Being a bit stronger physically is almost useless except for having an advantage in wilderness exploration; at least, that's what Ash thought before.
Therefore, although he kept saying he wanted to become a Pokemon Master, he had no idea how likely he was to succeed in this wish.
Until the chat group appeared, his life was completely transformed...
In just half a year, he not only collected eight badges but also entered the finals of the Quartz Conference, with a great chance to win the championship. Along the way, he even battled two Elites and one Champion.
He had imagined such a scene before, but battling Elite Champions was something he thought he would have to wait until he was eighteen to achieve. Yet, now he was only fifteen and already having matches with champions.
The comparison between his state half a year ago and now is simply worlds apart; the degree of improvement is so great that even he feels a sense of unreality.
"Unreal... If I hadn't been by Ash's side the whole time, I wouldn't have believed a complete rookie could reach this point in just half a year." Ash marveled, and Misty was even more amazed.
The people involved feel as if they're dreaming, and the bystanders see Ash rise from obscurity, advancing smoothly, with the setbacks he encountered being almost negligible.
The only two setbacks were given by an Elite and a Champion, and that Elite was no ordinary Elite but Lorelei of the Ice, writing as Elite, reading as Champion.
Simply put, Ash's two poorly faring matches were both against champion Trainers; even Koga, with standard Elite strength, was defeated by Ash.
For a Trainer who debuted half a year ago, losing to a Champion isn't embarrassing, is it? That shouldn't even be considered a setback, more like a lesson.
Besides, Misty always felt that when Ash battled those two, he never used his true power.
What is Ash's true power... please reference battling Mewtwo.jpg.
Even the Divine Domain Level was bested by Ash, but he turned around and lost to the Champions, isn't that amusing?
To Misty, Ash's true power is still a mystery; he can hold his own against the Divine Domain, yet lose to Elite Peaks, which is baffling.
"If you win tomorrow's match, take me on a date~" Misty suddenly changed the topic, shifting from marveling at Ash's journey to discussing dating in the next second.
The word "date" made Ash pause. Was this the kind of date he thought it was?
Before Ash could ask, Misty had already stood up, with her hands swung behind her, disappearing from the sight of Ash, Pikachu, and Togepi.
Ash, a bit at a loss, looked at his two Pokemon beside him. Togepi didn't understand and simply smiled happily when Ash looked over, while Pikachu showed an innocent, baffled expression and shrugged, indicating it had no idea what was happening.
Even Pikachu, who had always been thinking of pairing the two up, was dumbfounded by Misty's sudden move.
Ash looked up at the half-moon hanging high in the sky and, for some reason, recalled a phrase— "The moonlight is beautiful."
...
The next morning at nine, the Quartz Arena was packed, not even having any space to stand. The ticket prices for this match skyrocketed as soon as it was confirmed that the opponents were Ash and Paul.
Even the farthest standing tickets cost an exorbitant price because some scalpers refused to sell, wanting to watch the match themselves!
This match might be rarer than a championship match, with two genius youths competing. Who will win this championship match? Countless people on-site or in front of their TVs are waiting in eager anticipation.
"Let's welcome the two contestants of the finals into the arena: Paul from Veilstone City in the Sinnoh Region and Ash from Pallet Town in the Kanto Region!"
With the enthusiastic announcement, Ash and Paul walked out from the contestant waiting areas. Ash wore his usual infectious sunny smile, while Paul maintained his expressionless, cold demeanor.
The contrasting appearances of the two were like complete opposites.
"The finals of the Quartz Conference officially begin. Both contestants, please send out your first Pokemon!"
"I choose you, Monferno!"
"Ready for battle, Magmortar."
Both simultaneously released their first Pokemon. Ash's choice surprised everyone; no one would have expected Ash to use Monferno in the finals!
While Monferno isn't weak, it doesn't keep up with the Quartz Conference's intensity. Having been with Ash so briefly, Monferno was only at the Advanced Level when it joined him, and it's quite astonishing to have reached the Elite Level in just over a week.
However, for the finals, where the minimum should be at least Professional Level or even Professional Senior Level to handle the battle, what can an Elite Level Monferno do?
Even with Ash's special abilities, it's still a long shot.
Yet, Ash's decisions always defy expectations. Not only did he use Monferno in the finals, but he also sent Monferno out as his first Pokemon!
Why Ash made this decision, perhaps only Ash himself knows. Not even Lance and others could figure out why Ash would let Monferno start such an important match.
On the other side, Paul sent out Magmortar, the evolved form of Magmar, recently discovered in the Sinnoh Region.
Magmar's habitat is quite widespread, found in several regions, with more numbers in Sinnoh and Kanto. Yet, it was Sinnoh that discovered Magmar's evolution.
Magmortar evolves just like Electabuzz does, requiring a special item for trade evolution. Its discovery timeline is nearly the same as Electivire's, likely from the same research findings.
Regardless of the reason for the discovery, Paul is quick to keep up with 'the trend,' evolving Magmar soon after discovering its new form.
It seems Paul possesses not only a Trainer's talent but also ample resources, acquiring new evolutionary items so quickly.
Ash glanced at Magmortar's data, showing a Gym Mid Level, but its various Ability Values haven't reached its potential limit. With Paul's training approach, this shouldn't be the case, so the only explanation is that Magmortar reached this Level only recently.
Paul hasn't had time to train its Ability Values to the Level limit.
"Monferno? You're quite persistent, aren't you?" Paul, seeing Monferno, was also taken aback; he hadn't expected Ash to send out Monferno as his first Pokemon.
According to his calculations, Ash's first Pokemon would likely be the never-before-used Bulbasaur, as Ash has this characteristic of using new Pokemon in battles.
It's like with Blastoise and Annihilape before.
Yet, against him, Ash dared to start with Monferno, which was no different from a suicide attempt!
With Paul's intelligence, he understands why Ash sent out Monferno, simply wanting him to acknowledge its strength in an official match. This has perhaps become a mental block for Monferno, even after becoming stronger.
To help Monferno relieve this burden early, Ash chose this match, this spotlight-grabbing stage, for Monferno to battle him.
But the prerequisite for relieving this burden is... you must win!
"With Monferno as it is now, it can't beat Magmortar, recall it," Paul said something that even Ash found a bit unexpected. Paul was actually asking him to withdraw his Pokemon?