Chapter 113

[To figure out what was going on, Ash and the others sought out Professor Oak.]

[With Professor Oak's explanation, everyone realized that what the Lapras hated wasn't their lost companion, but them. This group of Lapras was afraid of humans. To find out who was hurting the Lapras, Ash and the others began an investigation.]

[At the Pokémon Center, Ash and the others received news from Officer Jenny that a group of poachers was hunting Pokémon frantically at sea.]

[Poachers? That must be Team Rocket. Ash, filled with righteous indignation, told Officer Jenny about all of Team Rocket's crimes.]

[Just as Ash was frantically accusing Team Rocket, the trio couldn't hold back anymore. They appeared in front of Ash and the others, leaning on crutches and covered in bandages.]

[They were victims too; their submarine had also been destroyed by the poachers' bombs.]

[Jessie, James, and Meowth got angrier the more they thought about it. They were Team Rocket; how could anyone dare to bully them? They threw away their crutches and bandages, rushed out of the Pokémon Center, and vowed to take revenge.]

Nurse Joy: "Are your injuries healed?"

A second ago they were severely injured patients limping along, and the next second they were jumping around. Team Rocket's constitution is truly incredible.

Bruno: "Other things aside, Team Rocket's ability to withstand punishment is absolutely top-tier. They get blasted off once a day on average, and the next day they are full of life again. These are true superhumans."

Malva: "I really don't understand Team Rocket. With their constitution, if they went to deliver food, they would have made a fortune long ago."

With their constitution, they wouldn't even be tired after riding a bike for three days straight. It's a pity they don't go deliver food with such talent.

Jessie: "Hey, deliver food? Do you know what you're saying? We are the great Team Rocket!"

James: "Delivering food is a good idea. I, James with the little wheels, can come out of retirement again."

Meowth: "How about we go deliver food for a few days first? Jessie, our funds are used up again. If we don't find some work, we're going to go hungry again."

Jessie: "..."

[Returning to the sea once again, this time Ash and the others happened to run into the poacher group. With the help of Ash and Lapras, all the poachers were captured.]

[Right, it wasn't just the poachers who were captured, but also the Team Rocket trio who were watching the show from underwater.]

[After releasing the Tentacruel controlled by the poachers, Misty handed Team Rocket and the poacher group over to Officer Jenny.]

[On the open sea, Ash and Lapras were saying their final goodbyes.]

[Although he really wanted to stay with Lapras forever, Ash wanted Lapras to be happy even more.]

[In the end, Lapras waved goodbye to Ash and returned to its group.]

Lorelei: "Released again. This is the third Pokémon Ash has released."

Bruno: "Butterfree, Primeape, Pidgeot, Lapras—that's the fourth one."

Lance: "Pidgeot wasn't released, was it? Wasn't it agreed that he would go pick it up after finishing his business? Ash has finished his business in the Orange Archipelago, so he'll probably go pick up Pidgeot when he gets back."

Diantha: "Why do I feel like things won't go that smoothly?"

[After saying goodbye to Lapras, Ash and the others arrived at Trovitopolis Island. They were originally planning to take a ship from the port directly back to Pallet Town, but an unexpected event occurred again.]

[On the island, they encountered swarms of Voltorb and a strange middle-aged man who used Diglett.]

[Through the Diglett man, everyone learned why this island had become so desolate.]

[There were originally no Voltorb on the island, but one day, some Voltorb used by researchers for experiments secretly escaped from the lab. Because Trovitopolis Island was very suitable for Voltorb's survival, the whole island was soon covered in them.]

[And because there were too many Voltorb on the island, and they would trigger big explosions at the drop of a hat, all the residents fled the island to take refuge.]

[With the help of Ash and the Diglett trainer, the Voltorb were all moved to the wild. The wild environment is large, allowing the Voltorb to play to their heart's content. After their stress was released, the Voltorb stopped exploding.]

[After saying goodbye to the man, Ash and the others boarded the ferry back to Pallet Town.]

[After three months of adventure, Ash and his group finally returned to Pallet Town.]

[The first thing to do after returning to Pallet Town was naturally to go home. As soon as Ash rushed through the door, he saw someone he never expected to appear—Brock.]

[Ash and Misty were both stunned. Wasn't Brock supposed to stay at Professor Ivy's lab and enjoy his research life in the south? Why did he suddenly appear at Ash's house?]

(I ordered an iced Americano today, preparing to stay up until tomorrow night. I must adjust my schedule. I'm going to explode with updates!!)

114: Serena is here, is a Shura field about to erupt?!

Lorelei: "Heh, expected."

Brock is too young, still wanting to win over Professor Ivy. Does he think he's the cougar-killer Dark Ash?

[Seeing Brock, Misty and Ash started a continuous barrage of soul-searching questions. The companions' questions stirred up Brock's sad memories, and he became completely wilted, having to beg Misty and Ash not to ask anymore; those were all his sad memories.]

Gary: "What exactly happened? Was Brock dumped by Professor Ivy?"

Lorelei: "Do you think too highly of Brock? There was never an option of them being together, so how could there be a dumping?"

Misty: "Brock's heart is very strong. When he was in Kanto, he was rejected by girls all the time and never had this happen. What exactly is wrong?"

Ash: "There's a problem, there's definitely a problem."

[Ash and Misty couldn't get anything out of Brock's mouth. In the end, it was Ash's mother, Delia, who told them what she knew.]

[One evening, when she was returning home, she found Brock in the bushes by the side of the road.]

[This "found" is not an adjective; it's a verb.]

[Urged by Tracey, Ash was dragged to Professor Oak's lab before he could even have a meal.]

[At the lab, they encountered Team Rocket, who had come to cause trouble again.]

[Not only Team Rocket, but Gary, whom they hadn't seen for a long time, also appeared.]

[Compared to three months ago, Gary was like a different person. The older sisters were gone, the impetuousness had disappeared from Gary, and he had become mature.]

[In three months, Gary had undergone earth-shaking changes.]

Professor Oak: "Not bad, not bad. The failure at the Indigo Plateau Conference was indeed a good thing for Gary."

Misty: "I'm not even used to Gary like this."

Brock: "Where are the older sisters? Where did the older sisters go?"

[Seeing Gary again, Ash's blood started to boil. After driving away Team Rocket, Ash immediately challenged Gary to a battle.]

[Now he is an honorary Trainer of the Orange League; he believes he won't lose to Ash again.]

[Gary agreed to Ash's battle request. The battle format was 1-on-1, choosing the Pokémon they were most confident in raising.]

[The Pokémon Gary sent out was Eevee.]

Ash: "Eevee? Then I'm sure to win!"

He had been traveling for a while, and Ash wasn't a stranger to Eevee. Although Eevee's evolutions—Jolteon, Flareon, and Vaporeon—are powerful Pokémon, Eevee itself isn't a battle-type Pokémon.

It's mostly kept as a pet.

Misty: "But isn't Ash's Pikachu the same?"

Eevee is a pet? Isn't Pikachu also a pet? Both sides in this battle are six of one, half a dozen of the other.

Volkner: "I support Ash. Ash's Pikachu just took down a Dragonite."

Lance: "I also support Ash. Gary's Eevee can't possibly be stronger than Drake's Dragonite."

Gary: "Um, I shouldn't lose, right?"

Gary didn't seem very confident, which is only natural.

After all, Ash's Pikachu performed very well in the Winners' Cup, so it's normal for him to feel pressure.

[Three rounds, the match ended.]

[The winner was Gary and his Eevee.]

Gary: "??? What's the situation? What exactly happened?"

Gary was a bit dumbfounded. This isn't scientific, right?

He won the match so easily?

Volkner: "Am I dreaming? Pikachu was one-shot by Eevee? That's the Pikachu that just defeated Dragonite."

Aaron: "What level is Drake's Dragonite, anyway? I can't understand it anymore."

Lt. Surge: "Match-fixing, it's definitely match-fixing. How could Pikachu lose so cleanly and neatly?"

Misty: "It's normal. Ash's Pikachu is just like that—the upper limit is extremely high, and the lower limit is super low."

Brock: "In short, you think it's sure to lose, and it has a high chance of turning the tables; but if you think the match will be an easy win, Pikachu might pull some weird stunts."

Lorelei: "I don't understand, but I am greatly shocked."

[The next day, Ash came to Professor Oak's lab to find Gary, only to find that Gary had already left. He had gone to the western region to challenge the Johto League.]

[Ash immediately decided that he also wanted to challenge the Johto League. Coincidentally, Professor Oak needed to deliver the GS Ball to Kurt, so he handed this task to Ash.]

[The journey was about to begin again. This time, Ash was accompanied by Misty and Brock. As for Tracey, he chose to stay at Professor Oak's lab to become his assistant.]

Tracey: "Yay, I've become the Professor's assistant!!!"

Now, not only the him in the parallel world, but even the him in the real world has become Professor Oak's assistant in the future. This is simply too great.

As Tracey cheered, the white-bordered screen slowly dimmed, and in its place, the black-bordered screen lit up.