As the Black World image dissipates, the White World image also begins to slowly brighten.
...
In the White World —
Ash, having conquered the Orange League, began his return to Pallet Town. But on the way back, they encountered a flock of Dragonite! This flock was the family of the Dratini that had traveled with Ash. However, due to poachers, the flock did not recognize the Dratini accompanying Ash. After a series of events, Ash and Dratini won the flock's acceptance through their efforts, and Dratini was able to rejoin its own kind.
But this meant... Dratini was about to part with Ash! At the moment of separation, both Trainer and Pokémon shed reluctant tears, promising to meet again someday. As for how... two words: eventually.
...
[Lance: Released again? Released again? Released again? Our world's Ash is going to become a 'Release Master'!]
[Ash: I... I'm not releasing it! Dratini should return to its own home! Its parents, its family are there! How could I bear to keep Dratini with me!]
Ash rarely refuted Lance's words. As he said, for Dratini, returning to its kind was undoubtedly its best choice. It was certainly happy with Ash, but... Dratini was still young! It hadn't experienced much parental love or had friends of its own kind to play with—things Ash couldn't provide. Moreover, Ash's initial reason for catching Dratini was simply to find the Dragonite flock.
[Cynthia: Ash is also right. In that case, the best option is to let Dratini return to its flock. Even if Dratini wanted to stay, Ash would let it go for its own sake.]
[Cynthia: As for what Mr. Lance called 'releasing'... I don't think so. 'Releasing' carries a more derogatory sense of a Trainer abandoning a Pokémon they dislike.]
[Cynthia: Ash is thinking of the Pokémon's well-being, choosing to let them go freely—whether it was Butterfree, Infernape, Pidgeot, or now Dratini.]
[Cynthia: And Ash didn't destroy these three Pokémon's Poké Balls. So, what I should say is... 'free-range,' right?]
[Ash: Eh... Although it doesn't sound great, it's better than 'releasing.']
Ash didn't refute Cynthia's words. After all, she was speaking in his defense... right?
...
In the White World —
Ash, the "free-range guardian"... no, the Ash who had set Dratini free, returned to Pallet Town. He proudly presented his trophy to his mother, Delia, though she seemed to only want to use it as a dumbbell...
After returning home, Ash also saw Brock, whom he hadn't seen in a long time. As for why Brock returned from Professor Ivy's side... that remained unknown for now. Whenever Professor Ivy was mentioned, Brock would enter a depressed state. Misty guessed he was probably heartbroken. Anyway, it wasn't the first or second time~
Later, everyone went to Professor Oak's lab to deliver the GS Ball. Team Rocket showed up to cause trouble halfway, but Gary returned and drove them off. Seeing Gary, Ash proudly showed off his achievements. In less than a month, he had conquered the Orange Archipelago and won the championship! This was undeniable bragging rights in front of Gary!
Although Gary inwardly acknowledged Ash's progress, he still mocked him, and the two started bickering. Gary sent out an Eevee; Ash sent out Pikachu. The result... Ash, the fresh Orange League champion, was instantly defeated by Gary! After beating Ash, Gary stated he would enter the Johto League. Not wanting to lose to Gary, Ash naturally had to participate in the Johto League too! And so, Ash's new journey began!
The next day, Ash and the others set off. This time, the configuration returned to the original trio: Misty, Brock, and Ash. Tracey stayed behind at Professor Oak's lab. This time, besides challenging the Johto League, they also had to deliver the GS Ball to Mr. Kurt in Azalea Town. Even Professor Oak couldn't analyze the material of that thing.
...
[Professor Oak: Speaking of which, from the Black World, we learned the GS Ball is formed from the feathers of Ho-Oh and Lugia, correct? Kurt, any progress on your end?]
[Mr. Kurt: None at all... Even knowing it's a Poké Ball formed by the power of those two Legendaries, there's no way to analyze it.]
[Lugia: My apologies. Even knowing the Ball contains a part of my power, I cannot determine its function.]
[Ho-Oh: Same for me. Though I know of Lugia, we have little interaction. I cannot know the purpose of a Poké Ball created from our fused power.]
[Professor Oak: Hmm... My intuition tells me there will likely be progress on the GS Ball from Black Ash's side. For now, we can only hope so.]
...
In the White World —
Ash and his group headed for New Bark Town! Upon arriving, Ash first registered for the Johto League. Then, he helped Professor Oak's student, Professor Elm, find his Totodile. Finally, the group began their march toward the first Gym: the Violet City Gym!
Along the way, they encountered various events. Ash caught a Heracross that loved to eat the sap from a Bellossom and a very stubborn Bayleef. Finally, they arrived at the Violet Gym!
Facing Falkner of the Violet Gym, Ash first sent out Bayleef with the type disadvantage. Unfortunately, as a master of type-disadvantage battles, Bayleef failed miserably this time. Next, Pidgeot took the field, directly piercing the opponent's Pidgey and Pidgeotto. However, Pidgeot ran out of stamina and couldn't continue. Ash's final Pokémon was naturally his current ace—Charizard! As the highest-level Pokémon in Ash's team, Ash usually saved it for the grand finale.
After a hard-fought battle, Charizard finally defeated Fearow with Seismic Toss. Thus, Ash successfully obtained his first Johto region badge: the Zephyr Badge! Here, the White World image slowly fades.
...
[Falkner: See? Charizard is still very powerful. It even defeated my well-trained Fearow!]
[Brock: That's something to be proud of...?]
[Lance: Indeed. At least from the current footage, Ash's Charizard shows no signs of being 'stunted.' It has helped Ash defeat one strong opponent after another and is now White Ash's deserved ace.]
[Cynthia: It's Pikachu over there... though that's also related to Pikachu obtaining the Light Ball.]
Black Ash's Pikachu had trained for a long time before departure, and its strength surpassed his other Pokémon. Coupled with the Light Ball's boost, this led to Pikachu's current far-ahead state. Otherwise, judging by Charizard and the others' growth rate, Pikachu would probably only be slightly stronger.
[Blaine: Was I really mistaken? This Charizard isn't stunted?]
[Wallace: Actually, good or poor development isn't the most important. What matters is that Ash treats Charizard as his partner, even family, which is why Charizard can repeatedly unleash great power.]
[Wallace: If Charizard still disobeyed Ash's commands now, it definitely would have lost this battle against Falkner.]
[Drake: That said, Ash's skill as a Trainer has been constantly growing. If Ash hadn't commanded properly, Charizard certainly wouldn't have won.]
[Drake: But I still have to clarify: That Charizard was stunted. As I said before, it was the weakest Charmander in Charicific Valley, bar none!]
[Drake: But now... it has become an upper-mid tier existence in Charicific Valley!]
[Drake: I think... besides its own motivation to grow stronger, it's also the bond between it and Ash! Even when apart, that bond remains in their hearts and transforms into their strength!]
[Paul: How annoying. If something like that can become power, what's the point of Trainers training Pokémon? So-called 'bonds' are just an excuse for the weakness of Trainers and Pokémon!]
[Ash: Hey! I find you really disagreeable! Professor Oak said bonds are real. Do you still want to deny the world-famous professor?!]
[Paul: Everyone has different opinions. What the professor says isn't absolutely correct.]
What a contrarian!
That thought crossed many minds. To be fair, Paul's words disgusted many. It wasn't just denying bonds, but denying the way humans and Pokémon coexist! As he said, treating Pokémon with indifference—as mere tools—so they exert their due power... that's all nonsense!
[Ash: You wait! I'll prove it to you someday! That humans and Pokémon... can definitely grow stronger through bonds!]
[Gary: Hard not to support. It's rare for Ash to say something meaningful~]
[Ash: Gary, what do you mean!]
[Gary: Praising you. This is praising you~~]
[Ash: You'd better be...]
Amid the live stream chatter, the Black World image began to unfold.
...
In the Black World —
Ash and his group, having won two championship trophies, began their return to Pallet Town. Along the way, they returned to Shamouti Island to meet with Melody and the islanders. Though they had video-called from Kumquat Island, Melody still said she missed Ash. Of course, whether a little trickster like Melody was being truthful was unknown. In any case, after a few days on Shamouti Island, Ash's group continued their journey home.
En route... they encountered the Dragonite flock. Just like in the White World, the flock was unwilling to accept the human-friendly Dratini. Ash noticed many Dragonite bore serious injuries, even poisoning! After the flock rejected Dratini, Ash guessed poachers had likely attacked them.
They went to the nearest Kumquat Island to investigate, accidentally running into the severely injured Team Rocket trio. From their mouths... a poaching ring did exist. Their injuries were from accidentally getting caught in the crossfire while trying to capture the Dragonite themselves.
Misty looked at them suspiciously and questioned, "You three... wouldn't happen to have been eyeing the Dragonite, only to get attacked by the poachers first?"
Team Rocket Trio: ...
"Ahaha, how could that be?"
"Yeah, are we that kind of people?"
"We love Pokémon, meow~"
Seeing their expressions, Ash concluded they really had been after the flock! Stealing the hen's eggs only to lose the rice—beaten to this state. But getting intel from Team Rocket was useful. Ash's party once again rode Dragonair and Blastoise to sea. Along the way, Ash used his Aura to constantly scan the surroundings, finally locating a large pirate ship! Coincidentally, the poachers were chasing the Dragonite again. Seeing this, Ash immediately had Blastoise and Dragonair use a double Ice Beam, freezing the entire ship solid! Immediately after, Sabrina stepped forward and used her psychic powers to turn all the pirates into dolls.
Tracey, witnessing this terrifying scene, almost lost his soul. He felt slightly relieved to learn it was just psychic power... Just psychic power?! Knowing he'd been traveling with such a dangerous girl, who could stay calm?!
Sabrina handed the dollified poachers over to Officer Jenny. When the poachers reverted to their original forms before Officer Jenny, she showed a shocked expression, almost hiding behind her desk! With that, the poaching ring incident was resolved. And due to Ash and the others' help, the Dragonite flock became willing to accept Dratini. It seemed... the time for parting had come.
"Little one, remember to eat well, bathe well, sleep well, and exercise well after you go back! Even though I won't be by your side, your parents are there. I'm sure they'll take good care of you. Hey... don't cry. I'm going to cry too..."
Ash gently wiped the tears from the Dratini on his shoulder, his own eyes growing moist. In the past, with Butterfree, he didn't release it but brought its mate along. Later, with Infernape, he didn't hand it over. But this time with Dratini... Ash truly felt it might be better for it to be with its flock than with him. Dratini was probably less than a year old when it started traveling with him—the age when it most needed parental care and companionship. How could Ash be so selfish as to keep Dratini by his side? But...
"I'm not releasing you! Your Poké Ball is still with me. After months of communicating with Mewtwo, I can now contact other Pokémon through their Poké Balls too! So... don't be sad, Dratini. Even if we're apart, our bond won't disappear!"
Saying this, Ash raised Dratini's Poké Ball with a bright smile. "After you've grown and matured in the future, let's travel together again!"
"Dratini~~~"
The tears in Dratini's eyes hadn't fully dried, but a happy expression appeared as it nuzzled Ash's cheek. Among Pokémon, Dragon-types are a race of extremely high intelligence, so it understood Ash's meaning. In short... even if separated, it could still talk with Ash. And when it grew up, it could use this connection to find Ash again and travel with him!
Babies don't stay babies forever. Dratini wouldn't stay with the flock forever. In the not-too-distant future... they would definitely meet again!
...
[Caitlin: Hmm... Though Black Ash also 'free-ranges' Dratini, how to put it... His method is really something else!]
[Flint: Aura power is too broken! Before, he could only communicate remotely with Mewtwo. Now, he's developed it into a universal feature for all Pokémon!]
[Wallace: Sheesh... This function is incredibly strong and convenient! This way, even if Dratini leaves Ash's team, it can still receive Ash's training guidance.]
[Wallace: And it's not just Dratini—other Pokémon can too! It's just... terrifying!]
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