Chapter 31

Brock rubbed his cheeks in shame. Misty was right; he also had a responsibility. If it weren't for his lustful brain constantly speaking for the other side, Ash wouldn't have been so foolish.

[While Ash was being tricked, James on the other side didn't fare any better. Under the persuasion of the Magikarp salesman, he used all the team's funds to buy a Magikarp.]

[Not long after the trade, Ash regretted it. When battling Team Rocket in the banquet hall, his regret reached its peak. Recalling his time with Butterfree, Ash wanted to slap himself twice.]

[In the end, Ash found the Raticate's trainer and traded Butterfree back.]

Diantha: "Admitting mistakes and correcting them—that's a good child. I like Ash more and more."

Cynthia: "Liking him is useless; you're already a middle-aged woman, you're too old."

Diantha: "Hey! I didn't mean that kind of liking! And I'm not old at all!!!"

Lance: "I'm actually more concerned about James. Is there really something wrong with his head? He actually believed that Magikarp could produce gold. *Pfft.* Hahahaha, sorry, I really can't help it."

Bruno: "Children born in poor families are like this; it's easy for them to be tricked. James is still too young."

Jessie: "Ahhhhh, the more I think about it, the angrier I get. James, give our money back!"

[To get Butterfree back, Ash missed the best opportunity to escape the St. Anne. By the time they came to their senses, the ship had completely sunk.]

[After experiencing a series of hardships, Ash and Team Rocket finally escaped the St. Anne together, but before they could be happy for long, James caused trouble again.]

[He kicked the Magikarp, directly causing it to evolve into Gyarados out of rage.]

[Gyarados called its nearby companions, and with the combined efforts of all the Gyarados, everyone was blown onto a deserted island.]

[Everyone started an adventure mode on the deserted island and finally succeeded in escaping that island with giant Pokémon.]

[Ash and his group, who escaped the deserted island, seemed to have had a change of luck. They arrived at the famous seaside resort city, Porta Vista. Just when they thought they could enjoy themselves, another accident happened.]

[The three of them took Old Man Dobbins' motorboat without permission and crashed it. To compensate for the loss, the three had to work to pay off the debt.]

Bruno: "Are Ash and his friends cursed with bad luck?"

Cynthia: "I've never seen anyone unluckier than them; there are so many unexpected events every day."

Diantha: "You can't blame it all on Ash and the others; most of the events were caused by Team Rocket."

Lance: "I can only say that they are really pitiful to be targeted by the Team Rocket trio."

Lorelei: "But one thing to say, the Team Rocket trio did do some good things. The giant Pokémon they destroyed was the signature attraction of the Pokémon Land. We recently found out that the Pokémon Land project is an important source of funding for Team Rocket."

Chairman Goodshow: "Do you think there's a possibility that the Team Rocket trio are actually undercover agents for our League? They don't want fame or fortune, silently paying the price just to eradicate the evil Team Rocket."

Lance: "It's not impossible; maybe they are also members of the International Police."

James: "Hey, hey, hey, don't slander us; we have nothing to do with the International Police!!!"

Jessie: "It was just an accident, just an accident; we didn't know this was the Boss's property either."

Meowth: "Boss, you have to believe us, we are absolutely loyal to you! Meow!"

Giovanni: "..."

Amidst the banter of everyone in the chat room, the screen with the white border dimmed, and the screen with the black border lit up.

[Vermilion City Pokémon Center.]

[While Ash and the others were waiting for the check-up, one injured Pokémon after another was sent to the Pokémon Center.]

[?]

[Perhaps seeing Ash and the others' confusion, Nurse Joy said helplessly: "They are all challengers who failed to challenge Lt. Surge of the Vermilion Gym."]

["Is he being that heavy-handed?" This was the first time Misty had seen a Gym Leader be so heavy-handed with challengers; her sisters would never do that.]

Lance: "Is there a possibility, Misty, that your sisters actually want to do that, but don't have the ability?"

Misty: "Uh, it seems there is such a possibility."

["It was fine before, but recently, Mr. Lt. Surge has become more and more irritable." Nurse Joy couldn't help but sigh and told them everything she knew.]

[Lt. Surge, who had just become a Gym Leader, was still following the rules and didn't go heavy on weak challengers. Perhaps it was because of this that more and more newcomers challenged him, causing Lt. Surge to be annoyed. Recently, he has become more and more heavy-handed with newcomers.]

[Of course, this is just Nurse Joy's guess. There is also a possibility that Lt. Surge, who had just become a Gym Leader, still had scruples and was worried about the League's accountability. Later, he found out that there was no such thing as accountability, so he began to reveal his true nature.]

Speaking of which, the Gym Leaders of Kanto are indeed the most free.

The three sisters of Cerulean Gym hand out badges in batches, Lt. Surge beats up newcomers, Sabrina turns people into dolls at every turn, and Blaine's Gym is opened and closed as he pleases. If this were in other regions, the League would have come to the door long ago.

["Ash, teach this guy named Lt. Surge a lesson and help everyone get revenge!" Misty would never forgive someone who hurts Pokémon.]

["Yeah, I will." Ash also had no good feelings about Lt. Surge's actions. As a Gym Leader, he must at least have the basic morality of a Gym Leader. A Gym Leader is a position set up to help challengers grow; what's the point of taking it out on challengers?]

[If he really doesn't want to face new trainers, he can set rules for the challenge, such as not allowing challenges without four badges. Wouldn't that solve it?]

(Flowers and evaluation tickets haven't increased for a day, please, please, please, please, please, please, first update!)

51: Lt. Surge wants to take advantage of Misty? Ash won't agree!

[Vermilion Gym. Pushing open the door, what caught their eyes were a man and a woman dressed in a "trendy" way. The woman had pink wavy hair, a standard look for a "bad girl." The man had a crew cut, no different from a street thug.]

["Is this the Vermilion Gym?" Ash hesitated.]

[Did they go to the wrong place?]

Phoebe: "Sidney, you and Lt. Surge must have a lot in common. All 'shamate' (non-mainstream) people are one family!"

Sidney: "Why, are you looking down on 'shamate'? Hmph, our 'shamate' strength is unquestionable!"

Lorelei: "The more I look at it, the more I feel that the Vermilion Gym is like a gathering place for thugs. Lt. Surge, can you change the decoration of the Vermilion Gym?"

Lt. Surge: "Change? Why change? I think it's pretty good."

["Hmph, why not?" the bad girl sister hummed.]

[The crew-cut man turned back and smiled: "Gym Leader, another victim has come here."]

[In the shadows, Lt. Surge slowly stood up and walked to the front of the trio step by step. Lt. Surge's height of two meters made Misty and Brock open their mouths wide.]

["So strong." Misty's voice was trembling.]

[Brock: "Is this the Gym Leader of Vermilion City?"]

[Just as the two were immersed in the pressure brought by Lt. Surge, Lt. Surge moved. He opened his arms, trying to take Misty into his arms.]

[Under Lt. Surge's giant-like body, Misty had nowhere to hide. She could only watch Lt. Surge approach her step by step. Is she going to be taken advantage of by this weird uncle today? Misty closed her eyes, showing despair.]

Flint: "Lt. Surge, you're taking advantage of a little girl, aren't you being too shameless?"

Daisy: "That's right, that's right, you actually dared to attack our cute sister, you are really too shameless."

Violet: "If you have the guts, come to Cerulean City, we will definitely make you look good."

Lily: "Or, let's not provoke him, what if he really comes?"

Diantha: "Men who sexually harass girls are the most tasteless."

Cynthia: "If I were there, I would definitely punch him to death."

Lt. Surge: "Hey, are you all being too ridiculous? I was just saying hello enthusiastically, I didn't think of anything else."

Everyone: "Heh."

Just when everyone thought Lt. Surge was going to succeed, Ash made a move.

[Ash stretched out his left hand and grabbed Lt. Surge's wrist. Lt. Surge didn't take it seriously at first. A little kid, what strength could he have? He even wanted to stop him, it was simply a dream.]

[But the subsequent plot development completely exceeded Lt. Surge's expectations. His right hand seemed to be firmly fixed in place, no matter how hard he tried, it didn't move at all.]

[The best opportunity had been missed, and Lt. Surge didn't bother anymore. Instead, he turned to look at Ash and mocked: "Baby, you have some skills."]

[For such low-level trash talk, Ash was too lazy to refute it. He said calmly: "Now we can start the battle."]

["No problem." Lt. Surge said readily, "By the way, what Pokémon are you going to use to challenge me?"]

[Lt. Surge looked Ash up and down and said disdainfully: "It wouldn't be this Pikachu by your feet, would it?"]

[After getting Ash's affirmative answer, Lt. Surge couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Look, the baby's Pokémon is also a baby."]

Misty: "Wow, Dark Ash is so manly!!!"

Ash: "I am also very manly!"

Brock: "Uh."

Lance: "Alright, you can mourn for Lt. Surge."

Bruno: "Vermilion Gym Leader Lt. Surge, died at the age of thirty."

Lt. Surge: "The game hasn't even started yet, and you've already decided that I've lost?"

Steven: "No way, no way, there's really someone who thinks they can win?"

Wallace: "There's a chance, can't Ash win if he uses Squirtle?"

Misty: "Lt. Surge, you have to recognize your own strength. You know, among Ash's first five badges, only yours was won by his true strength. This is your true level."

Ash: "Slander, this is pure slander, my badges were all won by my strength!"

Misty: "Let me help you recall, Ash. The Boulder Badge and Cascade Badge were sympathy badges. The Thunder Badge is even more ridiculous, it was all thanks to Haunter. The Rainbow Badge was because he saved Erika's Gloom."

[On the battlefield, Lt. Surge and his Raichu stood with their hands on their hips and said proudly: "If you run away now, it's still too late. Otherwise, your Pikachu will spend the next month in a hospital bed."]