While traveling toward Goldenrod City, Ash and his friends encountered a strange craze in a nearby town involving Pokémon fortune-telling.
The popular fortune book matched each person's personality with a corresponding Pokémon, and it had become the talk of the town.
"This is definitely a scam," Ash concluded after listening to the locals discussing it.
But Misty was thoroughly captivated by the trend and insisted on buying a copy to see for herself.
The result left her furious. According to the book, her corresponding Pokémon was the fierce Gyarados, making her so angry that she wanted to confront the sellers personally.
"Ash, why are you so sure this is some kind of scheme?" Brock asked curiously as they headed toward the Pokémon Day Care.
Ash calmly analyzed the situation.
"If they were only selling fortune books, I might not have been suspicious. But they're also offering Pokémon storage and exchange services, which makes things questionable. Legitimate storage services require League certification, yet they're operating out in the countryside without any credentials. It reminds me of those Pokémon breeders we met in the Orange Islands. The methods are almost identical."
As they passed an open field, Ash suddenly stopped.
"Wait."
He grabbed Misty and Brock and used Aura abilities to instantly move to the opposite side of the clearing, deliberately leaving the fortune book behind.
"Ash, what are you doing?" Misty asked in confusion.
"You'll understand soon enough."
At that moment, Team Rocket's trio, hiding nearby, were lamenting the failure of their trap.
"How is that possible? The twerp didn't fall in!"
"We dug that trap for nothing, meow!"
"Huh? What's that?" James noticed the fortune book lying on the ground.
The three idiots excitedly rushed over to pick it up, only to tumble into the very trap they had dug themselves.
"Hey, Team Rocket, how does your own trap feel?" Ash stood at the edge of the pit, smiling down at them.
"You little brat!" James shouted furiously.
"You can keep that fortune book to pass the time. Consider it a gift from me."
With that, Ash left with his companions.
Seeing Team Rocket's miserable state noticeably improved Misty's mood.
"Watching them suffer really does make me feel better."
Unfortunately, her good mood was interrupted again after they arrived at the Pokémon Center.
Taking advantage of the current topic, Brock had finally managed to strike up a normal conversation with Nurse Joy.
Since such opportunities were rare for him, he became a bit too enthusiastic and made a fatal mistake.
He shared Misty's fortune-telling result with Nurse Joy.
The moment she heard it, Misty exploded again.
After giving Brock several painful lumps on his head, she angrily dragged him away.
"This book is complete nonsense! I'm going back to argue with them!" Misty fumed.
"Misty, it's just a joke. Don't take it so seriously," Ash tried to calm her down.
"I! SAID! I'M! GOING! TO! ARGUE! WITH! THEM!!!"
She practically roared the words, making Brock secretly wonder whether the Gyarados result might actually have some truth to it.
When they returned to the Day Care, the elderly couple had already disappeared, and the front entrance had been sealed.
Circling around to the back, they were shocked to discover numerous Pokémon locked inside cages.
At that moment, Ash's suspicions were completely confirmed.
Meanwhile, Cassidy and Butch, who had just finished reporting to Giovanni, also spotted them.
"It's you!"
Both sides exclaimed simultaneously.
"As expected. This so-called fortune-telling was just scam."
Ash tossed the fortune book in front of them.
Cassidy smugly admitted it.
"That's right. We made the whole thing up. I never expected so many people to believe it."
"What? You made it up?" Misty's fury instantly erupted again.
She couldn't accept the fact that she had worried over a completely fabricated fortune, and she absolutely could not accept being categorized as a Gyarados.
Just then, James suddenly appeared, wearing a homemade Moltres costume.
"Oh great, another disaster magnet has arrived."
Ash rubbed his forehead helplessly.
James asked curiously, "Twerp, have you switched careers and started stealing Pokémon too?"
"Switched careers? They're the bad guys!" Misty retorted angrily before pointing at James's outfit. "And what's with that ridiculous costume?"
"Hahahaha!" James spread his arms dramatically. "Today, all of you shall kneel before the great Moltres James! Every Pokémon here will belong to me! Go, Victreebel!"
"Even you're Moltres, but I'm somehow a Gyarados?!"
Misty completely lost it.
"Unforgivable! Go, Staryu!"
However, the Pokémon that emerged from the Poké Ball was the ever-dazed Psyduck.
"You're not Staryu! Why did you come out?" Misty stomped her feet in frustration.
Meanwhile, Ash's battle against Cassidy and Butch was already nearing its conclusion.
Thanks to Pikachu and Quilava's perfect coordination, Raticate and Primeape were quickly defeated.
Cassidy and Butch were also knocked unconscious by electricity and collapsed to the ground, waiting for Officer Jenny to arrive.
On the other side, Misty's battle with James had reached a stalemate.
Empowered by his so-called "Moltres buff," James's Victreebel chased Psyduck all over the field.
Yet Misty didn't recall Psyduck because she knew that when its headache reached a certain point, it would unleash tremendous Psychic power.
"Victreebel, use Vine Whip!"
The whips rained down relentlessly, leaving Psyduck completely helpless.
"Psyduck, use your petrification technique!"
But Psyduck remained unresponsive.
In desperation, Misty shouted,
"Still not enough pain? Stick your head into Victreebel's mouth!"
"That's enough!"
Ash suddenly stepped in.
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"
Golden lightning instantly swallowed Team Rocket.
"I'm Moltres! I've already flown into the sky!"
"You're clearly being blasted off!" Ash shot back.
"We finally got the author to give us more screen time, and it still ended like this, meow!"
"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!"
With their familiar farewell, Team Rocket once again became shooting stars disappearing into the horizon.
As for Cassidy and Butch, Officer Jenny had already arrested them. Since they were still unconscious from the electric shock, they didn't even get a chance to say any exit lines.
At that moment, Ash turned toward Misty with an expression she had never seen before.
"Ash, you..."
Slap!
Ash directly slapped her across the face.
Stunned, Misty looked at him in confusion.
"Misty, do you still remember what your dream is?"
"My dream... is to become a Water Pokémon Master."
Still dazed from the slap, Misty froze for a moment before answering.
"And yet you still remember that!"
Ash's voice suddenly rose.
"But think carefully about everything you've done today. Do you really deserve that dream?"
He walked over to Psyduck and gently stroked its head.
"It's true that Psyduck unleashes incredible power when its headaches become severe, but that should never be the way it battles. Just now, you actually wanted it to stick its head into Victreebel's mouth. Is that something a Trainer should ever say?"
Ash's gaze returned to Misty.
"And all this over a completely baseless fortune book..."
Those words struck Misty like a bolt from the blue.
She stared blankly at Psyduck.
Psyduck tilted its head and looked back at her with those vacant, innocent eyes, as if saying, "It's okay."
"Psyduck... it feels pain too..."
Tears burst from Misty's eyes.
"I'm sorry... I actually gave such a stupid command..."
She tightly hugged Psyduck, her tears soaking its feathers.
"Psyy~"
Psyduck simply smiled foolishly. Although it didn't understand what had happened, it could tell that its Trainer was crying, so it gently patted her back with its webbed foot.
"Ash, wasn't that a little too harsh?" Brock asked quietly.
Looking at Misty and Psyduck embracing each other, Ash softly replied,
"Let her think things through. Right now, she needs some space."
After one final glance at the still-sobbing Misty, Ash turned and left the room.
Seeing this, Brock silently followed him out.
He was willing to bear the consequences of that slap.
What mattered was that a Trainer had finally realized what was truly worth cherishing.
Even though Misty was one of the heroines, she needed moments like this too, moments that belonged to her and to the bond between them.
...
RedX43's Note:
➤ Want More? Get up to +25 Extra Chapters on Patreon!
➤ [email protected]/RedX43
➤ +200 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter Drop!
➤ Consider giving a review or leave some comments, it help boost the story!
➤ Thanks for reading! 🙌