Pokémon, Ash is going to become a perfect man from now on.

Even disregarding the shortest-serving champion in the game's history and the legend of Mt. Silver, Kanto still boasts the most formidable villains in the world... Compared to Giovanni and Team Rocket, those from other regions are nothing more than clowns.

How could Ash be so scared by a group of people that he would cower in Kanto and not even dare to go to Sinnoh?!

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Xiaoxia's natal fish is the goldfish!

The matter of Pokémon eggs has been settled, and from this moment on, Ash officially became Riolu's guardian.

Although Ash and Souichi traded blows at the end, it did not affect their cooperation.

Trainers and rangers are from different systems, so it's perfectly normal for them to have some personal rivalry.

Moreover, Ash's performance showed Creation Yi his courage and made him realize that this would be the best ending for Riolu.

"Don't worry, I'll make it hatch as soon as possible." In front of Chuangyi, Xiaozhi carefully placed Riolu's egg in his backpack.

Before the egg hatches, Ash will carry it with him and constantly stimulate it with his own aura.

After finishing all that, Ash said goodbye to Souichi and went back to the Pokémon Center lobby to help out.

He found Xiao Gang and Jasmine, who were busy at work, and briefly explained the situation to them, but omitted the dangerous part, only saying that he had obtained an egg that could only be hatched by himself.

Xiao Gang and Jasmine didn't ask any further questions. The three of them huddled together and continued to help Miss Joey take care of the wounded.

During this time, Ash also asked many defeated trainers about their experiences, trying to gather information about the Vermilion City Gym.

Judging from the injuries sustained by these Pokémon, Lt. Surge seems to have been even more ruthless than in the original story, and the Pokémon he possesses are clearly not to be underestimated.

Therefore, Ash should try his best to know himself and his opponent to avoid accidentally losing in gym battles...

"Miss Nurse Joy! Please, come and see my Pokémon!!" At that moment, the door of the Pokémon Center was suddenly kicked open, and a panicked girl ran in.

Tears welled in her eyes, and her voice choked with anxiety. Holding two Poké Balls, she rushed to the front desk.

"Miss Joey...why is it you?" The girl was stunned and stood there in surprise. The person guarding the front desk was not Joey at all, but someone she didn't really want to see!

The person who humiliated their Cerulean Gym…why is he here?!

"Oh, it's you. Did you get injured while challenging the Vermilion City Gym?" Ash was also surprised to meet Misty here, but he still took her Poké Ball. "I happen to be here helping out. Give them to me, and I'll arrange treatment for you right away."

"Okay..." Although Xiaoxia was reluctant, healing the Pokémon was the priority at the moment, so she could only hand the Poké Ball to Xiaozhi first.

She watched as Xiaozhi went to the treatment room at the back, and then stumbled to a bench in the corner, where she slumped down in a daze.

Recalling that crushing defeat, watching helplessly as her Pokémon was severely injured by the opponent, she couldn't help but tear up again, unable to hide the pent-up frustration and grievances of the past few days.

Dreaming of becoming the world's greatest Water-type Pokémon Master, she embarks on her League Challenge journey with great enthusiasm, but it's only just begun...

"Are you ok?"

"I...I'm fine!" After an unknown amount of time, Xiaoxia was awakened by a familiar voice, and she jumped up on the spot like a little rabbit in fright.

Upon realizing that Xiaozhi was looking at her, she quickly turned her back and kept wiping her blurry eyes with her hands.

"How are the starfish...?" After a while, Xiaoxia tried to act as if nothing was wrong before turning around again.

Xiao Zhi knew that she didn't want him to see her weak and helpless appearance... Even though she had already been seen, she still had to pretend.

Is this what they call tsundere?

"The situation isn't good..." Ash shook his head slightly, handing Misty only a Poké Ball. "Your Starmie's injuries are very serious and will take a long time to recover; Starmie, perhaps because it was retrieved in time, only suffered minor injuries and is now fine. In short, if you want to challenge Vermilion City Gym again in the near future, you'll have to use a different Pokémon."

"Why is this happening? Staryu..." Upon hearing Ash's words, Misty, while worried, couldn't help but show a conflicted expression.

She simply...

"Hey, you don't just have these two Pokémon, do you?"

"Who...who said that?!" Xiaozhi's face flushed red when Xiaozhi suddenly exposed her secret, but she still stubbornly insisted, "I clearly have another one!"

"Then you can use Starmie and that one to challenge the Vermilion City Gym again," Ash said casually, though he had already seen through everything.

"Ah, this..." Xiaoxia's expression froze again.

After a while, she seemed to give up, and with a bitter face, she sent out the goldfish that could only crawl on the ground...

"This is all I have left, so laugh if you want!"

"I didn't mean to make fun of you... but you really haven't been very diligent in catching and training Pokémon." Looking at Misty's resigned attitude, Ash shook his head slightly. "From the time you decided to challenge the League until now, you haven't even collected the basic handheld Pokémon. It turns out that your training of these Pokémon has been mediocre, and your levels and moves are still the same."

"Hmm..." Xiaoxia was really sad right now, but she still had to listen silently.

Otherwise, are you going to throw a tantrum and have a huge fight?

That would only make things more embarrassing and make you look down on even more...

"Most importantly, you clearly hold the key to defeating the Vermilion City Gym, yet you haven't been able to discover it."

"What did you say?!" Xiaoxia stared wide-eyed in surprise, only to find that Xiaozhi had already squatted down and was stroking the forehead of the Goldfish.

He just said that the key to defeating the Vermilion City Gym... is Goldeen?!

"You've been catching it for so long and you still don't know that it actually has the hidden Lightning Rod ability?" Ash chuckled and patted Goldeen's head, causing the latter to immediately squint its eyes in comfort.

"lightning rod…"

Okay, Xia really doesn't know.

Although it was also kept by her side, the goldfish's presence was always very low, not as noticeable as Xiaoxia's two star-shaped goldfish that she usually used.

There's nothing that can be done about it; goldfish have a fundamental limitation—as a fish, they can only function effectively in water.

Yup!

Xiaoxia finally figured out the key point and immediately retorted, "Goldfish can't fight out of water at all, so what's the use of its Lightning Rod ability?"

"It's doing just fine here, isn't it?"

"Ah, this..." Xiaoxia's expression froze again.

It had indeed been quite a while since she released the goldfish, but the goldfish had remained obediently lying on the ground the whole time…

"Pokémon are different from ordinary animals, especially in their respiratory systems," Ash explained. "Snake-like Pokémon such as Arbok can move freely underwater, and fish such as Goldeen and Magikarp can float on the surface for a long time without needing to worry about them suffocating. So, if you want to use Goldeen to challenge the Vermilion City Gym, you only need to solve its land-based movement problem."

"But the problem is, this is fundamentally unsolvable, isn't it?!"

"Would you like to give it a try?" Ash picked up Goldeen, gave Misty a mysterious smile, and then casually left the Pokémon Center.

"this…"

Although Xiaoxia kept telling herself that what the other person was saying was probably nonsense, her body still followed along...

How to break through the Leaf Dojo in Chapter 40?

How exactly should goldfish move on land?

Xiaoxia, who was initially skeptical, was immediately stunned after seeing Xiaozhi's demonstration.

With a single water ripple, Goldeen easily rode the current and leaped into the air. Then, under Ash's command, it swung its tail forward and smoothly caught a Tackle.

Just as the water flow disappeared and Goldeen was about to hit the ground, Ash actually commanded it to spray a water gun, which pushed it back to the original spot, where Ash caught it in his arms again!

"See that clearly?" After demonstrating, Ash turned to Misty and explained, "Goldfish's special moves can be used flexibly to make it maneuverable on land."

"This..." Xiaoxia opened her mouth, seemingly unsure of what to say.

She felt really ashamed; it was her Pokémon, yet the other person seemed to know it better than she did…

"Let me make it clear beforehand, I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but I think you might need some help," Ash continued earnestly. "It's also for the sake of your Pokémon... In your current state, challenging the Vermilion City Gym again would just result in another crushing defeat."

"I...of course I know! So...please!" Misty, her face tense, forced herself to bow to Ash. "Please tell me how to defeat Lt. Surge!"

"Drill Rush! To ensure you defeat Lt. Surge, your Goldeen should learn the Ground-type move Drill Rush. That way, you can guarantee a quick victory!" Ash didn't keep anyone in suspense and directly gave his solution.

"Ground-type...can Goldfish learn that?"

Xiaoxia is still very inexperienced. She doesn't know much about Pokémon, let alone such special moves that can't be mastered by leveling up.

“Goldfish can definitely learn it… Although I don’t have any friends who know this trick, I can still demonstrate it for you.”

As he spoke, Ash summoned his Pokémon and Charmeleon. He first had Pokémon create a rock with Rock Slide, and then Charmeleon leaped and spun around, smashing the rock to pieces as if it were a flying shuttle!

"That's the general feeling. The key is the rotation of the body, and then, while rushing forward, sensing the newly generated ground-type power."

"Will this work? Goldfish, try it out, use a straight-pronged drill!"

Xiaoxia tentatively gave the command, but after the goldfish rose into the air by the ripples in the water, it only spun half a circle before falling back to the ground.

"Ah! A goldfish?!" This immediately broke Xiaoxia's heart.

"It will be like this at the beginning. You need to start by rotating."

Ash patiently reminded him and even had Charmeleon demonstrate a few more times.

He explained in great detail how to use the force of the water flow to jump higher, how to twist the body to rotate smoothly, and how to use the spiral force to rush out.

After some practice, the goldfish was finally able to fly forward a short distance.

"That's a great feeling. Your Goldeen has great talent. With more practice, you'll master it quickly," Ash said approvingly. "Of course, it's not enough for it to just get stronger. If you want to beat Vermilion City Gym with your current gear, you can't neglect Starmie's training either."

"Gemstone starfish?" Xiaoxia was taken aback again. She also had no idea about the cultivation of gemstone starfish.

"As a Psychic Water, it should have a wider range of moves," Ash said bluntly. "The simplest one is that if you let it master Psychic, you've basically already won."

"Uh..." Xiaoxia stammered awkwardly, clearly unaware of anything about mental interference.