Songzao City, Pokémon Center.
Ash and his group sat on a bench inside the Pokémon Center.
But unlike usual, the energetic and lively Ash was now sitting with his head lowered , silent.
It was the first time Brock and Misty had ever seen him like this. The two exchanged glances.
Then Misty stepped forward to comfort him.
"Don't worry, Ash. If you challenge the Gym a few more times, you'll definitely win a badge!"
"Yeah, I believe you can do it!" Brock added.
But Ash shook his head.
"Even when all three of my Pokémon attacked together, we couldn't defeat even one of Gym Leader Red 's Pokémon…"
"I won't give up on challenging the Gym. But if I don't have a real chance, I don't want Pikachu and the others to get hurt for nothing."
Hearing this, both Brock and Misty were stunned.
The hot-headed idiot who only charged forward… I was actually thinking now?!
But with Ash's current level of knowledge, he couldn't come up with any good solution.
"Should I do what I did last time and charge Pikachu with electricity to pass the challenge?"
"But Gym Leader Red 's Larvitar is a Ground-type… and last time Pikachu felt awful afterward…"
Ash held his head and stared at the ceiling.
"Forget it! I'll take Pikachu and the others to battle nearby trainers first and gain experience!"
"No matter what, I will earn the Weather Badge from Songzao Gym!"
Just as Ash made his passionate declaration—
A voice suddenly poured cold water over him.
"Stop dreaming. With your strength, even after another hundred years, you wouldn't be qualified to defeat the Master."
The three turned toward the voice.
Gary stood there.
"Gary? What are you doing here? Want to battle?"
At that moment, Nurse Joy from Songzao City pushed over three Poké Balls.
"Hello, your three Pokémon have all been fully healed."
Ash picked up Pikachu and took back Bulbasaur and Squirtle.
"Come on, Gary! I'll show you I'm not the same as before!"
Gary's fighting spirit ignited at the sight.
But remembering Red 's instructions—and the sudden appearance of poachers—he suppressed the urge.
"I'd like to battle you, but now's not the time."
"What do you mean?"
Ash looked confused.
Gary's gaze turned cold as he spoke slowly:
"Poachers have been spotted in the forest east of Songzao City. I'm going with the Gym Leader to deal with them."
"So battles can wait until after that."
Gary glanced at Ash from the corner of his eye.
Having grown up together, he knew Ash's personality all too well.
As expected—
Ash immediately stood up.
"I'm going too! Taking down poachers is something trainers should do!"
Then he scratched his head awkwardly.
"Also… after this is over, could you help me talk to Gym Leader Red ? I want to train at Songzao Gym like you."
He spoke his thoughts directly.
Gary rubbed his chin, looking at Ash.
For a moment, he couldn't tell—
Was his friend truly foolish, or secretly wise?
"Fine. If you make a contribution during the operation, I'll speak to the Master for you."
"Hehe~ Thanks, Gary!"
"Thirty minutes. Get your gear ready and meet at Route 13 east of Songzao Gym. Don't be late."
"Got it! We'll be ready!"
Twenty-five minutes later
At the end of Route 13 outside Songzao City—
Ash's group was already waiting.
Suddenly, an off-road vehicle sped toward them.
Red , wearing sunglasses, sat in the driver's seat and opened the door.
Ash and the others quickly climbed in.
Red slammed the accelerator, and the vehicle shot toward the forest.
"According to Officer Jenny's intel, the poachers are a trio—two men and one woman. The last one is short."
"They specialize in using high-tech equipment to capture Pokémon."
Hearing this, Ash, Misty, and Brock all thought of three familiar faces.
"…It can't be them, right?!"
Ash couldn't help but think.
Red also frowned.
After reviewing the report, he had the same suspicion—
"Could it be the Team Rocket trio?"
"Are they here to capture Pokémon in Songzao City… as revenge against me?"
Red silently made a vow—
If it really was them, he would personally send all three to prison for life.
The vehicle sped faster and faster until it reached the forest's edge.
Red and the others—six people in total—continued on foot up the mountain.
Meanwhile, deep in the forest…
Three people in camouflage hid inside a cave.
Behind them was a pickup truck—
Filled with hundreds of Poké Balls stacked like a small mountain.
And beside that pile—
Three figures in Team Rocket uniforms lay tied up, covered in injuries.
They were none other than—
Meowth, Jessie, and James.
"Boss… what do we do now?"
The shortest of the three camouflaged men asked nervously.
"What do we do? You're asking me what to do?! How should I know?!"
The middle-aged man they called "boss" exploded in anger.
"Who told you to capture Team Rocket members?! Don't you know Team Rocket is the underground ruler of Kanto?!"
"And you still dared to grab them?! Are you brain-dead?!"
As he spoke, he kicked the short man several times before stopping.
"I was planning to do one last job and retire. If we got wanted, we could've joined Team Rocket!"
"Now look at this—our escape route is gone!"
The short man trembled.
"I didn't mean to, boss… I saw them sneaking around us and thought they were League agents…"
The boss sat down on a rock and took a deep breath.
"Forget it. With this haul, we can go anywhere."
"At worst, we'll just move to another region."
"Boss is right…"
At that moment, the last member of the trio—a slender man with long hair—spoke up:
"Enough talking. The scanner just detected people coming up the mountain."
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