Chapter 32

Brock rubbed his cheeks in shame. Misty was right; he had responsibility too. If he hadn't been so blinded by his lust and kept speaking for the other guy, Ash wouldn't have made such a foolish mistake.

【While Ash was being tricked, James on the other side didn't fare any better. Under the influence of the Magikarp salesman, he used the team's entire budget to buy a Magikarp.】

【Not long after the trade, Ash regretted it. During a battle against 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 your mistakes and correcting them—that's a good child. I like Ash more and more."

Cynthia: "It's no use liking him; you're already a middle-aged woman, you're too old."

Diantha: "Hey! That's not the kind of liking I meant! And I'm not old at all!!!"

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

Bruno: "Children born into poor families are like that; it's easy to trick them. 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 worked together to finally escape the St. Anne, 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 effort of all the Gyarados, everyone was blown onto a deserted island.】

【Everyone started an adventure mode on the island and eventually succeeded in escaping that island filled with giant Pokémon.】

【Ash and his friends, who had escaped the island, seemed to have their luck turn around. They arrived at the famous seaside resort city, Porta Vista. Just when they thought they could enjoy themselves, another unexpected situation occurred.】

【The three of them took Old Man Dervish's motorboat without permission and crashed it. To compensate for the loss, the three of them had to work to pay off the debt.】

Bruno: "Are Ash and his friends magnets for 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 are caused by Team Rocket."

Drake: "I can only say that being targeted by the Team Rocket trio makes them truly pitiful."

Lorelei: "But I have 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 was an important source of funding for Team Rocket."

Chairman Goodshow: "Tell me, is there a possibility that the Team Rocket trio are actually undercover agents for our League? They don't want fame or fortune, silently contributing just to eradicate the evil Team Rocket."

Drake: "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 business 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 white-bordered screen dimmed, and the black-bordered screen lit up.

【Vermilion City Pokémon Center.】

【While Ash and the others were waiting for the check-up, one injured Pokémon after another was sent into the center.】

【?】

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

【"Is he 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.】

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

Misty: "Uh, it seems like that's a possibility."

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

【When Lt. Surge first became a Gym Leader, he followed the rules and didn't go too hard on weak challengers. Perhaps it was because of this that more and more newcomers challenged him, leading Lt. Surge to be annoyed. Recently, he has become more and more heavy-handed with newcomers.】

【Of course, this was just Nurse Joy's speculation. It's also possible that Lt. Surge, having just become a Gym Leader, still had reservations and worried about the League's accountability. Later, he realized there was no such thing as accountability and began to reveal his true nature.】

It must be said that the Kanto Gym Leaders are indeed the most free.

The three sisters of Cerulean City hand out badges like candy, Lt. Surge beats up newcomers, Sabrina turns people into dolls at every turn, and Blaine's gym opens and closes whenever he wants. If this were any other region, the League would have already come knocking.

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

【"Yeah, I will." Ash didn't have any good feelings about Lt. Surge's actions either. As a Gym Leader, one must at least have the basic ethics of a Gym Leader. A Gym Leader's position is set up to help challengers grow; what's the point of taking it out on challengers?】

【If you really don't want to face new trainers, you can set rules for the challenge, like not allowing challenges until four badges are collected. Wouldn't that solve it?】

(Flowers, evaluation tickets, and monthly tickets haven't increased in a day. Please, please, please, please, please, please—first update!)

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

【Vermilion Gym. Pushing open the door, what came into view were a "trendy" man and woman. The woman had pink wavy hair, the standard look for a "bad girl." The man had a buzz cut, no different from a street thug.】

【"Is this the Vermilion Gym?" Ash was a bit hesitant.】

【Did they go to the wrong place?】

Flannery: "Sidney, you and Lt. Surge must have a lot in common. All punks are one family!"

Sidney: "Why, are you looking down on punks? Hmph, the strength of us punks is unquestionable!"

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

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

【"Hmph, why wouldn't it be?" the bad girl sister snorted.】

【The buzz-cut man turned back and said with a smile: "Gym Leader, another victim has arrived."】

【In the shadows, Lt. Surge slowly stood up and walked step by step toward the trio. Lt. Surge's height of two meters made Misty and Brock's jaws drop.】

【"So muscular." 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, attempting to pull Misty into his embrace.】

【Under Lt. Surge's giant-like body, Misty had nowhere to hide. She could only watch as Lt. Surge approached her step by step. Was she going to be taken advantage of by this weird uncle today? Misty closed her eyes, her face full of despair.】

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

Daisy: "Right, right, actually daring to make a move on our cute sister, that's really too shameless."

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

Lily: "Maybe we shouldn't provoke him; what if he actually comes?"

Diantha: "Men who sexually harass girls have the least class."

Cynthia: "If I were there, I'd definitely punch him into oblivion."

Lt. Surge: "Hey, aren't you all being too outrageous? I was just greeting her enthusiastically; I didn't mean anything else."

Everyone: "Heh."

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

【Ash reached out his left hand and grabbed Lt. Surge's wrist. Lt. Surge didn't take it seriously at first; what strength could a little brat have? Trying to stop him 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 budge.】

【The best opportunity had been missed, and Lt. Surge didn't bother to tangle anymore. Instead, he turned to look at Ash and mocked: "Baby, you've got some skills."】

【Ash couldn't even be bothered to refute such low-level trash talk. 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 receiving Ash's affirmative reply, Lt. Surge couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Look, the baby's Pokémon is also a little baby."】

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

Ash: "I'm very manly too!"

Brock: "Uh."

Drake: "Alright, you can start mourning for Lt. Surge."

Bruno: "Vermilion Gym Leader Lt. Surge, aged thirty."

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

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

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

Misty: "Lt. Surge, you need to recognize your own strength. You should know that of Ash's first five badges, yours is the only one he won with his true strength. This is your true level."

Ash: "Slander, this is pure slander! My badges were all won with my own 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 Gengar; the Rainbow Badge was because you saved Erika's Gloom."

【On the battlefield, Lt. Surge and his Raichu stood with their hands on their hips and said triumphantly: "If you run away now, there's still time. Otherwise, your Pikachu will be spending the next month in a hospital bed."】