Chapter 67

【After staying in the forest for three days, Ivysaur successfully absorbed all the energy from the Miracle Seed. The closed flower bud slowly opened, blooming into a gorgeous flower.】

【Just after finishing with the Venusaur business in Viridian Forest, Ash was called by a phone call from Officer Jenny, whom he had met on his journey, to the town where he caught Squirtle.】

【"It's really giving me a headache. People have been coming to our village to abandon Squirtle lately."】

【"There are already four Squirtle living in the village now." Officer Jenny's head was about to explode.】

【Perhaps because they were abandoned by their trainers, these Squirtle had very irritable tempers and were always playing pranks on the street. The villagers were simple, honest people who didn't want to hurt them, but they couldn't just leave them be.】

【"Then, Officer Jenny, what do you need us to do by calling us here?" Ash asked directly.】

【Officer Jenny scratched her head a bit embarrassedly and said, "I want to gather these children and form a firefighting squad. That way, they'll have work to do and won't have to wander outside. But..."】

【The Squirtle Squad had all been hurt by humans and were wary of them, so Officer Jenny asked Ash to come, hoping to have Ash's Squirtle help persuade them.】

【They were all Pokémon abandoned by humans; perhaps they would have a common language.】

【"No problem." Ash agreed immediately. This was a win-win situation; it could solve the villagers' trouble and give the Squirtle a new home. How could Ash refuse such a good thing?】

【"But Officer Jenny, my Squirtle is no longer a Squirtle; it has already evolved into a Blastoise."】

【Things went even more smoothly than Officer Jenny had expected. With the big brother Blastoise personally vouching for them, the Squirtle all agreed to join the firefighting squad founded by Officer Jenny.】

【This is the nature of Pokémon: even after being hurt by humans, they are still willing to trust humans again.】

【With all the troublesome matters handled, on the way back to Pallet Town, Ash met a Delibird. After the Delibird handed a letter to Ash, it left.】

【"A letter?"】

【Ding!】

【Entering the prize quiz segment!】

Just at this moment, the familiar mechanical prompt sound appeared, and a question appeared on the big screen again.

【Question: Who sent this letter to Ash?】

【A: His mother, Delia, writing to urge Ash to come home quickly.】

【B: Professor Oak, writing to have Ash come to the laboratory; he has urgent matters to discuss with Ash.】

【C: Bill, writing to tell Ash that his research on giant Pokémon was successful.】

【D: Serena, writing to express her longing.】

【E: Mewtwo.】

【F: Giovanni.】

——

Wallace: "Finally, finally it's time for me to get out of prison!!!"

After experiencing so many storms, he, Wallace, would soon be able to dominate the scene once again.

Steven: "Don't get locked up again next round!"

Flint: "Steven, what are you talking about? To get locked up again, it would at least have to be the round after next."

Steven: "Right, locked up in the round after next."

Wallace: "Heh."

Wallace gave a cold laugh.

Impossible. The same thing could not happen to him twice.

From now on, he would be cautious, cautious, and even more cautious when answering questions. He must not be impulsive; he didn't want to go back to prison.

Gary: "I choose A. Ash has been out for so long, Aunt Delia must miss him, so she's writing to urge him to go home."

Diantha: "D, trust me, this time it's definitely Serena writing."

Malva: "Serena again? I was tricked pretty badly by Serena last time, so I'm not choosing her this time. I choose C, it's a letter from Bill."

Flint: "B, Professor Oak, no explanation needed. Just follow my lead, big brother will lead you to eat meat."

Aaron: "Flint chose B, then B must be wrong. I'll choose D too!"

Lt. Surge: "What are you guys doing? This is clearly a letter from Mewtwo; Mewtwo is inviting Ash to New Island! E, E, E—important things said three times."

Lucian: "Who knows? Maybe it's just a smokescreen from the viewing system to mislead us. Anyway, I'm not choosing Mewtwo."

In the shadows of a Kanto town.

Jessie: "Meowth, James, have you noticed this Delibird looks familiar?"

James: "It does look familiar. I feel like I've seen it somewhere."

Meowth: "Idiots, that's the Delibird our Team Rocket uses specifically for delivering mail."

Jessie, James: "In that case!"

The answer to this question is very likely F.

The letter was sent by their boss, Giovanni.

But what does Boss Giovanni want with the brat? Does he want to recruit the brat into Team Rocket too?

Forget it, never mind that for now. Let's just pick F.

Back to the chat room.

Giovanni: "Choose F. The correct answer to this question is F; I wrote the letter."

Lance: "Yo-ho, Giovanni, still playing the 'mislead people' game? Do you think we look like idiots?"

Bruno: "Yeah, yeah, do you think we look like idiots?"

Giovanni: "Believe it or not. If you miss this, you won't find another shop like it. Anyway, I've chosen F."

Lance: "Heh, acting quite convincingly, but unfortunately I won't be fooled. I choose E: Mewtwo."

Cynthia: "Time is running out. I'll choose C to make up the numbers."

【Answering countdown...】

【3】

【2】

【1】

——

As the answering countdown ended, the video with the black border continued to play.

【"Inviting me to New Island?"】

【"Not even a signature, what a sneaky guy."】

【Ash usually ignored such aimless letters; he didn't have that much time to waste. A round trip to New Island would take at least 10 days; he might as well go home and get some good rest.】

【"Mew." To New Island!】

【But who knew that at this moment, Mew would jump out? It wanted to go to New Island.】

【"Huh?" Although he was a bit confused, Ash didn't ask any more questions. Since Mew wanted to go, they would accompany Mew on the trip. Anyway, it was only ten days round trip; hmm, not too far.】

Gary: "Didn't you just complain that ten days round trip was a waste of time? How come you've changed your tune to 'not far' now?"

Lorelei: "Just to find out who wrote the letter, spending ten days is indeed a waste, but if a partner wants to go, then ten days is nothing."

Phoebe: "Bingo. That's how I understand it too."

Lance: "Good thing I didn't get fooled. All signs point to the correct answer being E: Mewtwo."

Lt. Surge: "Hahahaha, Lance, we're about to take off!!!"

【Crossing the last small hill, they could reach the port closest to New Island. By taking a boat from the pier, they would be able to arrive at New Island.】

【Getting closer and closer to the destination, Ash couldn't feel happy at all. He had already sensed that something was wrong.】

【Marching all the way, the closer they got to New Island, the more uneasy Ash felt in his heart. If it weren't for Mew's firm desire to go to New Island, Ash would have turned around and left long ago.】

【His sixth sense told him that a storm of blood was waiting for him on New Island.】

【Using the hill as a dividing line, there was a torrential downpour on the left and bright sunshine on the right. This unusual scene made Misty and Brock realize something was wrong too.】

【"Don't worry, Misty, Brock, with me here, it'll be fine," Ash comforted them.】

【The reason he knew the road ahead was dangerous but still didn't let Brock and Misty stay behind, and went to New Island alone, was because he knew the two of them would definitely not agree.】

【"We have a secret weapon," Ash said with a smile.】

【Ash's smile calmed Misty and Brock's tense hearts.】

【"Right, we have a secret weapon, there's no need to be nervous at all. Let's get things done quickly; I still want to go to Pallet Town and taste Aunt Delia's cooking," Misty said cutely, sticking out her tongue.】

【Brock smiled knowingly. In his view, Misty wanting to taste the food was fake; wanting to build a good relationship with the mother-in-law in advance was the truth.】

【On the eighth day after receiving the letter from the Delibird, Ash and his group successfully arrived at the port.】

【Upon arriving at the port, Ash realized that it was impossible for them to take a boat to New Island. Not only because the weather conditions were too severe, but also because the port was empty, like a dead city.】

【Only the seagulls on the pier kept crying out.】

【Without a boat, there was only one way for them to land on the island.】