novelnext Chapter 370 Serena attends the Silver Tournament! She encounters a green-haired boy.
Chapter 370 Serena attends the Silver Tournament! She encounters a green-haired boy.
Chapter 370 Serena attends the Silver Tournament! She encounters a green-haired boy.
Wakaba Town is known as the starting town in the Johto League. Unlike Pallet Town, this is where most Johto residents begin their journeys, and even people from other cities come to Wakaba Town to receive their starter Pokémon.
While Pallet Town does offer starter Pokémon and even has Professor Oak, it's not very well-known in Kanto. Aside from Pallet Town locals, almost no one picks up their starter Pokémon there.
The two towns hold vastly different positions in their respective regions, so even without the Silver Tournament, Wakaba Town was still quite lively, let alone now that the Silver Tournament is being held.
Even though the bustling crowds had passed, New Leaf Town was still packed with people. When Ash and his friends arrived, the streets were practically overflowing with people, each with a Pokémon by their side. Officer Jenny was also there to maintain order.
Generally, a town will only have one or two Officer Jennys, while the other police officers are recruited from outside. Although the Officer Jenny family has a large population, it is not large enough for them to have more than a dozen in a town.
The current situation in Ruoye Town indicates that there are simply too many people in the town, forcing the Officer Sha's clan to bring in people from other places to maintain order.
This was like heaven for Xiaogang!
He stared at Officer Jenny maintaining order on the street, his mouth watering. In the blink of an eye, Xiao Gang appeared in front of one of the Officer Jennys, and then, seemingly out of nowhere, produced a bouquet of roses and began his classic confession.
"Ah! Miss Officer Jenny, you shine like a star in the sky. In this vast sea of people, I spotted you at a glance. Your brilliance in the night sky is like the sun shining brightly in my heart—"
"Alright, alright, stop with the sun. With so much sun in your heart, won't it evaporate your cardiovascular system?" Xiaoxia held Togepi in one arm and grabbed Xiaogang's ear with the other, pulling Xiaogang away from the bewildered Officer Jenny.
In Xiaoxia's arms, Togepi was as happy as a child, constantly raising his little hands with an excited smile on his face.
Perhaps it was this scene that made her laugh, or perhaps it was the lively atmosphere that made her happy.
Strangely enough, Togepi, despite not having trained much, is already at the Elite level. At this level, she hasn't even undergone one evolution. Generally speaking, this is impossible. Except for Pokémon like Bulbasaur that deliberately suppress evolution, Pokémon at the Elite level should at least undergo one evolution. Even pseudo-legendary Pokémon should have evolved by the Elite level.
But Togepi just wouldn't evolve. Ash checked Togepi but didn't find anything wrong, so he just let it be. If it doesn't evolve, it doesn't evolve. It's fine as Misty keeps holding it. It's nice that Misty has something like a doll to hold in her arms so she won't feel so empty.
When Xiaoxia dragged Xiaogang back by the ear, Serena stood by with a slightly embarrassed smile, then nudged Xiaozhi and asked, "What's wrong with Xiaogang? He seems—"
"It's like you're having a seizure, isn't it?" Ash picked up on Serena's words.
Serena nodded with slight hesitation. Back in Pallet Town, Brock was perfectly normal. Apart from the name Dr. Tinam, Brock was an extremely normal person, and he was also an all-rounder when it came to housework. Traveling with someone like that would definitely make things much easier.
But now that he's outside and met Miss Officer Jenny, Xiao Gang seems like a completely different person. What's going on?
"Don't worry about him, that's just how Brock is. He gets all worked up when he sees a mature and charming older woman. But it seems like Brock is acting even worse than when we separated before!" Ash said, scratching his head.
Although Xiaogang had occasional episodes of his disorder before, it was never this extreme. He rushed directly in front of others in such a crowded situation, and the bouquet of roses was taken directly from a nearby flower shop without even being paid for!
After Xiaoxia brought Xiaogang back, Xiaozhi took the roses from Xiaogang's hand and returned them to the flower shop next door with a smile.
That bouquet was ordered by someone else; if it gets damaged or dirty, they probably won't be able to refuse to buy it.
Fortunately, Xiaoxia acted quickly and decisively, and the bouquet was not affected.
"Ahem, sorry, I made you laugh. I'm not usually like this, I just got a little excited seeing so many Officer Jennys. Don't mind it." Xiao Gang, now back to normal, coughed lightly and explained to Serena.
Making a fool of himself in front of Ash and Misty is a common occurrence for him, but now that a new member has joined the team, and this new member used to admire his housekeeping skills, his image in Serena's mind is probably completely shattered.
"It's nothing, I just didn't expect you to have this side to you, Xiao Gang~" Serena said with her hands behind her back and a smile on her face, seemingly unconcerned.
Although Xiaogang's behavior may seem inappropriate, he didn't actually cause any real harm to the other person. While Xiaogang's behavior could be considered sexual harassment, Xiaoxia pulled the other person away in time.
"Hey, this guy can't control himself when he sees pretty older women. Sorry for making you laugh, Serena." Xiaoxia tossed Xiaogang aside, clapped her hands, and laughed.
"So, where should we go now?" After a little incident, Serena raised the crucial question. They had indeed arrived in Wakaba Town, but where should they register for the Silver Tournament?
"Just go to the Pokémon Center to register." Ash had already confirmed the registration process for the Silver Conference. The process was very simple: bring your identification to the Pokémon Center and find Nurse Joy, and then you can register.
If the process weren't so simple, Ruoye Town would probably still be completely congested.
Amidst the throng of people, Ash and his friends finally arrived at the entrance of the Pokémon Center. This place was currently the busiest spot in New Leaf Town. The Pokémon Center was already busy recovering injured Pokémon, and now it was also registering trainers from all over the League. It was incredibly busy.
Ash and his friends waited in line for almost half an hour before finally getting into the Pokémon Center. Brock then had another episode, but this time Misty, who was prepared, stopped him immediately.
Ash, on the other hand, successfully registered for and participated in the Silver Conference.
"Great! Now we can go to Violet City to challenge them! By the way, Serena, do you want to participate in the Silver Conference too?" Ash put away his Pokédex and asked Serena, who was standing next to him.
Serena's face showed surprise and slight panic upon hearing this: "? Me—me? That won't do, I've only just started my journey, and I only have one elf—"
"What does it matter? Everyone has a beginning. Half a year ago, I went straight to the Indigo League after starting my trip. Battling against Gym Leaders from various regions during the Indigo League allowed me to grow rapidly to where I am today. Battle is the best way to improve!"
"Even if Serena isn't particularly interested in gym battles, you can still use the experience from gym battles and the Silver Conference to improve yourself, making it easier to succeed in other fields in the future," Ash explained to Serena in a very insightful way.
If you can make a little progress in one area, it will be much easier to go to other areas. Even if Serena doesn't like alliance battles, it can still be one of Serena's experiences. Otherwise, Serena would just follow them around like a headless fly, without any goal.
Such a trip is actually meaningless. The scenery along the way is important, but the goal is just as important. When you finally achieve your goal after going through all the hardships, the sense of accomplishment and the feeling of sublimation are absolutely unprecedented.
That's why Ash sent Serena to the Silver Conference. Regardless of the outcome, whether she could participate or not, at least Serena had a goal, and at least she had participated.
Upon hearing this, Serena hesitated for a moment, her delicate hands clenching into fists. After a brief pause, her expression hardened into a resolute one: "I understand, I will participate in the Silver Tournament!"
"That's how it should be! Miss Joy, could you please register my friend again?" Since they hadn't left the front desk of the Pokémon Center yet, they might as well register Serena's eligibility for the competition as well.
Miss Joy took Serena's Pokédex and registered her for the Silver Tournament.
"Phew~ I'm already getting nervous even though we haven't started challenging the gyms yet. By the way, Ash, the first gym we're going to is the one in Violet City, right?" Serena put the Pokédex back on her chest, feeling her heart pounding. After calming down for a while, she asked Ash.
She's now a participant in the Silver Tournament, so she has to participate in gym challenges and such. Before, she didn't care much about gym leaders, but now she needs to know about them.
"Well, next we're going to challenge Mr. Senri, the Gym Leader of Petalburg City in the Hoenn region. According to the information Professor Oak gave us, when Gym Leaders from other regions come to the Johto League, they only bring their strongest Pokémon. In other words, there's no option for them to hold back. So, it's not suitable for Serena to challenge Mr. Senri."
For novice trainers like Serena, gym leaders usually prepare beginner-level Pokémon. When Ash challenged Brock, Brock only used advanced-level Pokémon, not even elite-level ones.
At that time, Brock had professional-level Pokémon, which means that gym leaders generally treat people differently based on their abilities. This is not only the case for gym leaders in Kanto, but also for gym leaders in other regions.
When facing trainers with varying levels of experience, the Pokémon used will also differ.
However, the League has made it clear that the Gym Leaders stationed outside the city will only use their main Pokémon. In other words, when facing a Gym Leader stationed outside the city, the challenger has only one choice: to fight the Gym Leader at full strength!
The full-force attack of a Gym Leader is extremely difficult for most trainers to defeat, not just novice trainers, but also veteran trainers. Which trainer who can sit in the position of Gym Leader is not an elite among elites?
Therefore, challenging the Gym Leaders from outside the city is extremely difficult. The League has also provided corresponding incentives: as long as you challenge the Gym Leaders from outside the city, you only need four badges to participate in the Silver Tournament.
Defeating the Gym Leader from outside the Gym will also grant some extra rewards, such as money, rare Poké Balls, TMs, or held items.
In short, the rewards for challenging a foreign gym leader are on a completely different level compared to challenging a local gym leader, and of course, the difficulty level is also on a completely different level.
Ash's goal is not just to become a Gym Leader in other regions; his goal is to challenge the strongest Gym Leaders from all over the world!
Since the goal is to become the Grandmaster Champion, then I have to beat all those upgraded trainers!
His first target was Senri, the Gym Leader. Senri's ace was Slaking, a Normal-type Pokémon, whose level was said to be close to Champion level. The rest of his main Pokémon were all Elite Four members. If Senri hadn't been unwilling, he would have been one of the Elite Four members of the Hoenn region by now.
Serena's initial goal was certainly not to target Senri, but there was a local gym in Viktoria City that Serena could challenge, so her initial goal remained Viktoria City.
"Hmph, listening to you, do you think you can defeat my dad—defeat the Gym Leader of the Thousand Miles? Do you even know how strong the Gym Leader of the Thousand Miles is?!" Just as Ash and Serena were explaining some precautions for challenging the Gym Leader, a childish voice rang out behind Ash and the others.
They were now outside the Pokémon Center, where the entrance was packed with people, so they deliberately moved to a spot a little to the side to avoid the crowd.
Xiao Zhi turned around and found that the one who spoke was a little boy with light green hair, wearing a dark green short-sleeved shirt and shorts, almost dressed in green, and wearing glasses.
"Little boy, judging from your words, you seem to know the Gym Leader of the Thousand Miles region quite well? Are you also from the Hoenn region?" Seeing that the other party was just a boy who was not even ten years old, Ash did not take the boy's sarcastic tone too seriously. Instead, he squatted down and spoke to the boy calmly.
"Of course! I—the Gym Leader Senri—am a household name in the Hoenn region! If given a little more time, even Steven from the Hoenn region will be surpassed by him! He is the strongest trainer in the Hoenn region in the future!" the little boy said proudly.
Anyone who didn't know better would think that Chisato was himself. Even if Chisato himself were here, he wouldn't dare to say that he was trying to scam Daigo!
That's the world's top trainer!