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

"What's wrong with it?" Xiao Gang asked, puzzled.

"Newborns are curious about everything, so I guess they went out to explore," Ash casually explained.

"Then I'll go with you!"

"No need, you and Blue can stay here. Riolu has a lot of energy, this commotion will probably last a long time." Ash shook his head and refused, then chased after them alone.

"You don't need to worry about him," Xiao Lan said with a laugh. "Xiao Zhi is a super rookie, he's usually very long-lasting!"

"Huh... Can what I just said be written down?" Xiao Gang was speechless.

Compared to Ash, her childhood friend, she felt incredibly innocent...

Meanwhile, outside the Pokémon Center, just as Ash had predicted, Riolu had already entered "let go" mode.

It first discovered a group of mosquito tadpoles and mosquito frogs in a pond near the center, then its eyes immediately fell on the strongest, fastest-swimming frog, and it jumped in.

As the pond's boss, the fast-swimming frog was no pushover either, and immediately unleashed a flurry of slaps across the face...

By the time Ash arrived, Riolu, with its bruised and swollen face, had already run off to the next location.

Along the way, it constantly provoked various Pokémon that it set its sights on, and it didn't care how many of them there were!

But it was only a newborn creature, and even with amazing talent, it couldn't change the fact that it was weak. Before long, it was covered in wounds.

Even so, it showed no sign of stopping, continuing to race through the forest in search of its prey, and even gradually developing a few special moves...

"Hey, still running?" "Oro?!"

Riolu, who was running, was startled and realized that there was someone else next to him!

It's him?

Did he run out of that house and follow me here?!

"Don't be so tense. If you want to run, just keep going. Everyone goes through this process after they're born," Ash said with an understanding smile. "But don't go and provoke wild Pokémon anymore."

Riolu's Pokédex description focuses on its boundless energy, which can even exhaust trainers who want to play with it...

To put it bluntly, it has a husky-like constitution; if you don't exhaust its energy, it might start destroying the house!

But Ash is a true rookie, and if Riolu wants to run wild, Ash is always ready to accompany it!

"Oo...Oolu!" Riolu kept accelerating as if in a contest, but Ash always managed to keep up with ease.

Under the cover of night, the human and their pet raced at full speed until they both disappeared into the boundless moonlight...

Chapter 45 The Waveguide and His Partner!

From dusk till late at night, Ash and Riolu never stopped, constantly competing with each other.

Neither of them ate; they just kept running forward with their heads down. Even when they were tired, they would only rest briefly before starting a new round of competition.

After all that commotion, while it wasn't quite as exaggerated as the description in the guidebook of "crossing three high mountains and two canyons in succession," it definitely counted as traversing mountains and valleys.

Finally, Riolu seemed to give up.

When Riolu reached the top of a rocky mountain, he was too exhausted to go any further and had to sit down by some boulders, panting heavily.

"Riolus, you...you'd better find somewhere else." Ash arrived at this moment, also out of breath, but still reminded Riolus.

"Oo... Lulu!!" While Riolu was still wondering, the boulder behind it suddenly came to life and slammed it to the ground with a tail whip!

Only then did it realize that it was not a rock at all, but a giant rock snake!

Upon suddenly encountering such a powerful opponent, Riolu relapsed into its stubborn nature and charged at Onix.

However, given the size difference between it and Onix, this attack could not possibly shake the opponent. Onix simply rammed its head into Riolu, and Riolu was once again launched into the air.

This time, it fell into a warm embrace.

"Riolu, you can't do this."

"Oro...Oro!" Riolu looked up at Ash behind him, but then realized that Onix was already angrily charging towards them!

"Against such an opponent, simply going head-to-head will only backfire. You need to learn to make good use of your own waveguide to defuse the opponent's attacks while precisely launching a counterattack!"

As they spoke, a warm current gathered by the waveguide quietly flowed into Riolu's body. Riolu looked at the Onix that was constantly approaching and suddenly felt that the opponent's attack didn't seem so powerful.

Guided by Ash, it stretched out its arms and used the invisible force of the wave to hold back the Onix's downward head. Finally, when its arms were squeezed to the limit, it barely managed to stop the opponent!

At this moment, Riolu could clearly feel the fullness between his palms... all the power was accumulating there!

"Now's the time! Counterattack!" "Oro!"

As Riolu pushed its palms forward with all its might, an even more terrifying force surged into Onix's body, slamming its massive head backward!

Double the amount back!!

"Oro..." After forcing its massive opponent back with a single blow, Riolu stared blankly at its own hands, seemingly unable to believe that it had just done such a thing.

"This is your strength, but you still need to practice more in the future."

Riolu looked up at Ash upon hearing the sound, only to find that Ash had already come to Onix's side and begun to treat its injuries.

He used medicine on the Onix and seemed to use a magical energy wave to heal the Onix's wounds.

"That little guy was a bit reckless, sorry," Ash said gently, patting Onix's head.

Under the influence of the power of Viridian, the already mild-tempered Onix naturally stopped trying to cause trouble and quickly shook its head and left.

As for Riolu, it kept tilting its head, looking at Ash's actions with a strange expression.

"You should get some treatment too." Ash suddenly turned to Riolu. "You've been running for so long and then fought Onix. Your body must be exhausted."

"Oro!" Riolu stubbornly turned its head away.

Although he was just born, Riolu prided himself on being a strong child and wouldn't easily accept help from others.

Thinking this, it found a slightly smaller rock and planned to sit down and rest...

"That's a small fist stone." "Olu?"

Riolu's expression froze as he looked at the stone that had suddenly sprouted arms at his feet.

“Riolus, you have a very strong waveguide perception ability. Even when you were born, your perception range already exceeded mine.”

Ash came to Riolu's side and gently patted its shoulder: "But you don't quite know how to use it yet, and you're also a bit clumsy, which is why you always overlook the situation around you."

"Oro..." Riolu lowered its head, but quickly raised it again, looking firmly at Ash, while patting its chest repeatedly!

"Oro! Ororo!"

"Of course I'd love to!" Ash smiled and nodded, immediately responding to Riolu's expectations. "From today onwards, I will do my best to train you, not only to help you fully master your power, but also to make you even stronger!"

"Oro!"

"Then please take care of me, Riolu." After confirming the other party's wishes, Ash took out a Poké Ball and captured his most important partner, who was also his Aura Guide user!

Hey~

A pleasant notification sound rang out, indicating that Ash had officially caught Riolu. But at that moment, his Poké Ball and Pokédex simultaneously began to flash with an unusual light.

"This is..." Ash frowned slightly. He hesitated for only a moment before immediately having Porygon disable the Pokédex and the Poké Ball's internet connection.

It was only then that Ash realized that Riolu was already his tenth Pokémon.

Although Ash had previously sent the giant Onix back to Professor Oak's lab, he kept all his other Pokémon with him. Now that he has caught Riolu, he and Brock together don't have enough Pokémon to hold!

Even so, Ash doesn't plan to send the Pokémon he has back... In fact, if conditions allow, he would like to bring back the giant Onix as well.

Ash wants to take all the Pokémon he caught in the same region with him on his travels until the end, and these Pokémon do need his care and training.

Pikachu, Pocket, and the future Charizard are the main force of Ash's team; Ash will never be separated from them.

The rest, Bulbasaur and Squirtle need to train to evolve, Zubat needs to gain friendship to evolve, and Pinsir needs to be healed by its tail.

Even the giant Onix and Dragonite are not yet fully formed in terms of combat strength and still need further training.

Now that he has obtained Riolu, which is definitely no less than Pikachu's signature Pokémon, he naturally cannot be separated from it for even a moment!

That's right, Ash will not let Riolu leave him, no matter what happens in the future!

Even if he has to go to the Kingdom of Lucario later, he will never return Riolu!

hum~

A blue light quietly emanated from the Poké Ball in his hand. It was Riolu's aura that had overcome the barrier and was slowly merging into Ash's body, directly conveying its expectations to him from the depths of its heart...

"Don't worry, we will never be separated!" Ash raised the Poké Ball into the air and made a firm promise under the moonlight.

The messenger of waveguides will never leave the partner to whom they have entrusted their life!

...

"Well, this is it?"

At the same time, at Oak's lab, Nanami, who was operating the computer, seemed to have noticed something unusual...

Chapter Forty-Six: What exactly is Saint Anne carrying?!

Ash's trip in Vermilion City was perfect, as he successfully defeated the Vermilion City Gym and caught the extremely important Riolu.

Of course, we'll leave out the scene of the two of them, like starving ghosts, hunched over in the Pokémon Center's kitchen, eating like mad.