I, Xiao Mao, want to become a Pokémon Master!

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188: Orange Alliance

【叮！发布任务：在胜利者皇宫留下照片和脚印/奖励：高级神奇糖果X20、铜色王冠X1、银色王冠X1、特性强化石（特性等级+1）X3！】

As soon as Xiao Mao finished speaking, the system issued a task.

This mission rewards an item that Shigeru hasn't seen before: a Trait Enhancement Stone, which increases the trait level by 1.

It's obvious that Ability Enhancement Stones are used to enhance abilities. In the game, a Pokémon's abilities are fixed, and there is no difference in strength between the same ability.

However, in reality, Pokémon abilities vary in strength. For example, Charizard's Blaze ability doesn't provide a significant boost to every Charizard when it is activated.

For example, the Chimchar that Ash later caught had a terrifying boost after its Blaze ability was triggered. Not only did the power of Fire-type moves increase several times, but its attack, defense, and speed also improved.

Therefore, in reality, the characteristics of Pokémon vary in strength. Since the system rewards characteristic enhancement stones, it also means that in reality, there are Pokémon with characteristics stronger than those of the same type.

However, right now, Shigeru doesn't have time to think about it; he still needs to apply to become the Chief Trainer.

"Oh, challenging the top trainer." It's been a long time since anyone has challenged him. Joy asked with some surprise, "So, Mr. Gary, have you collected all four badges of the Southern Cross?"

"of course."

Xiao Mao took out the badge box and opened it, inside which were four badges with the Southern Cross design.

Upon seeing the four badges in the badge, Joey was startled and immediately asked, "Excuse me, Mr. Shigeru, do you have anything to prove your identity?"

"This." Shigeru took out the picture book and handed it to Joey.

Joey took the encyclopedia and confirmed Shigeru's identity.

"Alright, your identity is confirmed. I'll register you now." Joey typed randomly on the keyboard, inputting all of Shigeru's information, and then asked, "Okay, your application is approved. Your match with Yuuji will be held in a week, at Citrus Stadium, at 9 a.m. It's an all-hands match."

"Can we just go directly when it's time?" Xiao Mao asked.

“Yes, please prepare accordingly. Is there anything else you need to ask?” Miss Joey asked.

"No, thank you."

Once the time was set, Gary went to the teleporter area, intending to have Professor Oak send over a few Pokémon.

The fact that defeating the current top trainer of the Orange League, Yuji, yields such a large reward shows that Yuji is quite skilled, especially considering his Dragonite.

Judging from its performance in the anime, that Dragonite definitely has the strength of an Elite Four member; otherwise, it wouldn't have been able to defeat several of Ash's Pokémon so easily.

On Asia Island, Gary saw Pikachu's level. Pikachu is currently level 53, which is at the level of a near-Elite Four member. Based on this, it can be inferred that the strength of the six Pokémon that Yuuji has is roughly between the level of a near-Elite Four member and an Elite Four member.

Gary decided to use six Pokémon to fight: Blastoise, Tyranitar, Electivire, Moltres, Eevee, and Articuno.

After teleporting Tyranitar and Electivire over, Gary rented an indoor space and began adjusting the status of the six Pokémon.

The current levels of the 6 Pokémon are as follows!

Blastoise LV59!

Tyranitar LV63!

Electrifying Beast LV52!

Moltres LV50!

Articuno LV55!

Ibrahimovic is level 53!

Once a Pokémon reaches level 50, its level increases very slowly. Even with daily training, it's good if it only gains one level in a month, and that's for Pokémon with high potential.

Those Pokémon with the potential to become Champions might only level up once every two or three months.

Xiao Shiu estimated that it would take at least 2 to 3 years for a Pokémon with Champion potential to grow to Champion level. Of course, Ash is an exception. For those with special abilities, as long as their Pokémon's potential is not bad, their level can be raised very quickly.

Take Ash Ketchum, for example, who was born with the power of aura.

Aura is a type of spiritual energy that greatly helps Pokémon grow. Ash's five Pokémon, which he caught during the Journeys series, were able to reach Champion level thanks to Aura.

Aside from Dracovish and Gengar, which were basically freebies, Dragonite, Lucario, and Sirfetch'd weren't at very high levels when Blue caught them.

Lucario, in particular, was hatched from a Pokémon egg by Ash. The fact that it was able to catch up with Champion-level Pokémon so quickly is thanks to the power of Aura. However, Lucario can control Aura itself, making it a very suitable Pokémon for Ash to train.

In ancient times, waveguide users all had a Lucario.

This is why Ash, whenever he enters a new region and uses newly caught Pokémon to participate in the League Conference, can almost always reach the All-Star Battle stage.

As Ash grows older, even if he can't control his aura, the aura within him will unintentionally spread out, helping the Pokémon around him grow.

Moreover, the power of aura not only helps Pokémon grow, but also has many other uses, such as removing negative mental states, such as confusion, sleep, obsession and so on, which have a chance to be removed.

Because Ash often wakes up his Pokémon by shouting in battles, he actually triggers the Aura power unintentionally, ending the Pokémon's negative status effects.

However, these are all things to be discussed later. Moreover, this Aura Power belongs to Ash and has nothing to do with Gary. The only ability that Gary can discover is the ability to nurture.

However, for now, Shigeru still needs to defeat Yuuji first.

After gathering the Pokémon together, Gary started showing them recordings of Yuuji's matches, so that his Pokémon could learn about all of Yuuji's Pokémon.

Yuji's Pokémon aren't just the six he used to fight Ash; he also has Rhyperior, Arcanine, and Gyarados.

"This Yuuji isn't that strong, is he? No one's managed to beat him for three years straight, he's really lucky," Shigeru remarked.

Xiao Shi had initially paid attention to Yuji's strength, but after watching Yuji's previous match recordings, he realized that apart from Dragonite being relatively strong, Yuji's other Pokémon were only average in strength, and there were even quite a few commanding mistakes during the battles.

It can only be said that the Orange League's top trainer is too bad, especially this top trainer, Yuji, who is so terrible that he can't even compare to any of the Kanto League's Elite Four.

"Alright, now that you've watched all the match replays, you all have a general idea of ​​what moves Yuuji's Pokémon have. Use this week to adjust your mindset and prepare for the battle a week from now," said Shigeru.

"Kami!!"

"Bah!"

"Awoo...!"

"roar...!!"

The Blastoises all nodded, indicating that they would fight hard in the match a week later and show Yuuji how powerful they were.

189: Ash arrives at Citrus Island

Durian Island.

News Report: "We have the following news to report: Trainer Gary from Pallet Town will be challenging Top Trainer Yuuji this Sunday. Please tune in on Sunday morning...!"

"Damn it, Gary has started challenging the top trainer." Ash gritted his teeth, almost breaking them, as he watched the news broadcast on TV.

"Shigeru is so fast! It's only been a few days, and he's not only gotten the last badge, but he's also going to challenge Yuuji!" Misty exclaimed.

“Yes, you can only achieve such speed by riding a firebird,” Xiao Jian said.

Previously on Asia Island, Gary had told Professor Oak about his research on Moltres and Articuno, and Ken had been listening in.

Of the three legendary birds, Moltres has the strongest stamina and endurance because it can restore its energy through sunlight, and it can migrate the farthest distance of the three birds each time.

Ash and his friends have just arrived at Citrus Island and are planning to challenge the last gym when they see a TV in a glass window broadcasting a notification message.

For the people of the Orange Islands, challenging the Orange League's top trainer is a match well worth watching, as Yuuji has yet to suffer a single defeat, making the people of the Orange Islands very proud.

Many people make a special trip to Citrus Island to watch the Chief Trainer Challenge, making tickets extremely difficult to obtain.

"The match is on Sunday, which is three days from now. Will we be able to get there in time?" Xiaoxia really wanted to go and watch Xiaomao's match live.

"The distance between Citrus Island and Orange Island isn't far. If Ash can get the Sooty Badge today, we can travel tomorrow and arrive before nightfall, just in time," Jian analyzed.

"Ash, don't let us down. Do your best in the gym battle later," Misty urged.

"Don't worry, I won't lose. And can you be a little more confident in me? I haven't lost to any of the first three gyms in the Orange League," Ash said proudly.

Compared to collecting badges in the Kanto region, Ash's badge collection process in the Orange Islands went quite smoothly. He basically earned the badges through his own efforts, rather than receiving them by charity.

So the three of them quickened their pace and headed towards the Glass Hotel...!

...!

Two days later.

Xiao Mao's Pokémon are all in good condition. He did some warm-up exercises in the morning and rested in the afternoon to maintain peak condition for tomorrow morning's competition.

Gary stayed at the Pokémon Center and didn't go anywhere else.

It's not that Shigeru doesn't want to go out; the islands in the Orange Islands with towns are all tourist hotspots. It's just that because of the Orange Alliance TV station's broadcast, Shigeru is being targeted by many paparazzi and is constantly being photographed without his consent, which is giving him a headache.

There's no way around it, that's the trouble of being a celebrity. When Shigeru first won the Quartz Tournament, every passerby he met on the street would come up to take a picture with him, ask for autographs, and some people even went all the way to Pallet Town to see him.

"Xiao Mao!"

Suddenly, a voice came, startling Xiao Mao.

Gary immediately turned around and saw Ash running towards him, followed by Misty, Brock, and Pikachu.

"Ash...! You're so fast?!" Gary exclaimed in surprise.

Ash and his friends traveled by water, so it shouldn't have been that fast.

"Hi, Xiao Mao."

"We came here specifically for this purpose."

Xiao Jian and Xiao Xia greeted Xiao Mao.

"You came all this way on purpose? Didn't you go to Durian Island?" Xiao Mao asked, bewildered.

Is it really necessary to change your travel plans just to watch a game...?

"Of course I went! I came all the way from Durian Island just to watch your match. I defeated Miss Suzuki in one go!" Ash said.

"I see... Not bad, you've improved since before," Xiao Mao praised.

"No need to praise me, I'm not a newbie." Ash immediately realized that Gary was being sarcastic.

For Gary, passing a gym once is a common occurrence, but Ash has been a trainer for almost a year and is no longer complacent about such things.

"Not bad, you've grown a bit, but not much," Xiao Mao said.

Ash, too lazy to argue with Gary, asked seriously, "Gary, how confident are you in your battle against Yuuji tomorrow?"

Gary was surprised; he never expected Ash to ask him this question, as Ash rarely discussed such serious topics with Gary.

"Anyway, I won't lose." Shigeru put on an arrogant attitude. It wasn't that he looked down on Yuji, but there was still a significant difference in strength between the two.