Ash's Pokémon Affinity Reputation had now reached +3.
Looking at the ancient Pokémon seal artifacts, Ash felt a chill run down his spine. These things were basically ticking time bombs. If something went wrong and they started fighting again, he would be the one caught in the disaster.
Maybe… he should hand them over to Professor Oak?
Ash looked troubled.
Pikachu stared curiously at the four strange objects, its bright eyes full of curiosity.
Ash picked up the three ancient seal artifacts. They felt no different from ordinary antiques. Only the Dragonite Scale emitted a faint glow.
"Could it be that the Ancient Dragonite suppressed them by force?"
Ever since the Ancient Dragonite appeared, the three ancient Pokémon had completely restrained their aura. It seemed they had submitted to the overwhelming power of Ancient Dragonite.
After thinking for a moment, Ash decided to take the artifacts with him instead of leaving them there.
If Team Rocket somehow obtained them and handed them to Giovanni, the chances of successfully capturing Mewtwo would increase significantly.
After returning home and getting some sleep, Ash confirmed that the ancient artifacts remained completely quiet.
Only then did he finally relax and begin preparing for the upcoming Indigo Plateau Conference.
After breakfast, Ash headed to Professor Oak's Laboratory to train his Pokémon.
As soon as he entered the gate, he saw a small Krabby carrying a tray with its pincers, delivering something to Professor Oak.
"Krabby, let me take you out for some training," Ash said, lifting it up.
Surprisingly, Krabby didn't pinch him.
Professor Oak, standing nearby, looked slightly surprised. He had suffered plenty of painful pinches from that little fellow before.
Just thinking about it made him tear up.
Ash suddenly remembered capturing Krabby at Bill's Lighthouse. Since then, he hadn't really trained it properly.
Back then, Professor Oak had constantly teased him, even comparing Krabby to Gary's normally sized Krabby.
"Ash, are you planning to train Pokémon in the backyard?" Oak asked.
"Yep."
Ash carried Krabby toward the backyard.
"Pikachu, go bring Bulbasaur over."
While waiting, Ash checked Krabby's status panel.
Pokémon: Krabby
Level: 20
Ability: Hyper Cutter (Prevents the Pokémon's Attack stat from being lowered by opponents.)
Potential: Quasi-Elite Level
Moves: Stomp, Bubble Beam, Protect, Mud Shot, etc.
Held Item: None
Friendship: 170
Professor Oak had raised it quite well. Clearly, Krabby wasn't just a tea-serving assistant—Oak had actually put effort into training it.
"Hey, stop spitting!"
Ash grimaced.
Krabby occasionally spat out water bubbles, and one of them landed right on his crotch, creating an extremely awkward-looking wet spot.
Anyone who saw it might think Ash had wet his pants.
Ash quickly moved Krabby farther away, wary of those two pincers.
Just imagining getting snipped there sent a cold chill through his body.
Although this Krabby looked small and somewhat silly, in the original Indigo League, it famously achieved the incredible feat of defeating three opponents in a row.
Even more ridiculous—after evolving, it immediately used Hyper Beam.
At this stage, Ash planned to gradually train the Pokémon that hadn't received much attention so they could catch up with the main team.
For the Indigo Plateau Conference, he intended to rotate his Pokémon based on the opponent.
The focus would be on strategy.
He absolutely refused to become a type disadvantage master.
Battles had to be stable and calculated.
Using the Pokémon he had captured, Ash planned to assemble two or three different battle teams and rotate them depending on the opponent's lineup.
Krabby could also serve as a key powerhouse.
Maybe it could even recreate that legendary one-versus-three victory.
"Bulba! Bulba!"
"Pika-pika!"
Pikachu soon returned with Bulbasaur.
Ash took out ten Rare Candies and fed them all to Krabby.
Its level really needed improvement. Even the Bulbasaur he had just summoned was already two levels higher.
Krabby's aura began rising rapidly.
After a while, once the Rare Candies were fully digested, its level reached Level 30.
Suddenly, Krabby began releasing streams of fine bubbles.
At the same time, a brilliant evolution light spread across its body.
"Bulba?"
"Pika?"
Bulbasaur and Pikachu tilted their heads curiously.
The small Krabby was completely enveloped in the dazzling light of evolution.
Its body gradually grew larger—especially its pincers, which expanded to several times their original size.
Moments later, the light faded.
Krabby had evolved into Kingler.
Pokémon: Kingler
Level: 30
Finally, it had reached a normal body size.
From its former "dwarf-like" Krabby form to its current normal size—it hadn't been easy.
Kingler's standard height was 1.3 meters.
Only its head and pincers were red, while the rest of its body was white.
Its head was covered with pointed spikes, and its left claw was significantly larger than the other.
That enormous claw possessed terrifying destructive power.
Although it was said to be as hard as steel and capable of delivering 10,000 horsepower, the claw was so heavy that it was difficult to aim accurately.
Looking at the Pokédex data, Ash scratched his head.
"How do I solve the problem of that claw being too heavy?"
Should he try something like Steelix's Autotomize-style body lightening, making Kingler lighter and faster?
If that worked, the weight of the giant claw might not be such a burden anymore.
Ash quickly dismissed the idea.
"That's a Steel-type move… what am I even thinking?"
Returning to the main task, Ash decided to let Bulbasaur train against Kingler.
Once its level improved further, he would give Kingler Medium Rare Candies.
"Bulbasaur, use Tackle!"
Bulbasaur's level was close to Blastoise's, so Ash deliberately chose low-damage moves.
Otherwise, a single Vine Whip might nearly knock out Kingler.
"Kingler, use Protect, then follow up with Bubble Beam!"
Ash wasn't worrying about type advantages during training.
He was focusing on practicing move combinations.
Kingler could gather Bubble Beam in its large claw while using Protect, then launch it quickly.
Bulbasaur was fast, though, making it hard for the attack to land.
"Use Stomp!"
Kingler charged forward, stomping with its crab legs.
The momentum was strong, but the power was somewhat lacking.
Ash let Bulbasaur and Kingler continue sparring.
Then he went to observe the others.
Charizard and Aerodactyl were battling in the sky—
Flamethrower versus Ancient Power.
Tauros was training with Blastoise, smashing into its shell while Blastoise tanked the impact.
Jigglypuff and the Gastly trio weren't interested in battling at all. They preferred forming a group to sing and perform.
The ancient thousand-year-old Gastly watched nervously, occasionally listening to Jigglypuff's singing as a way to fall asleep.
Pidgeot trained alone.
Since Butterfree had found a girlfriend, it had stopped training with Pidgeot and now spent its days accompanying its partner.
Ash watched from the side, accompanying his Pokémon as they trained.
All of them were preparing for the Indigo Plateau Conference, which was coming soon.
PS: I've been releasing chapters daily . Honestly, it hurts seeing almost no support on Patreon after all that work.If you're enjoying the fic, even a little, supporting me would mean a lot. It helps a student stay independent .
complete fic (all chapters ) are already up on Patreon → patreon.com/Chakraflow789
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