Ash, with his invincible physical body, wants to become a Pokémon Master.

Chapter 397 Arrival in Kaina City

"What is it?" Xiao Sheng was now a bit lost in his own horror movie fantasies, and any slight noise would make him jumpy.

But when everyone looked together, there wasn't a single living creature in sight.

"It's probably the wind."

Ash walked over and didn't find anything, but he did see a small boat moored on the other side of the ship through the railing.

"Come quickly and take a look. Maybe someone has already gone inside the ship."

"Huh? Could it be some kind of psychopathic killer?"

Xiao Sheng quickly ran over and indeed saw the small boat moored on the other side.

The situation is increasingly resembling a horror movie; all that's left is for the three of them to get separated while exploring inside the ship's cabin, and then be killed one by one by people who were lying in ambush inside.

"No way, Xiaosheng, you really overthink things."

"Perhaps it's Officer Jenny coming to inspect the condition of the abandoned ship; if that's the case, then we might be saved."

.

Xiao Zhi walked into the cabin without a care in the world.

"But first, let's head over to the captain's cabin. Maybe there'll be a map or a working compass there."

"Great! Let's embark on a grand adventure on an abandoned ship!"

As soon as Ash left, May and Pikachu excitedly followed, leaving Max on the empty deck.

Just then, a chilling sea breeze blew by, and Xiao Sheng shuddered in fright, quickly following after it.

"Satoshi, are we really not going to worry about the person who got to the ship first? Wait for me! Don't leave me alone!"

Because it was a stranded ship, the passageways inside the cabin were full of leaks and rust.

Not only that, the environment was also quite dark, and with the strange noises coming from time to time, Xiao Sheng was on edge.

One moment he's looking around, the next he's startled by a few water-type Pokémon that suddenly dart out.

"So cute!"

Haruka was completely charmed by the sight of the three Mary Lous skipping and hopping along together.

Ash also kept looking around with great interest at the Pokémon he encountered from time to time.

"These are all relatively weak Pokémon. It seems this ship has become a refuge for these small Pokémon."

"Ash, sister, let's get the map and leave quickly, I have a bad feeling about this—"

"Xiaosheng, what are you talking about? This has such an adventurous atmosphere! I want to play a little longer."

Ash and May walked quickly ahead, while Max walked behind out of fear of being left behind.

Suddenly, around a corner, just as the two figures in front disappeared, a huge figure suddenly leaped out of the seawater beside Xiao Sheng, instantly dragging him into the water and disappearing from sight.

"Oh, it's finally here!"

"What's here?"

"Oh no! Ash and Max are missing!"

Only then did Xiaoyao finally realize that Xiaosheng, who had been obediently following behind them, had completely disappeared.

Just as she was about to anxiously search for him, Ash immediately pulled her back to the place where Winston had disappeared.

Before Xiaoyao could even voice her questions, he grabbed her and leaped into the water, following the figure that had abducted Xiaosheng.

Along the way, Ash swam extremely fast and soon jumped out of the water again, arriving at a room at the bottom of the ship's cabin.

Here, Xiaoyao immediately spotted Xiaosheng, who was bound by spider silk and hanging in mid-air.

Moreover, there was not only Xiao Sheng here, but also another man who was also suspended by spider silk.

"Ash, what's going on? Why is there someone else hanging here besides Max? And why are they hanging here?!"

"Hehe, that's because there's something that doesn't welcome us."

"Go, Mudkip! Use the water gun to wake them all up."

When Ash saw the small boat moored on the other side, he had already searched for the auras of the humans on the ship.

Then he sensed that the outline drawn by the small boat's owner's waveguide was actually floating in a room at the bottom of the ship.

It must have been done by one of the Pokémon inside the cabin.

Given this, Ash, as a model youth of the New Century League, certainly couldn't just stand by and watch someone die.

This is all for the sake of a sense of justice, not because of the mission, absolutely not!

[Ding! Congratulations, host, you have triggered a new side quest, "Abandoned Ship Rescue": Please rescue the people trapped in this abandoned ship!]

【奖励：联盟币+4000；特攻+2；特防+2；自由属性点+3；水之石+1】

The main point is that maybe that person knows the flight route to the nearest city, which would save them from getting lost.

However, this ship is simply too big.

Although the little AI knew its general location in space, it was too troublesome to find it because it was unfamiliar with the layout of the ship's cabins.

He planned to use himself as bait to see if he could catch the Pokémon that had kidnapped humans.

Since it would kidnap the boat owner, there was no reason why it wouldn't attack Ash and his friends. In the end, the Pokémon did indeed make a move, but instead of kidnapping Ash or May, it kidnapped the easier-to-bully kid, Max.

At that moment, Xiao Sheng and another man were hit in the face by Mudskipper's water gun and were jolted awake from their unconsciousness.

"Oh no, where am I? Sister Xiaozhi, help me!"

No matter how knowledgeable or arrogant a child may seem, they are still just a child, and will still cry and call for adults to save them when they encounter danger.

"We're here, Xiaosheng, look down."

After struggling and crying in mid-air for a long time, Xiaosheng finally saw his sister and Xiaozhi below, and immediately blushed with embarrassment.

Ash immediately had Pikachu use Iron Tail to save both of them.

With a ding, the bell in Xiaozhi's brain rang, signaling that the task was completed.

Xiao Sheng breathed a sigh of relief, while the man who had also been subjected to bondage play showed a relieved expression and thanked Xiao Zhi.

"Thank you so much for rescuing me. My name is Hirokai, and I'm a Pokémon Marine Ranger."

"It's okay, my name is Ash, and this is my partner Pikachu. The siblings over there are May and Max."

"It's just a small favor. Trainers traveling should help each other out."

Today, he was still sunny, upright, and wise, and his words moved Guanghai deeply.

"What the young man said is very true. Actually, I was originally a passenger on this abandoned ship. I was on the ship when it ran aground."

"That's why we took the initiative to accept the Alliance's commission to come here and investigate the situation of this abandoned ship, to reminisce about the past and see if we should send someone over to remove it, but we didn't expect to be attacked as soon as we arrived —"

When the attack was mentioned, Xiao Sheng suddenly stood up and looked around warily.

"What was that thing that kidnapped me? It was so fast that I only saw a pair of big blue hands and didn't notice anything else before I passed out."

Xiao Sheng felt that it might be a Pokémon he had never seen before.

"But the killer doesn't look like he can spit silk, so why are we tied up?"

"That's because there are Pokémon that can use String Shot, and the one who kidnapped you must be the leader of all the Pokémon living on this abandoned ship."

"1

At that moment, Pikachu immediately understood Ash's look and jumped to the water's edge in perfect unison, shielding the Mudkip behind it.

Suddenly, Ash and his friends heard various rustling footsteps around them. Several Pokémon emerged from the shadows and surrounded them, including the Spider, which was skilled at using web-slinging.

The water immediately began to churn violently, and a huge figure leaped out of it.

"This Pokémon is—Swampert!"

Xiao Sheng immediately recognized the other party's identity, but he was still afraid when he saw the swamp monster's fierce eyes and the low roar coming from its mouth.

"It looks fierce."

"They probably feel that we've disturbed their peaceful lives."

"After all, based on my previous inspection, this abandoned ship will definitely pollute the surrounding waters, and it absolutely cannot be kept any longer."

"But that would mean the Pokémon's habitat would be gone."

Guanghai cautiously looked at the Pokémon around him, a hint of hesitation on his face. For some reason, he felt that the Swampert looked particularly familiar.

Without any hesitation, Swampert immediately launched an attack on Ash and his friends.

Unlike its weaker companions, Swampert is the leader of all the Pokémon on the abandoned ship and is quite powerful.

In particular, he used the Iron Tail move with unparalleled skill.

However, it encountered Pikachu, who also used Iron Tail to knock Swampert away instantly.

"Pikachu, Volt Impact!"

"Pikachu!"

After a loud crackling sound mixed with electric current, the Swampert lost its ability to fight.

The outcome was decided in the blink of an eye, and the surrounding Pokémon were immediately stunned, retreating and no longer daring to approach Ash and his friends.

Of course, Ash wouldn't do anything to them, since they only wandered in here by accident after getting lost.

The one who truly determines the survival of their habitat is Mr. Guanghai.

At this moment, Swampert regained some consciousness and struggled to get up amidst the shouts of the surrounding Pokémon.

"Swamp Monster has a strong will, Pikachu, finish it off with another Iron Tail!"

"Wait a minute, Ash!"

"This Swampert is very likely an evolved form of the Mudkip I lost years ago!"

"what?"

After stopping Pikachu, Hirokai excitedly stepped forward and went to Swampert's side.

"When I was rescued on the cruise ship, the whole ship was in chaos, and I accidentally lost my important partner Mudkip's Poké Ball."

"No ordinary Swampert could learn Iron Tail; only my Mudkip worked hard to learn it back then."

"There's no mistake, this familiar feeling, and the way it uses its Iron Tail—this is definitely my Mudkip."

"Mumpfish, no, Swampert, it's me! I'm Guanghai!"

The Swamp Monster stared warily at Guanghai, but as he approached, confusion and anger appeared in its eyes.

"Swamp Monster, I have never abandoned you. I have always wanted to find you. Even this time, I came here from Slateport City specifically to look for you."

After hearing these words, the anger in Swampert's eyes finally dissipated, and the trainer and Pokémon immediately hugged each other excitedly.

"Oh, I didn't expect to see such a touching reunion." Xiaoyao loves seeing these kinds of touching scenes the most.

"Hmm—I think we can finally escape being lost."

Ash heard it clearly: Hiroki said he was from Slateport City.

This really came without any effort; we can finally get to our destination.

Afterwards, Swampert returned to its trainer, Hiromi, and Ash took all the Pokémon from the abandoned ship with him.

All the water-related items were sent to Xiaoxia's place, and Xiaozhi has already paid for their food with gold.

The remaining Pokémon were all thrown into the Dark City's protected area to live a life of comfort and philosophical inquiry.

The abandoned ship will be recovered and removed by the Hoenn League officials a month later, preventing it from continuing to pollute the sea, which can be considered a happy ending for all.

Ash and his friends finally arrived in Slateport City aboard Hiroshima's small boat.

As soon as May arrived in the new city, she immediately ran to the Pokémon Center because she needed to register for the Pokémon Contest.

This time, she absolutely didn't want to be late again.

Fortunately, they didn't get lost and were delayed for too long, and Xiaoyao successfully registered.

"Yay! Now I can participate in the Kaina City Grand Contest!"

Even after leaving the Pokémon Center, May was still full of excitement, jumping and skipping with joy as she held her entry certificate.

"But sister, even if you're going to participate, are you actually ready?"

"What are you talking about? Of course I'm ready."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Sheng immediately cast a suspicious glance at Xiao Yao.

"Really? Back on Fighting Island, all you did was watch Ash's training with me, right? What have you actually trained so far?"

Upon hearing that Max had such doubts about her, May immediately pulled Ash and Max to a nearby beach.

She wanted to personally demonstrate the results of her special training to them.

"Just you wait and see, the Hunting Swallowtail Butterfly makes its captivating debut!"

Xiaoyao hasn't given up on her beautiful dance entrance pose, but this time she has made some improvements.

Trainers' movements have become noticeably less exaggerated, while Pokémon's spinning entrances have become even more eye-catching.

"Not bad." Ash applauded May with satisfaction. It seemed that May had taken his criticism to heart.

"It's not over yet. This is just the beginning. To pass the first round of auditions, you'll need to deliver a truly spectacular performance."

At this moment, Xiaoyao took out several frisbees from somewhere.

"Hunting Swallowtail Butterfly, Silver Whirlwind!"

"Meow—"

The frisbee was forcefully flung into the air by Haruka, and at the same time, the Hunting Butterfly immediately flapped its gorgeous wings, creating bright whirlwinds that materialized into physical forms.

The silver whirlwind struck the discs accurately, sending them right back into Haruka's hands.

It fully demonstrates the graceful posture of the Hunting Swallowtail and its skillful control over the silver whirlwind.

However, when shooting down the last one, a mistake occurred, and the frisbee slipped from his hand.

Blown by the silver whirlwind, the frisbee was violently flung toward the high ground behind the beach, where a person happened to be standing.

Seeing that the frisbee was about to hit him, Xiaoyao hurriedly shouted in alarm.

"Watch out! Get out of the way!"

But at that moment, the person didn't even glance at it, easily extending a hand to catch the frisbee.

Seeing that the frisbee hadn't hit the other person, Xiaoyao breathed a sigh of relief, but the person immediately gave her a contemptuous laugh.

"Honestly, it's so ugly!"

"What?"

"I'm telling you, you and your Pokémon are neither pretty nor attractive! You think you can participate in a Pokémon Contest like this?"

"Who's this arrogant guy?"