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

Finally, after a loud bang, the smoke dissipated.

Chapter 298 Magical Transformation

Standing amidst the shattered ice was Pikachu, panting heavily.

"The Wooloo is unable to fight, and Ash is the winner of this challenge!"

[Ding! Congratulations on completing the new main quest "Ice Badge!": Defeat Gym Leader Lyub from Kaji.]

【获得奖励：联盟币+5000；体力属性+2；攻击+2；自由属性点+3；技能冰砾+1】

"Hahaha, the younger generation is truly formidable. You can't deny getting old." Uncle Liu laughed as he went over and pulled the long-haired pig out of the ice, brushing the ice shards off its head.

"Your body isn't fully recovered yet, but you've already done very well in the battle. Let's work hard together in the days to come, Long-haired Pig."

"Hush, huh!"

"Here you go, Ash, this is your badge."

A badge with a hexagonal snowflake image was handed to Ash by Uncle Liu.

[Ding! Ice Badge: When you have this badge, the power of Ice-type skills increases by 5%]

"Okay, I got the Ice and Snow Badge!"

Ash only has one more Blacksmith City Badge left to collect all the badges needed to participate in the Johto League.

"Is it finally almost here? The end of this trip!" Ash's excitement began to burn.

After the gym battle, Ash and Misty helped Uncle Plum clean up the battlefield.

At the same time, Xiaozhi also asked Uncle Liu for help.

"Uncle Liu, could you please give my Pikachu some extreme training in defense?"

Ash finally decided to give the Silver Crown to Pikachu, since Pikachu's defensive abilities were only so-so, and this would be a good opportunity to strengthen them.

In this area, Liu Bo was once known as the embodiment of a harsh winter, and he was an absolute expert.

Uncle Liu readily agreed to Xiao Zhi's request.

For the next few days, Ash and Misty stayed together at Uncle Liu's gym.

During this time, Pikachu received special training from Liu Bo while wearing a small silver crown. Although Liu Bo didn't know what the small crown was for, he didn't ask any further questions.

After all, there are too many trainers in the league who like to dress up their Pokémon in outlandish outfits.

He just kept feeding Pikachu until it was round and chubby, and then he would train it and Ash together to lose weight, just like the fat-burning process in fitness.

Next came the mental training under the waterfall and the physical training under the ice cones. At the same time, Liu Bo used his rich experience to give Pikachu acupressure massage to stimulate its potential.

Pikachu and Ash's training is progressing steadily.

During the training, Uncle Liu also helped Ash train his Articuno as well.

Because Liu Bo also has a very strong Articuno, he was very skilled at taking care of it and even taught Ash's Articuno new moves, Mist and Roost.

"Dark Mist can be used to remove the effects of the opponent's buffing skills, while Roost can greatly increase Articuno's survivability in battle. Both are quite useful skills."

Anyway, now Uncle Liu likes Ash very much, and he'll help him whenever he can.

Four days later, Pikachu finally completed its extreme training, and its defensive potential reached its peak.

[Ding! Pikachu: Defense IV: 15 (Average) → Maximum (Best!)]

Ash and his friends waved goodbye to Plum and set off for Blackwood City.

"We were so full every day during our time at the dojo! Aunt Sima always thought we weren't getting enough to eat and kept stuffing us!"

"That's how all elderly people who spoil children are."

“That makes sense.” Xiaoxia didn’t seem to be complaining to Uncle Liu and the others.

Xia, who has never met her grandparents since she was little, still really enjoys the time she spends living at the Kaji Dojo.

"Hmm, Pikachu's fur is even shinier and stiffer, but it still feels great to touch."

It's now perched on Ash's shoulder, looking radiant. Pikachu's biggest problem has always been that, like Ash's Lucario, it's a glass cannon.

Although it has developed tremendous explosive power and excellent stamina thanks to Ash's constant training, it is still constrained by the limitations of the Pikachu species.

Even though Ash's Pikachu is several times tougher than a regular Pikachu, it still couldn't withstand several high-powered moves.

Its foundation is too weak. It is very strong, but it cannot afford to make mistakes. This is why Pikachu sometimes seems to be acting.

Of course, there are exceptions when using the two super-powerful skills of supporting oneself and standing up.

With this improved defensive potential, Pikachu's physical limitations have been significantly alleviated.

"Pikachu, we are the strongest Pikachu in the world!"

"Those innate limitations like racial stats and individual stats are meant to be overcome, don't you think?"

"Pikachu, Pikachu!" (That's right!)

Although Pikachu didn't understand why Ash would suddenly say that, it nodded in agreement.

"Alright, let's have a race to see who can get to the top of that mountain first!"

"Pikachu?"

"Wait a minute, Ash, your backpack has been shaking since just now, didn't you notice?"

He hadn't really noticed while he was thinking about Pikachu, but after Misty reminded him, Ash quickly took out the incubator from his backpack.

It's the one that keeps shaking; it's the egg that Ash won in the Pokémon Race.

Xiao Zhi has been taking good care of it all this time, and now it's finally going to hatch.

The group arrived at a clearing near the forest and placed the deluxe incubator on the ground.

The egg inside flashed rapidly, and finally the brightest white light shone out, revealing a brand new Pokémon baby.

"This Pokémon is..."

"Little Elephant!"

With big ears and a small blue body, it affectionately bumped into Ash with its cute little nose right after it was born.

"Not bad, my second elephant." Ash picked up the little elephant and checked its individual stats.

"Extremely outstanding ability, please take good care of Little Elephant."

"Little one~"

[Ding! Little Elephant: Affection +5; Intimacy +5]

Ash immediately wiped its body clean, fed it a bottle of milk, and then put it back into its Poké Ball to rest.

After all, newborn Pokémon babies are generally quite sleepy.

I checked the time and realized that because of the little elephant, it was already noon.

"In that case, let's stop exercising for now and take a break."

Just as Ash was routinely wiping Latios's body and then calling out White and Black to train them in elegant battle techniques.

Suddenly a Murloc flew over and, upon seeing Pikachu, immediately began to squawk happily, circling around Pikachu.

"Where did this Murkrow come from?" Ash looked at the Murkrow's feathers and realized it must be a Pokémon with an owner.

"Great! We finally found Pikachu!"

Just then, a red-haired girl wearing a strange magic hat came running quickly from the bushes nearby.

With a joyful smile on her face as she finally saw what she had been searching for, she immediately picked up Pikachu from Ash's shoulder and hugged it tightly, rubbing its cheek against Ash's.

"Pikachu is so cute."

"Um...who are you?"

Ash looked puzzled and urged, "Quickly snatch Pikachu back!"

"Oh dear, I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself." The girl smiled playfully.

"My name is Xiaoli, and I am a Pokémon magician."

"But that's great, we finally found Pikachu."

"The magic I'm about to perform will absolutely not succeed without Pikachu's Thunderbolt..."

"How did these two completely unrelated words, 'Pokémon' and 'magician,' end up together?" Ash found it strange, like Obito falling in love with Kaido.

"Hehe, there used to be a lot of people researching Pokémon magic, but now there are almost none left."

Xiao Li took out a thick book, opened it, and found it filled with dense, obscure ancient characters.

At first glance, these characters seem to resemble the shape of an unknown totem.

"This book is our family's secret Pokémon magic manual, passed down through generations. It's full of instructions on how to use Pokémon magic."

"My lifelong dream has been to collect enough Pokémon materials during my travels, and then recreate all the magic in this book."

"The decline of Pokémon magicians is because the materials used to create magic are extremely difficult to collect. If I could reproduce all the magic mentioned above and make an encyclopedia, that would be great."

"Maybe this will revitalize the Pokémon magic profession!"

Xiao Li could talk non-stop once she started, but Xiao Zhi was still skeptical of her.

But just as Xiaozhi was still wondering, Xiaoxia rushed up from beside him, her emotions running high.

"Is he a real Pokémon magician?"

"Xiao Li, please, please use your magic to broaden my horizons."

At this moment, Xiaoxia's eyes sparkled with anticipation. "Ever since I was a child, I've admired Pokémon magicians and always hoped to have the opportunity to see real Pokémon magic with my own eyes!"

"Since you've said that," Xiao Li couldn't bear to refuse, seeing the look in his eyes.

She immediately opened her large bag and started rummaging through it, while continuing to explain Pokémon magic.

"Actually, Pokémon magic is a method of using things related to Pokémon to perform magical functions in life."

At this point, Xiaoxia chimed in to help.

"This is a profound subject that utilizes natural science."