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

Ash sent the three birds to Asia Island, where the energy was more abundant. Even if they didn't inherit divine authority for the time being, they could absorb more power to strengthen themselves.

After resolving the issue of the three birds, Ash wanted to take some time to check on the status of the bird he was holding, but the League had a lot of other things to do, making it feel like he was working from home.

The assessment of museum owners in various places, the deployment of police forces, the training of forest rangers, etc. Although these are all matters under his jurisdiction, it is not appropriate for him to do them personally.

Ash does indeed hold the positions of three league officials and is also the overall commander of defense in Gantt, but his main focus is on Team Rocket. Now that the villainous organization has been wiped out, what's the point of him commanding anything anymore?

Finally, one day, when his adoptive father started nagging him about trivial things like badges, Ash couldn't take it anymore.

"No, what does this badge have to do with me? Those museum masters are all useless... What did you say? Miss Rika is coming?!"

Upon hearing that Miss Rika was about to arrive in Pallet Town, Ash forgot all about complaining to his father and ran excitedly to the town entrance to greet her.

A short while later, a luxury car stopped at the main intersection of Zhenxin Town.

The young lady, dressed in a kimono, stepped gracefully from the car.

"Eh, Mr. Ash, are you waiting for me?" Upon seeing Ash, Rika couldn't help but smile, like a blooming flower.

"I heard you were coming, so I came here to greet you," Xiaozhi said with a smile. "Miss Rika, why did you decide to make the trip yourself?"

“The badge is quite important, so I think it's better to come in person,” Rikka said softly, then hesitated, “That way I can also see Mr. Satoshi, and also…”

"Shall we go see my parents and Professor Oak?" Ash asked knowingly.

"If it's convenient."

"I couldn't ask for more." Xiao Zhi chuckled and took the girl's hand, and she naturally intertwined her fingers with his.

The two looked at each other and smiled, saying nothing.

"Uncle, Aunt, I apologize for disturbing you." On her way home, Rika formally visited Satoshi's parents.

"Lijia, you've come at just the right time," someone said with a forced smile. "If you'd been any later, my son would have started a father-son game with me. He's been complaining about having too much work lately."

“Mr. Satoshi is a man with great ambitions; he really shouldn’t be held back by these trivial matters,” Rika said understandingly.

"Listen to how eloquent this wife is!" the man joked, not forgetting to wink at Hanako.

"Rika, he just likes to talk nonsense, don't take it too seriously." Hanako seemed to be complaining about someone, but she didn't actually mean to refute him at all.

Rika is impeccable in every aspect, and compared to Satoshi, who has obvious 'flaws', she is the truly perfect character.

Moreover, there is no doubt about her feelings for Ash. During the two years of their travels, Ash has benefited greatly from Rika's support. This is not just a simple matter of her fulfilling her duties as a subordinate.

"Thank you for the compliment, I don't mind at all." Lijia's face flushed slightly, but she still responded politely.

She was always gentle and dignified, but in reality, she was a generous girl and wouldn't be ashamed of such things.

In her heart, she may have already accepted this identity...

Ash watched this scene silently, and his heart couldn't help but flutter.

Lika had always taken the initiative to maintain their relationship and silently hoped for its future development.

She has clearly seen the end of this relationship, and Xiaozhi should respond as soon as possible.

"Alright, you two chat, we're going out to run some errands." Hanako left the two children alone... and casually dragged away a certain disrespectful old man who wanted to watch the show.

...

"Uh... isn't Lila home?" Rika asked curiously after the two of them were left at home.

"She's been training at the research institute lately, and she'll be taking the Brain Exploration assessment soon. If she passes, she'll become the head of the Battle Tower."

"That's amazing!" Lijia said with delight.

As the leader of a gym in Kanto, Rika is well aware of the significance of the Tower Lord.

Although the strongest player in the Battle Frontier founded by Ashida is currently Shindai, the iconic feature of the Frontier has always been the Battle Tower.

In Larousse, Ashida invested in and built the first high-tech battle tower... but later, for some reason, the Yuanda family lost all their money in Hoenn and had to start anew and move to Osaka.

However, Ashida has recovered and has invested in building a Battle Zone on an island in northeast Sinnoh, with the Battle Tower still serving as its iconic feature.

In other words, if Lila obtains the title of Tower Lord, she could potentially become the leader of the Frontier District in the future... provided that she can defeat the Gods!

Xiao Zhi had never doubted this.

"Mr. Ash, take a look at this." After chatting for a while, Lila took out two specially made badge boxes.

Inside are the badges of the sixteen dojos from Kanto and Johto.

Just like in the game, even the Viridian, Cerulean, and Vermilion City Gyms, which are no longer in the top tier, have their badges included.

“These badges… wait, are they specially made?” Ash picked one up casually, examined it briefly, and immediately realized what was going on.

Each badge contains a trace of elemental energy!

"Last year at Team Rocket's base in Kajitsu Town, didn't Mr. Ash seize an enemy's energy amplifier? After a year of research, he's finally made some progress," Rika explained. "Mr. Lance has decided to use these badges, enhanced with amplifiers, as a means of strengthening trainers in Kanto and Johto!"

"These sixteen powerful badges of different attributes each provide a 10% boost to the power of special moves of the corresponding attribute. After a challenger finishes a battle, the gym leaders can decide whether to award a regular badge or a powerful badge."

"Such a big deal?" Ash was taken aback. This effect, similar to a game badge, would undoubtedly provide a huge boost to a trainer.

By wearing these special badges, any Pokémon will have its moves of the corresponding type enhanced in power.

Moreover, this is held by the trainer and can be stacked with the items held by the Pokémon.

As for obtaining the Powerful Badge, it is certain that qualification verification is required.

The acquisition of Mega Evolution and Z Crystals actually involves a selection and approval process. Galar made Dynamax available to everyone in order to promote Dynamax battles... but it can only be used in Galar and will not work outside of Galar.

“In addition, to ensure that trainers can use this power properly, we have specially made a badge box.” Rika continued to explain, “Powerful badges can only be used when placed in the badge box. They can also be used in other regions... but currently only the Pokémon Centers in Kanto and Johto can recharge badges that can be used multiple times.”

"This is already quite good. With the introduction of the badge boosting system, trainers' enthusiasm for challenging gyms will definitely increase. Correspondingly, the requirements for gym trainers will also be higher."

This thing came at just the right time. Ash had already foreseen that the overall strength of the Great City would definitely improve significantly.

"Also, this is for Mr. Ash." Rika then took out another badge.

It was actually a pure rhomboid crystal, which looked a bit like a Z-crystal, but Ash quickly discovered that it was made of diamond.

"Are the materials that precious?"

“This badge provides a 10% boost to all eighteen attributes, and only diamond can contain such power,” Lika explained. “However, like other badges, the boost effect will disappear once you reach the King level.”

There's nothing we can do about it; the upper limit for all enhancement items made by humans is the Heavenly King level.

Unless it's like Rockruff carrying a stone tablet, or Pikachu completely fused with a Light Ball, it's impossible to break through this limitation.

Even so, the diamond badge is still an incredibly useful item.

At least when you catch a new Pokémon, it can help them quickly increase their power.

Chapter 614 News of Suicune, and the Bet with Misty

Lijia's arrival added a rare touch of brightness to the otherwise complicated and trivial matters.

Unfortunately, she didn't stay long before leaving, citing business at the dojo.

Xiao Zhi didn't try to stop her; he knew that Rika always knew how to handle things in this regard.

If Ash goes to the Rainbow City Gym, he can stay as long as he wants, but if Rika comes to see Ash, she definitely won't stay for very long.

This is the respect that Lijia shows to Xiaolan, her official girlfriend.

When they are all around Ash, Miss will never take up the time that should belong to Blue.

Her tact and compromise have always been appreciated by Ash, and even Blue herself has great respect for Rika.

Xiao Zhi knew that he owed Li Jia a confession.

He plans to make his promise after the trip to Carlos and not delay any longer!

...

After the young lady left, Ash focused his work on badges and gyms.

The sixteen gyms in Kanto and Johto in the game do not include the Evil and Fairy attributes, so these two gyms must be opened, and they must be the first team.

From now on, only gyms that are qualified to issue powerful badges will be ranked first!

So from now on, we need to focus on selecting talents of the evil and fairy types... If that doesn't work, we should try to recruit some from other regions.

In addition, there are some historical issues surrounding the dojos in Kanto.

Viridian and Kuroba are easy to deal with; as long as a suitable gym leader is found, they can be promoted to the top tier at any time.

The problem lies with the Cerulean Dojo. They've already shown respect to Xiaoxia by allowing the three sisters to retain their second-tier league status; there's absolutely no way they'd elevate them to the first tier!

As for letting them judge whether a challenger deserves a powerful badge, forget about it.

Sometimes, things just happen as you wish for them. While Ash was struggling with the Cerulean Gym issue, he received a message from Misty.

The other person asked him to go to White Cape—near Zheng Hui's lighthouse—saying it was for a date.

There was no time to waste, so Ash decisively activated his Mach 2.5 Dragonite and arrived in no time.

The girl was enjoying the sea breeze, gazing absently at the distant horizon.

Her orange hair wasn't braided; it was just casually draped over her shoulders, letting the sea breeze tousle it... In Xiao Zhi's eyes, it had a unique charm.

"Xiaoxia, sorry to keep you waiting." Xiaozhi immediately rushed to the girl's side. "Why did you suddenly think of asking me out?"

“I can’t stay at home anymore… but that’s not important for now. Go to the sea first.” Misty pointed far into the distance towards the center of the sea. “Suicune is waiting for you there.”