Chapter 161

【Jing: Seeing the Light Screen, I finally understood why Ash was chosen by Ho-Oh—even the divine beasts recognize him as a Trainer!】

【Ash: That's the Rainbow Hero, you know? Maybe if you stick with Ash, you'll get to see Ho-Oh.】

【Xiaosheng: How wonderful, to witness so many divine beasts—truly enviable! If I could befriend one and travel together, that would be so cool!】

【Professor Oak: Ash doesn't think that way at all. He treats every divine beast he meets as a friend. Doing so only brings greater trouble—like attracting evil organizations similar to Team Rocket, Magma Team, or Aqua Team. If they got hold of a divine beast, they'd surely use its power to cause even greater chaos!】

White Light Curtain—

Ash and his companions encountered Xiaomao again on their way to Caji Town.

Seeing Xiaomao practicing with his Rapidash for the Pokémon Performance Contest, Ash, as Xiaomao's rival and fiercely competitive toward him, decided to enter the competition—and to defeat Xiaomao and win.

Ash had prior experience with grass sliding, so he began training with Bayleef. At first, he was unskilled, but through relentless practice, Ash and Bayleef gradually found their rhythm and grew steadier!

During the match, the three members of Team Rocket reappeared to cause trouble, snatching Xiaomao's Rapidash. As a true Pallet native, Ash immediately grabbed his skateboard and charged toward Team Rocket's hot air balloon, puncturing it.

Team Rocket then took the opportunity to steal the Pokémon Egg from the breeding house. Ash and Xiaomao teamed up to defeat Team Rocket.

They continued the match, and in the end, Ash emerged victorious—and earned a Pokémon Egg!

Watching Ash's self-sacrificing dedication to Pokémon, everyone felt both moved and alarmed—daring to go this far, truly someone from Pallet Town!

Ash and his companions from Bai Shijie continued their journey with the Pokémon Egg, but along the way, an accident occurred—the Egg vanished. After Miss Jenny, whose investigative skills are oddly peculiar, conducted a thorough search, they finally recovered the Egg from Seel.

Later, Ash and his companions camped to rest. Seeing the Pokémon Egg glowing in their backpack—a sign it was about to hatch—they waited all night until it finally began to emerge.

The Pokémon that hatched was a Phanpy.

At first, Team Rocket came to disturb them, and Ash accidentally injured the Phanpy.

The Phanpy was frightened and fled, only to be captured by Team Rocket, who used it to seize Pikachu—but later, it escaped alongside Pikachu from Team Rocket's cage.

When danger struck, Ash stepped forward, rescued the Phanpy, and drove Team Rocket away with the Phanpy's help.

On the way to Caji Town, Ash's Pikachu and Celebi both appeared weak.

When they finally reached a tranquil, clear lake, expecting to rest and recover strength, they instead encountered a sudden anomaly: a fully crimson Gyarados leapt from the lake, its eyes radiating frenzied unease. Its behavior was abnormal, utterly unlike the usual gentle nature of Pokémon.

They encountered Team Rocket attempting to capture the red Gyarados, and also met the Pokémon Investigator, the Champion of the Kanto Elite Four, Yulongdu, who rescued Ash and his companions.

Yulongdu said his purpose in coming here was to investigate the cause of the red Gyarados' aggression and to thwart Team Rocket's conspiracy.

In Yulongdu's words lay the revelation: Team Rocket's secret R Project at Angry Lake—a mad experiment using strange radio waves to force Pokémon into forced evolution, damaging their bodily functions and manifesting as weakness.

The red Gyarados in Angry Lake is proof that this radio wave experiment succeeded.

And this same radio wave can also induce weakness in Pokémon.

Persuaded by Yulongdu to retreat, Ash and his companions resolutely prepared to return and rescue the red Gyarados.

They could not bear to see the red Gyarados suffer, and if Team Rocket's plan succeeded, other Pokémon would endure the same fate as the red Gyarados.

So they all returned together, specifically to deal with Team Rocket.

【Juzi: No doubt—those trainers brought forth by Old Man Oak, and the Gym Leaders too, all care deeply about Pokémon.】

【Xiaomao: Ash simply cannot stand seeing others bully Pokémon—faced with this situation, he will surely step in to help.】

【Ash: It's Team Rocket that's too despicable—doing such things to Pokémon!】

【Yulongdu: Caring for Pokémon is good, but one must also prioritize personal safety. I hope those watching, upon seeing such a scene, won't rush in recklessly—just report it, and let the relevant authorities handle it.】

Later, when Ash and his companions returned to Angry Lake, the Gyarados had been captured, and the Pokémon they sent out were also useless—also snatched by Team Rocket's jealousy.

Team Rocket Trio monitored Ash and his companions in Ash's cage at the lake base, and the cage key was in their hands. They intended to use this chance to steal Pikachu, but pressing the button also accidentally unlocked Ash and his companions' restraints.

Freed, Ash had Sandslash use Smokescreen, and the group successfully escaped Team Rocket's base at Angry Lake.

Here, Yulongdu and Ash's companions regrouped. Team Rocket transported the red Gyarados, controlled by strange radio waves, by helicopter. However, as the wave effect gradually weakened, the red Gyarados finally awoke from its stupor, suddenly surged with power, dragged the helicopter into the river, triggering sudden chaos and indiscriminate attacks.

Team Rocket operative Chenji battled Yulongdu, while Ash and his companions pursued the red Gyarados, which continued rampaging and even attacked Ash and his companions.

As it seemed about to strike Ash and his companions, Liu Bo had the White Sea Lion unleash Ice Beam—it not only blocked the Gyarados' destructive beam but also froze the water surface into a vast ice plain.

Thus, the Gyarados could no longer swim toward Caji Town and was forced to turn back.

Yulongdu decided to use his Dragonite to oppose the enraged red Gyarados, and ultimately Dragonite defeated the red Gyarados.

Yulongdu seized the moment to capture the red Gyarados, tormented terribly by Team Rocket!

The red Gyarados harbors deep resentment toward humans—it must be guided by someone, or it will surely cause great disaster.

That's why Yulongdu wanted to capture it, to gradually soothe its fury, and also to address whatever experiments Team Rocket performed on it—though he doesn't know if any aftereffects remain.

【Sakaki: Tch, such a big advantage snatched away.

How's it? Is the Gyarados easy to handle now?】

【Yulongdu: Hah, Sakaki, did you not get furious when you first heard this news?】

【Sakaki: Not really—a Gyarados is common everywhere, nothing special, just a different color, useless.

On the contrary, I should thank you—knowing where the problem lies, I can fix the device, so future plans won't have such accidents!】

【Yulongdu: You'd better not let me catch you!!!】