"Munch! Munch...."
After being knocked to the ground by Focus Punch, Staravia initially tried to get up tremulously, but after trying a few times, it ultimately failed to overcome the constraints of its physical strength and fell to the ground, losing its ability to battle.
"Go, Poké Ball!"
Seeing this, Ash didn't think much, but simply took out an empty Poké Ball from his belt, enlarged it, and threw it. A red light flashed, and Staravia was directly drawn into the Poké Ball without struggling. The Poké Ball didn't even tremble, meaning that this capture was perfect.
"I caught a Staravia~"
"Pika~!"
"Aipom!"
After Ash picked up the Poké Ball containing Staravia, Pikachu and Aipom also expressed their congratulations. Pikachu didn't expect that the first partner captured in the Sinnoh region would be so smooth.
"Amazing... not a single unnecessary movement at all."
Although Dawn only had a limited understanding of the Pokémon battle field, even an outsider could understand the gold content of Ash's command ability in this battle.
He made the most correct choice in every scenario, and used Double Team to create a false image for Staravia, thereby concealing the true position of Aipom, in order to complete the final fatal blow.
"So decisive... how does it feel like Ash's commanding ability has made a leap in such a short period of time? Did he do any special training?"
Not only Dawn, but even Brock, who had been traveling with Ash for a long time, was surprised by this.
No... perhaps precisely because they had been traveling together for so long and understood each other better, Brock felt that Ash was a little unusual now. Although the opponent was just an ordinary Staravia, if it were the Ash of the past, he would still have been at a disadvantage at the beginning, and wouldn't have shown such a strong and confident performance as he did today.
"Hmph, you're going to catch a guy of this level?"
"?!" ×n
Just as Ash was putting away Staravia's Poké Ball, before Dawn and Brock could congratulate him, an untimely voice suddenly came from behind them.
"Who are you..."
"Hey! What do you mean by that? That's so rude!"
Brock wanted to ask the other party's identity first, but Dawn, who was more impatient and straightforward, directly expressed her dissatisfaction for Ash.
Ash looked at the other party, and a trace of nostalgia flashed in his eyes.
Short purple hair, wearing a long-sleeved jacket with purple and dark cyan green intermingled, his face full of indifference, as if he didn't care about everything in the world. The only thing in his gaze towards others was a sense of scrutiny.
Paul.
The most powerful and troublesome rival Ash encountered during his travels in the Sinnoh region. His concept of Pokémon training was completely opposite to Ash's. He was a trainer who focused on Pokémon's talent, attribute matchups, and various tactics.
"I'm just stating the truth."
Faced with Dawn's aggressive manner, Paul still didn't intend to change his answer.
He completely ignored Dawn and Brock, who were standing in front of him, and his gaze was only fixed on Ash, who was observing him.
"Your commanding ability is barely passable. Logically speaking, you should be considered a decent trainer. Therefore, you should be more strict when choosing Pokémon."
He said in a guiding tone:
"That Staravia has an arrogant personality, but it doesn't have the strength to match its arrogance. It couldn't distinguish the situation at all in just a few rounds of exchanges. Although it has a bit of battle awareness, it's too stupid, and the skills it used are just the ones that most Staravia can master."
"What exactly do you mean by that? So in your opinion, Ash shouldn't have caught this Staravia?"
"That's none of my business. I'm just giving my advice from the perspective of a Pokémon trainer. After all, if you even have to catch this kind of trash... heh, even the best commanding ability is useless."
"You—"
"Okay, calm down."
Seeing that Dawn was about to get completely angry, Brock quickly stopped her, and then looked at Ash behind him with a pleading look.
Of course, Brock was also a little scared when asking Ash for help, because what this person said was a bit... strange.
If Ash also lost his mind because of his words, then the situation would be difficult to handle.
"Say whatever you want, anyway, I have unwavering faith in my choice."
Ash gave Brock a reassuring look, and then walked to Paul, confronting him face to face.
"If a trainer's ability needs to be set off by extremely talented Pokémon, or if only those Pokémon with talent can help trainers reach the end, then the problem must be with this year's League Tournament~ I have always believed that the bond between trainers and Pokémon can break through the constraints of ability and help each other reach a more distant shore."
Ash's statement was also very impolite, and could be said to be a complete negation of the other party's point of view.
"Ridiculous." Paul snorted coldly. "So you think you can beat me in the League Tournament? With your weak ideas?"
"How would you know if you don't try? Pokémon battles are something that you don't know the outcome of until you fight, right?"
"..."
Only on this point did Paul not deny Ash's idea.
Indeed... if he didn't actually compare, he would never have thought that his brother would appear so weak and powerless when facing Brandon, without even a little room to fight back.
"Elekid!"
Paul didn't continue to retort, but the Elekid that had been silently standing by Paul's feet couldn't help it. Arcs of electricity flickered on its plug-like horns, and it seemed to be ready to fight Ash.
"Don't do unnecessary things."
"Elekid..."
However, Elekid's fighting spirit was quickly suppressed by Paul's reprimand. Before leaving, he gave Ash a meaningful look, leaving the last sentence.
"I don't have time today. If I meet you next time, I will prove how foolish your so-called bond between trainers and Pokémon is."
Looking at Paul's departing figure, Ash was thinking that he didn't seem to have left his name. Dawn was still sulking, and her good mood for the day had been ruined.
"What's wrong with that person? He's so arrogant! If I didn't know better, I would have thought he was some amazing person!"
"After all, every trainer's philosophy is different. It's inevitable that there will be such a persistent trainer."
Brock shook his head. Although that's what he said, his identity as a Pokémon Breeder made it very difficult for him to agree with Paul's idea.
If there was no bond between trainers and Pokémon, then wouldn't Pokémon just be a simple tool for trainers and for humans?
A silent atmosphere flowed between them, continuing until Aipom in the back started to prank Pikachu again. Perhaps the mischievous Aipom had always been the one who hated heavy atmospheres the most.
...