't mind, would you tell us your lovely name?" Brock, in that instant, moved so quickly that even Ash's Aura Power couldn't track him.
It was like he teleported—there he was, standing before the young lady, holding her hand and speaking with deep affection.
Clearly, this made the lady a bit uncomfortable, but she still replied, "Well, my name is Rochelle, and this Donphan is my Pokémon!"
"My name is Brock. That necklace looks absolutely stunning on you!" As Brock spoke, Ash finally noticed the agate necklace hanging around Miss Rochelle's neck.
"Is that a gemstone?" As a girl, Misty naturally had no resistance to things like gems.
Brock explained, "That's right. In the past, princesses and noble ladies often wore agate as jewelry!"
"Miss Rochelle, is this Donphan Valley?" Ash stepped forward. "On our way here, I heard that a certain valley around here produces agate. The nearby villages have made a living for generations training Donphan and finding and working agate."
Miss Rochelle nodded, "You know quite a lot!"
"I was hoping to do some Pokémon training in this valley—would that be all right?"
After all, it was someone else's land—they needed the owner's permission.
This vast valley really was a perfect training ground.
And since the valley produced agate, it wasn't edible, so Ash didn't have to worry about Snorlax eating someone's specialty products.
"Of course!" Since Ash had taken the trouble to ask politely, Miss Rochelle didn't refuse. "But all the Donphan here have trainers, so be careful."
"And if you find any agate, feel free to come to the village—I can help process it for you, free of charge!"
Though she didn't really expect Ash and his friends would find any agate, Miss Rochelle still mentioned it out of courtesy.
She had a pretty good impression of Ash.
"Thank you so much!"
After saying goodbye to Rochelle, Ash and his friends entered the valley. "Come out!"
"Charizard, Snorlax, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Heracross!"
Snorlax was still fast asleep—he'd just had some System feed for breakfast and was snoozing away.
"A bit of sun is good for him!" Ash didn't plan to wake him up. He'd leave it until Snorlax was hungry later.
"It's rare for you to do special training, Ash—maybe you really are growing up!" Misty found a shaded spot to rest.
After traveling day and night, she really was tired.
Brock prepared some food; training eats up a lot of energy.
"Pikachu, today's going to be tough!" Ash was determined to train Pikachu to learn Iron Tail, so he had to focus a lot on strengthening its tail power.
"Pika!" Pikachu accepted the challenge.
Seeing Pikachu so fired up, Ash tied a rock to its lightning-bolt-shaped tail.
"Pikachu?"
Thunk! The weight of the rock sent Pikachu's tail crashing into the ground.
"Pikachu, hang in there! I'll have Bulbasaur help you!" Ash shook his head.
Truthfully, Pikachu wasn't used to much training lately—the Ash from before only had Pikachu learn Iron Tail after the Johto journey, in the Hoenn Region.
But Ash believed in Pikachu. He knew Pikachu could learn Iron Tail!
"Next up is Charizard!"
While Pikachu practiced swinging his tail with Bulbasaur's Vine Whip assistance, Ash shifted his attention to Charizard.
"Charizard!"
Charizard let loose a Flamethrower at Ash—seemingly one of its personal quirks.
But with a flash of blue light, the flames were blocked.
Ash grinned and said, "You're fired up, huh? That's just what I want to see!"
Compared to Pikachu, Charizard's training would be much tougher.
"Charizard!"
"Then put this on!" Ash smirked mischievously, tossing over a tool that looked like an hourglass.
Suddenly, Charizard was completely bound up in restraints, making it almost impossible to move.
"This is a Macho Brace. You're my ace, you know! Ready for this?" Ash couldn't help but smile wickedly, seeing Charizard twisted up by the device.
It was a System item; the restraining force was immense, but the training effectiveness was excellent. It was perfect for pushing a Charizard forced to evolve to its final stage.
Charizard stretched his arms, feeling the heavy weight, but nodded to show he could handle the training.
"Good. I've been wanting to do this for a long time!"
Ash's mischievous smile suddenly faded. His fist sparkled with a blue glow as he slammed it into Charizard's round belly!
A Fist covered with Aura Power, almost like it was clad in Armament Haki, not only strengthened Ash's punch but really hurt as well!
Charizard was knocked backward by the punch, slamming into the mountainside.
"Ash!"
Brock and Misty were both startled by the scene.
But Ash's face was cold as ice. "Charizard, we're nowhere near strong enough yet. Don't you dare get complacent, understood?"
"Charizard!"
Charizard roared and struggled to get up—not using Flamethrower, not flying, but instead raised his own fist and swung it at Ash.
But, slowed by the Macho Brace, Charizard's punch was very slow and weak.
Ash ducked low to dodge it, then his left fist started shimmering with a blue glow as he aimed a blow straight at Charizard's armpit.
Charizard staggered back again.
But this time Charizard spun in place, swinging his thick, flaming tail right at Ash.
"Nice one, partner!"
Ash didn't dodge—his right fist also glowed blue as he punched straight into the attack!
Charizard: 155/255
Charizard: 160/255
Charizard: 165/255