Spinarak Town—quaint, old-fashioned, and beautiful.
After leaving Higashi Gate Town, Ash and his friends soon arrived here.
No sooner had they stepped into the town than police sirens blared. Brock, of course, panicked. For the sake of Officer Jenny, he dashed off ahead, leaving Ash and Misty behind.
But before Brock had gone more than a few steps, he was tripped by invisible threads strung across the ground.
Seeing this, Ash quickly stopped Misty from moving further. Thinking of the town's name, he recalled something.
Sure enough, a green Pokémon with a smiling face seemed to appear out of nowhere, dangling in midair.
"So cute!" Misty exclaimed.
Ash could only give a wry smile and cover his ears.
The little green Pokémon stretched out spider-like legs, turned around, and revealed its true form—
"Bug!!!" Misty screamed at the top of her lungs.
It was a Spinarak. Without paying any attention to Ash or Misty, it tightly bound the tripped Brock up like a mummy.
Moments later, Officer Jenny arrived.
"Is this man the phantom thief, Nappa?"
Normally, at the sight of Officer Jenny, Brock would have teleported to her side in an instant. But this time, bound like a cocoon and wriggling like a Caterpie, he cried out, "Ash, Misty, help me!!"
Ash and Misty rushed to explain, and when Officer Jenny saw Pikachu and Togepi at their side, she immediately recognized them.
"You three—are you the experts who specialize in dealing with Pokémon thieves?"
With their identities confirmed, she quickly had Spinarak release Brock.
The trio were still baffled by this strange claim, but Officer Jenny seemed certain.
"That's right—my cousin in New Bark Town sent me a letter. She said there were three travelers who worked together and were a great help in handling Pokémon thieves!"
Hearing New Bark Town mentioned, the three finally understood—this must have been about the Totodile rescue incident.
Once freed, Brock rushed to Jenny's side to try and impress her.
"Officer Jenny, you're absolutely right. I am an expert in dealing with Pokémon thieves!"
Jenny gave him a look.
"But you couldn't even avoid Spinarak's web. This little brother here looks more like a professional."
She pointed at Ash with a smile.
Embarrassed, Ash scratched his head. Still, since fate had brought them here, he felt it was his duty to help.
It turned out that in Spinarak Town, the traditional partner Pokémon of the police was, of course, Spinarak.
And the story began with a thief named Nappa.
Back in his day, Nappa was a thief who ran rampant across the land, never once caught, earning the title of "Unstoppable Phantom Thief."
His partner was a Meowth—working together seamlessly. No matter the crisis, Meowth would use Pay Day, stunning their opponents and letting them escape.
But such a thief was finally captured by the Jenny of that era and her partner Spinarak.
From then on, the town was renamed Spinarak Town, and every Jenny stationed there used Spinarak as their partner.
Recently, however, a self-proclaimed "Second Generation Nappa" had appeared.
Yet the coins left behind by Meowth's Pay Day… turned out to be just a pile of bottle caps.
Ash thought to himself: if Officer Jenny here used Growlithe like others, maybe she could track the thieves through the scent left on those caps. But he dared not say it aloud.
He didn't want to get hit.
Still, looking at the bottle caps, Ash had a suspicion—
Could this "Second Generation Nappa" actually be Jessie, James, and Meowth?
No wonder they hadn't run into Team Rocket lately. They must have run ahead, cosplaying as master thieves.
Just as Ash and his friends decided to help Officer Jenny catch the new Nappa, she received a report: a wealthy local had just received a notice from the thief.
Jenny brought them at once to the mansion. The second-generation Nappa had announced he would come at midnight to steal a silver goblet—a family heirloom, quite beautiful and no doubt valuable.
At this time, dusk had only just fallen. There were still seven hours until midnight.
A flash of blue in Ash's eyes—his Aura detected familiar presences hidden above, in the rafters of the roof.
He said nothing, only stretched lazily. Leaving Brock alone in the room guarding the silver goblet, Ash took Misty with him to the mansion garden.
There, Jenny had Spinarak spin a massive web around the entire mansion. If the thief entered, Spinarak would sense it instantly and bring him to justice.
But Ash only shook his head. He already knew—Team Rocket had snuck in long ago and were hiding inside, waiting for midnight.
Having Aura was truly convenient.
"Come out, Charizard!"
"Rooaaar!"
Charizard had grown taller and sturdier, its body stronger by the day. It was starting to look forward to Ash's training, even if the Forced Training Device was still uncomfortable.
"Strap it on!"
Once again, the device bound Charizard tightly.
"Alright, time for training. Let's start with ten sets of push-ups!"
Not just Charizard—Pikachu also continued diligently practicing Iron Tail.
"Ash, are you sure this is okay?" Misty asked anxiously. Everyone else was tense, and here Ash was starting training like it was nothing.
Ash shook his head, doing push-ups as he smiled.
"Worrying won't help. Since the thief announced midnight, we've got time to kill anyway."
"But…"
"Relax, Misty. Brock can hold the fort for now. Oh, right—it's dinner time. Go ask the owner to prepare a meal!"
It wasn't every day they stayed at a wealthy man's mansion. Ash wasn't about to miss a good meal.
Not just for him—Charizard and Pikachu, hard at training, needed the nutrition too.
"…Fine." Seeing Ash's calm confidence, Misty couldn't help but relax as well.
And sure enough, the dinner was sumptuous.
With full bellies, training was that much easier.
Misty simply sat with Ash, holding Togepi in her arms, letting it cheer Pikachu and Charizard on.
Without realizing it, she thought—Ash really had grown a lot.
It felt so reassuring to be by his side.
Charizard: 195/255
Pikachu: 200/255