Chapter 46: Highlight Reel: Thirty Tauros, and Team Rocket

Ash: It's my cultivation that's insufficient; I still need to keep working hard. I look forward to battling again next time!

Ash: Yeah, let's battle again next time!

Xiba: Ash has gotten stronger. Challenging Gyms all the way, though with some bumps, both his and his Pokémon's strength have increased!

Xiaoxia: I just saw Golduck use Psychic. I never expected that clueless-looking Golduck would actually have such powerful Psychic abilities!

Cadella: No wonder they didn't exchange with the Gym Leader and others. That kid's Psychic is incredibly strong—no one would want to trade it away.

Xiaoxia: Yeah, I will!!!

Ash: Fickle woman, she used to dislike it so much!

Brock: As the saying goes, a woman's heart is like a needle at the bottom of the sea—truly fickle.

White Light Curtain—

After Ash obtained the Pink Badge, he passed through the Pokémon Protection Area and encountered the beautiful Fengzi, who was preparing for the upcoming celebration. Due to Team Rocket's covert sabotage, Fengzi was also injured and unable to continue riding her Ponyta in the competition.

Ash then replaced Fengzi, riding Ponyta to participate in the celebration.

But the most eye-catching thing on the field wasn't the Onix, nor was it Xiaoxia riding the Jewel Star Sea Star—it was Squirtle and Pikachu.

You dare believe a turtle race?

And you dare believe a turtle carrying a mouse?

Moreover, relying on Squirtle's short legs to crawl halfway through the race is truly no easy feat!

During the competition, there was a "Stuff Your Belly" segment. Pikachu and Squirtle also embodied the innocent charm of Pokémon. When Team Rocket came out to cause trouble, it was also when Pikachu and Squirtle were eating the happiest. When Ash gave the command, the two Pokémon instantly switched into battle mode.

Ash endured countless hardships and finally won the championship of the grand tournament!

Afterwards, Ash and his group arrived at the Pokémon Protection Area, where they met a child who believed a Kangaskhan was his birth mother. After helping them find his parents, the two sides recognized each other. They decided to stay together in the Protection Area, living alongside the Kangaskhan.

Continuing forward, Ash and his group finally arrived at the Wild Plains Area.

The legend of Dratini has long circulated in the Wild Plains Area. Even the park manager, Mr. Kaiser, still keeps a photo from his youth with it.

Team Rocket, who had followed Ash to the Pokémon Wild Plains Area, overheard the news about "Dratini." For Team Rocket, who are "greedy for money and want any treasure they see," a Pokémon like Dratini is naturally their dream come true.

They're getting ready to dream again!

Team Rocket declared they would openly and fairly compete with Ash and his group in the Wild Plains Area—whoever could capture more Pokémon would win. If Ash and his group won, Team Rocket would no longer cause trouble. But if they lost, they would have to hand over all the Pokémon they currently possessed. Ash and his group, determined to get rid of Team Rocket, must win the match no matter what.

However, Team Rocket didn't go about capturing Pokémon honestly. Instead, they kidnapped Kaiser and forced him to reveal Dratini's whereabouts.

To deal with Dratini, Team Rocket prepared the 【Deep Water Paralysis Bomb】. This bomb has minimal physical destructive power, but after detonation, it paralyzes all living beings within several meters, rendering them unable to move.

They just wanted to wait until Dratini was paralyzed and floated to the surface.

Ash, who had captured thirty Tauros, jumped into the water to stop Team Rocket's plan and prevent the bomb from exploding. Although he successfully found the bomb despite the deep lake water, he couldn't breathe for too long underwater, fell short at the last moment, and passed out at the bottom.

Hakuryu used his ability to create an underwater space, sheltering Ash and swiftly carrying him ashore. Just before the explosion, he flung the bomb away, successfully thwarting Team Rocket's conspiracy!

Although Ash and Hakuryu fought side by side and forged a friendship, Ash chose not to capture Hakuryu to avoid disturbing his life. Instead, he kept the secret hidden and continued on his journey!

Xiaoxia: Truly despicable—Team Rocket would deceive Ash, nearly succeeding in their scheme!

Musashi: We've said it before—being despicable is actually one of our signature moves.

Professor Oak: How dare you say that? You tricked Ash into using up all thirty original baseballs, used them up and that's that, and moreover, he even captured thirty Tauros of the same species!

Jirou: This has nothing to do with us. Those thirty Tauros were captured by that little brat and his gang. If you want to blame someone, blame the little brat—who called him so pure? After fighting him so many rounds, he's still that innocent!

Meowth: Moreover, we haven't even settled the score with him yet. Delaying our capture of Dratini affects our promotion and pay raise to become executives.

Ash: And now they're blaming me......

Bai Shijie—

Ash and his group used the bicycle at the Pokémon Center to cross a bridge stretching for kilometers. Along the way, they encountered a biker gang, but unexpectedly, Musashi and Jirou from Team Rocket were once the big bosses of that biker gang.

After the biker gang learned that Ash and his group were escorting medicine, they cleared the way for them.

After delivering the medicine, Ash and his group encountered a Ditto with a defect in its transformation ability.

The imitating girl Imeti was very troubled by this. Her performance hall, due to Ditto's defect, was nearly unable to continue operating.

At this moment, Team Rocket needed to step in. Under Team Rocket's intimidation, Ditto finally overcame its inability to change faces and achieved perfect transformation.

Team Rocket appeared to be causing trouble, but in reality, they did quite a few good deeds.

Seeing Team Rocket indirectly do another good deed, everyone thought: Is this Team Rocket really not here to joke around?

"We are genuine villains, Team Rocket—not undercover agents, not comedic performers!"

After watching the video about Ditto, Team Rocket saw many barrage comments saying they two and a cat were undercover agents, always assisting Ash and his group, indirectly helping them.

Musashi was furious, but couldn't refute it, because what they did really was indirectly helping that little brat.

Jirou also didn't know why. They clearly intended to snatch powerful Pokémon and hand them over to Sakaki, the big boss, but almost every time they failed. Moreover, many times they ended up assisting that little brat and his gang.

They always felt that whenever they encountered that trio of little brats, Team Rocket just seemed incapable of succeeding at anything.