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

"Do your best at the tournament, and hopefully you'll be chosen in the draw!" Ash patted his shoulder and 'blessed' him.

"Okay." Xiao Yin's face stiffened for a moment, but a fighting spirit of unwillingness to back down gradually gathered in her eyes.

Seeing Silver like this, Ash felt truly gratified.

After returning from the Silver Cave, he could readily admit that he was biased towards Little Silver.

So what?

In today's Johto, is it possible to find someone more outstanding than Ash, someone worthy of Ash's dedicated training?

"I'm the one who should be drawn!" Bea said in a deep voice, while extending her hand to Ash. "I'm still two badges short, but I'll definitely make it to the tournament!"

"I know," Xiao Zhi nodded with a smile.

With Cai Dou's abilities, qualifying for the tournament is a sure thing, there's absolutely no need to worry.

...

"Mr. Ash, thank you for your hospitality... I must now depart with Sabrina." After seeing off a group of people, Rika and Sabrina approached Ash to say goodbye.

Rika, dressed in a kimono, still maintained her dignified and gentle demeanor, speaking the most polite words, yet her eyes were filled with deep reluctance.

"Miss Rika... it's a bit of a shame, every time we meet it's so rushed," Ash said regretfully.

He's always traveling and rarely has time to spend with these female confidantes.

"I believe that no matter how far apart we are, Mr. Satoshi's longing will always be with us," Rika said softly. "And we will definitely have opportunities to spend a long time together in the future."

"At worst, I'll just quit being the gym leader. Team Rocket has disappeared anyway, so there's no need for me to stay at the gym all the time." In comparison, Sabrina seemed much more carefree. "If I'm free from all this trouble, I'll go anywhere with you."

“Okay~” Ash smiled and took Sabrina’s hand. “Then it’s settled. After I completely wipe Team Rocket out of Johto, you and Rika have to come to me when I go out again.”

Ash always knew that he and the remnants of Team Rocket, led by Apollo, were about to have one last battle!

Both sides are currently gathering their strength, and Ho-Oh has been sending Entei to keep a close eye on the Ruins of Alpford, waiting for the other side to make a move.

After this battle, apart from Giovanni who fled, there will be no more Team Rocket members on the mainland of Kanto and Johto!

At that time, the gym owners like Naz will indeed have a much easier time.

However, we must not let our guard down.

It's very likely that Giovanni is still hiding in Kanto, maybe even on that island!

After seeing the two girls off, Ash kept thinking about the problems of the Seven Islands... while Misty, who had witnessed the farewell, was also pondering the matter.

Sabrina is indeed quite free-spirited and straightforward; she comes and goes as she pleases, and can easily abandon gym leaders.

This was also an inspiration for Xiaoxia.

...

Let's go too!

After arranging everything in the valley, Ash bid farewell to Lance and the others, preparing to leave the Lance clan.

Before leaving, he discussed it with the Grand Elder and decided to leave most of his Pokémon in the Dragon Sanctuary to rest and recuperate.

Aside from Pikachu and other long-term companions, there are Torchic, Kommo-o, and other creatures that haven't fully evolved; the rest have mostly stayed here.

Before the Silver Conference begins, they will make final adjustments and then go with Ash to win their second conference championship!

However, there is an exception: Doronchi decided to stay and look after the child because the child had also evolved.

Hmm, someone should be very happy...

Incidentally, the Grand Elder strongly urged Ash to accept the title of Honorary Elder of the Dragon Clan, and said that he must treat the Dragon Sanctuary as his own home; Lance also eagerly stated that he had already promoted Ash's three official positions to the highest level, and that Ash was now earning the highest salary in the entire league.

Xiao Zhi did not refuse any of these offers.

He possesses the power to control dragons and is already semi-bound to the Dragon Trainer family. Ash is also happy to become an ally of the Dragon Trainer family.

As for his official position in the league, he earned it through hard work and dedication, so there's no need for him to be modest.

...

"We're heading to New Leaf Town next, right? Ash needs to register for the Silver Conference first." Brock wasn't there, so Blue was the one flipping through the guidebook.

"No, let's go to the seaside town near New Leaf Town first. I want to go to the beach there," Ash said, shaking his head. "Lapras's parents will pass through there on their migration."

Sending Blastoise to the Whirl Islands was Lugia's doing, and Ash also had it investigate another matter.

It gave Ash a positive answer: the Lapras herd had been migrating for almost a year and was about to pass by the southeast coast of Johto!

If they hurry on their way now, they might run into each other in the seaside town!

"Did you hear that, Circle Bear? Run!"

"Roar…"

Yes, you're so high and mighty. You lead Chenglong to find his parents, and then make me do all the hard work, right...?

Despite his inner complaints, the Circular Bear's body language betrayed him.

Chapter 577 Farewell, Song of the Dragon

Starting from the Dragon Sanctuary, after a long journey with Ursaring, Ash and his friends finally arrived at a small coastal town in southeastern Johto.

This town is called Nameless Town, but it is actually famous because it is home to the renowned Pokémon Ocean Research Institute.

Many research papers on Pokémon marine ecology were published at this institute, which holds a significant position in the academic community.

At this moment, a beautiful female researcher was setting up some kind of equipment at the target coastline of Xiaozhi and his friends.

She also brought a lamplighter with her, which kept swimming around in the water, seemingly probing something.

"We should be almost there... Strange, why is it raining?" A sudden downpour began without warning, and the researcher looked up at the sky in surprise, only to see a seabird resembling a pelican fly by.

"Puck?" The researcher recognized it; it wasn't a Pokémon that could be found in the city.

Just as Pelipper was returning from the sea, Ash and his friends happened to appear behind her.

"Eh...is that Commander Ash?"

"Hello, Ms. Chengmei," Xiaozhi greeted politely.

Narumi, the director of the Ocean Research Institute, is a well-known researcher in the Pokémon marine ecology field.

But she also has another identity—a mid-level investigator for the Johto Alliance, who uses the Ocean Research Institute as a monitoring station to keep track of changes in the waters of the Hoenn region!

There's nothing we can do. Although the higher-ups in Hoenn are incompetent, the people are innocent after all.

Even if Ash dislikes those guys, he can't let Team Magma and Team Aqua cause trouble and actually create a regional catastrophe.

"Are you waiting for the Lapras herd to arrive? Miss Chengmei is going to have a big haul this time." Xiaozhi said with a smile after glancing at Chengmei's equipment. "We came for that too. Among the Lapras herd that is about to arrive are my parents."

As he spoke, Ash put Lapras into the sea, and the latter immediately let out a joyful cry, while Amy's instrument also captured the special wavelength at the same time.

Soon, responses came from the distant coast, and then a group of dragons emerged from the water one after another!

They sang their travel songs as they rode the waves to the shore, led by Ash's Lapras parents!

"Whoosh!" Overjoyed, the dragon immediately flew off to reunite with its parents and clan.

Its parents were also very excited when they saw this, and kept rubbing against the dragon's neck. The other members of its kind also gathered around.

They were so curious.

Ash's Lapras is developing incredibly well. It was just a little kid, but now it's twice the size of its father!

"Lapras, since you have such a rare opportunity, go ahead and spoil your parents a bit," Ash said with a smile to the sea, leaving the Lapras to their group.

"Commander Xiaozhi, if I may ask, where did you catch your Lapras?" Chengmei asked curiously.

"It was in the Orange Islands. Lapras was very young at the time. It took me around the whole island, and then its parents entrusted me to take care of it."

"I see, thank you so much!" Chengmei was overjoyed. "This confirms one of their migration routes!"

"Miss Chengmei, you're too kind," Xiaozhi replied casually.

After that, he stopped talking and didn't ask about the monitoring situation in the Hoenn Sea. He just kept silently watching the sea.

"What's wrong? Is something on your mind?" Xiao Lan asked, sitting down next to him.

"Not really, I just made up my mind." Ash suddenly stood up and beckoned Lapras back.

"Huh?" The dragon's expression tightened, but it still obediently returned to the shore.

Its parents also showed obvious reluctance at this moment.

The whole family thought their brief reunion was coming to an end…

"Chenglong, leave with your parents."

"Whoa?!" Upon hearing Ash's words, Lapras was so frightened that its cry went off-key.

"I'm not going to release you," Ash quickly explained. "It's rare to meet my parents, so I'll stay with them a little longer and continue our migration."

"Ugh..." Chenglong finally felt relieved, but he was still a little conflicted.

It wasn't that it couldn't accept being temporarily separated from the team; for quite some time before, it had been swimming alongside Little Silver at sea.

But with the Silver Tournament just around the corner, wouldn't leaving the team at this time be...

"You don't need to worry about the tournament. Unless you really want to compete, there's no need to give up the opportunity to spend time with your parents for a single competition," Ash said seriously. "Besides, I have another reason for letting you go with them!"