c163: Ash's Hole Card, Oak Has A Headache!!
"Boom~"
"Boom~"
Two explosive sounds echoed through the valley clearing one from Froakie's Water Pulse smashing into the Meowth-shaped thermal air balloon, and the other from Jessie hurling a Poké Ball skyward with practiced ease.
However, the results of both "booms" left Ash completely stunned.
First: Froakie's full-powered Water Pulse, aimed precisely at the Meowth Balloon, failed to even puncture it. Instead, the reinforced fabric shimmered with a light repelling barrier and bounced the pulse away, dispersing it harmlessly.
Second: The Pokémon Jessie summoned was not the expected Ekans.but its final evolution Arbok, muscles rippling and fangs gleaming.
"Hissssss!!"
Ash's eyes widened as the massive serpent emerged, coiling midair, its menacing hood flared wide with a piercing roar.
"So the original anime really downplayed these guys! What idiot wrote a story where any weak move could shoot down Team Rocket's balloon? In the real world, they're elite agents under Giovanni. There's no way Jessie would still be using a low-level Ekans at this stage!"
Frowning, Ash quickly accessed his Pokédex scan overlay, part of the system he'd relied on since arriving in this altered world. A quick analysis showed:
[Species: Arbok | Trainer: Jessie | Level: 31 | Status: Battle-Ready]
Seeing the data, Ash's jaw tightened.
"Level 31…? No wonder that Water Pulse didn't even phase them."
Ash inwardly cursed the original anime writers again, frustrated at how drastically they had misrepresented the threat. This wasn't slapstick comedy this was survival.
From above, the balloon continued to rise.
"Jessie, finish this quickly," James urged, his tone serious. "If the League's summer camp patrol finds us, we won't get away clean."
"I know, James," Jessie snapped, her eyes locked on Ash. "Arbok.use Acid! Clear the area!"
Twisting its lower coils around the balloon's basket for stability, Arbok hissed and opened its maw wide. Thick streams of corrosive purple acid shot down toward the clearing in powerful bursts.each one sizzling with enough toxicity to eat through metal.
"Whoa!!" Ash's hair stood on end, his aura sense triggering a surge of danger signals all through his body.
This wasn't just an ordinary Team Rocket encounter.
"I was so naïve… treating these guys like the harmless fools from the anime."
He suddenly felt a chill down his spine not from fear, but from realization.
"Bringing Serena, Joey, and the other campers here based on blind confidence… That was reckless. These aren't cartoon villains. They're lethal operatives."
Above them, the acid arced through the air falling fast like a chemical rain.
Ash broke into a cold sweat. He hesitated.
"Should I use it now…? My last resort 'Force of Perdition: Will Strengthening'…?"
But Froakie didn't wait. Sensing its Trainer's pause, the Bubble Frog Pokémon launched into the air on instinct. Puffing out its chest, Froakie drew in a breath and fired a volley of compressed Water Spheres, colliding midair with the descending acid and neutralizing some of it.
"Froahhhh!"
"He's already acting faster than me..." Ash realized, clenching his fists. Froakie's battlefield awareness was sharp. It bought them precious seconds but it wasn't enough.
Ash grit his teeth. "That's it. I'm using 'Will Strengthening'. No more hesitation."
He reached within preparing to draw out his mysterious new ability, the one that set him apart in this altered timeline.
But then suddenly a commanding voice called out.
"Blissey! Light Screen full spread, now!"
Joey, who had stayed composed amid the chaos, had already released her partner. From behind the group, her loyal Blissey waddled forward and clapped its stubby hands. A transparent dome of pinkish light surged upward, forming a wide Light Screen that shielded Ash and the campers.
"Bliiiissseyyyy~!"
The acid attacks collided with Froakie's dispersed water bubbles, then splattered harmlessly against the glowing barrier reduced to harmless dribbles.
"Whew…" Ash exhaled.
The acidic mist hissed on impact, but the group remained safe. Froakie landed, panting, its job well done.
High above, James tugged Jessie's arm. "We're out of time. I sense a high-level League aura approaching!"
Jessie frowned but nodded.
"Twerp!" she shouted down at Ash. "Next time, you won't get lucky!"
The balloon spun on its axis, beginning its escape.
"And Ash," Meowth added with a growl, "Don't get comfy! We'll be back, and we'll take more than just Poké Balls next time meow!"
As they disappeared into the clouds, Ash stared upward, jaw clenched. His heart still raced but his resolve was stronger than ever.
"This isn't a game. If I'm going to change fate… I need to be ready next time."
And far away, in Pallet Town, Professor Oak sneezed twice in his lab sensing deep in his bones that Ash Ketchum was already making waves far beyond what any Pokédex could predict.
Except for the fact that the balloon fabric of Meowth's hot air balloon was clearly composed of special, reinforced polymer likely a prototype developed by the Rocket Science Division Froakie's Water Pulse had not even made a dent. At that moment, the Rocket Trio's getaway vehicle began to unveil an unexpected array of black-ops-grade tech.
Without warning, dual vortex thrusters extended from either side of the gondola, emitting a deep mechanical whir as the Meowth balloon surged skyward at high speed. Simultaneously, the underside of the gondola split open in two clean panels similar to a strategic bomber's payload bay and released a thick, obscuring cloud of white smoke.
Then, the surface of the balloon's fabric like the adaptive body of a stealth fighter shifted hues and merged into the dense white plumes and ambient cumulus above, causing the Meowth balloon to vanish completely into the sky.
~
Not long after Team Rocket's escape, Professor Oak, who had received the urgent signal, arrived riding his Dragonite, the air around him whipping into turbulence with each flap of its wings.
"Is everyone safe?" he called out immediately, his eyes sweeping the camp. Though clearly concerned for the Pokémon, Oak's first priority especially as one of the summer camp's coordinators was the safety of the students.
"Professor Oak, we're alright. Ash and Nurse Joey acted quickly to protect us."
"But Team Rocket took all our Pokémon…"
"I can't believe it… The chefs we were thanking for the amazing meals turned out to be Rocket agents in disguise!"
"Those three are too cunning!"
As student after student vented shock and frustration, Oak's heart sank. His brows furrowed as he absorbed every detail of the incident.
This summer camp was no ordinary program, it was a cross-regional cultural exchange initiative between the Kanto Alliance and the Kalos Alliance, jointly organized by Professor Oak's Laboratory and Professor Sycamore's Bratano Laboratory.
While the Kalos branch's camp had gone smoothly under Sycamore's oversight, the Kanto segment had been plagued with setbacks.
First, a student had been seriously injured in a Gyarados attack. The initial reaction was outrage, but a follow-up investigation revealed the student had been caught cheating during a water trial.
~That same student later gave an interview while hospitalized, falsely claiming the camp had been rigged to favor Ash. The camp leadership was forced to publicly release data to clear Ash's name.
A deeper investigation revealed that the very same student had been the origin of those rumors, having fabricated them out of resentment.
After returning to camp, the student was later exposed for abusing Pokémon, which added fuel to the media fire and damaged the camp's image further.
Even before today, the camp had already been reeling from a string of negative coverage.
And now, on what was supposed to be the final, celebratory day, the Rocket Trio infiltrated the camp by posing as chefs and successfully stole the entire student cohort's Pokémon.
To make matters worse, today's chaos had been broadcast live by a Saffron TV Station crew doing a feature segment. Oak could already envision the headlines, and the public and political backlash was enough to make his head pound.
"Gangping, Ms. Sophie, please escort the students back to the main campgrounds," Oak said, his tone resolute despite the tension on his face. "I'll contact the regional Search & Rescue division. We'll mobilize a task force to recover the Pokémon Team Rocket took."
He turned back to the shaken students.
"You all did well to stay calm… Leave the rest to us. You don't need to worry anymore."
As the students slowly followed their chaperones back, Ash lingered, still staring toward the horizon where the Meowth balloon had disappeared.
Behind him, Serena, silent until now, walked up and gently rested a hand on his shoulder.
"We'll get them back. I believe in you."
Ash didn't answer just nodded, clenching his fists in quiet resolve.
—
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