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

By the time the pile of stones opened the bricks again, the Silver Companion was already unconscious…

"Wow..." "Resolved so quickly?"

A group of students looked on incredulously. How could Rockstrap, which Ash could easily crush, now completely overwhelm Gladion?

“This guy is clearly a weakling…” Mamane casually remarked, which caused Lillie to feel conflicted, while Gladion glared at her angrily.

“Lillie’s brother is a very strong trainer, but his Rocksteady is stronger,” Serena said fairly. “That Rocksteady is actually at the Elite Four level.”

"What?!" *N

The students were all astonished.

This lump of stone is the king, second only to the champion.

"Stone does indeed have Champion-level capabilities; its stats are equivalent to a regular Legendary Pokémon, making it difficult for ordinary trainers to defeat," Ash explained.

Ultra Beasts are also considered second-level gods, and second-level gods include mythical beasts. Apart from those that are not combat-oriented, the rest start at the King level.

Guardian deity Tapu and others with divine authority can rival or even surpass champions!

"Wait... if the Lava Stone is the Elite Four, then Ash must be..." Mallow thought of a possibility.

"Ash is even stronger than the champion!"

Serena smiled smugly, as if showing off her achievement.

Chapter 767 Extracurricular Lesson on Digging 'Bamboo Shoots'

Well, these days, Ash basically won't actively associate with anyone who doesn't talk to him properly after meeting him.

Even disregarding Ash's actual identity, and no matter how many reasons there are, it is impolite to glare at him or even speak ill of him, and Ash has no reason to be magnanimous in the face of it.

If you don't like someone, just go play somewhere else. I don't care if you're my brother-in-law or not!

"Hey, if you can't catch it, give me back the Ultra Ball." Ash held out his hand to Gladion. "The research and development costs for this thing are very high, and it can't be wasted easily."

The Ultimate Ball is definitely a high-tech device, and it must be very expensive to make, especially considering how it's thrown like in the original anime...

Seriously, is Ash crazy to let them throw the ball like that?

Aside from Guzzlord and Nihilego, the Sun & Moon anime's portrayal of Ultra Beasts is as childlike as it gets, and the capture process is more and more entertaining each time.

They threw baskets of Ultra Balls out, but still couldn't catch them. If Ash had all of this, he would have already emptied his opponent's health bar with the balls.

"Hmph!" Gladion's expression turned somewhat unpleasant as he tossed the Ultra Ball to Ash.

Instead of reaching out to catch it, Ash used his psychic powers to change direction and directly hit the boulders, successfully loading them onto the boulders.

"Doctor, let's begin today's lesson."

After that, he ignored Gladion and asked Kukui to start the lesson on his own.

"Oh right, we were supposed to have an extracurricular activity today." Kukui slapped his forehead. "The original plan was to take you to the Bamboo Hills to have a formal encounter with Ultra Beasts... but you encountered them ahead of schedule."

"Bamboo forest hills..." "Is there an Ultra Beast?"

The students immediately began to murmur amongst themselves, and Gladio, who was about to leave, paused, quietly pricking up one ear.

"Ash found it. There's an Ultra Beast buried deep there, only its head is showing," Kukui explained. "It seems to be called Celestial Maiden..."

"Kaguya...is it Starry Sky Kaguya?" Mamane asked excitedly. "My favorite story when I was a child was Starry Sky Kaguya!"

Kaguya the Starship is a legend circulating in the Alola region. The story is similar to The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, but instead of Kaguya the Starship, the old couple encounters a giant rocket soaring into the sky.

It was because that enormous 'bamboo shoot' flew to the moon that it was given the name 'Starship' in legend.

“You’re right, the prototype of Starship Kaguya is Ironfire Kaguya, a genuine Ultimate Beast,” Kukui nodded.

“Starship is… an Ultimate Beast?” Mamane’s expression froze, as if he couldn’t accept this reality.

Kukui, oblivious to this, continued explaining the class assignment: "We're going to bring our digging tools and go to the Bamboo Hills to dig out Tetsukaja."

"Understood!"

A group of students responded in unison and quickly got to work.

Mamane seemed a little distracted until Kachi nudged him, at which point he caught up with the group to get the tools.

As for Gladion, he had already left when he first heard that there was an Ultra Beast in Bamboo Hills.

"Ash, has your older brother already run off to Bamboo Hills...?" Lillie asked worriedly as the students regrouped and were about to set off.

"There's nothing he can do even if he goes," Ash shook his head slightly. "If he tries to forcibly capture Celestial Maiden..."

"What... will happen?" Lillie felt even more uncertain after Ash paused.

"I'll get a beating from the Guardian," Ash said, shrugging.

And that was exactly what happened. Gladion gave Silvally some medicine and rushed to Bamboo Hills immediately.

But just as he found Kaguya, who had only just begun to emerge, Tapu Koko unleashed a Thunderbolt attack right in his face.

Ash had arranged for the Guardian Spirit in advance, and Celestial Maiden was the first Ultra Beast that he originally planned for his students to encounter, so all kinds of protective measures were naturally foolproof.

And so, Gladio got stuck on his face again.

Having just been blasted by Rock Smash, Silvally, already in poor condition, was no match for Tapu Koko.

Gladion wanted to send out other Pokémon, but seeing Tapu Koko bursting with lightning, he couldn't help but feel apprehensive.

So he was very unhappy, and naturally he couldn't help but loudly question Tapu Koko why he was blocking him, blah blah blah.

Then, Tapu Koko threw him a shovel, which nearly made him explode with anger.

Are you kidding me?

He was Gladion, a chuunibyou... uh, the noble young master of Cangyue, how could he possibly do this kind of bamboo shoot digging work?

To actually try and dig out an Ultra Beast with a shovel, that's just...

"Classmates, we are about to begin excavating Kaguya-no-Tsurugi." Just as Gladion and Tapu Koko were staring at each other, a ring suddenly opened beside him, and Kukui led a group of students out in single file.

Seeing this, he couldn't help but twitch his lips.

My advantage of acting ahead of time is completely insignificant compared to Ash's...

"Each person gets a shovel, and you can find a Pokémon partner to assist you. After you dig it out, Ash will use an Ultra Ball to monitor it." Kukui ignored Gladion and carefully assigned the tasks.

"To...put it under surveillance?" Mamane found it hard to accept. "Can't we just send it back to the moon? I've always admired the legend of Starship Kaguya..."

His voice trailed off as he spoke, clearly knowing it was unlikely... but he really wanted to see Iron Grey Kaguya return to the moon.

The legend of the Starship has influenced him since childhood.

Mamane's desire to become an alien and explore the moon is actually related to this legend.

But it is, after all, an Ultimate Beast, so it probably can't...

"can."

"What?" The chubby boy suddenly looked up, staring at Xiao Zhi in disbelief.

He wondered if he had misheard; had the other party actually agreed to his request?

"You want to fulfill the legend and send it back to the moon? That's all possible," Ash nodded. "But only if someone is willing to help you... and you have to bear the consequences!"

"The...consequences?" Mamane was startled by Ash.

"The reason we had to dig it out is because this Celesteela in its current state has already taken root underground, so it can't be directly loaded into an Ultra Ball," Ash explained. "Also, this Celesteela fell here through the Ultra Slit 200 years ago, and it has been accumulating gas to serve as fuel all these years, which could be ejected into the air at any time!"

Even if children haven't seen a rocket launch, they can probably imagine what it's like.

The extremely hot flames could erupt instantly, potentially burning down the entire mountain... or even causing a violent explosion!

“This…” Mamane was clearly hesitant.

Is it really worth it to drag your friends along on an adventure, even risking the entire bamboo forest, just for a legend you dreamed of as a child...?

"So, have you thought it through?" Just as Mamane hesitated, Ash asked again, "Do you want to shoulder this responsibility for the starship in the fairy tale?"

“Is it… responsibility?” Mamane suddenly realized upon hearing this.

Xiao Zhi didn't seem to be stopping himself; he just wanted to know if he dared to and was able to take on this responsibility!

"I want to give it a try... As long as it can be launched safely and doesn't affect the surrounding environment, is that alright?"

Mamane's eyes gleamed with determination as she resolved to do her best to shoulder this responsibility!

Chapter 768 The Growth of a Girl

Without hesitation, Mamane started asking her classmates for help.

To be honest, Xiaozhi quite admires that about him.

Among the Alora five, including Lillie, Mamane is probably the least well-known.

After all, the three girls have the advantage of being the female lead, and Kiawe has always been regarded as Brock's Alolan form, while only Mamane lacks a sufficiently distinct memorable point.

However, he is the one with the best personality among the five. In addition to being strong in combat, he also possesses core technology. Apart from being afraid of the dark, he has virtually no weaknesses.

Furthermore, with his cousin Marui's influence, Xiaozhi once thought that Mamane would become the first captain among the students.

Of course, it seems a bit late now... A certain hot-blooded young man received some advice from Liz when he had a cold, and he should be gearing up to give it his all right now.