A Pokémon Trainer is a profession that pursues strength for an entire lifetime.
Traveling and adventuring are merely forms of cultivation. When one's strength reaches a certain stage, a professional phase inevitably follows.
It's no different from a medical student who dreams of becoming a doctor—after years of intense study, they will eventually step into a hospital or clinic to work.
The same applies to Trainers.
Once a Trainer reaches a certain level of strength, has traveled through every region, participated in every League Conference, and finds that traveling alone can no longer significantly improve them, they will also enter the professional world.
For most Trainers, the Pokémon League, the official governing body of Trainers, is the optimal choice.
Investigation units, the policing system, the Gym system—or even joining the International Police.
In the original canon, Ash's former self, after traveling through many regions, eventually joined the Cerise Laboratory in Vermilion City alongside Goh, serving as a Special Research Investigator.
As for why his former self chose Cerise Laboratory instead of Professor Oak's Laboratory, the reason was simple: Cerise Lab was a comprehensive, interdisciplinary research institute.
In short, it covered a wide range of topics, allowing Special Research Investigators to travel all over the world—perfectly matching his former self's energetic, restless personality.
But if Ash had to make that choice now…
He would rather become a Pokémon Gym Leader.
Although League Gyms are under League jurisdiction and subject to periodic inspections—failing which a Gym can lose its qualification to operate—Ash was confident in his own abilities.
At the very least, he was far more reliable than Misty before she officially took over Cerulean Gym.
And in the original anime's Sixth Generation, during the Kalos arc, Clemont of Lumiose Gym, who had traveled with Ash, relied on his mechanical genius to create an intelligent robot—Clembot—to manage the Gym, while he himself continued traveling with Ash.
If Ash could own a Gym someday, he could do the same.
When interested, he could personally oversee the Gym and accept challenges from traveling Trainers.
When bored, he could delegate Gym affairs to an intelligent robot and travel freely.
And most importantly—
The League provides Gyms with various subsidies and funding, places relatively few constraints on Gym Leaders, and allows Gyms to be treated almost like private property, capable of being passed down to descendants, successors, or disciples.
…
"Ash Ketchum, this way please. Gym Leader Giovanni is waiting for you inside his office."
After walking down the corridor for a minute or two, Ash was guided to an office door by the female secretary.
The armored guard stationed outside the office immediately opened the door upon seeing them approach.
"Gym Leader, Ash Ketchum has arrived," the secretary said respectfully as she stepped inside first.
"Welcome, Ash. You certainly kept me waiting—but at last, you're here."
Inside the office, Giovanni, who had been seated on the sofa stroking his Persian, stood up with a smile.
"My apologies, Gym Leader Giovanni. I've been quite busy these past few days," Ash replied calmly.
"Haha. Young, capable, and already running a thriving operation—your kind of 'busy' is something many people would envy," Giovanni said with a laugh.
"Alright, Gym Leader Giovanni."
"Let's skip the mutual compliments. Treating Pokémon injuries is more important."
"Where is the special Pokémon you wanted me to help heal?" Ash asked bluntly.
"Give me two minutes," Giovanni replied smoothly.
"I've already instructed the staff to bring it over."
"Alright."
Giovanni's efficiency was impressive. Ash had barely finished speaking when the office door opened again.
An elderly man wearing a researcher's white lab coat entered, accompanied by two assistants in identical attire, pushing a flatbed cart.
The moment Ash saw the thin, elderly man—his slightly curly gray-white hair, hooked nose, and upturned goatee—he immediately recognized him.
This was one of Team Rocket's Four Great Scientists
(Dr. Sebastian, Dr. Namba, Dr. Zager, and Dr. Fuji).
His name was Professor Fuji.
Doctor Fuji once had a daughter named Amber, who died young. In his desperation to revive her, he cooperated with Team Rocket.
First, he cloned the Kanto starter Pokémon.
Then, using genetic data extracted from Mew, he created Mewtwo.
He even attempted to create a life-form containing his daughter Amber's consciousness—
But failed.
After Mewtwo was successfully created, Mewtwo questioned its own existence, went berserk, and destroyed the laboratory on New Island. From that moment on, Doctor Fuji vanished from the public eye.
Ash, who had watched Pokémon Origins, knew what happened afterward.
Doctor Fuji later lived in seclusion in Lavender Town, appearing as the elderly Fuji who guided Red.
In Pokémon Origins, he gifted Red a set of Charizard Mega Stones and revealed that Mewtwo was hiding in Cerulean Cave.
But all of that lay in the future.
Right now—
Mewtwo had not yet been fully created.
It had not yet betrayed Team Rocket.
And Doctor Fuji had not yet been crushed by the failure to revive his daughter.
The man standing before Ash was not the gentle Fuji of later years.
He was a cold, ambitious, and unhinged scientist—a man who could carry out brutal live experiments on Pokémon without hesitation, all in pursuit of reviving his daughter.
As Ash observed Doctor Fuji, the elderly man's gaze also locked onto Ash—burning with undisguised fervor.
The research on the Gene Stabilization Serum had stalled.
Ash's healing psychic power was now Fuji's last hope—whether for Team Rocket's Mewtwo project, or for reviving his daughter Amber.
Feeling Fuji's intense stare, Ash frowned slightly.
Through Aura Perception, he sensed something far worse—
A dense, unmistakable malice.
The desire to capture him.
To dissect him.
To study him.
Ash's brows knit tightly. The innocent, harmless look he had been maintaining instantly vanished, replaced by a dangerous glint.
"Charizard—if Giovanni makes a move, stop him."
After issuing the instruction via Aura Transference, Ash's thoughts shifted.
In an instant, the single baseball bat stored in his system inventory materialized in his hand.
Without the slightest hesitation—
Ash swung the bat with full force, smashing it directly into the old man's abdomen.
BANG—!
"AAAGH—!! You damn brat, what are you doing?!"
Caught completely off guard, Doctor Fuji screamed in pain, collapsing to one knee while clutching his stomach and roaring at Ash in fury.
The room—
Exploded into chaos.
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