Chapter 122

[She likes Bug-type Pokémon the most, especially Caterpie—yellow, chubby, and cute.]

["That's right, Bug-type Pokémon are very cute. They can also pollinate flowers." In order to grow brilliant flowers in the gym, Erika even specially raised a group of Butterfree.]

["It should be Heracross that did it," Ash spoke up.]

["So powerful, just by looking at the traces of eating, you can analyze which Pokémon did it," Erika looked at Ash with admiration.]

["That," Erika's flattery made Ash feel embarrassed. He didn't have the ability Erika said; the reason he was sure it was Heracross was because he had already seen it.]

[On a big tree a hundred meters in front of them, a large group of Heracross were lying. They were frantically eating the sweet tree sap.]

[Heracross is a Bug-type Pokémon as precious as Scyther. Ash was moved. Just as he was preparing to go catch the Heracross, a large group of Pinsir suddenly rushed toward the Heracross group.]

["Are they going to fight?" Misty was a bit worried.]

[She doesn't like Bug-type Pokémon, but she also doesn't want to see Bug-type Pokémon get hurt.]

["They won't fight."]

[Erika knows Heracross too well. Don't look at them as big and thick, each with great strength, but in reality, they are all cowards. Unless absolutely necessary, Heracross generally won't take the initiative to fight.]

[Sure enough, as Erika expected, by the time the Pinsir rushed to the tree, the Heracross had already run away.]

[The Heracross were all gone. Ash was also preparing to leave, but then another Heracross crawled out from the branches of the big tree, looking very confused. Where did its companions go?!]

119: Dark Ash's gift, all the girls have it!!!

[Surrounded by six Pinsir, Ash thought this Heracross would be beaten to tears, but the result made everyone's jaws drop.]

[Forced into a corner, Heracross counterattacked passively, and all six Pinsir were beaten away.]

["Hiss." At this moment, Ash's eyes were glowing. Such a powerful Heracross, he absolutely couldn't miss it.]

[Just as Ash was preparing to catch the Heracross, the Ranger in the forest jumped out and gave Ash a big lecture. In short, one sentence: don't catch this Heracross.]

["Is this a protected area designated by the League?" Ash looked at Ranger Forrest with surprise.]

[Forrest: "No."]

["Then does the League have regulations that you can't catch the Heracross here?" Ash continued to ask.]

[Forrest: "Neither."]

["Then I can catch the Heracross. As for what you said, if I catch the Heracross, the forest will lose its balance—I don't think so. Ecological balance isn't that fragile." Ash is a person with his own opinions; he won't be led astray by others in a few words.]

Bugsy: "Right, almost led astray by Forrest. The balance of the forest isn't that easy to destroy."]

Whitney: "Fortunately, the Heracross Ash caught was gluttonous and took the initiative to chase after Ash, otherwise."]

Gary: "Ash is still too simple; others can bluff him with a few words."]

[Ash didn't catch the Heracross immediately, of course not because he was interfered with by Forrest, but because it had just experienced a fierce battle, and it would be unfair to catch it now.]

[Taking a Potion from his backpack, he applied it evenly to Heracross's wounds, and with the help of Aura, the wounds began to scab at a speed visible to the naked eye.]

[After treating Heracross, Ash wanted to challenge it, but who knew Heracross had no interest in battling at all. After the big battle, it was starving now, and filling its stomach was what it cared about most.]

[Before it could even say a word to Ash, who had treated it, Heracross flapped its wings and flew quickly toward the front.]

["What should we do now?" Erika was a bit confused.]

["Sigh," Ash sighed helplessly. "Chase after it, obviously."]

[Following Heracross all the way, Ash and the others came to a huge canyon.]

[Heracross can fly and easily went to the other side of the canyon. Just as Ash and the others were preparing to walk to the other side using the suspension bridge between the canyons, they suddenly discovered that the suspension bridge had been cut by someone with a knife.]

[There was no other way, so they had to let Charizard take action. After five consecutive round trips, Charizard finally brought everyone to the other side of the canyon.]

[After half an hour of searching, Ash and the others finally found Heracross. At this moment, it was confronting a huge Pinsir.]

["Why is there such a big Pinsir?" Erika exclaimed.]

["Why is there such a big Pinsir?"]

["Since you asked sincerely..."]

Lance: "Team Rocket?! How did they come to Johto too?"

Steven: "Don't ask; asking means bond, the bond unique to Team Rocket and Pikachu."]

Diantha: "Dark Ash isn't as simple as Ash. If Team Rocket keeps doing evil, do you think he will beat Team Rocket to death?"

Cynthia: "Don't talk about Dark Ash like a demon. When has he ever beaten anyone to death? At most, he beats Team Rocket until they are half-dead."]

Meowth: "James, I'm so scared, meow."

James: "There's nothing to be scared of. We are Team Rocket, who travels through the galaxy. Pull yourself together."]

Jessie: "Right, right, there's nothing to be scared of at all!"

Meowth: "If you aren't scared, why has Jessie been shaking all this time, meow."

Jessie: "I, I, I am shaking with excitement! Excited for the great Team Rocket career that we in another world are heading toward."]

[After the opening remarks, Jessie stared at Ash for a while and said: "Hey, you guy look very familiar. Have we met?"]

["It's you?!" Seeing Ash again, James exploded. "Tell me, did you tell my dad and mom about my whereabouts?!"]

[Just a little bit, just a little bit, and he would have been caught back.]

["It's an acquaintance of Jessie and James? Meow."]

["A, a talking Meowth?" Casey stared with big eyes, simply unable to believe the scene she was seeing.]

[This world is simply too crazy; even Meowth has started talking.]

[Enemies are especially jealous when they meet. Upon discovering that the person causing trouble was Ash, Jessie and James exploded. They controlled the giant Pinsir robot and rushed toward Ash.]

[Erika, Casey, Brock, and Misty scattered, only Ash remained in place, motionless.]

["Master, what are you doing? Run!"]

[Casey thought Ash was scared silly. She wanted to go back and call Ash away. Misty stopped her and said with a light smile: "Enjoy Ash's performance properly."]

[Performance?]

[Casey had a head full of question marks. What performance?]

[Jessie, James, and Meowth confidently controlled the Pinsir robot and swung their fists at Ash. In their view, Ash was simply courting death.]

[Their Pinsir robot had driven away all the Pinsir nearby. Ash, with his mere flesh and blood, actually dared to resist their perfect masterpiece.]

["Meowth, beat him half to death, don't take his life," James hesitated for a long time and said.]

[Although they are the evil Team Rocket, they still need to have some bottom line. Besides, Ash isn't bad to the point of flowing pus.]

[Jessie said indignantly: "Hmph, this guy made us stay in the detention center for so many days, we must teach him a good lesson!"]

["Don't worry, leave it all to me, Meowth."]

[Ten minutes later.]

[The Pinsir robot lay on the ground, crooked and twisted, having lost the ability to run.]

[Jessie, James, and Meowth were firmly tied together by Ash with ropes.]

[The fight had been over for five minutes, but Jessie, James, and Meowth still hadn't walked out of the battle just now.]

["What on earth is going on? Meow!!!"]

[Meowth had lived for so many years and had never encountered such an outrageous thing.]

["It's simply too powerful, Master, it's simply too powerful!!!"]

[It wasn't just the Team Rocket trio who were shocked; Casey and Erika were also shocked by Ash's operation.]

[A punch directly punched a hole in a robot made of steel. Are you sure this is something a human can do? Even Charizard's Fire Punch isn't that terrifying, right?]

["Can you teach me this? Can you teach me this? Master!" Casey looked at Ash excitedly.]

Bruno: "Teach? This thing depends on talent. If you aren't born with it, you won't have it in this life; you can't practice it out."

Brawly: "Junior martial artists break wooden boards, intermediate martial artists break bluestone, top martial artists break steel."

Bea: "If only I were as powerful as that."

Bea was so envious she was about to drool. If she had Dark Ash's strength—no, even half of it—that would be enough to bring honor to her ancestors.]

Diantha: "Although it's not the first time I've seen Dark Ash's battle, every time it's so shocking, it's just like filming a movie."

Malva: "Even movies wouldn't dare to film it so exaggeratedly, right?"

Caitlin: "Movies need logic; reality doesn't care about logic."

["We were wrong, spare us."]

[From the mouths of Jessie, James, and Meowth, Ash and the others finally figured out the whole story.]

[The Pinsir robot was made by them to collect the sweet tree sap on the trees and finally sell the sap to make a fortune.]

[The forest's balance was also destroyed by them. It was precisely because they drove all the Pinsir away that the Pinsir went to the other side of the canyon to fight for territory with the Heracross.]

["Our plan was perfect. But I didn't expect to fall into your hands. Whatever you want to do, just do it, meow."]