Golden rain fell on the back mountain of Pallet Town. A spoon-shaped object appeared where Alakazam had originally been. With a wave of her hand, Mewtwo used Teleport to bring it to her side.
'This spoon... the power contained within it is the same as your previous black dumbbell. It has a massive amount of psychic-type energy inside. Although the quantity isn't much to me, the quality is quite good. Moreover, this item can be combined with the items in my body to create an exclusive item suitable for me, enhancing my Psychic abilities during battle.'
Ever since her birth, Mewtwo had possessed her own innate held item, a spoon.
When she battled Ash, she hadn't brought the spoon out. Although the hope of Mewtwo defeating Ash was slim even with the spoon's combat power boost, having hope was better than nothing.
The reason she hadn't brought out her Psychic spoon was that she simply didn't want to use it against Ash.
Originally, her strength had already reached the God Level, and as a Pokémon, it was embarrassing enough to use her full strength against a human. If she also used her exclusive item, would she not be losing even more face?
So, Mewtwo never used her exclusive item until the very end. Her exclusive item could boost her Psychic power by fifty percent... When Ash first learned about this, he was extremely shocked. It turns out you were holding back on New Island back then!
If Mewtwo's Psychic power had been fifty percent higher at that time, it really would have been quite troublesome. After all, Ash's strength had only just reached the Mid-tier God Level. If Mewtwo's Psychic power could be boosted by fifty percent, she would be very difficult to deal with.
But that was all in the past.
Hearing Mewtwo say that this spoon could still improve her exclusive item, a surprised smile appeared on Ash's face: "Really? A drop from an Elite Four Peak could actually be useful for your exclusive item?"
'It has nothing to do with strength. This object itself is an extremely miraculous item. Otherwise, how could it materialize energy to such an extent?'
Ash thought about it and felt it made sense. This thing itself wasn't simple; it could materialize ancient Pokémon relying solely on energy and perfectly replicate their strength... Uh, whether it was a perfect replication was open to debate, but being able to display the power of ancient Pokémon at the Elite Four Peak level was already strong enough.
He didn't know where these two things had come from or why they had appeared on the back mountain of Pallet Town at this particular time, but in the end, these two items became nourishment to strengthen his Pokémon. Ash was very satisfied with this.
Most importantly, this incident didn't cause any casualties. Otherwise, even if Ash had obtained these two items, he wouldn't have been happy at all.
"Thanks for everyone's help. Now everyone can go home. We'll be leaving if there's nothing else. Misty, Brock, let's head back." As Ash spoke, he had Mewtwo use Teleport to sweep them up and return to Pallet Town instantly.
The reason they hadn't used Teleport to come here earlier was that they weren't sure of the exact location of the disturbance. How could they use Teleport without specific coordinates? But going back was different; Mewtwo knew exactly where home was, so they could return in an instant.
After Ash said his goodbyes, his figure vanished from the spot. Everyone stared blankly at where Ash had disappeared, unable to react for a moment.
This... he's just gone? They hadn't seen how Ash left at all, just as they hadn't seen how he arrived.
Moreover, the words Ash said before leaving felt more like mockery than comfort!
Thanks for everyone's help? What did they help with? Helping by watching from the sidelines and cheering?
No, they didn't even have time to cheer. From the moment Ash appeared, not even five minutes had passed before he directly dealt with Gengar and Alakazam. They had no idea how Ash had done it.
Besides the Trainers on the ground, there was a helicopter floating silently in the sky. The TV host and the cameraman were both on the helicopter, staring blankly as Ash left.
Only after Ash left did they react. The former adjusted her expression and reported solemnly to the camera: "As we can see on the scene, those two Gengar and Alakazam, which were similar to Gigantamax, have now completely disappeared. The one who defeated them is none other than Ash, the rising star known as the Kanto Supernova."
"The last news of Ash was nearly two months ago during an exhibition match with Elite Four Lorelei. Since that battle, Ash has never appeared in the public eye, yet he can now completely crush two giant Pokémon."
"What is the true identity of those two giant Pokémon? Are they really Pokémon? If they are Pokémon, why did they explode directly?"
"Furthermore, Ash's strength seems to have become even more powerful than before, and the Pokémon he sent out this time is a brand new, never-before-seen Pokémon. What species is that Pokémon? Will anyone be able to stand up and compete with Ash at this year's Indigo Plateau Conference? All of this will perhaps be revealed at the Indigo Plateau Conference in a few days."
"..."
The host spoke incessantly in front of the camera, praising Ash. She was quite familiar with Ash's previous achievements, but since Ash hadn't appeared recently, her impression of him had actually become increasingly blurred.
But the moment Ash appeared, he seemed to be telling everyone that Ash was still Ash. His talent would continue to shine. In just a short month and a half, he had become stronger and even captured a brand new Pokémon.
This kind of improvement was not good news for the contestants participating in the Indigo Plateau Conference. The species and strength of that unknown Pokémon would also become the target of everyone's investigation before the conference began in a few days.
And some people in front of their TVs who were preparing to participate in the Indigo Plateau Conference in half a month secretly compared their gap with Ash after watching the live broadcast. As a result, they discovered in despair that they and Ash were simply not on the same level.
Never mind three-on-three or six-on-six; even if Ash fought six-on-one, they might not necessarily win. They couldn't even see through that Pokémon's level, but it was at least at the Elite Four Level.
A Trainer with Elite Four Level Pokémon participating in a League Conference restricted to those who have traveled for less than two years, 'Isn't this just coming in to massacre newbies?!'
The problem was that they couldn't even criticize Ash, because when it came to eligibility, Ash's age was practically unprecedented.
Unprecedentedly young.
Among all the Trainers participating in this year's Indigo Plateau Conference, not a single one was younger than Ash. If the rules were followed strictly, then no matter who was forced to leave, it would never be Ash's turn.
The Trainers watching the live broadcast could only pray silently that they wouldn't encounter Ash until at least the semi-finals. Otherwise, they wouldn't even have the slightest chance of setting foot on Dragon Island.
The Indigo Plateau Conference had no double-elimination system. Once you lost, you were out, no losers' bracket, no second chances. If you couldn't make the top three, then participating in this year's League Conference would be completely meaningless.
The reason this year's Indigo Plateau Conference had attracted such overwhelming attention was simple: Dragon Island.
And now, a monster had appeared in the League Conference.
A single monster wouldn't have been so bad. Even if Ash claimed the Champion title, there were still second and third places to compete for. As long as you secured one of those spots, you could still go to Dragon Island.
But if you were unlucky enough to draw Ash early, even if your raw strength was worthy of a top-three finish, it would all be meaningless. You'd be eliminated on the spot.
As a result, the nature of this year's Indigo Plateau Conference had changed.
It was no longer just a test of strength.
It had become a test of luck.
For those with bad luck, even having sufficient strength was useless, unless your strength could surpass Ash's.
But that was an entirely different matter.
A Trainer capable of cultivating an Elite Four–level Pokémon within two years…
Aside from Ash, did such a person even exist?
There really wasn't one.
Even Cynthia had begun training Pokémon long before her debut. Given only two years, even she wouldn't have been able to raise an Elite Four–level Pokémon.
In short, for many of the participating Trainers, this year's Indigo Plateau Conference had already become Hell Mode.
On the other side, the Kanto Elite Four, who had been rushing back at full speed, turned around after receiving Ash's call. Within minutes, news arrived on their communicators confirming that the two giant Pokémon had already been dealt with.
A "just as I thought" expression appeared on Lance's face.
"Good thing Ash called me," Lance muttered. "Only then did I realize the incident happened near Pallet Town. Seriously, have they lost their minds? Calling me when it's that close to Pallet Town?"
After receiving the alert, Lance had immediately rushed over based solely on the positioning data, without checking the detailed map. If Ash hadn't called him, he wouldn't have known the location was right next to Pallet Town.
Damn it. Calling me back when it's that close, what a waste of time.
He had been feeling that Dragonite's Mega Stone was about to appear, but a single phone call had forced him to leave everything behind.
Fortunately, Ash's call meant Lance hadn't traveled too far from the Kalos region. Though he trusted Ash to handle the situation, Lance stayed put for a while, just in case.
Once he confirmed that the crisis in Kanto had been resolved, Lance immediately had Dragonite turn back toward Kalos.
Now was the best opportunity.
Lorelei and the others hadn't received Ash's call and had rushed back in a panic. By the time they found out the matter was settled, it would be far too late to return.
That meant;
He, Lance, was destined to be the first to obtain an stone.
Meanwhile, Ash had already returned to Pallet Town.
He first reported their safety to Delia, then headed straight to Oak's Laboratory. Ash intended to hand over the two items he'd obtained for Professor Oak to examine and determine their specific functions.
The spoon Mewtwo acquired could be directly fused with her exclusive item, so its exact properties didn't matter, it would be useful regardless. But the other black dumbbell was different. Ash needed to understand its function, and Professor Oak was the best person for the job.
After arriving at the laboratory, Ash handed the black dumbbell to Professor Oak and explained everything in detail. When Oak heard that the item could materialize super-giant Pokémon after absorbing energy, even he, someone who had seen nearly everything, was left stunned.
He asked Ash to wait while he conducted a detailed analysis.
With nothing else to do, Ash followed Misty and Brock to the backyard and gathered everyone's Pokémon for a roll call.
Over the past month and a half, not only had Ash left his Pokémon at Oak's Laboratory, but Misty and Brock had done the same. Their Pokémon had trained together, and the results were astonishing.
Among Misty's Pokémon, Starmie had successfully reached Mid level.
At first glance, it might seem unimpressive, after all, Starmie had already been at Low Peak, and after a month and a half, it had only advanced one level.
But in reality, the gap between Low level and Mid level was a chasm countless Trainers could never cross.
Simply achieving that breakthrough already meant the training was an overwhelming success.
Seadra and Dragonair, both Dragon-type Pokémon, had reached Mid Peak just two days ago. They had evolved early during the training period.
Blastoise had already stepped into the Mid-peak level as well. Though it was only at the early stage, that alone was remarkable.
As for Psyduck…
Its level remained a mystery.
Only Ash could tell that Psyduck's mental energy was constantly accumulating. If it were to erupt at full force, it could briefly contend with a Mid Peak Pokémon.
These were the results of Misty's month-long special training.
Forget Ash, even if Misty's progress were made public, it would shock the entire world.
Even Misty herself hadn't expected to achieve such results in just a month and a half. If she returned to Cerulean City now, the Cerulean Gym would undoubtedly become one of the strongest Gyms in Kanto.
The days of being ranked last were long gone.
Even the Goldeen in the Gym had evolved into Seaking early on and now possessed Elite strength.