Chapter 30

["If everyone agrees, I have no objections."]

[The consensus is reached; now we only need to consult Dragonite's opinion.]

[This step also went off without a hitch. Dragonite has been so desperate for a friend that it would agree to anything as long as it could have a companion.]

Steven: "What do you think, can Ash and the others succeed?"

Lance: "I think it's unlikely. In all my years, I've never met a Dragonite that could use Minimize."

Lorelei: "Then in all your years, have you ever seen a Pikachu that could use Sacred Sword?"

Lance: "Uh, no, I haven't."

Diantha: "We can only hope that the miraculous Mew works its magic once again."

[This household would truly fall apart without it. It just transformed into Giratina to clear the thick fog, and now it has to turn into Chansey to teach Dragonite how to use Minimize. Sigh, it really is too busy.]

[Since it's so busy, isn't it a loss for it to only eat one portion of food a day? Fine, from today on, its meals will be doubled!!!]

[Under the tireless, day-and-night instruction of Teacher Mew, Dragonite actually learned the Minimize move.]

[Looking at the giant Dragonite before him, now roughly the same size as an ordinary Dragonite, Bill couldn't help but marvel at the wonders of nature. Indeed, he still has much to learn.]

["See you next time, Dragonite, Dr. Bill."]

[With most matters resolved, Ash and his friends are about to set off on their journey once again.]

["I plan to go with Dragonite to search for the legendary Dragonite Island. Once we find it, I'll contact you all!"]

[It is better to travel ten thousand miles than to read ten thousand books. Bill decided to set off with Dragonite and, incidentally, study why this particular Dragonite grew to be so massive.]

Bill: "Good luck, me from another world. Perhaps you can use this opportunity to become the world's greatest researcher."

Professor Elm: "The world's greatest researcher? Oh, Bill, you've finally exposed your wild ambitions!"

Professor Juniper: "Tell us, Bill, how long have you been eyeing Professor Oak's position?"

Professor Birch: "Whenever you meet, it's 'Professor Oak this' and 'Professor Oak that.' You practically have the words 'I am Professor Oak's fan' plastered on your face, but behind his back, you were secretly planning to step on him."

Professor Sycamore: "A soldier who doesn't want to be a general isn't a good soldier, and a researcher who doesn't want to be the world's number one isn't a good researcher. I support you, Bill! Of course, I don't have such thoughts myself; in my heart, Professor Oak will always be number one."

Bill: "..."

Lance: "So even the professors have so many hidden agendas."

Lorelei: "Heh, the academic world is even more ruthless than the battling world."

Bruno: "Is it because of the academic cliques?"

Professor Oak: "Hey, hey, hey, are you all getting more and more ridiculous? If you keep going like this, you'll have me painted as the ultimate villain behind the scenes of the research world."

The video with the black border gradually dimmed, and in its place, the video with the white border slowly lit up.

[After leaving Bill's lighthouse and experiencing several twists and turns, the trio finally arrived in Vermilion City.]

[Ash had originally planned to head straight to the Vermilion Gym to secure the Thunder Badge in one go. However, this proposal was instantly vetoed by Misty and Brock.]

[They had been wandering aimlessly in the forest for several days, and Pikachu hadn't eaten in two or three days. In this state, how could they possibly challenge a Gym?]

["It's no use, Pikachu, you can't lose a duel just because you're hungry," Ash said righteously as he picked up the exhausted Pikachu.]

[It's just a pity that Ash's stomach betrayed him. *Gurgle, gurgle*—he was actually starving himself.]

(Fifth update! There will be one more update before twelve o'clock. Please send flowers, evaluations, monthly tickets, and tips—please, please, please!)

49: The St. Anne, the Traded Butterfree

[At the Vermilion City Pokémon Center, Ash and his group discovered a strange scene: the center was extremely busy, with severely injured Pokémon being brought in every half hour.]

[After consulting Nurse Joy, they realized that these injured Pokémon had all been defeated by Lt. Surge, the Vermilion Gym Leader.]

Lance: "Lt. Surge, you're being too heavy-handed."

Lt. Surge: "I can't be blamed for that. Kids are always coming to bother me. To stop this from happening, I have no choice but to be ruthless."

Lorelei: "Pidgey, Rattata, Oddish, Spearow... uh, I'll say this in fairness: these challengers are a bit excessive."

Lt. Surge: "Right? Right? What do they take my Vermilion Gym for? The Cerulean Gym?"

Misty: "Hey, are you looking down on our Cerulean Gym?"

Lt. Surge: "Yeah, so what?"

Misty: "Damn it!!!"

Once this Q&A session is over, she will definitely bring the Omastar she received from the system to teach this arrogant guy, Lt. Surge, a lesson.

[After learning about Lt. Surge's brutality in the ward, Ash couldn't help but feel a sense of fear. However, after being goaded by Misty and Brock, Ash still bit the bullet and challenged Lt. Surge.]

[A crushing defeat. Facing the powerful Raichu, Ash's Pikachu had no way to fight back.]

[This failure dealt a heavy blow to Pikachu, not just physically, but mentally as well.]

[Just as everyone was agonizing over how Pikachu could defeat Raichu, Nurse Joy arrived, bringing a Thunder Stone with her.]

[Even after suffering an unprecedented defeat, Ash remained rational. He didn't rush to force Pikachu to evolve with the Thunder Stone, but instead chose to ask for Pikachu's opinion.]

[Pikachu swatted the Thunder Stone out of Ash's hand with its tail. It didn't want to evolve. It wanted to defeat Raichu in its Pikachu form—that was its answer.]

[This time, Team Rocket, who had been following Ash and causing trouble from time to time, didn't come out to make mischief. When Ash and Pikachu went to challenge Lt. Surge for the second time, they even went out of their way to disguise themselves and cheer them on.]

Lance: "Looking at it this way, these three guys aren't beyond redemption."

Lorelei: "If taught properly, perhaps they could turn over a new leaf."

Bruno: "Those three guys are actually quite interesting."

Jessie: "Interesting? What are you talking about?! We are Team Rocket, the fierce and cruel Team Rocket!!!"

James: "Turn over a new leaf? We are going to carry out evil to the very end!"

Meowth: "That's right. We're going to take over the whole world for the Boss."

Ash: "May I ask, who is your Boss?"

Meowth: "Our Boss is, of course, the brave and fearless..."

Seeing that Meowth was about to expose him, Jessie acted quickly, kicking Meowth and sending him flying.

Jessie: "Meowth, have you lost your mind? You almost exposed the Boss."

Meowth: "Sorry, Boss, I didn't mean to."

At this moment, Giovanni at Team Rocket headquarters was also startled.

Although the League had always suspected he had ties to Team Rocket, these were only suspicions, not hard evidence.

"These three guys are just too unreliable!"

Giovanni said helplessly.

Sigh, as expected, he shouldn't have recruited people with connections into Team Rocket.

He was still too young.

[Choosing not to gain power through evolution, Pikachu decided to strengthen its advantage in speed.]

[In the world of martial arts, only speed is invincible. Relying on speed far exceeding Raichu's, Pikachu finally succeeded in defeating Raichu and washing away its previous shame.]

[After defeating Lt. Surge and obtaining the Thunder Badge, Ash and his friends arrived at the Vermilion City port, where they saw luxury cruise ships from all over the world.]

[Originally, they didn't have the money to buy tickets for a luxury cruise, but Team Rocket disguised themselves as promotional staff and gave them three party tickets for the St. Anne.]

[Just like that, the three of them foolishly fell into Team Rocket's trap.]

Gary: "Hey, Ash, didn't you realize something was wrong back then? Tickets for the St. Anne are very precious; how could they just give them to you so casually?"

Ash: "I was too excited back then; my head was full of thoughts about the luxury cruise."

Misty: "So, we didn't realize anything was wrong at all."

Brock: "We were completely scammed."

[On the cruise ship, Ash had a battle. He was about to win, but unexpectedly, the opponent interrupted the match at a critical moment and cunningly claimed it was a draw.]

[That wasn't all; he found Ash again later and used his words to trick Ash into trading his Butterfree for his Raticate.]

[The gentleman's series of theories completely confused Ash. Plus, with Brock, who had fallen for the beauty trap, helping the other side speak, Ash's brain didn't turn fast enough, and he actually agreed to the trade.]

(Sixth update, please send flowers, evaluations, and monthly tickets—please, please, please!!!)

50: Dark Ash is here, he's here to help Ash get revenge!

Gary: "Ash, are you stupid? Why would you trade the Butterfree you worked so hard to raise for a Raticate that lost to it?"

Gary just didn't understand Ash's actions.

Ash: "That time, I was in the wrong."

For once, he didn't bicker with Gary.

This incident had always been a pain in Ash's heart. Fortunately, he eventually realized his mistake and made amends.

Misty: "You can't blame it all on you; Brock also had a responsibility."