Ash's Pokémon Travel Has Big Problems

At this moment, Cross's mentality had cracked in countless ways and was on the verge of collapse.

boom--

He kicked the Poké Ball away.

He once again vented his anger on the Poké Ball containing the Charmander.

As for the Poké Ball containing Incineroar and Lycanroc, he held it tightly in his hand—he couldn't bear to part with it.

In the spectator seats.

Ash pulled his hat brim down even lower, the shadow obscuring half of his face.

—I'm so annoyed.

He took a deep breath, his voice not loud, but it clearly pierced the silence of the room:

"Indeed, you are the biggest piece of trash."

Blaming others for your own mistakes and failures... is a really annoying thing to do.

Xiao Zhi agrees with facing the harsh realities of life head-on and then overcoming them.

When faced with difficulties, it's either live or die.

There was no mention of shirking responsibility.

Cross suddenly raised his head, his eyes red as he glared at the source of the voice—the boy wearing a hat.

The two faced off.

Ash doesn't like the guy in front of him.

Stubborn, ignorant, arrogant... most importantly, stupid.

How dare they fight back after offending the dojo master?

Even after failing, he took his anger out on the weakest of his teammates?

It was clearly their own fault for making the wrong decision.

It's worth noting that the Rainbow Gym's challenge difficulty has never been high... Basically, as long as the trainer has normal skills, they can pass the challenge.

It is comparable in difficulty to the Cerulean Dojo.

"The root of the failure is you," Ash emphasized again.

"Unbelievable! You actually let Charmander fight a Victoire in close combat? Do you want it to lose fast enough, or do you want it to suffer enough damage?"

"There are generally only two solutions to Miss Rika's reinforcement-style tactics."

Xiao Zhi held up two fingers.

This is basic common sense for trainers.

"First, use skills like Black Mist to remove the enhancement."

"If you are good at it, you can not only resolve the crisis, but you may even trigger an energy backlash, making the other party suffer the consequences."

He tucked one of his fingers in.

"Second, stall for time."

"Any boosting strategy, especially a combination that dramatically increases abilities in a short period of time, places an enormous burden on the Pokémon itself. It's a kind of oppressive damage that's difficult to heal quickly and originates from the power itself. As long as you can withstand the strongest phase, the scales of victory will naturally tip in your favor."

"But what did you do?"

Ash's gaze was as tangible as it pressed down on Cross.

"You'll just let your Pokémon recklessly charge in and use their bodies to crash into a heavily reinforced fortress."

"You didn't even try to understand your opponent's tactics, and you didn't think about how to use skill to overcome force."

"You are not a qualified trainer at all."

Overcoming skill with force is something the strong do to the weak.

As the weaker party, we should think about how to use skills to overcome the power of the stronger party.

"Zizzi-"

at this time.

The Poké Ball that Cross kicked away developed a crack in its shell due to the repeated rough treatment, and its surface flickered with electricity.

Finally, with a soft pop, the Poké Ball was completely destroyed, and the white light forcibly released the Charmander inside.

"fire?"

The little dragon lay weakly on the ground, shaking its slightly dizzy head.

It still bore the scars from the previous battle, and the flames on its tail appeared somewhat dim.

Its first sight was of the trainer Cross, who was kneeling on the ground with a pained expression.

A hint of worry flashed in the little guy's eyes.

It remembered that although this human was always fierce and the training was very strict, he was, after all, its trainer.

It struggled, its still somewhat limp limbs moving slowly and laboriously toward Cross, letting out a soft, comforting whimper: "Fire...Dragon..."

This is the attitude of most Pokémon towards their trainers.

It's pure and friendly, isn't it?

The little dragon stretched out its tiny claws, wanting to gently touch Cross's trouser leg, just as it had done carefully before when Cross was in a slightly better mood.

However, what responded to it was a concentrated outburst of all of Kroos's pent-up anger, shame, and breakdown.

"Get out of here! You're useless! I don't need you anymore!"

Without even glancing at Charmander's worried eyes, Cross suddenly raised his foot and kicked Charmander hard in the belly with tremendous force.

"Ugh——!"

A short, painful cry.

Charmander's body was kicked backward like a rag doll, rolling several times before crashing heavily into the guardrail at the edge of the arena and finally sliding softly to the ground.

It curled up into a ball, emitting suppressed, intermittent groans of pain.

The flames on the little dragon's tail flickered violently, almost going out, and their color became incredibly dim.

Rika did not intentionally hurt Charmander, but it's impossible to avoid injury during a gym battle.

The scene fell silent instantly.

This kick seemed to have struck Xiaoxia and Xiaogang's hearts as well.

Xiaoxia was so angry that her face turned pale, and she almost rushed down to argue, but Xiaogang held her back tightly.

The six-tailed fox in Xiao Gang's arms also stirred restlessly, burying its head even deeper.

Cross was panting heavily, as if that kick had exhausted his last bit of strength.

He suddenly turned his head, his eyes red as he stared intently at Ash in the stands, all his anger finding a new target.

“You?!” Cross’s voice was distorted with excitement.

He pointed at Ash, a sneer on his face a mixture of jealousy and disdain. "You think you're qualified to teach me? Huh?!"

"Don't think I didn't notice!"

He almost yelled.

"The gym battles you fought in before and the ones I'm facing today are not even in the same league!"

"What are you doing? Playing house?"

In fact, if Ash played on the normal difficulty...

So Cross was playing on Hell difficulty.

The Giant Carnivorous Flower has even changed its skill set.

Can the Dunshan before and after the mutation be the same?

laugh.

"What right do you, a lucky person who only got the badge because others let you get it, have to talk back to me like this?!"

Cross desperately tries to find a sense of superiority in Ash in order to maintain his shattered self-esteem.

Cross thought he was a chosen one, but reality told him... he was nothing.

Xiao Zhi watched him quietly, observing his hysterical state.

He didn't immediately refute, but simply tugged at the brim of his hat.

“You seem to have misunderstood something, Cross.”

Ash's voice wasn't loud, but it strangely overpowered Cross's heavy breathing, clearly reaching everyone's ears.

"You're still debating who won or lost."

"You haven't figured out where you went wrong yet."

"If that's the case, then what you've experienced today will be your eternal future."

"It's... ridiculously naive."

Ash's gaze seemed to pierce through Cross's body, staring directly at that arrogant and twisted soul.

"I have already foreseen your fate."

"Your future will always be this hellishly difficult."

Ash tilted his head slightly, a hint of pity in his eyes, a pity that hurt Cross more than any mockery.

Kroos's actions are completely contrary to the mainstream view in the league.

If he doesn't make changes, then... it will be like the routine cleaning of 'defective products,' just like a gardener casually pulling out an unsightly weed.

"Your strength, like your confidence, is nothing but a falsehood built on sand."

"Look at you like this..."

"It's so pathetic that it seems so fragile."

"Trying to cover up your own incompetence by belittling others... Cross, when did you develop the illusion that Miss Lijia is examining you and me on the same level?"

Why was this level so easy for Xiaozhi?

That's because we've already overcome the difficulties!

Having faced a giant Tentacruel in Vermilion City... even without achieving any decisive results, her sheer strength was enough to get past the gym.

Rika just wanted to see Ash's personality and thoughts; the standard for the assessment was not his strength at all.

Just like Rika answered Professor Oak—the step that was needed for the future has already been taken.

"You are angry not because of failure, but because in your narrow-minded view, even the right to 'fail' seems so cheap and ridiculous."

“You criticize my skill level, but you are unwilling to admit that it is because in the eyes of the gym leader, I at least have the ‘potential’ to make her treat me as an ‘examiner’ rather than a ‘cleaner’.”

Ash took a step forward.

Although they were in the spectator stands, their aura seemed to dominate the entire arena.

However, the stands are indeed higher than the stadium.

This top-down perspective further highlights the gap between the two sides.

"You complain about the injustice of the world, and about the curator's favoritism, but you have never looked down to examine your own empty inner self."

"Blaming defeat on the Pokémon's 'uselessness,' on the opponent's 'seriousness,' on all external factors... but daring not to admit that the most core, the most pathetic 'uselessness,' is standing right here, barking in the most incompetent way."

Ash looked at Cross's face, contorted with extreme anger and humiliation, and slowly delivered his final verdict:

"Be afraid, hate, and then struggle to escape with your pathetic pride."

"But please remember—"

"From the moment you took your frustration at your weakest companion for your own incompetence, your path as a trainer was... completely over."

Xiao Zhi was very certain.

If Kroos doesn't make changes, this will be his fate forever.