Chapter 266

White Light Curtain—

Ash and his group arrived at the preparation hall of the Autumn Leaf Town's Grand Festival, where they met various Poké Ball Coordinators.

Xiao Shun was also here; this time his challenge target was not Misty, but he issued a battle request to Ash, and furthermore had Ash send out a Proud Bone Swallow that has a type advantage over his Poison Rose.

The belligerent Ash could not possibly refuse such a battle request.

However, during the battle, the Proud Bone Swallow didn't exert any strength at all, and was actually defeated by the Poison Rose!!!

Everyone looked astonished; same-type battles aren't supposed to happen, right? You insist on having a counter-type battle, right?

Flying-type Poké Ball like the Proud Bone Swallow can even lose to a Grass-type Poison Rose.

It's not that we can't afford to lose; mainly, Xiao Shun is a Poké Ball Coordinator, while Ash is a Poké Ball Trainer, and moreover he is the Top 16 of the Kanto Region's Stone English Conference, the Victory Cup champion of the Orange Islands, and a Top 8 finisher in the Johto Region's Silver Conference, yet he still truly can't beat him.

And he's not even a particularly strong Trainer!

Moreover, when Ash caught the Proud Bone Swallow, it endured however many 100,000 Volts attacks, yet it couldn't withstand a single Solar Beam.

It's hard to believe!

Meanwhile, Misty met Ge Lei Si, from whom she learned about combination moves.

Soon, the competition was about to start; now Misty's strength was already formidable, and passing the preliminary review was no problem.

Misty's first opponent was Musashi, and it could be said she completely crushed Musashi, and moreover Musashi cheated but was later found out.

Finally, Misty faced Ge Lei Si, who had defeated Xiao Shun.

Grace's Charem left Misty's Hunter Swallowtail reeling, but Charem's flying knee kick missed, injuring itself, giving Misty an opening; when time ran out, Misty's score was higher and she took the match.

Misty won her first Ribbon Badge!

Afterwards, Ash and company headed to the cable car on Smokestack Mountain, and along the way they encountered the Magma Team and Aqua Team, who were again trying to seize the meteorite.

Together they helped Dr. Sylanus fight the two evil organizations; to protect the nearby Poké Ball, they shoved the radioactive device into the volcano's magma with the meteorite.

The two teams retreated directly, and the crisis was resolved!

After traveling so long, they finally arrived at the Kettle Flame Gym.

However, the gym leader Asha is a new gym leader, inexperienced in managing the gym, and the battlefield, which was damaged, has not yet been restored.

At this point, several strange people appeared at the gym, gradually helping Asha handle the battlefield.

Soon, the battlefield was repaired, and those few strangers revealed their identities—they were the Team Rocket Trio, who had come specifically to seize the Coal Turtle.

Meanwhile, another stranger stepped in to save the Coal Turtle, recognized by Asha—turns out it was her grandfather, Mura.

Wasn't he formerly one of the Elite Four?

Many people recognized Mura; despite retiring for so many years, his strength is still formidable.

【Xiba: Team Rocket, you could also make money by repairing the gym's battlefield—who knows, you might even get rich!】

【Shinjiro: We're here to do big things; who cares about that little money!】

He had such a big mouth... I wanted to spit out a few remarks at Shinjiro, but remembering his young master status, I held back.

The gym was now repaired, and Ash's battle with Asha began.

During the battle, Ash stubbornly used the Grass-type Wood Guardian against the Fire-type Magma Worm.

This solidified his reputation as the Reverse-Type Master.

Meanwhile, the Lobster Soldier performed excellently in this gym battle, defeating Asha's two Poké Ball and helping Ash earn the Blaze Badge.

【Dan Emperor: There's a simpler method he didn't use; Ash instead chose the harder way—is he trying to put himself in a desperate situation to train himself!】

【Daigo: That's possible! Normally, people would use type advantages in battle, but Ash didn't; it's very likely he wanted to put himself and his Pokémon in a dire situation to unleash their potential.】

It seems Ash really is like that; everyone felt the two Champions made perfect sense—after all, they are Champions, their thoughts and perspective are far superior, and they all agreed.

【Kibana: Could it be that Ash is just thick-headed?】

Kibana asked that, but no one responded to him.

Really?

Back then I thought that as long as I had rapport with my Pokémon, any reverse-type wasn't a problem.

Seeing so many high praises on the Light Screen, Ash couldn't adjust at first—after all, he used to be criticized, and now he's being praised instead.

After glancing at the barrage, he shifted his gaze to the Black Light Screen.

Over there, it started playing.

Black World—

Ash and company were on the road to Autumn Leaf Town, having prepared their strategy in advance: first let Misty enter the Grand Festival, then Ash would challenge the gym.

After all, the gym isn't going anywhere.

Black Satoshi and company didn't pick up a watermelon by the river, but they were also mistaken for watermelon thieves.

Nashi's Forest Lizard blocked Ash and company with a Seed Machine Gun.

"Finally, I've been waiting for you!"

Nashi walked over with three Pokémon, glaring angrily at Ash and company, but besides anger, there was also a hint of smugness on his face.

"The culprit usually returns to the scene of the crime—this saying is no lie!"

?

Culprit?

Are you talking about us?

Ash and company exchanged glances, wondering if this girl's culprit referred to them.

"Is watermelon tasty? Isn't it very sweet?"

Nashi saw the bewildered expressions on Ash and company's faces, thinking she had guessed their identity correctly, she slightly lifted her head, feeling quite pleased.

"What watermelon? We haven't even eaten any!"

Ash replied, "She must be taking us for watermelon thieves, right."

Did I get it wrong? Naqi doubtfully asked the watermelon-colored Mischief Bomb.

The Mischief Bomb nodded, saying the watermelon thief was three folks, two adults and one Meow.

「Team Rocket！」

Upon hearing that the thief had a Meow, Ash knew it was Team Rocket.

Almost took the blame for the Team Rocket Trio!!!

Naqi realized he had made a mistake, and to apologize to Ash and his group, he said the watermelons here were free to eat!