"Wind Bat, huh? I didn't expect you to bring out your ace."
"That's right. After all, my opponent is you, so it's only necessary to get serious. I'm determined to claim your poison. Go, Crobat—use Cross Poison!"
"On the fork!"
The Crobat swiftly charged towards the Ekans, its wings shimmering with a purple glow.
"Arbok, you know what to do with someone of this level."
"Arbok!"
Hearing Ash's words, Arbok's eyes sharpened, and it immediately used the Dig move. Koga, seeing this, narrowed his eyes slightly. Amazing...
Independent battling is troublesome for Pokémon with trainers, as they need to reach a level where they can trust their trainer and be trusted in return. Yet Ash's Arbok actually... No, wait—Koga suddenly realized something, and his gaze toward Ash changed. Meanwhile, a faint smile appeared on Ash's lips.
"You noticed?"
"No! Crobat, dodge!"
"Crobat!"
Although puzzled about why it needed to dodge, Crobat complied anyway. This action saved it from disaster as an incredibly powerful Acid Spray erupted from the hole once more. Had Crobat not moved away...
"Open and you'll be hit!"
"You deliberately told Arbok to fight autonomously before??!"
"No, I did indeed let Arbok fight autonomously."
As the Arbok suddenly burst from the ground mid-sentence, it clamped its jaws onto the Crobat's body. Ash looked at Koga and said, "Observing me all this time was pointless. Arbok truly can fight independently."
"What??!"
It dawned on Koga then—Ash had been doing it on purpose, playing mind games to make him paranoid. Now, due to his own carelessness, his Crobat had been bitten directly, putting him in a very bad situation.
The Crobat held in Arbok's bite was beginning to feel dazed, as the Arbok had started injecting paralyzing venom—its favorite method when preying on wild rats.
"Golbat used#;"
"Cross!」⊥up up"
Accompanied by the Crobat's sharp cry, the Arbok frowned but remained unaffected.
"Oh no!_
"Training. Train hard enough, and you won't have to worry about situations like this. Arbok's final Iron Tail!"
The Arbok, firmly biting onto the Crobat, directly flung the paralyzed Crobat into the air before slamming it heavily onto the ground with its tail. After suffering this devastating blow, the Crobat was finally unable to continue.
"Crobat is unable to battle! The winner of this Pokémon battle is Ash!"
As Ayame announced, Koga sighed and recalled his Crobat.
"You did well. It's my lack of training. Come back, Crobat."
After recalling Crobat, Koga took out a scroll and unrolled it.
"This is the Fuchsia Gym's Soul Badge, and it's a special edition for defeating all of my team."
"Thanks, then we'll not disturb you any longer. Goodbye."
"Hey, hey, wait a minute—don't be so heartless. Let's talk more about the venom pearl. And won't you stay for some tea?"
"No, I can't get used to your Johto tea. I prefer the clear taste of our Kanto region's—"
"That's perfect! I just got my hands on some excellent clear tea. You must try it!"
Ash was speechless seeing Koga being so shameless. Still, he turned to Misty, Suzy, and Brock and asked, "So, stay a little longer?"
Suzy couldn't bear to see the pleading look in Koga's eyes.
Thinking it was just a matter of staying a bit longer, he asked, "What about you, Misty?"
"I'll listen to Ash, since they want him to stay longer after all. As for you, Brock, you can—"
Seeing Brock staring at Ayame the whole time, Misty knew there was no need to ask.
---Dividing Line---
"It's rather embarrassing to admit. Although I was appointed as the Poison-type Heavenly Jewel of the Johto region, I must concede that I'm indeed inferior to Ash when it comes to using poison."
At this moment, in the reception room of Koga's house, Koga's family and Ash's group were sitting together drinking tea. And the one brewing the tea was Ash—because Koga's method was simply too wasteful for tea.
Listening to Koga's explanation, Suzy also understood his thoughts.
"So Master Koga, you want to buy the Toxic 3 that Ash has refined?"
"That's right. In fact, any Poison-type Pokémon trainer would have the same thought. But we know that to give our Pokémon the same level of toxicity as Ash's Arbok, we'd need Ash's personal assistance. So we can only settle for the next best thing—hoping to obtain the Toxic Orb refined by Arbok itself. Of course, if possible, I'd much rather get one of Arbok's offspring!"
"Arbok!"
(No!?)
Arbok immediately turned its head upon hearing Koga's words, while Meowth said with a smile, "He says he refuses."
"I knew it..."
"Alright, I only use Toxic Orbs on my own people, so I'm sorry."
"Don't say that. Look, you and Ayame have known each other for so long. She's not getting any younger. How about you two make do with each other?"
_? '..'*N
Looking at Koga, who had already lost all sense of shame to the point of selling out his sister, the people present... Ash suddenly pulled Misty and Suzy into a hug, saying, "I have a girlfriend, with marriage in mind, and I also have a fiancée."
"Alright. But if you change your mind, you're always welcome here."
"Big brother, stop embarrassing yourself already."
Koga seemed to ignore Ayame's sarcastic remark and continued, "But I think it's getting late. Why don't we all stay here for the night?"
Ash glanced outside. It was indeed getting dark, and with the long journey through the forest ahead, he nodded in agreement.
"Alright. Sorry for the trouble."
At night, in the guest room where Brock was sleeping—a bamboo tube slid in, followed by a puff of sleep-inducing smoke. Already asleep, Brock fell into an even deeper slumber. Meanwhile, Misty and Suzy were fine, but Ash had an unexpected visitor.
"I say, Ayame, you do look quite beautiful in a kimono, but don't you think it's rather inappropriate to come to my place in the middle of the night without sleeping?"
"Still better than someone who's practicing martial arts in the middle of the night."
"Since you have targets here, it wouldn't hurt to practice a little more."
As he spoke, Ash began rapidly punching the wooden stake.
"Sigh... Could it be that I hold no attraction for you at all?"
"You do, but you— What about your wishes? Look, in all the time we've spent together, it's either been sparring or helping you figure out your ninjutsu. Our relationship feels more like best friends."
Hearing Ash say this, Ayame finally understood his thoughts.
"So that's how it is... Then it seems the problem lies with me. I haven't properly expressed my own feelings..."
As she spoke, Ayame slowly walked towards Ash.
"Hey... I'm a carnivore, you know."
"Isn't that even better?! Hurry up and come with me, I'm feeling quite shy too!-?!"
———— 🌟 ————
ps:Support and join my Patreon
patreon.c@om/chenc11 Remove @
You can read up to 20 premium chapters.