Pokemon: This Ash Is Too Versatile-Chapter 698 - 374: Norman vs Ash, Lucario Battles Kangaskhan, Ash’s Big Gamble!

Even Norman, all the way over in Hoenn, had heard of Ash’s fame, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it was like hearing thunder.

After all, the things Ash has done, nearly every single one of them has been history-making. For an average Trainer, since Ash doesn’t have a high status, often after a burst of fame, people stop paying attention.

No matter how many incredible things Ash does, essentially he’s just a Trainer without any title. If he’s not an Elite Champion, even if he does something like defeating an Elite Champion, over time people will forget.

The ones who can truly see Ash’s strength and remember his actions are those Trainers who, in the eyes of the general public, are high-ranking and powerful.

It’s precisely because they have strength that they understand what Ash’s actions mean. For Norman, Ash has long been considered a Trainer of his level.

After arriving in Johto, Norman has always wanted to find time to meet Ash. The distance between Johto and Kanto is not far, and even crossing two regions doesn’t take much time, but unfortunately, Ash seems to always be traveling without a fixed residence, and on top of that, Norman has been busy with the start of the Silver Conference.

Thus, the plan to visit Ash eventually fell through, but to his surprise, Ash came to him instead. This caught Norman off guard, yet felt natural at the same time.

All Trainers planning to participate in the Silver Conference must go to New Bark Town for registration. Only after registration can they qualify to participate and collect badges.

And Violet City is the closest city to New Bark Town, so if one wants to collect badges nearby, they would definitely choose to come to Violet City, making Ash’s arrival unsurprising unless he decided to take a detour.

The most unexpected thing for Norman was that his own son and daughter ended up with Ash. What a wonderful twist of fate!

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Norman. I’m Ash from Pallet Town. Are you available for a Gym battle now?" Even though May had introduced him before, Ash once again introduced himself to Norman as a basic courtesy.

After introducing himself, Ash straightforwardly stated his request for a Gym battle!

Norman seemed to be in the middle of teaching a class. If he was unavailable, Ash planned to visit the Sprout Tower. The purpose of travel is not only to improve oneself and battle various people but also to enjoy the scenery along the journey.

As a landmark of Violet City, the Sprout Tower naturally has significant meaning and value for a visit.

However, to his surprise, after looking around, Norman solemnly said to Ash, "Of course, there’s no problem. I can do a Gym battle now, but I have a request. I’d like these students to watch the battle. Real battles are the best lessons for students to absorb knowledge, and this is a rare opportunity."

"If I guess correctly, Ash, you should have a power that can defend the surroundings of the battlefield, right? Could I trouble you to use that power during the battle?" Norman requested.

Although he was a temporary teacher at the school, only teaching once or twice a week, as a teacher, he was absolutely diligent about his responsibilities.

Ash had a device or some sort of power that could prevent the explosion shockwaves from spreading outside the battlefield, so even for an Elite-level battle, it wouldn’t affect the spectators.

Such a rare opportunity was something Norman naturally wouldn’t miss. Allowing the students to watch a battle between Elites up close would be greatly beneficial for their future.

Hearing this, Ash didn’t hesitate to nod and said, "No problem, Mr. Norman. I promise the battle’s shockwaves won’t affect the students at all."

"Yay! It’s great to watch the Pokemon battle up close!"

"Mr. Norman, you’re the best!!"

"Awesome, finally can watch Mr. Norman’s battle. I heard Mr. Norman is incredibly strong!"

"Yeah, yeah, Mr. Norman teaches us way better than the other teachers! A teacher who’s that good at teaching must have very strong Pokemon!"

"Do any of you know who that big brother is?"

"I don’t know~"

"I don’t know~"

"..."

Being able to watch a Pokemon battle up close made the students very excited. As early as when Norman was hired, the principal and their original teacher Priscilla had said that Norman was a very powerful Trainer, even one of the top in the world.

And the teaching Norman did after he started made the students clearly feel the difference between Norman and other teachers. Those insights and that way of speaking couldn’t be expressed by a Trainer who stopped at theoretical knowledge.

So not long after Norman joined, many of the young students were charmed by him, each becoming little fans of Norman.

However, they had never seen Norman in action before. Although many students had asked to watch Norman do a Gym battle, Norman had always refused, citing the danger of Gym battles.

On one occasion, when Norman battled a Trainer who came to challenge, he let them watch from afar, but the battle ended in less than a minute.