Chapter 120

【In the forest, Nana encountered the Team Rocket trio. Under their instigation, Nana regained her courage; she sought out Ash once more and challenged him to a rematch.】

【The battle ended in a draw. In the midst of Ash and Nana's duel, Team Rocket made their move.】

【To rescue their respective Pokémon, Ash and Nana cooperated and successfully defeated Team Rocket.】

【After saying goodbye to the rookie trainer Nana, Ash and his friends continued their journey toward Violet City.】

Hōzuki: "Team Rocket really has perseverance. From Kanto to the Orange Archipelago, and now to Johto, they've been defeated countless times, yet they still refuse to give up."

Wattson: "You have to admit, their skill in building robots is getting more and more refined. If it weren't for the inexplicable accidents that always happen right when they're about to succeed, they might have actually managed to snatch Pikachu away."

Norman: "If you ask me, these three guys are quite talented. They should quit Team Rocket and become engineers; their future would be absolutely limitless."

Jessie: "Engineers? What are you talking about? How could we ever do something so shameful!"

Meowth: "That's right, that's right! Team Rocket is our faith!"

James: "Actually, being an engineer isn't bad either. At least you can fill your stomach."

Jessie, Meowth: "James!!!"

【On the way to Violet City, Ash and his friends arrived at a forest—a desolate forest.】

【Everything was fine just a moment ago, so why did it suddenly become so desolate? Just as Ash and the others were puzzled, Pikachu pointed toward a giant tree ahead, where a group of Heracross were clinging. The answer was obvious.】

【Ash had originally intended to catch a Heracross, but a forest ranger stopped him.】

【The forest ranger, Sam, believed that one must observe Pokémon before catching them. Under Sam's persuasion, Ash temporarily set aside the idea of catching a Heracross.】

【Just as they were talking, a group of Pinsir arrived. Just when Ash and the others thought the Heracross would fight back, they tacitly fled in a panic.】

【Only one Heracross remained on the tree, seemingly protecting a Butterfree that hadn't managed to escape in time.】

【After driving away the Pinsir, Ash and the others realized they had overthought things; the reason the Heracross hadn't fled was simply because it was too gluttonous.】

【To help restore ecological peace to the forest, Ash and his friends followed Sam to investigate the cause of the Pinsir riot.】

【In the end, they discovered that the culprits behind everything were Team Rocket. After driving Team Rocket away, the Pinsir returned to their own parts of the forest.】

【The Heracross and Pinsir were finally able to live in harmony once again.】

【After bidding farewell to Sam and the Heracross, Ash and his friends hit the road again. However, after walking out of the forest, Ash was surprised to find that a Heracross had followed them.】

【Just like that, Ash easily caught the precious Heracross.】

Bugsy: "Ash's luck is just too good!"

Aaron: "That's right, this Heracross's talent is truly explosive, especially in terms of strength. I've never seen a Heracross with such power."

Even the Pinsir robot meticulously crafted by Team Rocket was no match for this Heracross, which shows just how monstrous it is.

Viola: "Brave warriors are the most likable. I'm moved; I want to catch a Heracross too."

Misty: "Another Bug-type Pokémon, sigh."

Bug-type Pokémon are the scariest.

【After catching the Heracross, Ash and his friends arrived at the Valley of Phanpy, where a group of Phanpy capable of finding gems lived.】

【In the Valley of Phanpy, Ash and his friends helped Miss Aris successfully retrieve her Phanpy.】

【Next, under Ash's confident lead, Ash and his friends got lost in the forest.】

【In the forest, they also met Gary. Gary kindly reminded Ash that he must catch a Hoothoot; without a Hoothoot, there was no way to get out of the forest.】

【After receiving Gary's reminder, Ash immediately decided to catch a Hoothoot in the forest. As luck would have it, a Hoothoot appeared right in front of him.】

【Just as Ash was preparing to catch it, he realized this Hoothoot had an owner.】

【The Hoothoot's owner was Grandma Hagatha, the proprietor of a Hoothoot rental shop.】

Diantha: "Hoothoot rental shop? What does that mean?"

Morty: "Because a large group of mischievous Ghost-type Pokémon live in the Lost Forest, Grandma Hagatha is responsible for renting out Hoothoot to passing travelers to help them find their way out of the forest."

Roxanne: "So that's how it is."

【There was only one Hoothoot left in the shop, and this Hoothoot wasn't yet capable of handling things on its own. Grandma Hagatha originally didn't want to rent it to Ash and the others, but under Ash's insistence, she had to compromise.】

【Just like that, Ash and his friends set off with the Hoothoot.】

【After experiencing several twists and turns, with the help of the Hoothoot, they walked out of the Lost Forest.】

【After returning the Hoothoot to Grandma Hagatha's sister, Grandma Rowena, Ash and his friends continued their journey.】

【After leaving the Lost Forest, Ash and his friends arrived at a town, where they met a girl named Florinda who was performing with her Bellossom.】

【With the help of Ash and his friends, Florinda's Bellossom completed their final ultimate move, the "Leaping Moon," and performed it successfully at the performance competition.】

【In a new city, Ash and his friends helped Officer Jenny successfully defeat the Team Rocket trio, who were disguised as "Meowth-Eight."】

【After saying goodbye to Officer Jenny, they arrived at a suburban villa area, where they met a Snubbull and its owner, Madame Muchmoney.】

【Although Snubbull lived a happy life without any worries about food or clothing, it was not happy.】

【While Ash and his friends were enjoying delicious food in the villa, Jessie, James, and Meowth were hiding in the backyard.】

【Looking at the luxurious villa, Meowth couldn't help but exclaim: "What a huge courtyard! Even the doghouse where the guard dog Growlithe lives is bigger than our Team Rocket branch."】

【Jessie: "This yard is ridiculously big!!! It's not like it's an amusement park."】

【Meowth: "It's probably about as big as James's old home."】

【"Yeah, this yard might be as big as our backyard," James replied after a moment of thought.】

Brawly: "Can you guys stop bragging? I can't take it!!!"

Roxanne: "It's so good to be rich. I want to live in a big villa and eat delicacies every day too."

Gardenia: "Just thinking about it is enough. Sigh, we don't have a chance in this lifetime."

【With Brock's help, Snubbull successfully escaped an arranged marriage. But something no one expected happened: Snubbull actually fell in love with Team Rocket's Meowth. To become Meowth's girlfriend, it even went so far as to run away from home.】

Jessie: "Meowth, haven't you always wanted to have a sweet romance? Now the opportunity is here. As long as you date Snubbull, you'll not only gain love but also countless wealth."

James: "If that happens, we can pay off all our external debts."

Meowth: "Hey, what are you guys talking about? I hate Snubbull the most! I don't want to date Snubbull!!!"

【After passing through the Stantler Forest, Ash and his friends arrived at the foot of a snowy mountain, where Ash met a tsundere Chikorita.】

【After experiencing a series of adventures with the Chikorita, Ash successfully caught it.】

Gardenia: "This Chikorita is quite good, actually being able to defeat Ash's Charizard."

Although there was an element of coincidence, Chikorita's strength is still worth acknowledging.

Gary: "Are wild starter Pokémon really that easy to encounter?"

This is already the fourth starter Pokémon Ash has caught in the wild.

Ash is simply a starter Pokémon harvester. If this continues, I guess Cyndaquil and Totodile won't be able to escape his grasp either.

Ash: "Great! Heracross, Chikorita—now I have two new companions."

Falkner: "Don't forget your old love just because you have a new one. So, Ash, when are you going to pick up Pidgeot?"

Ash: "..."

The screen with the white border dimmed, and the screen with the black border lit up.

【New Bark Town, the town where the winds of a new beginning blow.】

【The first thing to do upon arriving in New Bark Town is definitely to visit Professor Elm.】

【At Professor Elm's house, Ash met a girl named Casey.】

【"Casey, didn't you want to become a Pokémon Master? Then you must learn well from Ash. Ash is the champion of the previous Indigo League, and he even defeated the undefeated Drake in the Orange League to win the Winner's Trophy," Professor Elm introduced.】

【"Professor Elm, that's too much." This string of titles made Ash feel a bit embarrassed.】

【Professor Elm laughed and said, "I'm just stating the facts."】

【"Wow, Ash, so you're such a powerful trainer! Do you want to have a Pokémon battle with me?" Casey raised her head proudly. "Don't look at me like this; I'm a Pokémon trainer too."】

【"A rookie trainer who only got her starter Pokémon two days ago," Professor Elm added.】

【"No problem." Even though Casey was just a rookie, Ash readily agreed to her battle request.】

【Before heading to the Johto region, Ash left most of his Pokémon at Professor Oak's laboratory, bringing only three: Pikachu, Charizard, and Mankey.】

..... 0....

【Battling Casey, Pikachu and Charizard definitely couldn't be used. If he let them out, it would be a total bullying of a child. Mankey was the only choice.】

【Mankey was a Pokémon Ash had just caught and hadn't had time to train yet; in terms of level, it was basically on the same line as Casey's starter Pokémon.】

【Just as Ash was about to bring out Mankey, Casey pointed at the "Ralts" on Ash's shoulder and said confidently, "I want to battle that one!!!"】

Karen: "Casey has a really good eye, picking the strongest Pokémon at a glance. I admire her, I really do."

Elesa: "Do you guys think Black Ash would actually send out Mew?"

Erika: "Impossible. Do you think Black Ash is Ash?"

Diantha: "You never know. If it were Ash, he might actually let Mew out."