Ash, with his invincible physical body, wants to become a Pokémon Master.

Chapter 350 Meeting the Parents

Ash and his friends, who are currently challenging the Hoenn League, have finally arrived at Petalburg City, the first major city they have encountered on their journey, after a day of travel.

"Ash, wait for me~, you don't have to be in such a hurry."

On the city's main street, Ash and Pikachu strode forward with their usual enthusiasm, while May followed slowly behind, exhausted and drooping her head.

"And are we really going to the Petalburg Gym?"

"Of course! Challenging gyms is a must if you want to participate in the League Tournament!"

"Haruka, you want to challenge the Hoenn League too, right?"

"Ah, well... I guess so..."

Ignoring May's awkward expression, Ash excitedly found the route to Petalburg Gym on the map.

Although Ash had already found out before coming that the challenge rules for Petalburg Gym required collecting all four badges first.

But he did learn that the new gym leader was a very powerful man, known as one of the next Elite Four, and he happened to be passing through Petalburg City.

Xiao Zhi was really unwilling to give up without going to see for himself.

"At the very least, they should observe the gym battles of other challengers and see what the new gym leader is capable of before leaving!"

If he is truly a strong opponent, then Ash will be able to give it his all.

"I really want to know what kind of person the Petalburg Gym Leader is."

"The Gym Leader of Petalburg City~"

"Haruka, do you know?"

"Huh?" Xiaoyao's lips twitched, and she kept twirling her two cute little fingers in front of her chest to ease the awkwardness.

"I don't know much about it either~"

"However, I think he's a very strong, very gentle, very handsome, and also a very good person!"

"Judging from what you're saying, you clearly know a lot about this." Ash's eyes suddenly sharpened, and May quickly chuckled to herself.

"I mean, I wish that were really the case."

"Anyway, let's go check out the Petalburg Gym first!"

"this----"

"What's wrong, Xiaoyao? Aren't you going?"

"Actually, I have something to take care of, so I'll say goodbye now, Xiaozhi. See you later!"

Before she could finish speaking, Xiaoyao had already disappeared in a flash.

"oh."

"What's Haruka up to? Why is she acting so strangely whenever Petalburg Gym is mentioned? Could it be...!"

At this moment, Ash's intelligence suddenly took over, and he remembered what Misty looked like when she was in Cerulean City.

"Maybe May is actually the child of the Petalburg Gym Leader—hahaha, impossible, impossible!"

The trainers at Petalburg City Gym hold a very high position in the Hoenn League; it's not like you'd just randomly run into the child of a Gym Leader.

With a grin, Ash waved his hand, dismissing the thought, and then picked up Pikachu and charged towards the Petalburg Gym.

The entrance to the Orange Blossom Dojo looks rather simple, but its large area makes up for its lack of grandeur.

"As expected of one of the most famous gyms in the Hoenn League, Petalburg Gym Leaders must make a lot of money just by being locals."

Although Ash is the only sun in Dark City, he doesn't really have the right to criticize others.

Ash's timing seems a bit unfortunate; the gym appears to be closed, and there are no students around to greet challengers.

Following the traditional view that "since we're already here," Ash opened the door and entered the gym.

The interior of the dojo's main building is much larger than it appears from the outside.

Ash tentatively greeted them, but there was no response.

"Is anyone there? I'm Ash from Pallet Town, and I'd like to watch the Gym Challenge—"

"Pikachu!"

"It's so noisy! I was just watching the Silver Conference videotape."

"Oh, sorry."

After Xiao Zhi called out several times, someone actually came.

The newcomer turned out to be a bespectacled kid who came from the next room into Ash's battle arena room, rubbing his head and looking impatient.

It seemed that he had disturbed the other person's lunch break, and Xiao Zhi was about to turn around and leave.

But to everyone's surprise, when the kid saw who it was, he immediately got excited and ran up to Ash, pointing at him with his finger.

"It's you!"

"That was at the Grand Finals of the City Alliance Silver Tournament—!"

"Oh!" It's rare for someone in the Hoenn region to recognize him. Ash nodded expectantly.

"Yes, yes, that's me."

"The one who faced off against that handsome guy named Shigeru in the finals—Asahi!"

"My name is Xiaozhi!" Xiaozhi almost fell over.

"I'm a champion of the league tournament, for goodness' sake! At least remember my name!"

"Haha, I was just kidding." The bespectacled kid grinned mischievously.

"I watched every single match of the Silver Tournament live broadcast, and I even recorded them and watched them several times!"

"From Pallet Town, the lecherous scumbag Zhi, a master manipulator of women's hearts!"

"Hey, Xiao Mao has had just as many girlfriends as I have, so why is he called handsome while I'm called scum?"

This brat is so annoying! He should at least add "powerful trainer" before "scumbag Zhi"!

"No, Xiao Mao is a scumbag too."

"Really? Then I'm relieved."

Xiao Zhi felt much better after realizing he wasn't the only one being scolded.

"But you're really strong, Ash. Every Pokémon you fielded at the tournament was trained exceptionally well."

"Your opponents before the finals pose absolutely no threat to you."

Suddenly, the bespectacled kid changed his attitude and stared at Ash with his blinking eyes.

"The last match had my palms sweating! It was amazing to watch men recognized by legendary Pokémon!"

"I really want to be recognized by a legendary Pokémon too."

"To see more powerful Pokémon, I even dug up and watched all your previous matches at the Indigo League."

"But have you ever used Legendary Pokémon in a formal competition, only the Silver Conference?"

"Actually, I also used Suicune in the Whirlpool Tournament —"

It seems that this bespectacled imp is one of Ash's admirers, which immediately improved Ash's opinion of him.

He was thinking about whether to summon the Eight Treasure Porridge for the children to see, but before he could finish speaking, the bespectacled kid interrupted him with a very arrogant posture.

"Hmm, never mind, it's not important."

"You brat, why are you still asking!"

This kid is still really annoying, always talking to himself, and his defining characteristic is probably his self-centeredness.

"Speaking of which, the Silver Conference finals were really intense, especially when Pikachu was defeated by Regigigas's Explosion, I was really worried for you."

"Oh." Ash replied to the kid's words in a nonchalant manner, but the other seemed completely oblivious, continuing to push up his glasses and ramble on.

"Pikachu actually had a chance to escape in that situation, right? I could have done better if I were in that situation."

"Please, Regigi's speed! Watching it on TV and experiencing it firsthand are two completely different things!"

How could someone who watches a slow-motion replay on TV possibly understand the adrenaline rush Ash felt during the battle?

However, the bespectacled kid didn't seem to care at all. After spotting Pikachu, he immediately hopped over to it and picked it up.

"Great, this is Pikachu from back then, so fluffy and comfortable."

"Pikachu~"

"Don't hug me too tightly, or you'll get an electric shock—" Ash finally lost his patience and pulled the kid to his side.

"In short, kid, I don't have time to play with you right now. I'm here to find the Gym Leader. Please call the Gym Leader out."

Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, the kid suddenly lowered his head, revealing a sinister face reflected in his glasses, much like Conan's.

"My name is Max, and if you're looking for a Gym Leader—that's me!"

"you?"

"That's right, it's me!"

Ash silently pulled Pikachu from Max's arms, then turned and walked towards the gate.

"Wait, wait, it really is me!" Xiaosheng quickly pounced over and grabbed Xiaozhi's leg to stop him from leaving.

"Look, I have a Gym Leader's Poké Ball, and I can even command them!"

"Now you can trust me, right?"

When Ash saw that Sheng had taken out a Poké Ball that was polished to a shine and looked very well taken care of, he stopped in his tracks.

"If you really are a Gym Leader, then release your Pokémon and let me see."

After all, there are all sorts of gym trainers, and Ash can't be too arbitrary, so he decided to give Max a chance.

"Heh heh, just you wait, Hyperactive Ape, come out now! Use your wild claw attack!"

"oh!"

What emerged from the Poké Ball was a strong, white, bipedal ape.

This was a Hoenn region Pokémon that Ash had never seen before, and he immediately became interested.

Then the hyperactive ape immediately launched an attack—against Koshin.

The little imp was knocked to the ground by the hyperactive ape, which then launched a flurry of claw attacks, quickly scratching at his armpits.

"Oinking~"

"Hahaha, hey, stop it, you hyperactive monkey! You're not grabbing me! Ahahahaha!"

The scene was a little awkward for a moment. After catching his breath, Xiao Sheng finally got up from the ground and pushed up his glasses with a forced calm expression.

"Hoo~ Hoo~, come back soon, hyperactive ape."

With a flash of red light, the scene of coaxing the child finally came to an end.

"Heh heh, how about that? The hyperactive monkey followed my instructions and activated its skill just now. Now you believe I'm a Gym Leader, right?"

"Pikachu, let's go. It seems the Gym Leader isn't here for the time being."

"Wait, wait a minute! Let's have a match, just for a second!"

'

"Xiaosheng, what are you guys doing making such a racket on the battlefield in the middle of the day?"

As Ash ignored Max clinging to his leg and walked straight toward the door, a familiar, pleasant voice suddenly came from outside the room window.

"elder sister!"

"Haruka?"

"Hey, Ash, you're here."

The little head that suddenly peeked out of the window was none other than Haruka, who had recently parted ways with Ash.

Following closely behind her, a man and a woman quickly approached the window.

"Oh dear, do we have any guests at the dojo?"

"Welcome to my Petalburg Gym."

"Dad, Mom!"

"Mom and Dad?"

"Hehe, actually I'm the son of a gym leader."

Seeing that his scheme had finally been exposed, even the arrogant brat Xiao Sheng finally showed an embarrassed expression.

At this moment, Ash turned his gaze to May outside the window.

"So, Xiaosheng called you 'sister' just now, which means Xiaoyao, you—"

"Hehe, actually I'm also a child of the Petalburg Gym, sorry I kept it from you before."

"what!"

What a coincidence!

And so it went again. Ash followed May and the others to the reception room of Petalburg Gym to receive their hospitality.

"Let me formally introduce myself. These are my mom and dad."

The couple sitting next to him immediately greeted Xiaozhi warmly.

"Hello, I am Senri, a trainer from Petalburg Gym."

"I am Haruka and Kacchan's mother, and my name is Mitsuko."

"And that guy with glasses is my younger brother, Xiaosheng."

"What, that guy? Sister, please introduce me properly!"

"Little brother, it's a shame that you were so confident when you said you were a gym leader."

"What does it matter? I just really want to play against the tournament champion!"

"Besides, I said I'm a gym leader, but I didn't say it's now. It won't make a difference whether I become one in the future or not."

Xiao Sheng felt no shame at all; on the contrary, he was self-righteous.

When little brats get willful, it's really impossible to control them, but the siblings' parents seem much more composed.

Mitsuko gently handed the fine tea to Ash, saying, "Thank you so much, Ash, for bringing Haruka all the way here."

"No, no, I didn't come here specifically to deliver it. After all, I didn't know beforehand. We were just traveling companions who happened to be passing by."

"6

Ash wanted to be polite and make a good impression on May's parents, whom he was meeting for the first time, but Max interrupted again.

"Mom and Dad, let me tell you, this person is the champion of this year's Silver Tournament, the perverted scumbag Zhi!"

"Stop using that nickname! It's blatant slander!"

Xiao Zhi knew in his heart that this must be a rumor spread by those jealous guys!

You know, deep down he's actually very pure-hearted! (Seriously)

It's just that occasionally my masculinity surges so much that I can't control myself for a little bit—but the more I talk about it, the more something feels off.

However, Xiaozhi guarantees that every relationship was mutual, and many of them were not even initiated by him. Can he still be called a scumbag?

Chisato and Mitsuko clearly didn't take Kakeru's mischief to heart, and instead turned to look at Haruka.

"Speaking of which, Xiaoyao, where's your bicycle?"

When her mother asked where the gift she had given her before her trip was, Xiaoyao immediately put down her teacup and stammered.

"Uh, well—it got electrocuted by Pikachu."

"Pika~" Pikachu's two ears drooped down shyly at this moment.

However, Qianli patted Pikachu's little head.

"Haha, that's alright. It's normal for unexpected things to happen during a trip."

Mitsuko nodded in agreement, "Besides, walking more is good for your health!"

"My goodness, what understanding parents!" Xiao Zhi was deeply moved. It seemed that he wouldn't have to pay for the bicycle.

Save money, fight thieves!

However, it seems that among the girls Ash knows around his age, besides Sabrina, May is the first one with both parents alive.

The Pokémon world is terrifying.

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