Another dream had been shattered…
Anthony stared at Primeape in disbelief. His Hitmonchan simply wasn't on the same level as this Primeape—it had been completely overwhelmed.
The surrounding spectators and contestants were equally shocked.
This dark horse was just too strong.
It was his first time participating in the P1 Tournament, yet he had fought his way through every round and taken the championship.
As for Anthony, many people had originally believed he had a chance to win.
His strength wasn't particularly outstanding, but he had avoided strong opponents all the way to the finals.
People even thought he had gotten lucky.
Unfortunately for him, he ran into Primeape's trainer in the final.
Which meant one thing—
No championship for him.
"The champion of this year's P1 Fighting Tournament is Ash from Pallet Town, and his Pokémon Primeape!"
The referee announced the result.
Staff members brought out a golden championship belt and placed it around Primeape's waist.
Although it wasn't made of real gold, the design looked great and shone brightly under the lights.
Ash and Primeape instantly became the center of attention in the arena.
Even the spectators who had doubted Ash earlier were now completely convinced by Primeape's performance.
Cheers filled the stadium, along with countless words of praise.
"Ash, Primeape, congratulations on winning the championship."
Anthony walked over to congratulate him, though his gaze remained fixed on Primeape.
"Your Primeape might be a true fighting genius. Your goal is probably to challenge Gyms, right? You probably won't have much time to focus on training it."
"How about letting me take care of it? I'll definitely train it into a true P1 champion."
Anthony's eyes were filled with fantasies of himself leading Primeape to victory.
"No thanks. I can take care of Primeape myself," Ash replied calmly.
Primeape had already won the championship in its first tournament—why would he need someone else to train it?
"Primeape has incredible talent. If you keep it, you'll only waste its potential," Anthony insisted.
He seemed to think Ash was young and emotional about his Pokémon.
Maybe he could persuade him.
Ash laughed.
"You can't even win the championship yourself. How are you going to train Primeape?"
Anthony froze.
His expression turned complicated as he glanced at Hitmonchan… and then at Primeape, who was staring at him with hostility.
"You've spent decades obsessing over this P1 Tournament without ever winning once."
"Have you ever considered that the problem might be you?"
Ash's words left Anthony silent.
It wasn't that he had never thought about it.
Every time he competed, he always came so close to winning.
That tiny sliver of hope made him believe that the next tournament would be the one.
So he kept going.
And going.
Emily stood quietly nearby.
Perhaps because her past attempts to persuade him had never worked, she simply looked at her father silently.
"I'm sorry, Emily," Anthony said at last.
"In the past, I ignored you and your mother. I made you both worry."
Only now did he finally understand.
He had spent years chasing this tournament—
Yet he never won the championship.
And along the way, he had neglected his family.
"Dad promises it won't happen again."
Anthony gently patted Emily's head.
Emily's shoulders trembled as quiet sobs escaped her.
[Ding! Mission Completed.]
Reward obtained: High-Quality Moon Stone ×1
Ash watched the father and daughter embrace with a gentle smile.
The system reward had arrived as well.
A perfect outcome.
"Thank you all so much," Emily said gratefully to Ash and the others.
"Well… I was just watching from the audience seats," Misty said awkwardly while holding Pikachu.
"I didn't really help."
Brock simply smiled warmly at the reunited family.
After chatting for a while, Ash and his friends headed to the Pokémon Center to restore their Pokémon.
Ash also contacted Professor Oak to swap some Pokémon and asked about Butterfree and its pink companion.
After that, the group continued their journey.
Camping for the Night
Following the map, they traveled while continuing to train their Pokémon.
Especially their strongest fighters—Pikachu, their ace, and Charmeleon, another major powerhouse.
After walking for quite some time, night fell.
Ash set up a tent by the roadside.
He hadn't known how to pitch a tent at first, but after doing it so many times during their travels, he had gotten the hang of it.
After dinner and cleaning up, everyone was exhausted.
Ash had participated in the P1 Tournament and traveled all day.
He originally planned to examine the High-Quality Moon Stone, but sleep overtook him before he could.
He quickly fell into a deep sleep.
The Next Morning
"Pikachu, is Ash still asleep?"
Early in the morning, Misty noticed that Ash wasn't around.
Instead, she saw Pikachu helping Brock with preparations.
"Pika pika!"
Pikachu shook its head.
"Ash, aren't you getting up? The sun's already shining on your butt!"
Misty sighed helplessly as she pulled open the tent zipper.
Inside, Ash was still sleeping soundly.
At that moment, Ash mumbled something unintelligible, rolled over, and continued sleeping.
Misty crawled into the tent and glared at him.
He was sleeping like a log.
She grabbed his cheeks and tugged them.
"Just one more minute…"
Ash muttered sleepily, barely opening his eyes.
"It's already late! Brock has finished making breakfast!"
Misty grabbed him and tried to pull him up.
But she used too much force—
Their heads bumped together.
"Ow!"
Misty frowned in pain, holding her head as she clumsily sat down.
Without realizing it, she had ended up straddling Ash's waist, one hand resting on his shoulder.
"Hey… that hurts…" Ash said.
His sleepy brain instantly woke up.
The situation suddenly felt… extremely awkward.
Ash coughed lightly, trying to ease the atmosphere.
"Hurry up and—"
Before Misty could finish speaking, her body suddenly froze.
Her expression changed instantly.
A blush slowly spread across her pale cheeks like the glow of sunset clouds.
Even her delicate earlobes turned red like gemstones.
Oh no.
Ash's face stiffened.
This situation had suddenly become very dangerous.
"Get up already!"
Misty snapped angrily before scrambling out of the tent.
This was way too embarrassing.
She clutched her chest, her heart pounding wildly.
"What happened?"
Brock looked over as Misty rushed out of Ash's tent.
Seeing her bright red face, Brock's lips curled into a knowing smirk.
"You two should… be a little more careful."
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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