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

"Huh?" Xiaoyao's lips twitched, and she kept twirling her two cute little fingers in front of her chest to ease the awkwardness.

"I don't know much about it either~"

"However, I think he is a very strong, very gentle, very handsome, and also a very good person!"

"Judging from what you're saying, you clearly know a lot about this." Ash's eyes suddenly sharpened, and May quickly chuckled to make up for it.

"I mean, I wish that were really the case."

"In any case, let's go check out the Petalburg Gym first!"

"This one……"

"What's wrong, Xiaoyao? Aren't you going?"

"Actually, I have something to attend to, so I'll say goodbye to Xiaozhi first. See you later!"

Before she could finish speaking, Xiaoyao had already disappeared in a flash.

"Oh."

"What's going on with Haruka? Why is she acting so strangely whenever Petalburg Gym is mentioned? Could it be...!"

At this moment, Ash's intelligence suddenly took over, and he remembered what Misty looked like when she was in Cerulean City.

"Maybe May is actually the child of the Petalburg Gym Leader... Hahaha, impossible, impossible!"

The trainers at Petalburg Gym hold a very high position in the Hoenn League; it's not like you'd just randomly run into the child of a Gym Leader.

With a grin, Ash waved his hand, dismissing the thought, and then picked up Pikachu and charged towards the Petalburg Gym.

The entrance to the Orange Blossom Dojo looks rather simple, but its large area makes up for its lack of grandeur.

"As expected of one of the most famous gyms in the Hoenn League, Petalburg Gym Leader must be making a lot of money just by being a local."

Although Ash is the only sun in Dark City, he doesn't really have the right to criticize others.

Ash's timing seems a bit unfortunate; the gym appears to be closed, and there are no students around to greet challengers.

Following the traditional view that "since we're already here," Ash opened the door and entered the gym.

The interior of the dojo's main building is much larger than it appears from the outside.

Ash tentatively greeted them, but there was no response from the empty room.

"Is anyone there? I'm Ash from Pallet Town, and I'd like to come and watch the gym challenge..."

"Pikachu!"

"It's so noisy! I was just watching the Silver Conference videotape."

"Oh, sorry."

After Xiao Zhi called out several times, someone actually came.

The newcomer turned out to be a bespectacled kid who came from the next room into Ash's battle arena room, rubbing his head and looking impatient.

It seemed that he had disturbed the other person's lunch break, and Xiao Zhi was about to turn around and leave.

But to everyone's surprise, when the kid saw who it was, he immediately got excited and ran up to Ash, pointing at him with his finger.

It's you!

"That was at the finals of the City Alliance Silver Tournament—!"

"Oh!" It's rare for someone in the Hoenn region to recognize him. Ash nodded expectantly.

"Yes, yes, that's me—"

"The one who fought against that handsome guy named Shigeru in the finals... A-Wu!"

"My name is Xiaozhi!" Xiaozhi almost fell over.

"I'm a champion of the league tournament, you know. At least remember my name!"

"Haha, I was just kidding." The bespectacled kid grinned mischievously.

"I watched every single match of the Silver Tournament live broadcast, and I even recorded them and watched them several times!"

"From Pallet Town, the lecherous scumbag Zhi is a master at manipulating women's hearts!"

"Hey, Xiao Mao has just as many girlfriends as I have, so why is he called handsome while I'm called scum?"

This brat is so annoying! He should at least add "powerful trainer" before "scumbag Zhi"!

"No, Xiao Mao is a scumbag too."

"Really? Then I'm relieved."

Xiao Zhi felt much better after realizing he wasn't the only one being scolded.

"But you're really strong, Ash. Every Pokémon you fielded at the tournament was trained exceptionally well."

"Your opponents before the finals pose absolutely no threat to you."

Suddenly, the bespectacled kid changed his attitude and stared at Ash with his blinking eyes.

"My palms were sweating watching the last match! It was amazing to see men recognized by legendary Pokémon!"

"I really want to be recognized by a legendary Pokémon too."

"In order to see more powerful Pokémon, I even dug up and watched all your previous matches at the Indigo League."

"But have you ever used a legendary Pokémon in a formal competition, only the Silver Conference?"

"Actually, Suicune was also used in the Whirlpool Tournament..."

It seems that this bespectacled imp is one of Ash's admirers, which immediately improved Ash's opinion of him.

He was thinking about whether to summon the Eight Treasure Porridge for the kids to see, but before he could finish speaking, the bespectacled brat interrupted him in a very arrogant manner.

"Hmm, never mind, it's not important."

"You brat, why are you still asking!"

This kid is still really annoying, always talking to himself, and his defining characteristic is probably his self-centeredness.

"Speaking of which, the Silver Tournament finals were really intense, especially when Pikachu was defeated by Regigigas's Explosion. I was really worried for you."

"Oh." Ash replied to the kid's words in a nonchalant manner, but the other seemed completely oblivious, continuing to push up his glasses and ramble on.

"In that situation, Pikachu actually had a chance to escape, right? I could have done better if it were me."

"Please, Reggio Emilia, watching TV and experiencing it firsthand are two completely different things!"

How could someone who watches a slow-motion replay on TV possibly understand the adrenaline rush Ash felt during the battle?

However, the bespectacled kid didn't seem to care at all. After spotting Pikachu, he immediately hopped over to it and picked it up.

"Great, this is Pikachu from back then, so fluffy and comfortable."

"Pikachu~"

"Don't hug too tightly, or you'll get an electric shock..." Ash finally lost his patience and pulled the little devil to his side.

"In short, kid, I don't have time to play with you right now. I'm here to find the Gym Leader. Please call the Gym Leader out."

Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, the kid suddenly lowered his head, revealing a sinister face reflected in his glasses, much like Conan's.

"My name is Baku, and if you're looking for a Gym Leader—that's me!"

"you?"

"That's right, it's me!"

……

Ash silently pulled Pikachu from Max's arms, then turned and walked towards the gate.

"Wait, wait, it really is me!" Xiaosheng quickly pounced over and grabbed Xiaozhi's foot to stop him from leaving.

"Look, I have a Gym Leader's Poké Ball, and I can even command them!"

"Now you can trust me, right?"

When Ash saw that Sheng had taken out a Poké Ball that was polished to a shine and looked very well taken care of, he stopped in his tracks.

"If you really are a Gym Leader, then release your Pokémon and let me see."

After all, there are all sorts of gym trainers, and Ash can't be too arbitrary, so he decided to give Max a chance.

"Hmph, just you wait, Hyperactive Ape, come out and use your wild claw attack!"

"Oh!"

What emerged from the Poké Ball was a strong, white, bipedal ape.

This was a Hoenn region Pokémon that Ash had never seen before, and he immediately became interested.

Then the hyperactive ape immediately launched an attack—against Koshin.

The little imp was knocked to the ground by the hyperactive ape, which then launched a flurry of claw attacks, quickly scratching at his armpits.

"Oinking~"

"Hahaha, stop it, you hyperactive monkey! You're not grabbing me... Ahahaha..."

The scene was a little awkward for a moment. After catching his breath, Xiao Sheng finally got up from the ground and pushed up his glasses with a forced calm expression.

"Hoo~ Hoo~, come back soon, hyperactive ape."

With a flash of red light, the scene of coaxing the child finally came to an end.

"Heh heh, how about that? The hyperactive ape followed my instructions and activated its skill just now. Now do you believe I'm a Gym Leader?"

"Pikachu, let's go. It seems the Gym Leader isn't here for the time being."

"Wait, wait a minute! Let's have a match, just one!"

"Xiaosheng, what are you guys doing making such a racket on the battlefield in the middle of the day?"

As Ash ignored Max clinging to his leg and walked straight toward the door, a familiar, pleasant voice suddenly came from outside the room window.

"elder sister!"

"Xiaoyao?"

"Hey, Ash, you're here."

The little head that suddenly peeked out of the window was none other than Haruka, who had recently parted ways with Ash.

Following closely behind her, a man and a woman quickly approached the window.

"Oh dear, do we have any guests at the dojo?"

"Welcome to my Petalburg Gym."

"Dad, Mom!"

"Mom and Dad?"

"Hehe, actually I'm the son of a gym leader."

Seeing that his scheme had finally been exposed, even the arrogant brat Xiao Sheng finally showed an embarrassed expression.

At this moment, Ash turned his gaze to May outside the window.

"So, Xiaosheng called you 'sister' just now, which means Xiaoyao, you..."

"Hehe, actually I'm also a child of the Petalburg Gym. Sorry for keeping it a secret from you before."

"what!"

What a coincidence!

————One more time————

And so, Ash followed May and the others to the reception room of Petalburg Gym to receive their hospitality.

"Let me formally introduce myself. These are my mom and dad."

The couple sitting next to him immediately greeted Xiaozhi warmly.

"Hello, I am Senri, the trainer of Petalburg Gym."

"I am Haruka and Kakeru's mother, and my name is Mitsuko."

"And that guy with glasses is my younger brother, Xiaosheng."