[Lance: Incredible… it really won?! Fighting at a type disadvantage, and defeating Articuno? And its level is lower than Articuno's… If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed you if you told me!]
[Cynthia: If both sides had trainers commanding them, Black Ash might not have been able to win this match, but… without a trainer commanding it, even with inferior level and type matchup, Black Ash still had a great chance of winning.]
[Flint: Yes, after all, Black Ash has been certified by Cynthia!]
[Cynthia: ? ? ?]
[Caitlin: Phew, what kind of dirty certification is that?]
[Flint: Of course it's dirty tricks and dirty tactics! If Cynthia and Ash hadn't met in that world, I would have thought that Ash's fighting methods were passed down to Cynthia! Both of them are dirty!]
[Cynthia: I'll give you a chance to reorganize your language.]
[Flint: Ah, I accidentally told the truth. I'm sorry.]
[Flint: Ahem, I mean… Black Ash, like our great Sinnoh Champion Miss Cynthia, has an extremely shrewd mind, meticulous observation, and powerful tactical planning!]
[Flint: So it's natural for Black Ash to command Pidgeot to defeat Articuno!]
[Cynthia:...]
Cynthia, who was sitting in an ice cream shop, gently licked the ice cream on her hand, a dangerous light in her silver-gray eyes.
Flint… he must be tired of living. I'll feed him to the Garchomp sometime…
[May: Well… I want to ask, Ash… No, it's Black Ash. What fighting method did he use? Didn't he just keep telling Pidgeot to attack?]
May wasn't even a trainer yet.
Therefore, although she enjoyed watching the battle, she was completely like a layperson. She could only see who had the upper hand and who won, but she didn't understand how they gained the upper hand or how they won.
Because of Lillie and Serena's speech before,
Norman no longer restricted May from speaking, because May was a good kid, but he wouldn't give Max the same freedom!
That was a naughty kid!
Thus, May's question came up.
[Cynthia: There's a saying that goes, offense is the best defense. So even though Pidgeot was always attacking, this was actually Pidgeot's best defense.]
[Cynthia: Black Ash had been paving the way for Pidgeot from the beginning, with the enhancement from Agility, and using wind power to limit Articuno's Blizzard.]
[Cynthia: If Articuno had a trainer, they would definitely have noticed that although Pidgeot could counter-control the Blizzard, it consumed a lot of its stamina. This countermeasure couldn't be used many times, yet Ash kept using it resolutely. Why? Because it was a bluff!]
[Cynthia: After controlling the wind for the first time, Articuno became hesitant. Many wind-related moves couldn't be used because it felt if it used them, they would definitely be reflected by the opponent! From that point, Articuno entered Black Ash's trap.]
[Cynthia: Subsequently, Articuno couldn't use large-scale AOE moves, so it could only use bursts of Ice Beam, which consumed more stamina and energy, to block Pidgeot's attacks.]
[Cynthia: Although Pidgeot sometimes collided with Articuno, it mostly dodged Articuno's moves, but interspersed move collisions during the dodges, making Articuno think it had hit its target. This made Articuno work harder to use Ice Beam, which consumed even more energy! This became a vicious cycle!]
[Cynthia: After consuming a lot of Articuno's stamina, Black Ash began the final high-speed attack. First, Agility plus Brave Bird to test full attack power, then launched a frontal assault to draw out Articuno's Ice Beam. After using the wind-controlled Twister to absorb the Ice Beam, he used the triple-combo move to hit the unsuspecting Articuno. I guess if Articuno hadn't fallen yet, Black Ash would have had a backup plan.]
Everyone:…
Looking at Cynthia's analysis, both humans and ghosts fell silent.
What co-author Flint said was so true!
You two… really had dark hearts!!
A one-on-one battle that lasted less than ten minutes was planned from the beginning to the end?!
Those who play tactics are dirty!
May felt dizzy seeing Cynthia give such a serious explanation.
Did being a trainer require thinking about so many things?
Then she probably wouldn't be able to be a trainer in this lifetime.
Her little brain wasn't enough just to listen to Cynthia's analysis, let alone command on the spot.
If it were her commanding… besides quickly dodging and using Tackle, she probably couldn't shout anything else, right?
[Lance: This woman… is so terrifying. I have to be more careful when fighting you in the future.]
[Leon: Haha, you are worthy of being the Champion of Sinnoh! If I have the chance, I really want to compete with you—not only you, but the Champions of every region!]
As for the names of other regional Champions, Leon only heard their voices but never saw their names.
They all had great titles: the invincible Lance, the elegant and noble son Steven, the most beautiful trainer in Sinnoh history Cynthia…
And then… the one from Kalos was not only a world-famous actor but also a Champion.
Everyone was a talented and powerful trainer!
Leon truly wanted to compete with them, but the Galar region was still busy for the time being.
When he had some free time, he'd like to hold a… worldwide championship with the Champions!
Not a single regional competition, but a battle involving the entire world trainer rankings!
Then they could see… who was the number one trainer in the world today!
[Cynthia: Haha, I would also like to meet the undefeated Champion who has never lost since his debut. If there's a chance… let's have a championship discussion together.]
[Lance: Hey, I also want to compete with Champions from other regions, but as an investigator, I may not have time for now!]
[Lance: Wait a minute… are we off topic? Shouldn't the topic we're discussing now be about Black Ash catching Articuno?]
[Lorelei: That's right. Seeing you Champions chatting and laughing about the battle, I didn't dare to say anything… Having said that, I seem to be a little envious of Ash now!]
Lorelei pursed her lips, the envy on her face impossible to conceal.
That was Articuno… No Ice-type trainer didn't like Articuno. It was beautiful, powerful, elegant… simply the epitome of perfection!
As a Legendary Ice-type Pokémon, Regice was extremely ugly—of course, in Lorelei's eyes.
If it were someone else… they might think Regice was better looking, like a certain stone-loving Champion.
[Pryce: Tsk, if I in that world were to meet Black Ash and he challenged the Gym with Articuno, I'd probably be petrified on the spot. Actually, I quite like Articuno too.]
[Pryce: But… I still think my Piloswine is the best in the world!]
Articuno was indeed an extremely beautiful and powerful existence among Ice-type Pokémon, but compared to the Piloswine that had been frozen for decades to find herbs for him, the Piloswine held a more important position in his heart!
Better to say… in Pryce's heart, no Pokémon had a status comparable to his Piloswine!!
[Professor Oak: Haha, everyone has their own preferences… Has Black Ash caught his second Legendary? If he goes to the Whirl Islands later, he'll probably be able to catch Lugia, tsk tsk tsk.]
Professor Oak felt a moment of silence for the people on Black Ash's side who were participating in the Silver Conference.
According to Black Ash's catching progress… wouldn't he gather a team of Legendaries for the Silver Conference?
Haha, impossible to think about…
There weren't that many Legendaries one could catch, right?
...
In the Black World—
Todd, whose brain had shut down, finally came to his senses.
Before today, he wouldn't have believed even if beaten to death that Articuno could be defeated and caught by someone!
Moreover, the one who defeated Articuno was an ordinary Pidgeot…
No, that Pidgeot couldn't be described as ordinary.
This was the first time Todd had seen a Pidgeot whose demeanor surpassed that of Articuno.
Moreover… Ash and the new woman who joined Ash… they were both psychics!
Their psychic powers were so immense they could stop such a huge avalanche!
This was simply outrageous!
Afterwards, Ash used the power of Aura to fish the Poké Ball out from the snow.
Naturally, the automatic teleportation of the Poké Ball was canceled by Ash.
He had to go to the Pokémon Center to heal both Articuno and Pidgeot.
These two Pokémon were basically exhausted from the battle just now.
Even if Pidgeot had finally broken through to the Elite Four level, it didn't change the fact of its physical exhaustion.
After returning to the Pokémon Center, Nurse Joy smiled and joked to Ash,
"Judging from your smiling face, you must have caught Articuno, right?"
As Ash nodded with a smile,
Nurse Joy's smile froze on her face.
Really caught?
I was kidding!
Yesterday, the boy had mentioned his intention to catch Articuno, and Nurse Joy had just listened to it as a joke and let it pass.
But today Ash came back… and caught Articuno?
She didn't think Ash was lying to her.
After all, this kind of lie had no meaning.
He came to the Pokémon Center now to heal his Pokémon—that is to say… Articuno was also on the list to be healed.
When the time came, they'd put it in the healing machine and know if it was true or false.
So… this boy really had caught the Legendary Articuno!
While Nurse Joy was taking Ash's Pokémon to heal, she started gossiping with Ash.
After all, the fact that the Legendary bird was caught must be very curious!
Then Ash's answer was this—
"How did you catch it?"
"Just hit it with Pidgeot, then snap, and then do this and that, and you catch it!"
Nurse Joy:…
You don't have to talk if you can't speak!
Seeing the opportunity, Brock stepped forward to hold Nurse Joy's hand, wanting to explain the thrilling battle just now in an emotional voice.
But as soon as he approached Nurse Joy, he was directly controlled by Sabrina.
With Sabrina here, Misty no longer needed to pull Brock's ears.
After the farce,
once Articuno and Pidgeot were healed,
Ash directly called Professor Oak.
After learning that Ash had really caught Articuno, Professor Oak practically put his face against the video call camera.
"What?! You really caught Articuno! Don't lie to me, Ash!"
"...So you didn't believe me yesterday?"
"Ahem, no, no, that's not it!"
Professor Oak coughed dryly, retracted his face, then rubbed his hands expectantly with a flattering smile.
"Well, Ash, you don't need to keep Articuno on you, right? Send it back to me for research~"
"I promise! I'll definitely give it the highest standard of treatment! Good food, good drinks, and good lodging!"
Ash was covered in goosebumps by Professor Oak's flattering smile, and then he quickly waved his hands helplessly.
"Okay, okay, I'll send back both Articuno and Pidgeot later, and I'd like to ask the Professor for another favor..."
"Regarding training guidelines for advanced Ice-type Pokémon, I'm not sure how to train them. Professor, could you please ask trainers who specialize in Ice-types to see if they can formulate a plan for me to reference?"
The grind king Ash would never stop the pace of self-improvement!
The so-called advanced Ice-type Pokémon referred to Elite Four-level Ice-types.
After all, Ash wasn't omnipotent. If he knew everything, he could just become a Professor. Since he wasn't very proficient in the Ice-type, he humbly asked for advice, asking Professor Oak to find other experts in the Ice-type. He actually had a candidate in mind—Lorelei!
Having fought against Lorelei, he naturally knew how good she was with Ice-type Pokémon, but the problem was… Ash didn't have Lorelei's contact information, so he could only ask Professor Oak.
"Don't worry, I'll definitely ask the trainers who specialize in the Ice-type for you!"
When Professor Oak heard this, he immediately patted his chest, confirming that with his connections, it would be no problem to find some powerful Ice-type specialists.
"I'll contact Lorelei, one of the Kanto Elite Four, and Pryce from the Mahogany Town Gym in Johto later. Their application of Ice-type Pokémon is the best in the world!"
"Mahogany Town Gym?"
After Ash heard this name, he immediately thought of the cold old man.
Mahogany Town Gym Leader—Pryce!
They had never actually met, but Professor Oak had video-called Pryce before, and the old man's aloof temperament made Ash remember him at a glance.
More importantly, Professor Oak had said at the time… Pryce's strength was not inferior to a Champion's!
But for some reasons, Pryce had been stagnant on the road to the Championship for too long, and his strength had even regressed.
As for the reason, Professor Oak hadn't said.
Speaking of which… according to their route, the seventh Gym was Pryce's Gym!
Then they could meet that legendary trainer for a while!
"Hello, Ash, hello?! Ahhhh!"
"Um… ah, what's wrong, Professor Oak?"
When Ash turned around, he found that Bayleef was beating Professor Oak's body with a Vine Whip.
This made Ash a little confused.
What was going on… he was confused. Why did the image suddenly change? Could it be broadcast?
"Hurry… send back Articuno and Pidgeot! Just from today's events, I'm almost beaten to death by your Bayleef!"
"Haha… haha, changing them now, changing them now."
Ash chuckled twice and quickly started setting up the Poké Balls.
Speaking of which, when he first caught Bayleef, it wasn't like this. But as his care for his Pokémon gradually infected all of them, the Pokémon he caught in the Johto region also slowly opened their hearts to him, among which Bayleef was the most outrageous!
Every time it came out, it would stay in his arms, or hug him, etc.
Many times Pikachu's position was occupied by Bayleef.
Sabrina and Misty joked that they felt the scent of a love rival in Bayleef.
After a series of operations, Ash teleported Articuno and Pidgeot back and exchanged for Bayleef.
As soon as it came back, Bayleef rubbed against Ash desperately, its big watery eyes seeming to drip with emotion.
Ash said that he definitely wouldn't send Bayleef back next time; he'd send Quilava back too!
After exchanging the Pokémon, Ash called Melody.
After a while of greetings, Melody reluctantly hung up the phone.
This wasn't the first time Ash had called back. Ash would call Melody whenever he passed by a city.
However, sometimes Melody wasn't in the village, so she would miss Ash's call, but in any case, the relationship between the two didn't become weaker with separation, and even grew deeper with a little sense of distance!
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