In the Sinnoh League, at least half of the people maintained good relations with the Ito family. This was one of the main reasons why the Ito family held such influence throughout the Sinnoh region.
However, since the end of the Kanto League, the Ito family had fallen strangely silent. There was no sign of retaliation. It wasn't that they didn't want revenge—it was simply that they had no opportunity. The Ito family was currently in chaos.
Many within the clan had begun eyeing the position of patriarch held by Sawakoshi Ito. After all, his Pokémon had been defeated and killed by Ash Ketchum's Pokémon during the Kanto League, severely damaging his reputation.
But the situation was not as simple as it appeared.
Every great family patriarch possessed hidden trump cards, and Sawakoshi Ito was no exception. Publicly, he only had a few known Pokémon. In secret, however, he had trained three additional Pokémon as his ultimate reserves. Each of them had reached the Champion peak level.
This was the real reason no one had yet managed to take his position as patriarch.
As for Makoto Ito, ever since returning to the Sinnoh region, he had been harshly reprimanded by Sawakoshi Ito. Because of him, Sawakoshi's reputation within the clan had dropped even further.
Meanwhile, the Yoto family and the Varenza family continued as usual, appearing unconcerned on the surface. In reality, they were simply waiting and watching—quietly observing the chaos within the Ito family while also waiting for Ash Ketchum to arrive.
Not only because of Cynthia, but also because of the deep grudge between Ash and the Ito family. This conflict would not end peacefully.
At present, the Ito family was clearly at a disadvantage. Whether it was Ash's Pokémon or his personal strength, both far exceeded anything the Ito family could currently match.
Now both the Yoto family and the Varenza family were fully prepared to seize the Ito family's territory at any moment. All they needed was the right opportunity.
As for the Ikeda family, although they were technically counted among the top families, they had always acted as the Ito family's followers. Because of this, the Ikeda family rarely had any real influence during the meetings of the four major families. Most of the time, they simply echoed whatever decisions the Ito family made.
"This guy is being arrogant again. It's so annoying," Cynthia muttered with a pout as she looked at the information in her hand. "What do you think, Dragonair?"
"Mi~ Mi~"
Dragonair nodded cutely, as if agreeing with Cynthia.
This Dragonair had originally been given to Cynthia by Ash. After nearly a year of growth, the Dratini had already evolved into Dragonair. Its strength had become extremely impressive, already reaching the quasi-Champion level. Once it evolved into Dragonite, reaching the Champion level would almost be guaranteed.
As a descendant of Ash's ancient Dragonite, Cynthia's Dragonair possessed exceptional physical strength and extremely powerful techniques. It had even inherited several of Ash's personally created moves.
Dragonite was capable of learning many elemental techniques, and Ash never hid his knowledge. He taught as much as he could so that Dragonair—and its future descendants—could inherit those powerful skills.
Although the power of these techniques could not match Ash's own Dragonite, they were still incredibly strong custom moves. It could be said that once Dragonair evolved into Dragonite, it would immediately become Cynthia's strongest Pokémon.
At present, Cynthia's Garchomp and Lucario had also grown incredibly powerful. Especially after learning Soru, their speed had reached an almost teleport-like level.
Lucario in particular used Soru with incredible mastery, almost as if it had been born to use it.
Meanwhile, in Professor Oak's home in Pallet Town, Gary Oak had been studying the skill scroll that Ash had given him ever since returning.
When Blastoise learned that it could one day become as powerful as Ash's Charizard and Venusaur, it became so excited that it could hardly contain itself.
Since then, Blastoise had been constantly training the new technique within its mind.
It intended to prove its strength at the next gathering—and to show that it was absolutely not inferior to Charizard or Venusaur.
As for the Dratini egg that Ash had given to Gary Oak, it had already hatched. The Dratini had now evolved into Dragonair, and Gary spent time with it every day to build a stronger bond.
In terms of training, Gary's Dragonair had been entrusted to Masaki Oak's Dragonite for guidance. Because of that, its strength had already reached the quasi-Champion level.
If Dragonair had been raised by someone else since the egg stage—or if Gary hadn't personally hatched it—then the current Dragonair would likely not listen to him at all.
Meanwhile, another Dragonite egg from the Draconis family had been given to a certain young girl.
And this girl…
Was someone Ash would begin to regret meeting just a few days later.
This girl would soon appear during Ash's journey.
The Next Day
"Sure enough, sleeping at home is still more comfortable. This place is terrible… poor Sabrina."
Early in the morning, Ash woke up in Ecruteak City. Looking at Sabrina, who was still sleeping peacefully beside him, Ash could only shake his head helplessly.
Originally, Ash had never been the type to have trouble sleeping in unfamiliar places. But recently, things had changed.
Perhaps it was because he had grown used to sleeping in houses built with Mokuton.
Now that he was staying in a small hotel room, he simply couldn't sleep as well. The environment was good enough, but it lacked the life energy nourished by Mokuton.
"It seems that from now on, it's better to sleep in a wooden house created with Mokuton."
After getting dressed, Ash quietly got up and began washing up.
Pikachu was still fast asleep, curled up comfortably on the bed. Since it was still early, Ash didn't bother waking him.
After finishing his wash, Ash sat on the sofa, half-closing his eyes.
"System, I'm going to do a draw. I should have exactly ten points saved up this week."
His consciousness immediately entered the system space.
[ Ding~! ]
[ Preparing for the draw. ]
[ Ding~! ]
[ Congratulations to the host for obtaining a White Item. Thank you for participating. ]
[ Congratulations to the host for obtaining a White Item. Thank you for participating. ]
[ Congratulations to the host for obtaining a Golden Item: Summon Card. This card allows the host to summon a character from a world the host has previously traveled to into this world. This is a single-use consumable item. ]
The ten draws ended quickly.
Aside from the single Golden Item, the other nine rewards were all White Items.
Ash didn't know whether he should laugh or complain.
If his luck was bad, then he had still pulled a Golden Item.
But if his luck was good…
Then why were the other nine draws all White Items?
(End of Chapter)
⚡ Pa-treon-com/LordMerlin
😊 Thank you for your support!