Pokémon: Simultaneous time travel, this Ash is too versatile

Chapter 386 Challenge the Valley of All Fire-Breathing Dragons!

"Besides that place, is there anything else you'd like to know about?" Since they definitely couldn't go to the habitat of the strongest Charizard, Ji Ke continued the previous topic, asking Ash and the others if there was any other place they wanted to visit again.

Ash and Charizard both shook their heads. Ash said, "Miss Ji Ke, we want to battle the strongest Charizard. Do you know how?"

Ji Ke nodded and said, "I knew you would say that. There is a way to challenge that fire-breathing dragon. The conditions are simple to say, but the difficulty is hellish. So far, apart from Adu, no one has been able to meet those conditions."

Wataru? This must be referring to Wataru, the Kanto Tenno, the Johto Champion, or the Dragon Knight.

Rumor has it that Adu's Charizard was also sent here for training and even dominated Charizard Valley. This rumor was confirmed by Ji Ke. It seems that Adu's Charizard really did defeat all the Charizards in Charizard Valley!

"Did Mr. Adu's Charizard finally defeat that Charizard?" Xiaoxia blinked her beautiful eyes and asked curiously.

"No." These two casual words caused everyone's expressions to change drastically.

Lance's Charizard couldn't defeat the strongest Charizard in the end?! Was that Charizard also one of the best among the champions?

"Back then, after A-Du's Charizard dominated Charizard Valley, it was only at the intermediate Champion level. Now, almost a year has passed since then. I wonder how much A-Du's Charizard has grown in the past year." Ji Ke revealed some secrets of Charizard Valley back then.

A-Lv's Charizard had already reached the intermediate Champion level, but it was still no match for the strongest Charizard in Charizard Valley, which shows just how powerful that Charizard was.

To challenge that Charizard, you must first defeat all the Charizards in Charizard Valley before you are qualified to challenge it. In other words, all the Charizards in Charizard Valley combined are no match for that one Charizard.

The title of the strongest is well-deserved!

"Miss Ji Ke, I also want to challenge that Charizard! Can you tell me the specific process?" Xiao Zhi shouted excitedly to Ji Ke.

The thought of challenging an entire Charizard Valley and the most powerful Charizard in the valley is exhilarating!

"Are you sure, Ash? Challenging all the Charizards in the entire Charizard Valley is a very dangerous thing. I admit that your Charizard is very strong, and it is a perfect existence at its current level, but—it is only limited to its current level. Do you understand what I mean?" Upon hearing this, Ji Ke's face showed a serious expression, and the tone of his voice became solemn.

Clearly, Xiaozhi's decision was not approved by Ji Ke.

Ji Ke has an absolute understanding of Pokémon like Charizard. She might not be able to tell the level of other Pokémon when they are not battling, but it's different with Charizard.

Even standing still, Ji Ke could accurately judge Charizard's level and physical condition, so she knew that Ash's Charizard was only at the Elite Four level.

Although Ash's Charizard's physical attributes are considered perfect within the Elite Four level, that's only true for the Elite Four level. Each level after the Elite Four level is vastly different.

To think that you can rely on your superstar power to fight the champion is just wishful thinking.

"Since Miss Ji Ke knows Ash and is so interested in Charizard, she must have seen Ash's classic battle with Charizard, right?" Brock stepped forward and said seriously. Although he was a womanizer, he was very serious when it came to matters concerning his good brother.

Hearing Ji Ke's words, she clearly believed that Charizard's current level was not qualified to challenge the Charizard Valley Trial. But how could Ash's Charizard be judged based on its superficial level?

"I know, this Charizard once defeated Lorelei's main Pokémon. At that time, it must have unleashed power comparable to a mid-level Champion, right? It was unleashed with the help of Mega Evolution and the special power within you, Ash." Ji Ke's words stunned Brock.

It turns out that Ji Ke knew that Ash's Charizard could fight against opponents of higher levels. If that's the case, why did he say that Ash's Charizard was not suitable for the trial?

Ji Ke glanced at the puzzled crowd, then slowly began to explain, "I'd like to tell you about the trial process of challenging the strongest Charizard in Charizard Valley and the rewards you can obtain."

There's another reward? This thought involuntarily popped into everyone's mind.

There are rewards for challenges, which is generally true, but that only applies to officially organized competitions. The reason why the organizers set up rewards is to attract people to take on the challenge and thus profit from it.

The economic growth brought by the spectators, the fame brought by the powerful trainers, and various other benefits are all factors that lead the league to set up prizes, honors, and other rewards.

This is a mutually beneficial activity, so setting up rewards is not uncommon, but it is strange that there are so-called prizes in the Fire Dragon Valley.

This place is already famous, and people who come here to foster their Charizards have to queue up and be screened. It's Charizard Valley that picks people, and no one else picks Charizard Valley.

In this situation, Charizard Valley doesn't need to set up any rewards at all, but Charizard Valley still does. Is this what it means to be rich and powerful?

Ignoring Xiaozhi and the others' questions, Ji Ke continued, "To challenge the strongest Charizard, you first need to defeat all the Charizards in Charizard Valley. This process is one-on-one, but it's not a fight-and-rest cycle; you have to defeat all the Charizards in Charizard Valley one-on-one within a whole day!!"

"What?!"

"No rest! This is way too difficult!"

"Is it that demanding, Miss Ji Ke? There must be at least a hundred Charizards in the entire valley. Even if each battle lasts one minute, it would take more than two hours to finish. And facing those powerful Charizards, it's obviously impossible to defeat them in one minute. Plus, there's the physical exhaustion involved—how could anyone possibly complete this challenge?"

The three of them chatted amongst themselves, while Ash remained silent, a thoughtful expression on his face, lost in thought.

Ji Ke gestured for everyone to be quiet for a moment. Once everyone had shut up, she continued, "The challenge is indeed very demanding, but how do you think the strongest fire-breathing dragon in this valley was selected?"

"How were they selected—could it be?!" Serena pondered for a moment, an incredulous expression on her face. If it was really as she guessed, just how strong was that strongest Charizard?!

"That's right, it's what you're thinking of. Could it be that the strongest Charizard in this Charizard Valley, as you just described, defeated all the other Charizards in the valley and finally became the strongest Charizard?" Ji Ke nodded, confirming Serina's idea.

Just as Serena guessed, the strongest fire-breathing dragon in the valley had gone through the trials she had just mentioned before before finally reaching that position. So, if you want to challenge him, you naturally have to go through those trials again!

This is similar to challenging the league champion. To challenge the league champion, you need to defeat all four kings before you can stand on the same stage as the champion.

but----

"I'd like to ask Miss Ji Ke, what are the rules you mentioned for challenging the strongest Charizard? Does it mean that after challenging all the Charizards in the entire Charizard Valley, you can directly challenge that particular Charizard, or that after challenging all the Charizards in the valley, you are given time to rest and fully recover your injuries and stamina before challenging that particular Charizard?" Xiao Gang asked with a serious expression.

If it's the latter, then it's no joke. There are so many Charizards in the entire Charizard Valley. No matter how strong Ash's Charizard is, after taking them down one by one, even if his stamina isn't completely exhausted, he'll eventually be close to being completely drained.

No one knows better than Ash's partners who are by his side what price Ash paid to improve his Pokémon's strength.

Besides Ash's own energy, the rapid depletion of Pokémon's stamina is also a contributing factor. Every time Ash boosts a Pokémon's power, its stamina consumption increases exponentially with the rise in speed and attack.

When Ash boosts his Pokémon's power for battle, his opponents rarely encounter Ash's Pokémon. However, after each battle, Ash's Pokémon are almost always exhausted.

It can be said that every time Ash takes a challenge that is much higher than his level, he is dancing on the edge of a knife. If he makes even the slightest mistake, he will lose everything.

Don't be fooled by Ash's seemingly perfect team that always defeats his opponents. In reality, most of his Pokémon are already exhausted. If they continue fighting, they'll just become cannon fodder and drain his stamina. So, the idea of ​​defeating opponents with a full team is just a nice-sounding facade.

Therefore, if Ash wanted to use Charizard to defeat all the Charizards in the entire Charizard Valley and then continue to challenge the strongest Charizard, the result would be predictable.

"Why don't you think about the prerequisites for challenging the league champions of each region? What's the process after defeating the four regional kings?" Ji Ke smiled and asked in return.

"After defeating the four kings of the league, you need to immediately go and fight the champion, so it is much more difficult to become the league champion by challenging for the title than by other methods," Xiaoxia replied, picking up where Ji Ke left off.

There are other ways to become the league champion besides defeating the Four Heavenly Kings or the champion. Some are predetermined by the league, some are decided by the strongest among the Four Heavenly Kings, and some require the approval of both the Four Heavenly Kings and the league.

The most difficult way to become a champion is to challenge for the title before the current champion has stepped down.

This means you need to defeat the Four Heavenly Kings and the current champion in a row!

This method of striving for the championship is the most difficult of all, and trainers who become champions using this method will be considered the strongest trainers in the region throughout history.

The reason for setting such strict rules is to prevent the champion from changing hands easily. It's like the league is telling you outright that if the current champion hasn't stepped down, don't try to challenge for the title.

If one insists on becoming the champion under these circumstances, then the only path left is this hellish one.

"So, it's the same here. You have to challenge all the Charizards in the entire Charizard Valley before you can challenge the strongest Charizard in the valley? These challenge conditions are way too harsh! I bet there aren't many people who can even achieve the challenge goal!" Xiaoxia couldn't help but question.

Why set such a demanding challenge? Is it for that unknown reward? What kind of reward could possibly justify such stringent conditions?

"Yes, so Xiaozhi, are you sure you still want to take on the challenge?" Ji Ke nodded, her beautiful emerald green eyes looking at Xiaozhi, and asked him again to confirm.

She wasn't unaware of Ash's strength, but Ash's Pokémon's power wasn't something he truly possessed like Lance's. Even though Ash's Charizard defeated the Champion-level Cloyster in a head-on confrontation, that wasn't Charizard's own power. Ji Ke didn't believe that power forcibly increased wouldn't have side effects.

It might not be noticeable in a short battle, but with so many rounds of attacks, the side effects will definitely show. Although Ji Ke doesn't know what the side effects of forcibly increasing power are, Xiao Zhi himself should know them all too well.

She is revealing the situation of the challenge now in order to give Ash a chance to prepare.

Depending on the situation, Ash can choose to continue the challenge, or he can choose to pretend he never said anything, and no one present will laugh at Ash.

After all, even if a Charizard of the Champion level is trained to the best, it would still be too difficult for it to break through the entire Charizard Valley. This is the Charizard Valley, not some random street gym!

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Ash and Charizard nodded firmly: "We choose to take on the challenge! Thank you, Miss Ji Ke."

"You're really a newborn calf that's not afraid of tigers—perhaps too much success has made you forget the feeling of failure. This is a good opportunity to clear your head. When are you planning to start?" Ji Ke shook her head helplessly, already certain that Xiao Zhi would fail.

Sometimes retreating is not failure, but merely a step taken for a better future. Ash clearly doesn't understand this yet. Perhaps Ash has had too smooth a journey, so he doesn't know what retreating means. In that case—let him experience what failure truly is.

"Let's begin! My Charizard and I have been on standby!"

"Roar!!" Charizard roared to the sky, spewing out a burst of scorching flames, its dark eyes seemingly burning with raging fire!

"Let's begin now." Ji Ke said, walking to the doorway, picking up a huge horn, then taking a deep breath and blowing the horn with all her might.

"Waaah!"

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