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

Therefore, Ash currently mainly entrusts Mastery Seeds to his well-trained partners and Legendary Pokémon, so as to avoid the problem of forcing growth.

"In that case... thank you very much." Since things had been said so far, Dara could only accept it. "From now on, I will definitely become stronger with Articuno!"

"Woo!" The Holy Bird of Ice was clearly full of confidence.

Ash is delighted to see this. From today onwards, Dara and Articuno will not only be friends, but will also establish a formal trainer and partner relationship!

...

Ash's first challenge ended quickly, and after resting and preparing, Dara faced Nemo's challenge.

This battle is also very interesting. Dara is sure to send out a super armored car, while Nemo's partner is a pleasant surprise.

"Go forth, Earth Dragon!"

The unique regional evolution of Padia is the form that the younger brother of the earth dragon has evolved into... and Nemo is also very special, seemingly having a three-segmented form, and it is said that the probability of it appearing during evolution is only one percent.

"Super Armored Giant, Sword Dance!" "Earth Dragon, Sectional Spinning!"

"Dajia...use Mountain Mist Slam!"

Dara immediately unleashed Mega Evolution, and both sides coincidentally chose to enhance their abilities.

However, upon discovering that his opponent had started with a coiled stance, Dara immediately changed his close-range attack to a mountain slam, intending to gain the upper hand with his fighting skills.

This choice is indeed clever. Although the theoretical power of melee is twice that of Mountain Strike, the latter is guaranteed to hit a vital point and ignores defense boosts... After the Earth Dragon coils up once, the benefits of melee can no longer keep up.

"Earth dragon joints, yawn!"

"Protect them quickly!"

Soon, the turning point in the battle arrived.

After the Earth Dragon unleashed its signature yawning technique, Dara's defeat was essentially sealed.

In one-on-one combat, yawning is a rather disgusting move. Unless Dara wants to talk in his sleep and roll the dice, he has no choice but to activate protection.

However, once the protection is activated, it's equivalent to letting the opponent stack up their buffs.

What's more, Nemo's Earth Dragon Fist also possesses a shield-breaking divine skill!

"Earth Dragon Step by Step, Powerful Drill!"

Like an earth dragon rolling, the earth dragon rapidly rotated its nearly five-meter-long body, transforming into a powerful drill that pierced through the protective technique in one fell swoop!

A powerful STAB move exclusive to the Earth Dragon family from Padia, capable of attacking while ignoring Protect-type effects.

Combined with the increased accuracy from the coiled attack, the damage output is absolutely explosive.

Chapter 991 Interlude: The Mysterious Stolen Special 'Giant Candy'

Using yawns to restrict her opponent, then coiling up and unleashing a powerful burst of attacks... Nemo's offensive was indeed difficult for Dara to handle.

However, Dara, as the pioneering brain, was not entirely without a chance to fight back, and immediately had the Great Armor unleash its ultimate move, Lightning Flash.

With the bonus from the flying skin and the added sword dance enhancement, the damage of Lightning Flash is not low. Thanks to its preemptive burst, it finally managed to deal some damage.

Unfortunately, this is ultimately no match for Nemo... because the Earth Dragon also has a fourth ultimate move!

"Use Rock Slide!"

The battle was officially over when the massive rocks came hurtling up.

Like Jirachi, Earth Dragon's Fluttershy has the Serene Grace ability, and after the Rock Slide's Coward effect is doubled, the trigger rate is as high as 60%!

Moreover, this move is four times stronger against the giant armored insect that flies.

In the end, Nemo successfully obtained the first symbolic emblem of the Frontier.

On her and Ash's phones, the locations of the next batch of battle facilities were also unlocked.

The Battle Arena, located between Saffron City and Celadon City, features Cucumber as its captain, who specializes in Fighting-type Pokémon.

And near Route 10, there's the Battle Dome, guarded by the Dome Superstar Hills, who seems to be a technical player.

Challengers can decide the order in which they attempt the challenges; only after completing these two levels will they be able to unlock new facilities.

Having received news of the Grand Contest along the way, Ash and his friends are preparing to head to Saffron City so that May and Lucia can participate in their Kanto debut battle.

However, while crossing a forest, they were stopped by an 'uninvited guest'.

"Woo!" Blocking their way was a young Rayquaza, which glared warily at Ash and the others and launched a volley of silk-spitting attacks without warning.

"Pikachu?" Pikachu, who was dozing on Ash's shoulder, was woken up by the noise. It casually flicked its tail, and the resulting energy shredded the silk threads to shreds.

"Wow, that's amazing!" This subconscious action greatly surprised Nemo, who had been secretly observing Ash.

She discovered that Ash was indeed a treasure trove, especially in Pokémon breeding, where he would always inadvertently reveal new things that greatly benefited her.

The more she observed, the more she felt that she was passively accepting things more and more, and actively thinking less and less.

As a trainer, Ash's abilities are so comprehensive that he can't possibly learn them all in a short period of time, so he can only gradually develop in the direction of cramming...

"No... Caterpie, you've got it wrong! They're not criminals, they're... they're Ash Ketchum!"

Just as Nemo was pondering this, a little boy rushed over. He had obviously recognized Ash and hurriedly apologized to him along with Caterpie.

"I'm so sorry, Ash-sama... we really didn't mean it!"

"It's okay, it's just a little misunderstanding." Ash certainly didn't mind this little incident, but he asked curiously, "Did something happen? This Caterpie seems very wary."

“Uh… my name is Zenji, and I’m an apprentice at Gordon’s Labs. My teacher’s invention was stolen, which is why the caterpillar came here to be wary of suspicious people,” the little boy explained, head down.

"What exactly happened?" Since he happened to be involved in a case and the other party knew him, Xiao Zhi naturally felt obligated to intervene…

"Let me explain the specifics!" A man's voice suddenly came from the sky. It was a strange man wearing glasses who landed on a pair of machines on his back that resembled the wings of a fossil pterosaur.

"I am Dr. Gordon. Let me use the machine that predicts the future based on the Alakazam to predict your purpose for coming here."

A device on the man's head began emitting random radio waves, which soon displayed an image of a luxury car on the screen.

"I already know! You've come here specifically to praise me, the great inventor, and you've decided to invite me for a ride in a luxury car... uh, that doesn't seem right." Gordon realized as he spoke, "Being praised by Mr. Ash seems a bit far-fetched..."

"You know that too..." Haruka and Rukia rolled their eyes inwardly at the same time.

However, they did witness Ash's fame in Kanto; from eight to eighty years old, there was probably no one who didn't know him.

"Professor Gordon, let's go to your research institute to discuss this in detail." Ash gestured for him to proceed, which immediately flattered the latter.

He led everyone to his research institute, but before introducing the case, he inexplicably showed off his invention.

For example, a microphone made to mimic Jigglypuff's singing voice will produce the same "booboo booboo booboo" sound no matter how you sing with it, and it is said to have the effect of helping people relax...

After Gordon opened his mouth, thankfully Mew, who was invisible, helped him cast a Mystic Protection spell, otherwise the case would have been impossible to solve and everyone would have been snoring in the room!

However, this seemingly silly invention made Ash take the professor seriously.

He may be unreliable, but he is truly talented. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to achieve a singing effect almost comparable to Jigglypuff's singing skills through artificial synthesis alone!

Judging from this, what he lost must have been unusual...

"I don't know what happened either. All my research materials have been turned upside down, and the thief has also taken my latest invention," Dr. Gordon said with a worried look. "Miss Officer Jenny has come to investigate many times, but she still has no clue. It's as if the thief appeared out of thin air and disappeared into thin air."

"Appeared out of thin air... Lucario, check the remaining scent." Ash frowned and decided to have Lucario investigate.

The theft had just occurred, and the suspect's scent would definitely still linger. Even if it was just a trace, Luca could find a clue!

"Lucario?" But after sniffing around the archives and the research institute, Lucario was also filled with doubt.

It did smell a slightly unfamiliar scent, but it was confined to the archives.

There was no trace of the smell anywhere else in the research institute, or even in a large area outside.

Even though it used a portion of its life force to greatly enhance its sense of smell, it still couldn't find any clues!

"So, it really appeared out of thin air?" Serena asked curiously after learning the situation. "Was it teleportation?"

"If that's the case, then it must be at least a legendary superpower!" Ash's expression gradually became serious.

With Lucario's current abilities, it can accurately detect the scent of a suspect even if the suspect is halfway across Kanto.

Beyond this distance, the only Pokémon capable of teleporting instantly and landing precisely in the data room, besides legendary Pokémon with psychic abilities, is probably Ash's Alakazam!

Of course, there are other possibilities... such as the other party directly crossing space to steal it!

In either case, this is clearly not an ordinary theft!

"Professor Gordon, what exactly did you lose?" Ash pressed.

“I recently invented… a batch of candies,” Gordon explained in detail, even taking out a few blueberry-shaped candy balls. “These are specially formulated using many precious tree fruits and herbs. I haven’t even had a systematic test yet, and most of them have already been snatched up. These are the last few left… Oh dear!”

His hand trembled, and the last few candies fell to the ground... As a result, the caterpillar that was waiting on the side immediately rushed over!

"Caterpillar... No!" The little boy, Zenji, hurriedly tried to stop him, but it was too late.

Besides, he simply couldn't stop them; insect-type creatures have always had a sweet tooth, and the temptation of candy balls is absolutely fatal.

"Ooh... ooh!" Just after swallowing a candy ball, the caterpillar suddenly shuddered and then its body rapidly swelled to several sizes!

"This is..." "The caterpillar suddenly grew bigger!"

Serena and the others were immediately surprised, but Ash realized that something was wrong.

"Move it outside right away!"

Thanks to his urging, Alakazam immediately used a Poké Ball to teleport Caterpie to the forest, after which Caterpie's size increased dramatically again.