Pokemon: Trait Master

A tremendously powerful trait. 

Even though it was specifically designated for Water-type moves and required consecutive use, 

it didn't change the fact that this trait provided an unbelievable boost to Pokémon! 

Take Pikachu as an example— 

his Thor trait could double the power of Electric-type moves! 

Not only that, but it also granted immunity to Electric-type attacks of the same level. 

Without factoring in the trait's boost, Pikachu's power at the first stage of Gym High-tier was roughly at the Elite Four Initial Level. 

However, once all of his traits' bonuses were considered, 

even a Peak Elite Four opponent wouldn't be able to easily overpower him! 

That was also why Pikachu's level had parentheses beside it, 

whereas the rest of Ash's Pokémon didn't. 

It was because the system didn't include trait bonuses when calculating a Pokémon's overall level. 

Forget Pikachu—at this point, any Pokémon in Ash's team could fight above their level thanks to traits. 

If he had such an incredible cheat yet still couldn't battle beyond his rank, 

then either he was a useless Trainer, 

or there was something fundamentally wrong with this world. 

All in all, 

this Surging Tides trait, when applied to a Water-type Pokémon, 

would definitely enhance its overall strength by at least 50%! 

And Ash only had one Water-type Pokémon—Frogadier. 

So, he swapped Frogadier's Water Arts for Surging Tides. 

Water Arts had its limitations, 

but Ash didn't have enough trait resources right now to upgrade it. 

He was still struggling to gather ten Orange traits to upgrade Pikachu's Master of Acting— 

there simply weren't any spare trait experience points to use! 

After equipping Frogadier with his new trait, 

Ash stepped forward to face Misty. 

He mimicked what Daisy had done earlier, placing a hand on Misty's head and gently patting it. 

"You've already done a great job, Misty. If you just analyze your mistakes from this battle, 

your command skills will definitely improve in the future." 

"I believe that one day, Cerulean Gym will become the strongest Gym in Kanto." 

Hearing this, Misty could no longer hold back. 

She threw herself into Ash's arms and burst into tears. 

At the end of the day, 

she was just a ten-year-old girl. 

Being utterly overwhelmed in battle had taken a huge toll on her confidence. 

Ash's words of comfort had snapped the final string of tension in her heart. 

Feeling the warmth of Misty's trembling body in his embrace, Ash hesitated for a moment but eventually wrapped his arms around her.

At times like this, it was best to just let her vent. 

Not far away, Serena watched the two hugging each other, 

forming what could be considered a masterpiece painting. 

However, her brief moment of jealousy quickly faded.

It was just a hug—no big deal. 

Besides, it was Ash's fault for beating Misty so badly in the first place… 

— 

"Goodbye! Make sure to visit Cerulean Gym often when you have time!" 

"And Misty, don't forget to catch some stronger Pokémon and send them back! 

Your sisters don't want to keep losing so badly all the time!" 

"Exactly! Also, Misty, you crying earlier was sooo embarrassing! Hahaha!" 

The three sisters playfully bid Misty and the others farewell, 

with Lily's last remark making Misty's face turn completely red. 

She still couldn't believe what had happened— 

The moment Ash patted her head, 

she had instinctively lunged into his arms and sobbed uncontrollably. 

It was as if all the frustration and pressure that had built up inside her had suddenly found an outlet. 

Looking back now, she had to admit— 

that moment was extremely humiliating! 

Ash and Serena simply chuckled without teasing Misty any further. 

If they pushed it any more, 

she might actually crawl into a hole and never come out. 

After saying their goodbyes to the Cerulean Sisters, 

the three resumed their journey. 

An interesting little incident happened right as they were leaving— 

Team Rocket showed up again. 

Without any hesitation, Ash let Pikachu blast them away on the spot! 

Apparently, they had built some new kind of ridiculous robot, 

but to Pikachu, it was nothing more than scrap metal waiting to be fried. 

What really surprised Ash, however, 

was that after defeating Team Rocket this time, 

he actually obtained another Orange trait drop! 

It wasn't anything particularly useful, 

but the quality alone made it valuable. 

If he could just get three more Purple traits, 

he'd finally have enough to gather ten Orange traits to upgrade Pikachu's Master of Acting! 

This Cerulean Gym trip had confirmed one of Ash's biggest speculations— 

Defeating key story characters could yield higher-tier rare traits! 

Even more importantly, 

after several encounters with Team Rocket, Ash noticed something else— 

Even if a story-related character was defeated repeatedly, 

the drop rate of high-tier traits was still significantly higher than battling normal Pokémon! 

Last time, he had gotten a Purple trait. 

This time, he got an Orange trait. 

At this point, Ash was starting to feel grateful to that trio. 

He had a strong feeling— 

if Team Rocket kept following him around… 

they might just end up providing him with an endless supply of high-tier traits! 

In that sense, 

those three were basically his lucky charms! 

— 

After leaving Cerulean City, 

the trio's next destination was Vermilion City. 

And in Vermilion City, 

there was an old friend of Ash's. 

Well, calling them an old friend wasn't quite right— 

it would be more accurate to say they were childhood sweethearts… 

As they walked, Ash suddenly thought of something and turned to Serena. 

"By the way, Serena, are you not planning to challenge the Gyms?" 

"You like Pokémon battles too, right? If you did, you could even compete in the Indigo League!" 

Hearing this, Serena pouted and sighed. 

"I do want to challenge Gyms!" 

"But I only have one Pokémon—Fennekin. 

I don't even meet the minimum requirement for a Gym battle…" 

"Besides, whether it's Pewter Gym or Cerulean Gym, 

my Fennekin has a huge disadvantage in terms of type matchups." 

"And considering its level isn't particularly high either, 

winning a 2v1 battle just isn't realistic…" 

Ash nodded in understanding. 

So that's why… 

No wonder, despite her growing interest in battles, Serena hadn't challenged any Gyms yet. 

It wasn't that she didn't want to, 

but rather, she was being held back by her lack of Pokémon and unfavorable type matchups. 

But still…