After all, Trainers are just humans! How can humans be compared to Pokemon? But Ash can.
At the time, watching Ash and his Pokemon perform those non-human actions and training, Serena was dumbfounded. Her understanding of Ash existed only from when he was young. Back then, Ash was indeed quite strong, but he wasn't this terrifying!
As for the news broadcasts about Ash on TV, they always talked about how strong Ash was in training his Pokemon and how amazing his talent was, but they never mentioned how monstrous Ash himself was.
But that was to be expected, after all, Ash's physical feats were never shown in front of the public. The only time he made a brief appearance, it was overshadowed by the impressive performance of his Annihilape.
So, except for those around Ash, no one else knew about his superhuman physical abilities.
Although Serena couldn't keep up with the training of Ash and Misty, Ash still designed a training regimen for Fennekin. By now, he wasn't a novice anymore, and even though he hadn't seen Fennekin before, the training methods for Fire Type Pokemon were not much different.
Pairing it with a recipe he specifically crafted for Fire Type Pokemon to boost their power, in just three days, Fennekin was practically transformed.
It not only advanced to the Ordinary Level, but more importantly, it gained some battle capabilities. Previously, neither Fennekin nor Serena knew anything about Pokemon battles. To be blunt, under the same conditions, Ash could easily have Pikachu take on ten Fennekins.
Pokemon battles depend on the Trainer's command level, the Pokemon's battle skills, the overall strength of the Pokemon, and the most elusive bond between the Trainer and the Pokemon.
The first four factors generally determine the outcome of a battle, but the only uncertain factor is the last one. The power of the bond represents the power of miracles, which might become a game-changer in dire situations.
However, such things were still too distant for Serena and Fennekin. They were just new partners who had just joined up, so the bond... existed, but wasn't strong yet.
...
Misty picked a Politoed, while Serena wanted a Fennekin sculpture, but there was no such sculpture here.
After all, Fennekin is a Pokemon from the Kalos Region; why would the people living in the Orange Archipelago make sculptures of Pokemon from the Kalos Region?
But it wasn't much of a problem. This place could custom-make items based on Pokemon templates, but the price was a bit higher.
For instance, Misty's Politoed crystal sculpture only cost one thousand five hundred, but making one from scratch would cost at least two thousand or more. The higher the craftsmanship, the more expensive the sculpture.
Although they called it crystal, it was actually just glass, not really made from crystal carving.
You could imagine how expensive crystal can be! A palm-sized piece might cost thousands, and that Politoed was about the size of Ash's two palms; if calculated strictly by crystal prices, it might exceed fifty thousand.
The larger the crystal, the exponentially higher the price.
A glass product selling for a high price of one thousand five hundred is seventy percent craftsmanship, twenty-nine percent in the Pokemon's appearance, and only one percent in the glass material itself.
Of course, to Ash, this amount of money was nothing since he invented that exercise rosemary, he wouldn't have to worry about money for the rest of his life.
At this point, he even handed over the bank card to Delia to manage; no matter how much money was on it, Ash didn't care as long as he didn't have to worry about spending.
Serena wanted the Fennekin, and they needed to find a place to sculpt it. Ash initially offered to pay, but Serena insisted on paying herself, as her relationship with Ash wasn't as close as with Misty.
They had only been traveling together for a few days. She couldn't just let Ash spend two thousand for her, especially since high-quality custom sculptures might exceed two thousand. She couldn't let Ash pay for that.
Ash was a bit helpless in the face of Serena's stubbornness, but he somewhat understood Serena's thinking. Two thousand wasn't a lot to him, but in reality, it wasn't a small amount either, it wasn't just two dollars!
Serena had just joined the group and surely wouldn't accept such a gift; she wasn't someone who could comfortably spend someone else's money, especially since that person was Ash.
After deciding what sculpture they wanted, the three of them started roaming around the town, looking for a shop with better craftsmanship to make it. Ash also wanted to make a sculpture of Pikachu.
While they were sauntering down the street, they heard a noisy dispute up ahead.
"Why is your shop still open! You sell nothing, yet you're occupying this spot, making customers not come to me. It's unlucky!" A middle-aged man loudly scolded a little girl.
And except for Ash's group of three, there were no other people here, just like the middle-aged man said, not a single customer around.
Behind the little girl was also a shop stand, which only had some simple glass products: glass bottles, glass bowls, etc. Compared to the number of glass products made by other shops, it was pitifully small.
Moreover, this shop didn't have any Pokemon glass products, which was normal given that in this Pokemon-centric world, it had no customers.
But that's no reason for an adult to use Intimidate on a little girl.
Ash rushed forward with a single step and stood in front of the little girl: "Is there a proper way to talk? What did she do to you? Is she blocking your business or driving away your customers?"
"Do you know her?" Seeing Ash aggressively standing in front of the little girl, the middle-aged man thought an acquaintance of the girl had arrived. Although Ash looked completely ordinary, his aura diminished the man's momentum.
"Don't know her, but you're bullying a little girl. What's the harm in me helping her?" Ash spoke with his voice lacking reason but filled with strength. The point was, he wanted to help, just wanted to help, got a problem with that!
The middle-aged man rolled his eyes: "You don't know her, and you're sticking your nose into others' business!"
"Has she done something wrong?"
"Just look at their glass displays, so little stuff, and they dare open a shop. If she's affecting my store's business, is that unreasonable?"
Ash: ???
"I've heard of neighboring businesses doing well and someone losing customers, but I've never heard that a neighbor's poor business affects someone else's. This is the first time I've heard such a thing!"
If the neighboring business is good, then they're stealing your customer flow, so your business isn't good. That explanation's reasonable, but because the neighbor's business is bad, how can you blame them?!"
"I sell glass repair decorations, and they hardly have any glassware, so I have no business. How is that unreasonable?"
Serena and Misty, who had caught up, were both stunned. What kind of tyrant logic is that? Even slandering someone has its limits!
How can you blame a little girl for that?
Ash just stared speechlessly at the middle-aged man and said nothing. Pikachu on his shoulder similarly gave the man a deadpan look. This kind of person couldn't be reasoned with; they just wouldn't listen.
The middle-aged man, somewhat unnerved by Ash and Pikachu's gaze, started realizing his logic didn't make much sense. But his business had been so poor lately, and with a family to support, he was under a lot of pressure, causing him to inadvertently take it out on others.
However, asking him to apologize was clearly impossible, so he only left in a huff, saying, "You'd better move away soon," before returning to his shop.
"Th-Th-Thank you..." The little girl, with her hands clasped behind her back, timidly thanked Ash and the others.
Serena crouched down, patting the girl on the head with a smile: "No need to thank us. He was in the wrong first. By the way, why is there so little glassware in your shop? Did you make all of these?"
This girl didn't even look ten years old, if she was the shop owner, that's quite independent.
The little girl shook her head: "No, these were all made by my brother, Ah Gong."