In a Black World —
Ash dialed the number he had been meaning to call.
Originally, he was supposed to contact that person right after passing through the forest, but Celebi's incident had forced him to put it on hold.
Now, that heavy matter was temporarily pushed to the back of his mind.
In the end, that thing couldn't be rushed. Gathering all the power of the beasts and the eighteen Plates… he didn't even know what the eighteenth Plate was.
What was the point of having so many?
It was better to focus on the present.
Ash had originally planned to call that person from the Pokémon Center, but his encounter with Pryce… it had further ignited his fighting spirit!
Since you said the bonds between humans and Pokémon are useless, then I'll prove to you… the power of those bonds!
"Hello, Miss Drake?"
"Yo, what brings this call? It's only been a few days."
"Don't tease me. I said I would call."
"Okay, okay~ Seriously, your Charizard is now the treasure of Charizard Valley! You have to be careful not to let it get too badly injured!"
Drake said as she used the Poké Ball Ash had left there to recall the excited Charizard.
Hearing this, Ash broke out in a sweat.
What did she mean, don't let it get too injured… Was this her Pokémon or his?
Although he knew Charizard was now popular in Charizard Valley,
Ash obviously still didn't realize… A Charizard with excellent genes and Sacred Fire held such a transcendent status there!
During normal training, everyone was ruthless, but after training, all the female Charizard would gather around his.
His Charizard had truly become the valley's treasure.
Ash was clearly unaware of this situation.
He took the teleported Charizard's Poké Ball and then chose to send Heracross back via the Pokémon storage system.
After the simple exchange was complete, Ash hung up the call with Drake and dialed Professor Oak's number.
Ash didn't plan to tell Professor Oak about Team Rainbow Rocket, but he could mention Celebi.
After telling him about meeting Celebi, while Professor Oak looked a bit shocked, he seemed more understanding… as if he was saying, "Oh~ so that's when he met him."
Ash instantly understood. Even though his time with the young Samuel hadn't been long, the other seemed to have remembered him completely.
Young Samuel was the past Professor Oak, so the present Professor Oak still had memories of knowing him.
Maybe he didn't know who he was at first, but… from the moment Professor Oak saw him in Pallet Town, he might have realized who that person from back then was.
At the same time, because that incident was etched deeply in Professor Oak's memory, he also knew… there should be a follow-up. But if Ash didn't tell him, he wouldn't pry further.
When he learned Ash was about to challenge Pryce's Gym and had already met him in advance,
Professor Oak couldn't help but sigh.
"...I guess you already know about Pryce's… difficult personality, right?"
"With all due respect, it's not difficult, it's a problem with his mindset! I don't understand how a Trainer with such a mindset could get this far!"
Ash's evaluation of Pryce wasn't polite at all.
He rarely beat around the bush. He usually said things directly.
Even if Pryce were here, he wouldn't change his assessment!
"Alas, don't blame him. Actually…"
Professor Oak told Ash what happened to Pryce back then.
Ash was silent for a moment, then answered decisively.
"I don't believe Piloswine would abandon Pryce! After being with him for so long, it should know Pryce's character and habits!"
"Pokémon are creatures you need to communicate with heart-to-heart. If Pryce truly believed Piloswine was his best partner before it left, then there's definitely no problem with Piloswine!"
"The problem is that he doesn't believe in Piloswine!"
Though he said that, it was an indisputable fact that Piloswine left Pryce for some reason when he was at his lowest. No wonder Pryce was so deeply hurt.
"Professor Oak, do you know where Pryce was recuperating and where Piloswine left?"
"I do know… What do you plan to do, Ash?"
A flash of determination crossed Ash's eyes.
"Of course, to get Piloswine back!"
He wanted to prove to Pryce… that the bond between Pokémon and humans… is not so fragile!
Whether in battle or in life!
...
[Flint: Hey, I was wondering how Pryce would find his Piloswine without Team Rocket's help. Well, the answer is revealed—the almighty Black Ash is here!]
[Steven: With the power of Aura, as long as Black Ash reaches the place where Pryce lost Piloswine, he should be able to find it!]
[Pryce: Sigh I'm happy for my other self, but also sad for the blow he's about to receive.]
[Professor Oak: Haha, true. Honestly, if Ash defeats you in that other world and then brings out Piloswine… that scene would be devastating!]
[Pryce: ...]
Just don't give his old heart a shock. As you get older, your heart isn't in great shape.
If that happened, it would be a direct slap to his other self's face!
But a slap is a slap. He's already in his seventies; face isn't that useful anymore.
Pryce is mainly worried whether his other self, upon seeing Piloswine and learning what it did back then, would have a complete mental breakdown…
In this world, he and Ash found Piloswine together, and it wasn't during a battle.
In the Black World… if Ash could defeat him head-on and then have Piloswine appear and tell the truth…
Hiss… He had a feeling his soul would suffer a terrifying blow!
Under everyone's expectant gaze, time flew by to the next day.
——
In a Black World —
A quiet night passed, and the next day arrived.
Ash and the others came to Mahogany Town, not from the direction of the Lake of Rage, but from another path. Behind Ash and the others was a blue light screen.
When people around looked over, they could only see a light curtain blocking their view.
It seemed this light curtain wasn't just behind Ash, but surrounded the area behind them, as if… something was inside.
Soon, the group of four arrived in front of the Mahogany Gym, where a woman named Prima greeted them at the door.
While chatting with Prima, Ash and the others learned… she was Pryce's wife!
They were speechless—shocked, but speechless!
Why was it that Pryce's temples were white and his face wrinkled,
while this person said to be his wife looked at most like an aunt in her forties or fifties?!
Could it be… Pryce was an old cow eating young grass?!
Ash and the others quickly shook their heads, driving this thought away.
It was wrong to speculate about others' lives like that!
...
[Pryce: What do you mean, 'old cow eating young grass'?! I look this old because Piloswine's departure hit me too hard!]
[Lance: Although… but… Miss Prima does look very young!]
Prima next to Pryce was laughing so hard she couldn't straighten up.
Honestly, no woman dislikes being praised for looking young, let alone Prima who's over sixty!
There isn't a huge age gap between Prima and Pryce, but first, people in this world generally look youthful, and second, Pryce was truly devastated by the Piloswine incident.
Being naturally a few years older, he looked much older than Prima.
[Pryce: Kid Lance, let's schedule a one-on-one offline!]
[Lance: Old Man Pryce, you're really trendy, knowing the word 'solo'… Bring it on! Even if you're the Ice-type Champion, I'm the Dragon Master!]
No fear of the invincible Dragon Master!
So what if you're the Ice Champion? It's not like he hasn't battled Lorelei before!
If it weren't for the rule that becoming Champion required defeating all the Elite Four in one go, he'd have been the Kanto Champion long ago!
In a six-on-six, Lorelei's odds against him were 30-70, with him at 70!
Old Man Pryce… Well, better prepare some anti-Ice tools first.
...
In a Black World —
Led by Prima, everyone arrived at the Mahogany Gym's arena.
The Mahogany Gym was called the Ice Gym, so the arena was naturally ice-themed.
The huge field was covered in ice, with a large pool in the center.
To handle this arena, you either needed something that could fly, something that could move in water, or Pokémon that could move swiftly on ice. Otherwise, the terrain disadvantage alone could doom a challenger!
Pryce stood with his arms crossed, eyes closed in meditation.
When Ash came to the field, he slowly opened his eyes.
"You came."
"I'm here."
"Yesterday I called Oak and told him about your naive idea… wanting to fight me at my full strength. That old man actually said I should go along with it."
"Although the old coot can be unreliable, he wouldn't joke about this. In other words… you have Champion-level strength, right?"
At the end, Pryce's gaze sharpened.
A ten-year-old Champion… he was witnessing history today!
Could the Johto Champion, Lance, train a Champion-level Pokémon at that age?
Hah, no way. Forget ten years old, it was questionable whether that fifteen-year-old even had one!
Ash had successfully ignited Pryce's fighting spirit.
Originally, the other's insistence on bonds was enough to make Pryce want to teach Ash a lesson. But using Champion-level strength to bully him might be too much.
Using ordinary Gym-level Pokémon… might not beat him.
Now it was better—he finally had an excuse to go all out against this kid!
In response to Pryce's question, Ash nodded frankly.
Prima's face twisted in shock.
Cham… Champion?
How old was this child? Eleven? Twelve?
No matter what, he couldn't be over thirteen!
And he'd already reached Champion level?
Even as a non-Trainer, she understood what Champion level meant.
That was standing at the top of the League!
No… at the top of the entire world!
Pryce slowly took out a Poké Ball, his voice cold.
"I'll show you… what emotions, what bonds… they're all worthless!"
Ash was somewhat used to Pryce's stubborn mindset.
Of course, it was still incredibly annoying.
So…
"I'll correct your warped thinking in this battle!"
As the words fell, Ash and Pryce threw their Poké Balls simultaneously.
Click—
With a crisp sound, two white flashes appeared in the air, and two Pokémon landed on the icy field.
Before Pryce was a Pokémon with a huge gray shell and a light blue body.
Ash was very familiar with this Pokémon—Lapras!
Even now, Ash often contacted Lapras.
Their family was living well, and the little Lapras had grown a lot.
It could be said that… the time for Lapras's return wasn't far off.
The Pokémon before Ash was a huge orange western dragon—Charizard!
"Charizard? If I recall correctly, that Pikachu is your starter, right? This Charizard was trained midway… it should be less than a year old. Are you sure it can fight my Lapras?"
Pryce doubted Charizard's strength.
Mainly because… the moment this Charizard appeared, it unleashed its aura without restraint.
While strong, it was clearly still far from Champion level!
Not to mention competing with his veteran Champion Lapras; even an ordinary rookie Champion… could probably overpower that Charizard. When the strength gap reached a certain level, tactics couldn't compensate.
Not to mention he was a veteran Trainer in his seventies.
Out-tactic him? You must be joking!
"Whether it can or not… we have to try to find out! Charizard, say hello first—Flamethrower!"
"Roar!!"
Charizard, who hadn't had a proper battle in a while, seemed very excited.
The flame on its tail grew larger. At the same time, it gathered a mouthful of crimson flames and suddenly spat them out!
The flames held a hint of colorful light!
This Flamethrower… contained the aura of Sacred Fire!
"Hmm? Counter with Water Gun!"
Seeing the clearly unusual Flamethrower, Pryce abandoned the idea of showing off with Ice Beam to suppress it and directly chose Water Gun, which had a type advantage!
"Woo~"
A blue water column shot out. The turbulent flow collided with the fierce flames, exploding into a huge white mist!
"Charizard, dodge left!"
As soon as Ash's order came, Charizard stopped the flames without hesitation and instantly tilted its head.
Whoosh!
Then, the surging water column with violent force shot past Charizard's face and blasted into the wall behind!
Pryce narrowed his eyes.
This kid… was indeed unusual!
Holding the title of veteran Champion and having no prior information on Ash, he didn't know Ash's abilities.
Therefore, when the other noticed through the white mist that Water Gun had suppressed the flames, Pryce was slightly shocked.
The other could even detect the Water Gun's impact point… Could it be psychic power?
But even with psychic power, you probably couldn't have clairvoyance, right?
"You're keenly aware of the field situation. Ash, your command level isn't low. But I'll say it again… aren't you considering switching Pokémon? If I'm not mistaken, your Charizard is only mid-Elite Four level, right?"
"However, the flames it released were a bit strange—their power exceeded that level."
"As expected of a veteran Champion Trainer… to analyze so much from just one exchange."
Hearing Pryce's analysis, Ash couldn't help but sigh.
The last time he was analyzed so thoroughly was against Giovanni.
These veteran Champions were truly experienced!
But…
So what!
Ash glanced at the Keystone on his palm, a smile appearing on his lips.
No matter how you analyze, can you analyze this? You'll soon understand what it means—the times have changed!
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