Pokémon, Ash's art style is off!

“Until a few days ago… I went to the Padiya region, which had just joined the alliance.”

"how?"

Xiao Zhi asked nervously, expecting to hear an inspiring story of a comeback.

Wu Neng's body trembled slightly, and two lines of clear tears flowed from his narrowed eyes.

"I...I just arrived here. I'm at the immigration checkpoint, trying to familiarize myself with the environment and build up my confidence."

"He confidently challenged a little girl who looked no more than six years old to a match."

Xiaoxia's face showed a look of disdain; even a six-year-old child was being bullied.

Shameless!

"Don't look at me like that!" Wu Neng waved his arms excitedly. "If you were me, you would do the same! No! You might even go worse than me!"

He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down.

“I will never forget her name, Poppi.”

"result!"

"And the result! You know what?! Three moves! She only used three moves! And my ace was defeated!"

Wu covered his face and sobbed uncontrollably.

"The path of a trainer is truly incredibly cruel!"

"I... I'm not even as good as a child now. I suddenly feel like I've wasted the last thirty-odd years of my life..."

"After I came back, I was disheartened and could only make a living by selling stones..."

Xiao Zhi gasped in shock, his pupils dilating in shock.

The Padiya region is truly terrifying!

Even a mere six-year-old is this ridiculously strong!

He clenched his fists secretly, making up his mind.

If you ever encounter someone from the Parthian region, be extra careful!

15. Humans and Pokémon cannot be equated!

After thinking for a moment, Xiao Zhi scratched his head, tried hard to organize his thoughts, and finally uttered what he considered to be the most emotionally intelligent words of comfort.

"Uncle, you're definitely one of the most accomplished trainers."

He said it seriously.

Lies don't hurt, truth is the knife.

When Pokémon are not involved, Ash's emotional intelligence returns to normal.

Wu Neng's carefully prepared mood suddenly froze.

Xiaoxia glared at Xiaozhi and nudged him lightly with her elbow.

"What are you saying!"

"Oh, I mean, being a stepping stone for both champions, this experience is truly unique."

One sentence was enough to make Wu Neng weep for me.

The two then had to take turns comforting Uncle Wu Neng for a long time before they could barely stop him from crying.

Wu Neng wiped away his tears, took a deep breath, and spoke earnestly to Xiao Zhi.

"Just by looking at how eloquent you are, I can tell you're a rookie trainer."

"Don't think that the path of a trainer is so easy. If you have no ambition, you'll never have to worry about food and drink in your life. But the problem is when you have ambition."

"By then, let alone achieving anything, I'm afraid we won't even be able to feed ourselves."

After all, the more skilled a trainer is, the greater their monthly expenses will be, especially for those trainers who want to compete for tournament victory, Elite Four status, or even the championship.

While effort and talent are indeed part of a trainer's ability, for the vast majority of trainers, these factors often don't create a decisive difference.

"As a trainer, if you want to achieve something, let's not talk about things like talent, which are mysterious."

Wu Neng said.

"In terms of effort, once you reach my level, your opponents will naturally be just as good. In comparison, resources become the key to victory."

He listed them one by one on his fingers.

"For example, should the energy cubes be customized?"

"Anyway, at my level, the opponents I have to fight are basically customized. Among equal strength, those who eat well are slightly better than those who eat poorly."

"Furthermore, should we hire a breeder?"

"Unless you have only a few Pokémon, people's energy is limited, so it's impossible to keep all Pokémon with you. Those Pokémon that you don't keep with you can't just grow wild; you have to hire a professional to take care of them."

"Not to mention props, skill machines and the like."

Wu Neng sighed.

"In short, if you need to spend money, you can always find a place to spend it. If you don't participate in various competitions to achieve rankings, or help the league handle some emergencies to earn resources, then the money simply won't be enough."

"Do we really need so many places to spend money?!"

Xiaoxia was startled when she clutched her empty wallet.

"But we don't need to use the best of these things, something decent will do, right?"

She really hadn't expected that trainers would be so competitive.

Upon hearing this, Wu looked at Xiaoxia and said earnestly.

"You say it's about the same, about the same, but if it's always about the same, then in a fight you'll always be a little worse than others."

"Not to mention, the tournament might even spawn those unreasonable, resource-insensitive monsters with special abilities." Wu Neng clenched his fist as if remembering something. "If you encounter those people, even if you spend money, you still can't beat them; you can only accept your bad luck."

This is the experience that Wu Neng has summarized.

"That's all I have to say. I hope you can learn from this."

After saying all that, Wu Neng glanced at Xiao Zhi, who clearly hadn't listened.

"Oh! So it seems I'm the 'gifted freak' you were talking about, uncle!"

Xiao Zhi grinned.

"Pikachu".

Pikachu nodded in agreement.

That's right!

They're incredibly talented!

Wu Neng: "..."

Well, all that talk was for nothing.

Young people, full of youthful vigor, always think they are special, with amazing talents, and will not be bound by these things.

That's normal.

He thought so too back then, believing that even if he didn't have the looks of a superstar, he certainly had the qualities to win the competition.

But he always ended up looking like a clown.

In silence, with Ash and Misty by their side, they finally arrived at the entrance of Pewter City Gym.

This dojo is less like a building and more like a huge, rough-hewn rock fortress.

The dark gray rocks are stacked together seamlessly, giving it a rugged and tough overall style. There are no fancy decorations at the entrance, only a simple sign that reads "Pewter Dojo," silently proclaiming the professionalism and seriousness of this place.

Looking at the dojo's entrance, Wu Neng's expression was somewhat complicated.

"This is the Pewter City Gym. The Gym Leader is Brock, who specializes in Rock-type Pokémon. Even though he's not too difficult for new Trainers, you should still bet more..."

He hadn't finished speaking.

"Alright! Let's go!"

Whether or not Xiao Zhi listened, he was about to rush in.

"Hey! Wait for me!"

Just as Xiaoxia was about to follow, she seemed to remember something and looked at Wu Neng.

"Uncle, won't you come in and take a look together?"

Wu Neng seemed to recall some unpleasant memory and quickly waved his hand.

"I'm not going in. Good luck to you!"

After saying that, he practically fled the scene, creating distance between them.

Ash and Misty followed them into the gym.

The interior space was more open than I had imagined, but the lighting was rather dim, relying entirely on the large openings in the ceiling for illumination.

Looking around, the entire battlefield is almost entirely made of hard soil.

There are only rock obstacles of varying sizes scattered on the ground, seemingly simulating a rocky environment.

At the other end of the venue, on a high stone platform, stood a figure backlit, whose outline looked... very familiar.

Ash glanced at him and suddenly spoke up.

"Uncle! You're pretty fast! How did you get up there so quickly?"

The figure on the platform was taken aback upon hearing this.

He turned around and looked at Ash with surprise.

"No, you admit your mistake..."

Then, as if he understood something, his already dark face turned even darker, almost blending into the darkness of the dojo.

He cursed under his breath.