Chapter 64: The Squid King and Ms. X

Thank you, senior, for your guidance—I really do have many shortcomings!

He understood Ash senior's meaning: it was telling him that he still had many shortcomings and couldn't be arrogant and complacent.

The senior deliberately used a euphemistic way to tell him,

It was really kind.

After parting with the young ninja Sanpei, Ash and his group continued on their way.

……

Along the way they passed through Ancient Wood Town,

the group discovered a Snorlax emitting an extremely harsh, loud noise sleeping in the square.

The town's residents were all disturbed by this Snorlax and forced to wear earplugs, speaking very loudly,

From the residents they learned that the only way to wake it was to listen to the mayor's Pokemon flute.

In fact, this Snorlax was an old acquaintance of Ancient Wood Town.

Every year it comes to Ancient Wood Town before the harvest season to enjoy the residents' harvest joy and eat heartily,

and takes a nap, only leaving after being awakened by the mayor's flute to bid everyone farewell.

Unfortunately, everything had gone smoothly until it was time to wake the Snorlax, when the mayor encountered a problem.

The mayor's name is Sun Bile,

living up to his name, his actions are terrible,

and the important flute was actually snatched away by the spoiled princess of Balfam Fragrant Palace atop the neighboring mountain,

The pitiful townspeople, upon recognizing Ash's identity, all begged for his help.

Among them were even elderly men and women in their sixties and seventies,

Seeing their pitiful state, Ash and his companions really couldn't just stand by,

For the townspeople's livelihood, they chose to go to Balfam Fragrant Palace to retrieve the flute,

During this, Clemont and the willful, spoiled princess battled over ownership of the Pokemon flute in a Pokemon match.

However, after the battle ended, the princess of Balfam Fragrant Palace immediately regretted and refused to hand over the flute,

and she said that she would return the flute if she kept her promise, but only on the condition that Clemont agree to become her husband.

Ash, who naturally possesses the virtue of helping others succeed, naturally tried to persuade her.

He said they would settle the matter first and then come back to rescue Clemont.

Thinking of the poor old grandmother, Clemont half-heartedly stayed behind.

He made the princess hand over the flute,

The terrible mayor blew the flute, Team Rocket came to cause trouble, and were blasted away,

The terrible mayor blew the flute a second time, finally succeeding in waking the Snorlax and restoring peace to the townspeople.

At dusk,

Ash and his three companions were preparing to set off,

when they saw Clemont, his clothes stripped off, wearing only underwear and a backpack, sprinting all the way from the mountain to them,

Under the townspeople's strange gazes, Clemont fled in embarrassment to face them, then turned and ran straight past the city gate without looking back.

"Hurry up!"

It's hard to imagine what torment Clemont endured after the three left.

……

The next morning,

Ash and his group rose early, walking through a dim, fragrant forest filled with the scent of flowers and grass, passing a highland,

Looking over the treetops, the view ahead suddenly opened up.

Like several large pots, with three silver metal devices intersecting obliquely inserted on top, they appeared before everyone's eyes.

Ash curiously asked, "What is that?"

"That's a Radio Wave Observatory!" Clemont smiled, pushed up his glasses, and introduced it confidently.

"A Radio Wave Observatory?" Serena was bewildered, instantly turning into a wide-eyed girl, "So what? What is a Radio Wave Observatory?"

"Cough cough..."

Clemont nearly ended up speechless and knocked over by Serena,

"The Radio Wave Observatory receives countless electromagnetic waves from outer space and, using high-performance fully automatic machinery, analyzes them in an instant—it's an amazing invention!"

Just then,

A rustle in the grass, a Meowth covered in scratches seemed to expend its last bit of strength.

After bursting out of the grass, it stumbled and collapsed to the ground.

"Help me, Meow!"

Ash quickly stepped forward, supporting Meowth with both hands,

His gaze fell on Meowth, scanning back and forth; aside from the scratches on its face, its body bore many wounds big and small.

"It's covered in wounds!"

What else has it encountered?

Black-market dealers? Poachers?

Are there really that many lawbreakers in the Kalos region?

"Latias!"

He summoned Latias, using Healing Pulse to heal Meowth's wounds.

Under the Healing Pulse's treatment, Meowth finally recovered, its consciousness gradually clearing,

He opened his eyes to see Ash and his group, even the Pikachu stuck on his own face.

Miaomiao's face was full of excited tears.

Pushing Pikachu aside, Miaomiao leapt to Ash's side, wrapping both arms around his thighs and holding on tight.

"You little brat officer! You need to stand up for me, ah-meow!"

What on earth happened?

It's like this... Last night we rested in the cave, and this morning, as usual, we were observing the battle records with Pikachu, drawing experience from them, preparing to formulate today's plan to capture Pikachu.

Pikachu!

Pikachu angrily puffed out its cheeks, expressing strong condemnation.

"Pikachu, don't be like that, meow! We're doing this for your own good, ah!"

"Pika?!" Pikachu shuddered and leaned back.

"Keep going!" From Miaomiao's description, Ash sensed a hint of familiarity, as if they weren't lying this time.

"As a result, a woman completely hidden in a cloak suddenly appeared behind us, along with a Squid King that looked hard to provoke. She also said something like, starting today, you all will become my subordinates. After Musashi and Kojiro's resistance proved futile, they were both controlled by that Squid King who called herself Mrs. X. Miaomiao, I scratched myself with my sharp claws, using the pain to break free from the hypnosis, and barely managed to escape here! Waah, little brat officer, you have to stand up for us, meow!"

With her hands supporting her chin, Yurie's face was full of doubt.

After all, Ash had already explained to the three that he wasn't really a Team Rocket officer; there was no guarantee the trio wouldn't catch on and turn the tables, using this information to trick him.

"You made up a bunch of stories, but you're actually trying to trick us into your plan to capture Pikachu, right?"

Seimei nodded in agreement, "Yurie's right; we few won't fall for such a simple trap!"

Being questioned by everyone, Miaomiao panicked on the spot.

"You-you-you… you've misunderstood, everything I said is true! If you don't believe me, look at my eyes, clear as the sky after rain, ah-meow!"

While Miaomiao was desperately defending herself,

Ash, however, became alert; in his aura sense, several uninvited guests had already appeared nearby.

First to appear, naturally, matched Miaomiao's description,

The dazed Wuzang, Xiaocilang, and, as expected, the old man.

"Miaomiao, what are you still standing there for? Hurry up and grab Pikachu!"

"As expected, you're saying this is a trap you set up, right?"

"No, no, no, that's not it! Believe me, look at his eyes, his eyes!"

The crowd's ongoing suspicion made Miaomiao go frantic.

"What he said is correct."

At the crucial moment, Ash stepped forward, reaching out to pull Serena and Yurie behind him.

Seeing Miaomiao unmoved,

The dazed Wuzang and Xiaocilang instantly became like walking corpses.

Stiffly moving their bodies, they reached out with both hands, approaching Ash and his group.

This eerie scene indeed gave everyone a strong sense of oppression, and they instinctively huddled behind Ash.

Clemont grabbed Ash's backpack, his body shaking violently, trembling.

Weak, pitiful, and helpless!

"Um… Ash, should we run first?"

However, he had just turned around when his retreat was blocked by a woman hidden in a black cloak and a tall, menacing Squid King.

"Where do you think you're going? You can't go anywhere!"