The Starter trio, Pikachu, and Gardevoir form Ash's current first-string squad.
That makes five.
The final mainstay is Lucario.
That position originally belonged to Pidgeot, but during the last breakthrough, Lucario forcibly pushed himself, instantly closing the gap. Over the following two months, he continued advancing until reaching Mid Level.
Pidgeot is also at Mid level.
Yet in a direct confrontation, Pidgeot would lose.
There is no type advantage either way, but Lucario's overall stats surpass Pidgeot across the board. Pidgeot's only edge is aerial mobility, but Lucario possesses Aura Lock-On.
In practice, that completely nullifies flight.
No matter how fast Pidgeot flies, once Aura Power tags the target, escape is impossible. Only Psychic-type Pokémon can briefly interfere using telepathy, and even then, if Lucario is prepared, not even they can evade his aim.
That was proven during Lucario's clash with Mewtwo.
At present, in terms of pure combat ability, Lucario is the undisputed ace. Pidgeot can only accept command of the B-team.
Beyond the main squad, Ash still has Gengar and Aerodactyl, both rarely deployed, along with Muk, Tauros, Butterfree, Kingler, and a Primeape standing on the edge of evolution.
This constitutes Ash's second string.
Among them, Aerodactyl and Gengar are in a category of their own.
By level alone, they are the highest in the entire roster.
Aerodactyl was only at High Level when captured, but he has since reached Elite Four Level.
Gengar has gone even further.
He has already stepped beyond Elite Four Peak and now stands between Champion level and Champion Peak.
By Gengar's own assessment, if he were to face a truly even opponent and fight at full intensity, he would break through into Champion Peak Level. He is missing nothing but sufficient pressure.
In raw level terms, these two rank first and second on the team, even if their practical battlefield impact is not always the top two.
Both will be deployed during the Indigo Plateau Conference.
After enduring such hardship to reach this annual stage, Ash intends to let every Pokémon step onto the field. There is no reason to bench them simply because they are strong. Strength is not a crime.
Besides, against the competition expected at the Indigo Plateau Conference, even deploying Aerodactyl is excessive. Charizard alone would already overwhelm most opponents.
Mid Level opponents are already beyond the norm there, and even fewer can fight above their tier. Using Elite Four Level Pokémon remains entirely reasonable.
The B-team is naturally led by Pidgeot.
Butterfree, as one of Ash's earliest veterans, has received every enhancement Ash could devise. Even so, Bug-type limitations are unavoidable.
Despite that, Ash's Butterfree is exceptional among its species. Without such treatment, reaching Mid Level would likely have been impossible.
Once, Butterfree had been ahead of Pidgeot.
Now, he has been overtaken.
This is the classic Bug-type curse. Rapid early growth followed by harsh late scaling.
Muk was only Mid-low Level when captured.
His talent does not lie in raw stats, but in stench.
The stronger a Grimer or Muk smells, the greater its innate potential. This is something the six base stats cannot measure.
Ash's Muk is the foulest ever recorded.
Professor Oak, having handled countless Grimer and Muk over his career, has stated that none compare.
That alone speaks volumes about Muk's potential.
Since capture, Ash has only trained Muk when returning to Pallet Town. Usually, he teleports Muk over for evaluations, designs a custom plan, then sends him back.
Ash openly admits he has neglected Muk.
Muk does not mind.
Though not deeply attached, he still recognizes Ash as his Trainer and obeys him. He is especially fond of Professor Oak.
Whenever Muk sees the professor, he happily flops over, stench and all. Oak dislikes the smell but never rejects Muk, and over time, has grown accustomed to it.
So where does Muk stand now?
Somwhere between Mid- Low and Mid-Peak.
This result exceeded even Ash's expectations.
Muk was captured roughly three months into the journey, shortly before reaching Fuchsia City. For over a month afterward, Ash did not train him personally at all.
Only after returning to Pallet Town did Muk receive focused training for about a month and a half.
Even then, Ash was dividing his attention among more than a dozen Pokémon, with additional emphasis placed on Blastoise.
Under those conditions, Muk reaching this level is nothing short of astonishing.
Although his overall combat strength has not yet cracked the starting lineup, if this momentum continues, it will not be long before he begins competing for a first-string position.
Compared to Muk's steady rise, Primeape's situation is far stranger.
Under Gengar's guidance, Primeape has already reached Mid-low. In truth, he could advance to Mid Level at any time, yet he stubbornly refuses to do so.
The reason is simple.
Primeape stands at a critical threshold.
Another type of power is being born inside his body.
Knowing that Primeape was on the verge of a deeper evolution, Ash deliberately adjusted his training path. That was why he entrusted Primeape to Gengar. A Ghost-type was the most suitable guide for nurturing the birth of Ghost energy within another Pokémon.
So far, the results were promising.
The Ghost force inside Primeape continued to grow steadily. Once it fully matured, evolution would follow.
At least, that was the theory.
Yet Ash could not shake a lingering sense of unease. Why was Primeape's evolution so much more difficult than others?
It was not unusual for Pokémon to gain new types upon evolving.
Charizard gained Flying. Lucario gained Steel.
Neither of them required this kind of painstaking internal development.
When Ash raised the question in the group chat, Champion Ash gave an answer that left him only half-enlightened.
In this world, Primeape's evolution is forbidden.
The evolved form, Annihilape, is a species that only appears after the Paldea region comes into existence. Paldea does not yet exist in Ash's world. As a result, the rules that allow Primeape to evolve simply do not exist.
To force that evolution now would be an act of defiance against this world rules itself.
That was why it was so difficult.
Even if the Ghost attribute fully formed, evolution was still not guaranteed. Being endlessly close, yet unable to cross the threshold, was the cruelest part.
However, if Primeape succeeded, the rewards would be staggering.
He would become the first Annihilape in the world, born through sheer defiance of destiny.
The harder the evolution, the greater the compensation. Instead of the usual single-stage breakthrough, Primeape's level would soar dramatically. His potential would also receive a unique boon as a one-of-a-kind existence.
Ash did not know exactly what that "heaven-sent gift" entailed, but a massive level jump was something he understood very well.
That was why, since returning, he had focused Primeape's training on this single goal.
Even the energy that should have been used for leveling was redirected toward stabilizing the Ghost element. The power grew day by day, yet stubbornly refused to reach completion.
This was no longer the simple "one step away" scenario Ash had predicted.
As the experts had said, defying rules was never easy. Failure was entirely possible, and for now, leveling might be the safer priority.
Beyond Primeape were Tauros and Kingler.
Like Muk, Tauros had been largely neglected after capture. Only after returning to Pallet Town did Ash begin training it personally, and their bond strengthened quickly.
Ash's care for Pokémon was never in question. The problem was scale. With so many Pokémon under his care and no ability to clone himself, he simply could not train everyone equally.
As a result, Tauros had risen from Low-Mid to Mid, a solid improvement, though modest compared to Muk.
Finally came Krabby, the last Pokémon Ash had caught.
At capture, it had been only Low-Mid.
Yet in terms of training diligence, Krabby ranked second only to Charizard and Gardevoir.
Those two were infamous grind-monsters. Even though Pikachu had surpassed them in level, its training hours and intensity fell far short.
In fact, Krabby trained harder than Pikachu.
Not because Pikachu was lazy, but because Charizard and Gardevoir were simply insane.
Krabby, however, had something to prove.
To repay Ash's trust and make up for its lower talent, it trained relentlessly. Easily top three in effort across the entire team.
The results were immediate.
In less than two months, Krabby evolved into Kingler, and its level leapt to Mid level an entire tier plus two sub-stages.
While Kingler's rank and raw stats were not top-tier, Ash firmly believed it would carve out its own legend at the Indigo Plateau Conference.
After the roll call, Ash finally called a halt to training.
He planned to relax for a couple of days before setting off for Indigo Plateau. The Pokémon could roam freely while he simply spent time playing with them.
One could not remain wound tight forever.
Just as he was about to dismiss everyone, Professor Oak strode into the backyard, carrying the black dumbbell.
"Ash, the analysis of this thing is complete."
Gengar glanced at it casually, then froze.
In the next instant, it snapped its head back, appeared beside Oak, and stared at the dumbbell in disbelief.
"Ash… this thing is yours?!"
"Uh, yeah. Why?"
"Give it to me. Now. This is vital."
"Sure, but what for?"
Gengar grinned dangerously.
"Haven't you been wracking your brain over how to awaken Primeape's Ghost typing?"
"Use this."