The Three Starters he holds were captured consecutively; indeed, Squirtle was the last one he caught. But now, the gap between it and the other two is quite significant. It was just about to overtake Bulbasaur, but then Bulbasaur evolved, leaving Blastoise far behind.
Now, Blastoise is just at the Professional Junior Level, while Venusaur is almost at the Professional Peak. The gap between them is widening, and with Venusaur possessing Divine Power, it will only leave Blastoise further behind in the future.
Therefore, Ash must find a path for Blastoise as well, but currently, Ash is at a loss. Regarding Legendary Beasts with Water Attributes, Ash asked around and found that only Kyogre from the Hoenn Region and Palkia from the Sinnoh Region seem to fit.
As for Suicune… although it is also called a Legendary Pokemon, it is somewhat inferior to the likes of Kyogre and Ho-Oh. If Ho-Oh and others are referred to as First-Class Gods, then Suicune could only be considered a Second-Class God.
The energy quality between them is vastly different. Even if Blastoise gained Suicune's power, it wouldn't realistically catch up to Charizard and Venusaur; it would take Kyogre, a First-Class God, to do so.
Although Palkia also possesses a Water Attribute, its authority is spatial, having nothing to do with water.
As for Lugia, known as the Sea God... Ash recently learned that Lugia surprisingly doesn't have a Water Attribute. He was quite shocked at the time, thinking, how could the Sea God not have a Water Attribute? How absurd is that?
No matter if Ash wishes to believe it or not, this fact is genuine. The Sea God not having a Water Attribute is indeed quite surprising, but the reason Lugia is called the Sea God is that it can control ocean currents, indirectly controlling the sea, even capable of splitting the ocean.
This is why people call Lugia the Sea God; they only see the surface of things, which is Lugia's ability to control the sea, but in fact, it merely controls the currents.
In conclusion, if Ash wants to boost Blastoise's power, his target can only be Kyogre, to see if there's a chance to obtain Kyogre's Divine Object.
...
Half an hour later, the Pokemon including Lucario had recovered. Ash and Gary took their Pokemon outside of Viridian City to release and inspect them.
Ash's Pokemon lineup includes Pikachu, Charizard, Gardevoir, Lucario, Blastoise, Venusaur, and Togepi—a total of seven Pokemon, which essentially form his strongest lineup.
If he wants to go even further, he could replace Lucario and Blastoise with Aerodactyl and Gengar, forming a truly complete lineup that might even give the Elites a run for their money with a full six-on-six battle.
However, Aerodactyl and Gengar weren't actually trained by Ash, and integrating them might cause issues; Ash intentionally avoids using them in battles.
It's not because they were caught later that he distances himself from them; it's just that Ash feels it's somewhat inappropriate to command them when he doesn't have a Gym Level Pokemon of his own training.
Even though his Trainer level makes him more than capable of commanding them, as he didn't use any underhanded methods to capture them but did so fair and square through battles (real combat).
They certainly would follow orders, but it's just Ash's internal struggle holding him back.
However, for the Quartz Conference, Ash definitely plans to let all his Pokemon shine; how could he miss the chance to let each of his Pokemon appear on such a spotlighted stage?
Gary also released six Pokemon. Compared to Ash's six, their aura was noticeably less formidable. Ash casually glanced at Gary's Pokemon, taking in the level of each one.
The strongest among Gary's Pokemon was Blastoise, with a level reaching Elite Peak. Gary started traveling at the same time as Ash. Despite his strongest Pokémon being far behind Ash's, such level increases mark Gary as a genius among Trainers.
If Gary had a few more years at this rate of progress, reaching Champion Level would be inevitable, though by then, Ash might already have reached the pinnacle among Champions.
Ash roughly estimated that in two months, during the Quartz Conference, with Gary's speed of improvement, he would certainly have Professional Level Pokémon, though they would still fall short of Ash's main team but could compete with his second team.
In the Quartz Conference against Gary, Ash must be careful not to stumble unexpectedly.
While Ash was eyeing Gary's Pokemon, Gary was also observing Ash's, seeing Charizard in robust form, Venusaur teeming with Life Force, Gardevoir graceful yet imposing... and the adorable Togepi.
These are all of Ash's current Pokemon.
Without Ash's Eye of Insight ability, Gary cannot discern Ash's Pokemon's exact levels without battling, but he can estimate.
Preliminary estimates... other than Togepi, none are below Professional Level. This guy is truly a monster!
If only one Pokemon were excellently trained, it could be said that all resources and efforts were focused on that one, but if an entire group of Pokemon is well-trained, then it's not just a resource issue.
How does he train them! No matter how hard Gary tries, he can't catch up to Ash!
Gary sighed inwardly, feeling slightly down, but soon composed himself. Feeling discouraged has never been Gary's style. No matter how far behind, without persistence, nothing is impossible. If he can't catch up in a year, then try ten years. If not in ten, then twenty!
One day, he will surpass Ash and stand above him!
"Hey, Gary, what are you thinking about that you're grinning so disgustingly, with drool and all!" Ash's voice snapped Gary out of his pleasant daydream, and he instinctively wiped his mouth, finding no drool.
"Stupid Ash, what nonsense are you talking about!" Gary shouted back angrily at Ash, deeply displeased with this embarrassing behavior.
"Who's telling you to make such a sinister face… So, where are you heading next?"
Gary initially wanted to continue arguing with Ash, but Ash's question halted his intent to argue. After pondering for a moment, he replied, "Back to Pallet Town, it's been a while since I've been there, need to check in with Grandpa and see if there are any MEGA Evolution Stones that I can use."
Gary is still thinking about the MEGA Evolution Stones his grandfather collected from Steven, as Ash mentioned.
If there's one he can use, then he'd feel more assured for the Quartz Conference.
Ash's face showed an odd expression: "Actually... among the Evolution Stones Professor Oak collected, there indeed is one you can use, but I've already used it."
"What?! You already have two Pokemon capable of MEGA Evolution, yet you still compete with me for it!!"
"Ahem, but there was only that one MEGA Evolution Stone, and it's rare to find one that matches a specific Pokemon."
"Which Evolution Stone did you say I could use?" Gary, after venting his frustration, quickly calmed down. After all, although his grandfather collected them, without Ash, he wouldn't even know about MEGA Evolution.
Furthermore, since these were collected at Ash's behest, Ash should have the first opportunity to obtain them. However, Gary was somewhat curious which stone Ash referred to that he could originally use for which Pokemon?
"Blastoise."
Gary: !!!