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

Chapter 399 The First Pokémon

"Oh dear, in the end, it really has to be me, the glamorous queen born a superstar, who makes the appearance!"

"Well then, little Yaoyao, let the beautiful senior teach you, hahahaha————"

"Okay, I'll leave it to you, Musashi-senpai!" Haruka looked at Musashi's bold and unrestrained figure, and her eyes immediately lit up.

"Ah, uh, okay."

Although he remained as arrogant as ever, Musashi felt inexplicably uncomfortable being genuinely respected by others.

That's right, the experienced acquaintance that Ash called over was Jessie.

Actually, he originally intended to contact Rukia first, but she was currently participating in the Grand Contest in Rukia City and couldn't come to help.

She kept apologizing on the phone.

"I'm so sorry everyone!"

Xiao Zhi and his friends naturally knew that the other party was busy, and they didn't blame him at all.

Although she couldn't come in person, Rukia still wanted to send her blessings, and she also gave Haruka some tips for the competition.

"But this is so great, Haruka! You really went to the Grand Contest! I'm so happy!"

"Whether you win or lose, you must shine brightly on stage!"

"Um!"

However, after the pleasant call ended, May immediately stared at Ash with her sharp gaze.

She had accidentally glanced at Ash and Rukia's call log and noticed that it seemed to have a lot of messages and the call duration was a bit too long.

Many of the calls were even initiated by Rukia to Ash.

"By the way, how do you have Rukia's personal contact information? I don't even have it!"

"Ah, this—"

Stared at by the busty beauty, Xiao Zhi felt a cold sweat trickle down his forehead, and the muscular man's brain immediately started spinning.

Suddenly, he remembered that when he called Kojiro earlier, Kojiro seemed to be conducting fieldwork in Kaina City.

Since he was here, it meant that Jessie must be here too. Ash immediately suggested that they go find Jessie to help May with the Contest.

It's been a while since we last met, and Musashi has won another Grand Tournament, now possessing two Coordination Ribbon Medals.

Because Haruka was unaware of Musashi's dark past, she admired her greatly and was overjoyed to have Musashi help her.

Ash pulled Jessie out of his mouth, and May promptly forgot about the incident with Rukia.

Soon after, Ash made a phone call, promising to sponsor Jessie for her high-end dress for the next Grand Contest, and she rushed over instantly.

"For this grand concert in Kaina City, I, Musashi, have chosen to take a break temporarily to fully support you."

"So remember this, Haruka, this gorgeous ribbon medal is mine, you absolutely have to win!"

Hearing Musashi say this, Haruka felt immense pressure, but she quickly clenched her little pink fists and loudly agreed.

"Yes, Musashi-senpai!"

"Meow, Musashi, didn't you never plan to sign up in the first place?!"

"Shut up, meow!"

"It's rare to find a young person who admires me so much; would it kill me to earn her a little more respect?"

With one kick, Musashi sent the talkative Meow Meow flying five miles away. Musashi immediately grabbed his two friends and ran to the back, threatening them not to disturb his teaching again.

Then, she skillfully switched back to a bright smile and returned to Xiaoyao's side.

"Anyway, Haruka, let's practice some fancy battles together first."

"Okay, but wait a moment." Haruka picked up the Torchic at her feet and ran to hand it to Masaru.

"Xiaosheng, I'll leave my turkey in your care for the time being."

After saying that, May immediately turned around and ran back to Musashi's side with Beautifly for special training, leaving Max holding Torchic with a helpless expression.

Afterwards, Max and Ash went back to the Pokémon Center together. They hadn't eaten breakfast when they arrived in Slateport City, and now it was almost lunchtime.

By the way, Xiaozhi also has some things to do back at the center.

The reason he was able to buy the largest hotel in Kaina City so quickly was actually thanks to the Zvoich Group.

That hotel happens to be a hotel under the Zvoich Group.

Xiao Zhi managed to secure the highly profitable hotel by leveraging his relationship with the family boss and the eldest son, along with some personal connections. Otherwise, they wouldn't have sold it no matter how much money was offered.

Therefore, Ash promised to send a few newly hatched fossil Pokémon from his breeding base to Zuvuki to help him improve the Fossil Revival Machine.

Ash needs to go back to the Pokémon Center to explain things and personally thank Uncle Zuvoki. He really needs to improve his relationship with the richest man in Hoenn.

However, on the way back, Ash and his friends noticed that Max and Torchic seemed a little downcast.

So when they returned to the Pokémon Center for lunch, Ash specifically asked what had happened.

"What happened, Kacchan?"

"Ash, my sister has been focusing all her attention on Beautifly lately, and now she's neglected Torchic."

"Do you think she might not like turkeys anymore because she thinks they're not cute enough?"

The bright red chicks at my feet are still hopping and skipping around carefree.

But seeing how happy the turkey was, and thinking about how its sister had abandoned it to it, Xiao Sheng felt inexplicably sad.

Upon hearing this question, Ash burst into laughter.

"You're overthinking it, Xiaosheng. Don't worry, Xiaoyao would never do that."

"Huh? Why are you so sure?"

"Because Torchic was May's first Pokémon."

Children's worries are really peculiar, Xiao Zhi patiently explained to him.

"The first Pokémon you own in your life is the most special and incredibly important partner for a trainer."

"Just like my first Pokémon was Pikachu, how could I possibly dislike it?"

"Pikachu, Pikachu!"

At that moment, Pikachu jumped onto Ash's shoulder and nuzzled his cheek affectionately.

"Of course, the other Pokémon I caught later are also important partners to me!"

While reasoning with them, Ash also added a reassuring remark to the other Pokémon eating at the table.

It seems that only when facing Pokémon does the muscular man's emotional intelligence skyrocket.

"Haruka is just a little busy right now, but it's absolutely impossible that she doesn't care about Torchic. Didn't she specifically ask you to take care of her?"

"It seems so."

After being comforted by Ash, Sheng felt much better.

But since the topic had come up, it made him start to fantasize.

"I wonder what kind of Pokémon I'll get when I reach that age in the future."

"Will it be a turkey, a Mudkip, or a gecko?!" Xiao Sheng gets incredibly excited whenever he thinks about this scene.

But then, Ash said something that seemed a little unexpected.

"Xiaosheng, Xiaoyao has decided to become a Coordinator. As the son of the Gym Leader, you will most likely inherit Petalburg Gym in the future."

"So your first Pokémon must have been given to you by Uncle Senri."

"I remember that Brock's first Pokémon was an Onix that his father gave him."

Even among the gym kids Ash had ever met, only May was the only one who joined the League's starter Pokémon because her father was friends with Professor Birch.

"Ah, given Dad's personality, doesn't that mean the first Pokémon I get will be Slaking?!"

"Very likely."

"Ugh, I don't want to! That's so annoying!" Xiaosheng had grown up in the Lazybones's den and really didn't want to deal with Lazybones anymore.

Ash found it strange to see Brock's resistant attitude.

Both being children from gyms, Misty and Brock both have a particular fondness for the Pokémon from their respective gyms, proving that everyone is different.

Seeing the boy slip from one problem to another, Ash decided to stop interfering and let him figure it out on his own.

However, at this moment, Nurse Joy from the Pokémon Center rushed out, her expression quite conflicted, as if she was in a difficult situation.

As she paced back and forth in the hall, feeling lost and confused, she suddenly saw Ash and the Pokémon at his feet.

Nurse Joy from Slateport City quickly went over and asked, "Hello, are these Torchic, Grovyle, and Mudkip your Pokémon?"

"Yes." Ash immediately transformed into a sunny boy with a gentle smile. His innate kindness emanated from him, instantly increasing Miss Joy's goodwill and making her overjoyed.

"That's wonderful! Could you please do me a favor?"

"Go ahead and say it, Miss Joey."

In the Pokémon world, Nurse Joy is an absolute Lawful Good character, and helping her is a good deed recognized by fate, which Ash never refuses.

Sure enough, the mission was triggered immediately after he agreed.

[Ding! Congratulations, host, you have triggered a new side quest, "Muscle Babysitter": Please take good care of the three Pokémon entrusted to you by Nurse Joy!]

[Rewards: Alliance Coins +3000; Stamina +2; Defense +2; "Heavenly Erosion (crossed out) Blessing Aura" +1]

[Divine Blessing Aura: Increases the evolution probability of the Pokémon you train by 5%]

"Hey, isn't something wrong with that crossed-out thing?" Ash felt inexplicably uneasy.

However, he really didn't expect that what Nurse Joy asked them to do was to entrust Ash and Max with taking care of the Pokémon that would be handed over to the new trainer later.

"Actually, this afternoon a trainer who just celebrated his birthday yesterday and reached the age for traveling is coming to pick up his first Pokémon."

"I was supposed to prepare it for her, but I suddenly received a call saying that there was an injured roaring whale stranded on the beach, and I had to go and check on it."

"But Officer Jenny, who was supposed to come in my place, had something come up at the last minute—"

"I really don't know what to do, so I can only leave it to you."

"Ash, you guys have experience raising starter Pokémon, so I'm sure you'll be fine taking care of these kids."

Nurse Joy led Ash and Max to a large room at the back of the Pokémon Center, filled with various scientific instruments.

Xiao Sheng curiously examined the sophisticated instruments around him.

"So Nurse Joy is the one in charge of giving Pokémon to new trainers in Slateport City? That's amazing! And this place is like a laboratory—"

"Yes, because there have never been any Pokémon professors near Slateport City, so I did my best so as not to disappoint the children."

"While working at the care center, I went to university and then obtained my Pokémon Professor License, which is how I built this laboratory."

Miss Joey smiled sweetly, as if she were talking about something trivial.

But Ash, who witnessed James's entire process of obtaining his professorship, knew how incredibly difficult the Pokémon professorship exam was.

Suddenly, she felt a surge of admiration for Joey from Kaina City. "He's even taking the exam part-time! Is Joey a genius?"

This is something that can't be achieved simply by trying!

At this moment, Nurse Joy finished adjusting the equipment, took out three Poké Balls, and handed them to Max.

"Come on, little brother, you can release them from the Poké Balls."

"Really? Thank you, Miss Joey!"

Xiao Sheng excitedly held the Poké Balls containing the starter Pokémon and carefully released them one by one.

Xiao Sheng was so moved by being able to do this kind of thing himself that he almost cried.

The three starter Pokémon here each have their own distinct characteristics as soon as they appear.

The first Mudkip to appear immediately burst into tears upon seeing Ash and his friends, who were strangers. The next Treecko was a charming female lizard.

The most unique one is the Torchic, which is completely different from Haruka's lively, cute, and somewhat eccentric Torchic.

It exudes an aura from the moment it appears, with sharp eyes.

It very domineeringly pushed Treecko and Mudkip aside, occupying the largest central position all to itself.

Although she still acts like a well-behaved child when she sees Miss Joey, she is not shy at all.

"These Pokémon all have such distinct personalities."

"Well, these kids are a bit naughty, so I'll leave them in your care, Ash."

"Please let them get used to the outside environment, otherwise it wouldn't be good if the newcomer was scared when she came to pick up her Pokémon on time this afternoon."

After saying that, Nurse Joy immediately headed to Wailord's location, and Ash and his friends readily agreed.

But as soon as Joey left, the three little creatures immediately started running around the lab.

"It's so touching to see the starter Pokémon all together, it feels like a dream."

"Katsura, don't you usually see me and Haruka's starter Pokémon all together every day?"

"That's different, Ash. Your Treecko has already evolved into Grovyle, it doesn't feel the same at all!"

That brat has quite a lot of demands, but Max's words also reminded Ash.

He immediately released his Forest Lizard and Mudkip, along with May's Torchic, to help.

The three little guys will definitely feel more at ease being with their fellow Pokémon.

Anyway, Ash and the others just need to keep an eye on the starter Pokémon that will be handed over to the newcomers, keeping them indoors while waiting for Nurse Joy to return.

However, Ash suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to tell Uncle Zuvoki some important things when he teleported Omanyte over.

He hurriedly instructed his Pokémon and Pikachu to stay and help Xiaosheng, as he needed to go to the front hall to contact Uncle Zifuqi.

"Xiaosheng, I'll only be out for five minutes, is that alright?"

"Alright, if you're going, then hurry up and go. Don't treat me like a child!"

Xiao Sheng said impatiently, "It's such a simple thing, and Xiao Zhi has to tell me so many times. It's an insult to him. I'm not as stupid as my sister."

But unexpectedly, as soon as Ash left, without the oppressive gaze of a wild beast, Nurse Joy's Torchic instantly revealed its true nature.

Its little eyes darted around, and it first frolicked in the laboratory, knocking over two of its companions and Haruka's turkeys.

This Torchic's speed, strength, and agility are quite astonishing, completely unlike what a beginner Pokémon should be like.

Because Ash had instructed them before leaving that the three Pokémon must not be harmed, Pikachu and Grovyle were also restrained.

They were completely fooled by Torchic, a beginner Pokémon.

"Pikachu?" (Really?)

"Cheers!" (Impossible!)

Just then, Max ran over to help up the Pokémon that had just fallen, and Torchic took advantage of the moment when it wasn't looking to sneak to the lab door. Max was shocked when he saw it.

"Oh no, Torchicken! You can't run out!"

Torchic ignored Max's instructions and kicked open the heavy door of the laboratory with a powerful kick, then ran out.

"Squeak!"

(I'm going out to play!)