The moment Sam opened the booklet and turned to the first page, the entire room fell silent.
The only sound left was his increasingly rapid breathing.
Sam had always known that the S.S. Anne was a luxury cruise ship—but he had never imagined it would be this luxurious.
The instant his eyes landed on the rewards listed inside, all thoughts of Team Rocket and potential danger were completely thrown out of his mind.
He was getting on the S.S. Anne.
Even if Arceus himself tried to stop him, it wouldn't matter. He had made up his mind.
---
"Misty, Brock, hurry up! I want to challenge the Vermilion Gym as soon as possible!"
Ash was in an unusually good mood, walking at the front of the group while constantly urging the others on.
Misty and Brock exchanged helpless looks.
They weren't as blindly optimistic as Ash.
The Gym Leader of Vermilion Gym—Lt. Surge—was completely different from the Gym Leaders they had faced before. He was infamous for never holding back against challengers. The two of them couldn't help feeling worried that Ash might run into serious trouble.
However, after his battle with Sam, Ash had clearly matured.
Noticing their expressions, he patted his chest confidently and said,
"Don't worry, Brock, Misty. I know Vermilion Gym won't be easy. I'm ready to fight seriously."
Misty and Brock were both surprised to hear this.
It seemed Ash really had grown.
They smiled at each other.
"That's good that you understand," Brock said.
"But it's already pretty late. It's probably too late to challenge the Gym today. Let's rest at the Pokémon Center and go tomorrow."
---
When the three of them entered the Vermilion City Pokémon Center, they immediately saw Sam chatting and laughing with Nurse Joy.
The two looked very relaxed—clearly on good terms.
"Long time no see, Sam!" Ash called out enthusiastically as soon as he spotted him.
"Yeah, long time no see, Ash. And Misty, Brock," Sam replied with a smile.
Judging by the timeline, Ash and the others were right on schedule. There were only a few days left before the S.S. Anne set sail—if they arrived any later, they would miss the entire event.
"Sam, have you already gotten the Thunder Badge?" Ash asked eagerly.
"Mm, I got it," Sam nodded. "You'll have to work hard too, Ash."
Ash's timing couldn't have been better.
Because of the harsh lesson Sam had taught him, Lt. Surge had restrained himself significantly. He was no longer as brutal toward Gym challengers as before.
In a sense, Sam had indirectly lowered the difficulty of the Vermilion Gym challenge for everyone who came after him.
Recently, there had been far fewer cases of challengers' Pokémon being severely injured. Nurse Joy's workload had dropped noticeably—so much so that she actually had time to chat.
In the past, she barely even had time to drink water.
After hearing that Sam had already obtained his fourth Badge, Ash immediately felt a surge of urgency.
He didn't want to fall too far behind.
After all, he had always regarded Sam as his strongest rival.
"Nurse Joy, please!"
Ash quickly handed over his Poké Balls. He wanted the checkup done as soon as possible so he could challenge the Gym early the next morning.
Misty and Brock both understood Ash very well.
They knew that having a powerful rival like Sam was actually a good thing. Competition would only push Ash to grow faster—and that was exactly what they hoped for.
---
"Keh heh heh heh~!"
A strange, eerie laugh suddenly echoed through the Pokémon Center.
Ash felt a chill crawl up his spine, as if someone were staring straight at him.
"Who's there?!"
Even Ash, bold as he was, couldn't help shouting.
"Stop messing around, Gengar," Sam said helplessly.
He had only obtained Gengar a few days ago, but after spending time together, he had already discovered that this Pokémon loved pranks—especially scaring people.
There wasn't much he could do about it.
After all, scaring people was practically a Ghost-type Pokémon's natural instinct.
"Gengar?"
Once Ash knew it was a Pokémon, his fear vanished instantly.
Ash was one of those rare Trainers who liked all Pokémon. Even Muk didn't bother him—so a Gengar was nothing.
He quickly pulled out his Pokédex.
"Gengar, the Shadow Pokémon. The final evolution of Gastly. When people suddenly feel cold, it's often because Gengar is absorbing the surrounding heat."
"Shadow Pokémon…" Ash murmured.
"This is my first time seeing one up close."
Brock touched his chin thoughtfully.
"Sam, is your Gengar a Shiny Pokémon?"
Sam looked at Brock in surprise.
As expected of Brock—he noticed it immediately.
Shiny Gengar was different from most Shiny Pokémon. Before Mega Evolution, its color difference from a normal Gengar was extremely subtle.
Without specialized knowledge, most Trainers wouldn't be able to tell the difference at all.
------------Author---------------
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