Chapter 305: This is a Bad Woman
*Chirp, chirp, chatter.*
After some discussion in Dragon Language, everyone finally understood what Blue was trying to express.
"Hey, hey, how about that? My move was brilliant, wasn't it? The entire trainer community will definitely see Gary as an enemy now. With a common foe to rally against, everyone can be good brothers!"
It had been days since they last saw her, and Blue was now cheerfully shaking Ash's shoulders, clearly asking for praise.
On a small scale, this was a personal grudge, satisfying a private desire.
On a grander scale, the Pokémon League and Team Rocket now had a common mortal enemy, which meant they could put aside their hatred and make peace.
She had been idle these past few days anyway, so Blue had taken on Gary's appearance to bully quite a few high-ranking members of the League and several Team Rocket members with stripes on their shoulders.
For this great harmony in the Pokémon world, she could take the credit.
Although the group didn't fully understand, they were in awe and gave Blue a thumbs-up.
Then, they subconsciously took a step back from her.
Blue: "?"
They didn't know this woman very well. If things really blew up, it would have nothing to do with them.
Even to Ash, Blue was just someone from his hometown whom he'd met by chance; they weren't close at all.
Stirring up trouble everywhere and causing chaos and bloodshed—this was the work of a seasoned master of mayhem. Once an evil character like this was exposed, she'd be surrounded by everyone in the community.
"But there's one thing I find strange. Why did you use your own appearance to provoke Master Bruno?"
Todd Snap spotted the flaw in her plan and couldn't help but ask.
Though this was the first time he had met this woman, he could already tell she was extraordinary. He could only say that the people of Pallet Town were truly exceptional, and the place was teeming with talent. The three Trainers he'd met so far all seemed to have a few screws loose.
"That's right. Wouldn't it have been better to use that guy Gary's face to provoke him?" Ash asked, just as confused.
Everyone knew that Blue, a girl from his hometown, had learned some miraculous disguise and impersonation technique from somewhere.
Although they didn't approve of such behavior, wouldn't it have been better to use Gary's face for the provocation?
"Hehe, you're only on the second layer."
Blue waggled a slender, fair finger at them smugly, then puffed out her chest.
"If I had run away immediately, then I really shouldn't have used this face to frame Elite Four Bruno. But I did one more thing before I left..."
Blue bent down and picked something up from the ground, presenting it with the flair of Doraemon introducing a new gadget.
"Bobo~~"
It was a Pokémon with a soft, pink, jelly-like body that trembled and jiggled. Its beady green eyes looked at everyone cutely.
It was the 6IV Ditto that Blue (manga character) had specially picked out for her. Not only did it carry excellent genetic seed, but its Transform ability was also exceptionally powerful.
As it turned out, before leaving earlier, Blue hadn't picked up the Ditto disguised as a wooden sword herself. Instead, she had the Ditto revert to its original form and leave on its own.
It seemed unintentional, but it was a deliberate display for Elite Four Bruno, giving him an overt hint.
"Gary from Pallet Town is a master of disguise who can transform."
The stronger a person is, the sharper their insight and the more suspicious their nature.
If she had directly disguised herself as Gary to frame him, it might have backfired. In the future, when Bruno met the real Gary, he might have become suspicious again.
But now things were different. In the future, no matter how Gary tried to explain himself, claiming he was just an innocent victim of a frame-up, everyone would just think he was still putting on an act.
That's right. For her recent frame-ups, Blue had used all sorts of strange and bizarre faces, a thousand different looks, to give others the illusion that anything was possible.
But she never used Gary's face.
Everyone: "..."
Ash's group secretly gasped, looking at this cute, energetic girl before them who was, in fact, carrying out such a sinister and vicious plot.
*Has she already become a villain?*
*Was she corrupted by that older girl, Blue (manga character)?* Ash wondered silently.
The Blue he knew before would never do something like this.
In the Soul Space, Ash and Blue's Soul Spaces were connected. Red, sitting on the Grand Master's Chair, met with Blue (manga character).
Red's calm eyes just looked at Blue (manga character), as if also asking a question.
Blue (manga character): "..."
Blue (manga character) didn't want to talk and cut the connection.
*I, too, have been wrongly accused...*
A master of mayhem doesn't become a villain of the community because someone taught them; they simply change after being tormented by a green-hat-wearing scoundrel for too long.
"By the way, Blue, how many days have you been back?"
"Several days~ I'm preparing for the Indigo Plateau Conference now. Hmph! When the time comes, I'm going to officially defeat Gary in front of millions of people!"
Blue made a sword-swinging motion, imagining Gary as a large tree and slicing him in half at the waist.
Hearing this, Ash and the others were slightly astonished. When they had met last month, she hadn't even started challenging Gyms yet, had she? And now she already had eight badges?
That speed...
"Not quite~ Ta-da! It's this!"
Blue pulled a strangely shaped badge out from her clothes; it was the qualification badge she had won at the Pokémon Appraisal Competition.
This competition was the biggest shortcut. A single badge was enough to qualify for the Indigo Plateau Conference.
Of course, the difficulty was also immense.
In the battle evaluation, contestants rented three Pokémon to battle an instructor. The instructor, however, would always get high-level Pokémon with maxed-out Effort Values, and they would even have a type advantage over your Pokémon.
The knowledge test was even more ridiculous. There wasn't a single normal question; only a ghost could answer them.
But that wasn't a problem. Blue somehow became that "ghostly genius," becoming the only Trainer on site to receive a qualification badge.
"Haha, actually, the questions weren't that hard~ For example, there was one question that showed a black, round shadow and asked you to guess which Pokémon it was. No one in the entire audience could guess it~"
Blue's eyes curved into crescent moons as she smiled, her tone filled with a touch of arrogant pride.
Hmph, she had a Jigglypuff herself and often held it in her arms. How could she not recognize that the black shadow was a Jigglypuff seen from directly above?
Everyone: "?"
It seems there's a saying that if you're super unlucky to a certain degree, the value overflows, and you become super lucky...?
"In that case, it looks like we might run into each other at the Indigo Plateau Conference!"
"If my opponent is Ash, I won't lose either!"
Ash and Blue's eyes met, and they formed a not-so-small Rival Bond.
"So, where are you guys going to have fun now~?"
Blue had just been through a big battle and was now ready to slip away.
"We're looking for Master Bruno to do some training! Brock and I are ready. Today, we two brothers are going to figure this Elite Four member out completely, right, Brock!"
Ash slapped Brock on the shoulder and declared with high spirits.
Brock: "..."
After a long hesitation, he gave a heavy nod.
"Oh, Master Bruno is just around that bare, rocky area up ahead..."
Halfway through her sentence, Blue suddenly thought of something. She raised a hand to cover her mouth, her eyes narrowing like a fox's. A sly and wicked smile spread across her face, as if she were plotting something terrible.
Everyone: "?"
With a snap of her fingers, the Ditto beside her suddenly expanded several times, transforming into a thin, large net that pounced forward, completely covering her.
*Gurgle gurgle...*
Wrapped in the pink slime, Blue's body trembled and changed visibly. In just a moment, it seemed to have set into its new form. The pink slime on her body gradually disappeared, replaced by normal clothes.
Before their eyes stood a familiar figure.
"Hiss—"
Everyone couldn't help but gasp in unison. Their gazes toward Blue now held an entirely new meaning.
This was a bad woman.
(end of chapter)