"Okay~ That's a wrap!!"
With the Fishing at the Stone Pond Pokémon short film now complete, Ash patted his chest and let out a long breath of relief.
That said, since they had already come all the way out here with fishing rods, neither Ash nor Froakie was in a hurry to call it a day. The two ended up staying by the pond to fish for another half an hour just for fun.
Once they'd fished to their heart's content, Ash brought Froakie back to camp to hand over the footage to the Saffron TV Station crew for editing.
"Excuse me! You just finished shooting your short film, right? May I conduct a quick interview with you?"
Just as he walked out of the editing tent, Ash saw the same female reporter from earlier—Yoko—rushing toward him with a microphone in hand.
He had just eaten breakfast with everyone at camp this morning. Now, seeing her again, he gave her a polite nod.
"Of course," he said calmly, holding Froakie in his arms and showing no signs of stage fright as the camera zoomed in on him.
"Thank you very much," Yoko smiled. "I noticed that while most summer camp students haven't finished their short films yet, you already wrapped up filming quite efficiently."
"How do you feel about the quality of your video? If you had to score it out of ten, what would you give it?"
"Hmm…"
Ash rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"I'm fairly confident in what we shot. I think it turned out pretty well. If I had to rate it, I'd say it's at least an 8 out of 10."
He was clearly proud of his work—but still remained humble. He didn't boast or say something like, "Everyone else's videos are trash," or "Mine will get a perfect score for sure."
"An eight out of ten? Sounds like today's shoot went great!"
Yoko nodded in appreciation, then leaned in with another question.
"Alright, here's another one. We're already on the third day of the summer camp. Aside from yourself, which fellow camper has impressed you the most? Who do you think is the strongest Trainer here?"
"Hmm…"
Ash thought for a second.
"The most impressive? That's an easy one—it's Ash, who's currently ranked number one on the [Trainer Scoreboard]."
"Oh!" Yoko raised an eyebrow. "So you're impressed just because he's at the top of the leaderboard?"
The boy shook his head firmly.
"No, it's not just that," he said. "There are many reasons why Ash stands out."
Yoko: "Such as?"
Boy: "I'm a student from the Kalos region. When we first arrived at Pallet Town, the local townsfolk and camp students actually formed a welcome party to greet us outside the town."
"As a local, Ash was supposed to be there too—but he overslept and ended up being late. Even though I didn't get assigned to stay at his house, he's still one of the locals here."
"At first, I thought he was unreliable. But once the camp started… I quickly realized how amazing he really is."
"On the very first day, right after we received our Pokémon, we were told to do a sort of 'Trainer handshake battle'—you had to challenge five different students in one-on-one matches."
"Normally, you'd find someone offstage, go up, have a match, and then leave to heal your Pokémon."
"But Ash? He didn't follow that pattern at all."
"He just walked straight onto the battlefield and challenged everyone in the camp at once. He stayed on the field like a champion waiting for contenders, battling five different opponents back-to-back—without ever leaving the stage."
"He won all five matches in a row, earned the full 10 points, then finally left to heal his Pokémon."
The boy's eyes lit up with admiration as he recalled the scene.
Yoko: "Wow!! Sugoi ne~ (That's amazing!)"
Boy: "That's not even all. That evening, Professor Oak gathered us for a 'Dream Sharing' session, where everyone got on stage to talk about their goals."
"Most of the students talked about becoming a member of the Elite Four or winning the Pokémon League someday."
"But Ash?"
"When he spoke, we were all blown away."
"Oh? And what did he say?" Yoko asked, now clearly intrigued.
Boy: "Ash said his dream… is to reach the very pinnacle of Pokémon training and become the strongest Pokémon Trainer in the world!"
Yoko gasped and covered her mouth in awe. "Wow! That's such an ambitious dream—I can hardly even imagine it!"
Boy: "Right? For someone to dream that big, it really leaves a mark."
"And that's not all. During yesterday's fishing challenge, it was actually Goh who caught a Gyarados first—but he didn't have the strength to handle it and ended up getting injured and sent to the hospital."
"Later, when we moved to another river, Ash also hooked a Gyarados."
"But unlike Goh, he held on. He clashed with the Gyarados using sheer skill and unshakable willpower—and after half an hour of struggle, he actually captured it."
"Right now, he's the undisputed strongest camper here."
"And he's not just strong—Ash is one of those rare people born with supernatural abilities."
"He can actually heal injuries with his powers…"
"Oh, and remember how I said Ash was late on the first day because he overslept?"
"Well, since joining the camp, he's been working hard to change that."
"He now wakes up at 6:30 AM—before the sun is even fully up—and goes jogging with his Pokémon every morning. He's honestly the most hardworking person here."
"And on top of all that, Ash is super kind and approachable. Like I said, he can heal people—and whenever a fellow student gets hurt during activities, even if it's something small like a mosquito bite, he'll help out with complete patience and without the slightest complaint."
"And when Goh was badly injured by that Gyarados, Ash was the first to rush over and heal him—even pushing himself to the point of total exhaustion."
"He never gave up. Never complained. He just kept going."
"It's not just me—every camper here admires Ash. He's strong, talented, driven, and genuinely a good person."
"We all look up to him."
Yoko: "Waaah!! He's truly sugoi ne (incredible)!"
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