Pokémon: Dreams Come True Starting in Sinnoh

"So Flash was really funny before, and not just these things, there were others too..."

After Kengo arrived, Ash and the others went to a nearby dessert shop and sat at a small round table in the garden to have afternoon tea (although Ash hadn't had lunch yet). During this time, Kengo seemed to be deliberately bringing up Dawn's embarrassing past.

When Ash and Xiaogang first heard Dawn's embarrassing past, they both laughed along, since Dawn did seem a bit too naive or even adorably silly back then.

However, despite their laughter, they couldn't laugh anymore after seeing Xiaoguang's increasingly gloomy expression. During this time, Xiaogang also secretly nudged Jianwu a few times, but the other party seemed not to notice and continued talking to himself.

"Hey... is it really okay to keep going like this?"

Xiao Zhi moved the stool closer to Xiao Gang and asked in a low voice.

"It can't possibly be that there's no problem..." Xiao Gang replied in a low voice, "Xiao Guang's face has darkened, do you really think there's no problem?"

"I--"

"boom!"

Before Xiaozhi could answer, Xiaoguang, who had been keeping his head down, suddenly slammed his hand on the table and stood up, saying unhappily, "What you're talking about is all from kindergarten! I'm completely different now than I was before!"

"Eh~"

Kengo chuckled twice, amused, as he watched Hikaru's angry expression.

"Is it really different?" Kengo said, looking at Ash and asking, "Is Flash really not holding you back anymore? She used to be the one who always dragged everyone down in the class."

"without......"

"So I'm different now than before!" Hikaru said angrily, hands on his hips, pointing a finger at Kengo's nose. "If you don't believe me, let's have a fight! I'll show you just how strong I am now!"

"Eh..." After being challenged by Dawn, Kenji first showed a smug smile, but then his gaze slowly shifted to Ash, and he casually said, "Never mind, it's better to battle him than to battle you, right?"

"I?"

Ash didn't understand why the topic suddenly shifted to him. Kenji and Dawn hadn't talked about him in their previous conversation, had they?

"Fight Ash?" Dawn shook her head upon hearing this, her expression shifting from anger to pity. "I advise you to give up on that idea. Ash is very strong; he can achieve overwhelming victories in both gym battles and Contests."

Although I am the opponent in the Grand Contest.

Xiao Guang secretly pursed her lips. Although on the surface she had forgotten about the grand competition in the village, she still held a grudge about it.

"Oh?" Kenjiro frowned, but clearly he hadn't heeded Dawn's advice. In fact, his expression seemed to suggest he was even more eager to battle Ash. "Since Dawn has said so, you probably won't refuse, right?"

Kengo used Dawn as a shield, then walked over to Ash and extended his hand to Ash, indicating that he had to accept his challenge no matter what.

"...I'm fine, it's just a Pokémon battle."

Ash grasped Kenji's hand, declaring that he had accepted the challenge.

......

Looking at the two standing on the opposite side of the field, Hikari's expression was full of excitement. After all, Kenji had just been "slandering" her, and she naturally hoped to see Ash teach Kenji a lesson for her.

As for Brock, he started paying attention to him from the moment Kengo shifted the topic to Ash.

Could it be that...?

Xiao Gang, a seasoned veteran of romance, seems to sense that Jianwu's attitude towards Xiaoguang is somewhat ambiguous—or perhaps, liking him? However, Jianwu hasn't explicitly expressed these feelings yet. Of course, Xiao Gang has experience with children, and kids this age seem to particularly enjoy making their crushes angry through strange behaviors to assert their presence.

In a Pokémon school, it's common to see people stealing pens or sitting in the back and messing with each other's hair. However, judging Kengo's feelings for Dawn based solely on such experiences seems a bit simplistic. If it weren't for his affection for Dawn, Brock really couldn't think of any other reason why Kengo might be hostile towards Ash.

It's probably still the ambiguous relationship during the growth stage.

He thought to himself.

"In a one-on-one fight, it's okay if the side that loses the ability to fight first loses, right?"

"can."

Before the match began, Kengo first discussed the rules with Ash, then smiled confidently and played his ace.

"Let's go, Prince Bo!"

When facing Ash, Kengo chose to trust his ace partner without reservation.

However, this choice left Xiaozhi unsure of what to do.

He looked at Pikachu, and Pikachu looked back at him innocently.

Kengo's Pikachu was clearly always outside, so even if Pikachu wasn't his ace, it was definitely one of his top picks, right? Even so, why did Kengo still send out the Water-type Prince first?

"In that case... Pikachu."

"Skin......"

Completely bewildered, Pikachu eventually stepped onto the battlefield.

"Since you have the attribute advantage, I'll go first! Prince Bo, use Drill Peck!"

"Wave!"

Prince Bo leaped forward, then his body began to spin rapidly in mid-air, the power of his pecking drill looking terrifying.

only--

"This... a high-voltage electric shock?"

Ash paused for a moment, then gave the command with some suspicion.

Faced with Pikachu, which was covered in electricity and rushed towards Prince Pokémon, Kenjiro did not give any command to dodge. He looked so confident that Ash thought he had some other trump card, so he did not dare to be careless and focused on Prince Pokémon's every move.

until--

"boom--"

"Wave?!!"

The moment the high-voltage electric shock collided with the pecking drill, the high-voltage electric shock broke through the Prince of Waves' defenses, blasting its body several meters away to the ground. After landing, the Prince of Waves' neck tilted to the side and it completely lost its ability to fight.

.......

The scene was deathly silent.

So you really want Prince Pikachu, who is only a Water-type Pokémon, to use Drill Peck, a Flying-type Pokémon, to go head-to-head with Pikachu's powerful move, Electric Shock?

Ash was somewhat bewildered as he looked at Kengo, who was slumped on the ground with an incredulous expression.

Your courage is truly commendable.

.......

P.S.: Thank you all for the gifts. My income has improved these past few days, and if it stays around this level, I can definitely keep writing this book!