In the jungle, Ash, carrying Pikachu, stood before the young man, his expression unfriendly as he looked at the enormous robot in front of him. Compared to the petty antics of the Team Rocket trio, who Ash was usually just mildly annoyed by, he'd never truly gotten angry at them. Initially, he might have paid attention to their behavior, but later he got used to it.
Although those three always targeted his Pikachu, they never truly endangered its life or seriously harmed anyone. Therefore, Ash could calmly deal with them, and never acted with real malice toward them.
But this guy was different. This burly man, besides the repulsive aura emanating from his body, also gave off a kind of unsettling menace. The way he treated the young man in front of him was even more ruthless, practically trying to trample him to death.
If Ash had arrived a little later, the young man would probably be dead by now.
"Who are you?" The burly man looked at Ash, his expression clearly showing his displeasure even with the mask on. He'd been so close to dealing with that obstructing kid and then putting Celebi in his pocket. But then another piece of trash had appeared.
No, calling this guy trash was still a bit inappropriate. After all, this guy had directly shattered his robot's foot with his bare hands. This was the most technologically advanced robot ever made by Team Rocket, with a single kick force of at least ten tons or more.
Even a Mid-level Pokémon would have to think twice before facing that attack, yet it was so easily knocked away by a human? Was this guy even human? Or was he some kind of disguised Pokémon?
"Who are you?" Whenever Ash encountered someone, he'd naturally state his name first, but in front of this guy, Ash didn't even feel like being polite. He didn't want to get close to him. Instead, he demanded the guy announce his own name first.
"Hmph, I'm Soshima, the current leader of Team Rocket! That's right, the biggest criminal organization in Johto, the transnational criminal syndicate, Team Rocket!" Soshima clasped his hands together, proudly stating his name.
However, the expected look of fear didn't appear on Ash's face. Instead, Ash showed an extremely strange expression. "You mean, you're the leader of Team Rocket now?"
"Absolutely. If you know that, get out of the way, so I can put Celebi in my pocket, and I'll remember your contribution and make you a high-ranking member of Team Rocket."
Soshima didn't think much of Ash's strange tone, but assumed that Ash knew about Team Rocket. Of course, that would make things easier.
Team Rocket, though now tattered, was still not far behind even the most elite criminal organizations. After all, the original Team Rocket had been overwhelmingly superior to all other criminal organizations, even surpassing Team Galactic.
As a criminal organization, there was only one Team Rocket in the whole world. If it weren't for the leader's initial reckless decision to disband, Team Rocket would still be thriving, and one day, forming a Grand Alliance wouldn't have been impossible.
"Then where did Giovanni go?"
Ash's question caused Soshima's expression to change drastically. "How do you know him?"
"I'm Ash from Pallet Town. I don't know if you've ever heard of me." Ash adjusted his hat brim and loudly announced his name. Pikachu chimed in.
After hearing the name, Soshima's face showed a variety of expressions. Shock, relief, disbelief. A mix of emotions, making him look quite comical.
He was now wearing a mask, so only half of his face showed his changing expressions, which only made people want to laugh even more.
"So it was you who disbanded Team Rocket!" Soshima had obviously heard of Ash, but had never seen him. This was quite unusual. Nowadays, anyone who had heard of Ash's name had usually seen what Ash looked like. Because Ash's appearance had spread along with his fame throughout the land, so people usually knew both things about him.
The reason why Soshima only knew his name and not his appearance was because he simply didn't have time to check the news.
"Although I don't know what method you used to make that guy, Giovanni, disband half of Team Rocket's members, it's precisely because of that that I have the opportunity to rise to power." Soshima said arrogantly. "Now I am the leader of Team Rocket. That old Giovanni is history."
Disbanding half of Team Rocket's members had not only diminished Giovanni's authority, but also, because his power had diminished, many members had harbored rebellious thoughts, leading to Team Rocket's internal disintegration.
Now, Team Rocket was actually scattered into many factions. Some still had the same rebellious leader, while others had high-ranking officers as leaders, and Soshima was one of them. He'd originally had a rebellious mentality, but he was simply a follower before.
Giovanni was already overwhelmingly powerful, possessing the core scientific and technological capabilities of Team Rocket, coupled with his exceptional strength. Although Soshima had harbored rebellious thoughts, he'd never dared to actually resist.
However, one day, he'd received news of the Legendary Pokémon Celebi. Celebi, though seemingly cute, was a Pokémon that truly controlled the laws of time and space. Even if its strength wasn't equal to Dialga and Palkia, if its power could be enhanced, it could unleash power even greater than the two gods of time and space.
After all, Celebi combined two powers into one. Capturing Celebi would directly overthrow Giovanni's dominance. He would rule Team Rocket.
But because, as the saying went, plans couldn't keep up with change, he hadn't even started implementing his plan when Team Rocket suddenly fell into disarray. So he had to put his plan to capture Celebi on hold and instead frantically try to recruit the scattered members of Team Rocket. Through his efforts, he successfully assembled a new, top-tier evil organization: the new Team Rocket.
After building up the new Team Rocket, Soshima had continued his plan to capture Celebi. He'd painstakingly tracked down Celebi's whereabouts, and had been just a step away from capturing it, when he was stopped by a minor obstacle.
However, that was just an insignificant prelude. Although that kid had a Charmeleon with considerable strength, that was all he had. Soshima could easily defeat a Charmeleon with a single Pokémon, or even without a Pokémon at all, simply using his giant robot to crush it into a pulp.
The Charmeleon had only managed to hold out for less than a minute, barely allowing the kid to advance a few more steps, and that was it.
But just as he was about to capture Celebi, another anomaly had appeared. A little punk, seemingly out of nowhere, had blocked his path. If it had been just an ordinary punk, he could have easily stomped him to death, but this guy had not only used his own strength to blast the robot away, but had also revealed himself as none other than the mastermind behind the disbandment of Team Rocket. Ash.
Soshima didn't know what kind of drug this little brat had given Giovanni to make him disband half of Team Rocket's members, but to some extent, this little brat was actually his "benefactor." If it weren't for Ash, he wouldn't have been able to become Team Rocket's leader so quickly.
However, this current Team Rocket was still somewhat behind peak-era Team Rocket, so he needed Celebi's power to expand the scale of the operation. Strength was the best way to attract people into an organization.
If he had Celebi's power, he could severely shake Team Rocket back into shape, and dominating the League would only be a matter of time.
"What kind of nonsense are you spouting? The aura coming off you is genuinely disgusting. Leave now, otherwise, you'll just stay here and sleep soundly in this forest." Ash blocked Soshima's path and spoke coldly.
He didn't care who Team Rocket's leader was now. In short, he was extremely displeased with this person's treatment of humans and Pokémon. If this guy insisted on fighting, Ash wouldn't mind having Pikachu directly destroy the machine, sending Soshima straight to sleep in this forest.
"Do you really think you can destroy Team Rocket alone?" Soshima laughed angrily, then took out a pitch-black Poké Ball and threw it out.
A black light flashed, and a dark-colored Tyranitar appeared on the field. Tyranitar's armor was normally light green, but this one's was dark green. This color was a Shiny Tyranitar's color, though, and this Tyranitar's color wasn't its true Shiny either. Its surface color looked more like it had been dyed gray by some kind of force. Tyranitar's eyes showed no trace of reason, looking incredibly ferocious.
"What kind of chaotic energy is this? What did you do to this Tyranitar?" Ash could clearly feel the chaotic energy within Tyranitar. This meant Tyranitar had completely lost its reason, becoming a monster that only knew how to destroy. It was obvious this was related to that black Poké Ball.
"Heh. You don't need to know that. Because you're about to go to Hell. Tyranitar, Hyper Beam!" As a villain, Soshima didn't bother explaining anything. He directly ordered Tyranitar to attack.
A yellow beam of destructive energy erupted in the air, roaring violently as it slammed toward Ash. A terrifying wave of energy and pressure struck straight at them. Behind Ash, the young man couldn't help but shout. "Get out of the way!"
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Ash didn't dodge, directly ordering Pikachu to use Thunderbolt, colliding head-on with the Tyranitar's attack.
The young man couldn't help but react. He closed his eyes, unable to bear looking directly. He naturally knew about Pikachu. They were common and everywhere, but their maximum strength was very low. How could a Pokémon like that possibly stand against that terrifying Tyranitar?
He feared that the young boy named Ash, who was shielding him, would be reduced to ashes by this single blow.
Damn it. Why. Why am I so weak? He couldn't even protect Celebi, and now he'd let an innocent passerby get sacrificed.
Boom!
Just as the boy's thoughts flashed through his mind, Thunderbolt and Hyper Beam collided.
Two attacks collided in mid-air with a deafening roar.
Then, in a golden flash of light, before Soshima's trembling eyes, the Thunderbolt shattered the yellow beam of light. The Thunderbolt, having destroyed Hyper Beam, showed no signs of weakening and charged straight toward Tyranitar.
"Roar!"
The Thunderbolt struck Tyranitar precisely, and a painful roar erupted from its mouth. In just a moment, Tyranitar's body was emitting thick black smoke. Electric-type attacks could inflict normal damage on Tyranitar, and according to Soshima's calculations, this attack was enough to almost incapacitate it.
"That Pikachu has some skill. Tyranitar, Earthquake!"
Soshima quickly adjusted his emotions. It figured that anyone who could break Team Rocket had some skill. But did this kid really think he could defeat Tyranitar at that level? Dream on.
"Tyranitar can't move right now. It's your turn." Ash ignored Soshima's command. In his view, Tyranitar's injuries were enough to render it incapable of further action. Whatever Soshima ordered was just a futile effort.
But then, unexpectedly, the Tyranitar, which had been bowing its head, suddenly raised its head and let out an angry roar. Its feet stomped on the ground, causing the entire earth to shake, and a dense surge of Ground-type energy erupted from beneath.
"How can it still move? Pikachu, jump!" Ash's pupils narrowed, and he hastily commanded Pikachu to dodge.
"Pika!"
Pikachu leaped, dodging the surging energy, but the force didn't stop. It hurtled toward Ash. Soshima's initial target hadn't been Pikachu. It had been Ash himself.
"With the Trainer down, even the most powerful Pikachu is nothing more than a headless fly." Soshima's lips curled into a scheming, satisfied smile. No matter how powerful a human might be, they were still just flesh and blood.
Even if Ash had just displayed superhuman strength, it was only brute force. If he were hit directly by an energy attack, wouldn't he just die?
"Hmph. Coming at me? Then you've got the wrong person." Ash let out a cold snort, kicked his leg high, and then suddenly stomped down.
Boom!
A sound even louder than Tyranitar's Earthquake rang out. The Ground-type force hurtling toward Ash was directly neutralized by the shockwave created by Ash's physical stomp, disappearing into thin air. Moreover, the shockwave didn't stop there. It rushed straight toward Tyranitar.
Tyranitar had no strength or reaction time to dodge, and its massive body was instantly sent flying by the shockwave.
Soshima was completely stunned. What the hell is this? Is that guy even human? Using physical strength to neutralize a Tyranitar's Earthquake, an attack empowered by the Dark Ball's rage-boost? He'd be dead.