Ash, with his invincible physical body, wants to become a Pokémon Master...

"That familiar voice, Ash, it's you."

Quickly urge the Growlithe to stop, and Gary nimbly jumps off the scooter.

"It's really rare to meet you all here."

Ash hasn't seen Gary in a long time since their last meeting in the Enchanted Forest.

At this moment, Xiao Mao looked more mature and composed, and for some reason, he had a long, hideous wound on his face.

"Xiao Mao, what happened to your face?" Xiao Zhi asked quickly.

Xiao Mao was originally considered handsome, but now this scar has given him a more rugged look.

"Don't worry, I've already asked the doctor."

"It will heal quickly and won't leave any scars. My handsome face will still be preserved!"

Handsome and showing his teeth, Xiao Mao smiles confidently.

"Who cares about that, you smug brat!"

"I'm asking how you got injured?"

As childhood friends, Xiaozhi should at least show some basic care.

"Well... Ash, I watched your matches in the Whirlpool Tournament too."

"Congratulations on winning the championship, you're still as strong as ever."

Unexpectedly, Xiao Mao suddenly changed the subject and steered the conversation elsewhere.

But Ash wasn't about to let him off so easily.

"Oh, thank you, but is this related to your injury?"

Helpless, Xiao Mao could only continue speaking.

"Seeing such a strong rival puts a lot of pressure on me."

Since his disastrous defeat at the Quartz Conference, Shigeru has completely changed his spoiled brat nature and become much more composed.

At the same time, he is also seriously thinking about his future.

This time, the City Alliance will be his final journey to make a decision for himself, so he attaches great importance to it.

Although Ash, his formidable rival, is far stronger than him, Gary is not one to give up easily.

Especially at this crucial juncture in his life, which he had set for himself, Xiao Mao worked even harder and more diligently than before.

Every day, I train my Pokémon and try to find stronger partners.

"This injury of mine was just something I got accidentally during an adventure in the ruins; it's nothing serious."

Although the process was somewhat dangerous, Shigeru eventually succeeded in gaining two powerful new companions.

However, he doesn't plan to reveal this completely to Ash yet.

After all, he still wanted to save them as a surprise for Ash in the upcoming League Tournament.

Chapter 291 The Powerful Pikachu, and the Newly Acquired Pokémon Egg

Since Gary had said so, Ash stopped asking questions, since nothing had happened to him.

"If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. But since we've met, let's have a match."

"Your Arcanine is very well trained. My Garchomp is just lacking experience right now!"

Xiao Zhi's addiction to socializing has flared up again. Things that benefit everyone should be welcomed.

But to my surprise, Xiao Mao... refused!

"Sorry, Ash, not now."

"I have a competition tomorrow, and it would be troublesome if Arcanine got injured at this time."

"Contest?"

By this time, Gary had already dashed off, and Ash and the others could only follow him into the town.

As soon as Ash entered the town, he found that there were people practicing everywhere.

Just like Gary from before, the trainers stood on a skateboard, pulled forward by Pokémon.

"Xiao Zhi, look!" Xiao Xia picked up a brochure from a basket by the intersection, and Xiao Zhi and Xiao Gang quickly went over.

"This is probably the competition that Xiao Mao is going to participate in."

"Pokémon rally racing is a very simple sport."

"Trainers must participate in the competition with their Pokémon. The first trainer to complete the entire course using the reins and skateboard as required will win."

"The final prize is this year's trophy and a Pokémon egg."

So it turns out that Thunder Town is hosting a Pokémon racing tournament tomorrow; no wonder so many people are practicing here.

"Pokémon eggs..." Ash thought it was quite interesting and decided to sign up for the competition.

[Ding! Congratulations on triggering a new side quest, "Egg Protection Contest": Win the egg protection race!]

【奖励：联盟币+3000；速度+1；体力+1；自由属性点+2；特性骑乘等级+1；宝可梦孵蛋加速器（人造火焰之躯）+1】

"But Ash, do you have any equipment?"

The skateboards and reins for the competition are to be prepared by the participants themselves. Xiaoxia also wanted to participate, so she specifically asked Xiaozhi about it.

"Don't worry about that."

When you're missing something, quickly check out the system's amazing toolbox!

However, to Xiao Zhi's surprise, when he looked in the system store, he found that this niche item was actually not available.

"Uh, they should sell them in town, right?"

Just as Xiaozhi and Xiaoxia were having a problem, an uncle passing by overheard their conversation.

"A boy or girl wants to participate in the racing competition?"

This uncle named Dazhao turned out to be the organizer of the race, and he found Xiaozhi to be very kind.

He kindly invited Ash and his friends to his breeding house and lent them his old racing equipment.

Xiao Zhi naturally agreed; saving money was the best thing ever.

"This kind of race is different from the race on the back of a Pokémon. Because of the influence of the reins on directional control, it is an extreme test of the tacit understanding between the Pokémon and the trainer."

"Furthermore, the runners must carry a substitute similar to a Pokémon egg, and then run the entire course as fast as possible while ensuring the safety of the egg."

"This is because the tournament originated from the inconvenient transportation in the past. When a Pokémon got sick, it had to travel overnight to a distant town to get treatment. The habit left over from the journey led to the formation of this large-scale tournament."

That's what Uncle Dazhao said.

Because of its beautiful environment and stunning natural scenery, Thunder City is a natural breeding ground for Pokémon, and the town is famous for its breeding shops.

This is the right place for Xiaogang!

While Ash and Misty were training their Pokémon racing, Brock skipped and hopped to visit and learn from the various breeding houses.

Soon, it was time for the second day of the competition to begin.

At the starting line of the competition, the contestants released their Pokémon and prepared to start.

To everyone's surprise, Ash sent out a Pikachu.

The small body was bound by a thick rein, pulling a burly man behind it; the sight was strange no matter how you looked at it.

"Ash, is it really okay to let Pikachu participate?"

Gary's position was right next to Ash's, so he was the first to notice Pikachu warming up.

"There should be something more suitable," Xiao Mao said, puzzled.

The other contestants around me were either Arcanine or Scyther, all high-speed Pokémon that looked like they could easily pull people along.

"Can Pikachu pull you?" Shigeru knew Pikachu was strong, but this was a racing competition.

Moreover, Ash deliberately went into muscle mode to show off his wildness, which made him seem even more out of place with Pikachu.

"Shigeru, these racing competitions are all about the teamwork between you and your Pokémon."

"And among my Pokémon, none are more in sync with me than Pikachu!"

He held the reins with one hand, sitting cross-legged on the skateboard like a muscular Buddha statue, not thinking there was anything wrong with what he was doing.

"Pickup!"

Pikachu nodded in agreement.

"Besides, I felt I was being lenient by sending out Pikachu. Didn't you see that Misty actually sent out Blastoise?"

"What? There's another expert!" Xiao Mao quickly turned around.

They discovered that what was standing in front of Xiaoxia was indeed a huge Blastoise.

"Why? I didn't come here to win." Xiaoxia also had something to say.

Her main purpose in participating in the competition was to cultivate the chemistry between herself and Blastoise; the competition itself was secondary.

Despite various reasons, Xiaoxia and Xiaozhi still became a beautiful sight in the competition.

"These two crazy people are unbearable." Xiao Mao quickly left, not wanting anyone to know that he knew them.

"Go, Ash and Misty!"

In the audience, Brock helped look after Togepi and cheered for his friends.

The race is a major event in town.

Thunder Town is a very wealthy town because it has a large number of well-known breeding farms in the industry, and the competition was organized in a very respectable manner.

The contestants' figures were projected onto the big screen.

However, when the camera panned across Xiaoxia and Xiaozhi, it seemed to linger for an unusually long time.

The match began soon after.

The race involves running from the starting point to Uncle Dazai's breeding house, taking the Pokémon egg model from him, and then running back to the starting point.