After learning about the terrible things Team Rocket had done to Cubone,
Red became extremely angry.
However, he did not know where Team Rocket was hiding,
so even if he wanted to help Cubone avenge its mother, he didn't know where to start.
He could only set the matter aside for now.
After touring the Pokémon House, Red chatted with Reina outside,
and during their conversation, Red mentioned that he wanted to enter Pokémon Tower,
and also wanted to see who this so-called legendary Mr. Fuji really was.
But Reina replied with a troubled expression:
"Grandpa Fuji… no one knows where he's gone recently…"
Bang!
Suddenly, the door of the Pokémon House was flung open,
and a middle-aged man rushed in, shouting:
"Everyone, we've found Mr. Fuji's whereabouts!"
"Where is he?!"
"Someone saw Mr. Fuji entering Pokémon Tower last night!"
"Pokémon Tower? Why would he go there…?"
"It's because of Team Rocket!"
Red froze for a moment and quickly asked:
"What happened with Team Rocket? Did they come here?"
One of the women stood up and explained to Red:
"Yes. A while ago, Team Rocket suddenly came to Lavender Town and occupied Pokémon Tower!"
"Many people who wanted to go to the tower to pay respects couldn't enter! They were all driven out!"
"Grandpa Fuji must have gone to negotiate with Team Rocket… but…"
"But those people aren't the type you can negotiate with!"
Another volunteer shouted loudly, obviously more familiar with Team Rocket.
Even his tone carried uncontrollable trembling.
Team Rocket's name… truly inspired fear!
"Everyone! Let's go together and bring Grandpa Fuji back!"
Faced with Reina's call to action, the crowd froze—
Then turned their heads away one by one.
They… were too afraid…
Team Rocket's name was feared throughout Kanto,
and these people, who weren't even real trainers,
didn't dare provoke them.
"But everyone… Grandpa Fuji went into Pokémon Tower to negotiate with Team Rocket for our sake!"
"So what if we go?! Team Rocket isn't someone we can deal with!"
"Yeah! If we go, we're just throwing our lives away!"
Once one person spoke, the rest followed with righteous, firm voices.
[Lance: How disgraceful! No courage at all! Hmph!]
[Steven: It's… somewhat cowardly, indeed.]
[Alder: An old man like Fuji went to confront Team Rocket for their sake, yet these younger adults won't even try! No wonder they're stuck here their whole lives!]
Alder was usually a gentle person,
but seeing the ugliness of human nature made him speak harshly.
[Cynthia: It's just human nature. You can't say they have no kindness—after all, they still return to help Mr. Fuji as volunteers.]
[Diantha: They have kindness… just not much.]
[Gardenia: Well said.]
In the footage—
With everyone loudly refusing, Reina's expression grew worse and worse.
But before she could explode, a young, childish yet determined voice sounded:
"Leave it to me! I'll go bring Mr. Fuji back!"
Everyone turned toward the source of the voice—
and found that it was a boy who looked only around ten years old.
A middle-aged man shouted:
"We adults can't do anything against Team Rocket—what can a child like you do?!"
Red directly pulled open the inside of his red-black jacket.
On it, three differently colored badges were pinned.
"I'm not bragging. In terms of Pokémon battles, I'm pretty strong! So… leave it to me!"
"He has three badges?!"
"Three badges… this kid isn't ordinary…"
"To get three badges at his age…"
Everyone exclaimed in awe,
as if collecting three badges in that world was a tremendous achievement!
"Tsk tsk, unlike someone, Red doesn't take out his badges just to show off!
He's showing his strength because he's taking responsibility!
Meanwhile, someone only flashes them to brag~."
Misty teased mercilessly.
Ash's face flushed red, and he wanted to argue—
But he couldn't. It was true.
He only ever showed his badges when showing off…
The problem was, he had never been in a situation where showing his strength solved anything!
"Hoh? There I am! Looks like Red won't need to fight Team Rocket after all!"
Gary was originally preparing to tease Ash more—
Then, suddenly, Green appeared on the screen.
Hearing the mention of Team Rocket,
Gary became excited.
Green was definitely stronger than Red! If Green stepped in,
There would be nothing for Red to do!
In the footage—
After eavesdropping at the doorway and hearing everything clearly,
Green slowly closed the door, a smirk on his face.
"If I can defeat Team Rocket before Red does… I'll be this town's hero!"
"Tsk tsk… just imagining it feels good! Alright, decision made!"
Green muttered to himself, then quickly headed toward Pokémon Tower.
[Lance: At such a young age and already so calculating?]
[Bruno: I think this is normal for boys. Who doesn't want to show off when they're young?]
[Lorelei: Bruno is right. Even if his motives are selfish… the result is good.]
Selfish or not,
at least Green was stepping forward to fight Team Rocket—
far better than the people who refused to act.
Red, after confirming Team Rocket's situation with the townsfolk,
headed to Pokémon Tower with nothing but a flashlight.
On the lower floors of the tower, Red encountered a strange woman.
She said she desperately wanted to see her Nidoran, and said there might be ghosts above.
Red kept it in mind and continued climbing,
but he did not notice—
That woman had no shadow!
The flashlight shone on her feet, but there was no shadow at all!
"No… no way… ghosts don't exist in this world!"
"Hissss~ this is turning into a horror movie…"
"Damn… I need a group of friends to watch this with… watching alone is terrifying…"
"..."
Red didn't notice anything,
but the omniscient viewers definitely did.
The ghost-like woman scared the entire world,
and many timid viewers were ready to skip ahead!
The footage shifted, showing Green.
Green was also cautiously climbing upward with his flashlight.
He muttered:
"Who said there are ghosts here?"
"A bunch of idiots. If ghosts were real, would Team Rocket occupy this place?"
"It's obviously Team Rocket's scare tactic! Only the brilliant me could figure that out~"
Though Green sounded confident and mocking,
it was also clear he was giving himself courage.
As he stepped onto the next floor—
A purple shadow suddenly appeared before him!
Green froze, his mouth twitching.
No… way…
"Leave this place! Hurry and leave!!"
The purple, flame-like shadow floated toward him like a ghostly apparition!
Green's face turned as green as his name.
He threw his flashlight and bolted, screaming:
"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"
"HAHAHAHAHA!! Gary! HAHAHA! THAT'S your alternate world self?! Too funny!!"
Ash almost died laughing. Gary's face went dark.
He couldn't even deny it—
He himself was terrified of ghosts…
"Ahhhh!!"
Misty suddenly screamed, grabbing Ash's arm tightly.
Being a girl, she was even more afraid of such things.
"A-aah! Misty? What's wrong?! Are you okay?"
Ash was completely confused.
Just now he was laughing, and now suddenly a girl was clinging to him??
Hearing Ash's voice, Misty snapped back to reality.
The ghost wasn't in front of her—
it was in the video.
Her face instantly turned bright red.
What had she just done?!
So embarrassing!!
"D-don't get the wrong idea! I just grabbed something because I was scared!"
"Even if it were a cat or a dog, I'd grab it! It's not like I meant to hold onto YOU!"
Her explanation became more and more chaotic.
Anyone with normal emotional perception would understand Misty's feelings by now…
But Ash was… Ash.
"I didn't know you were scared of things like this, Misty! How lame! Hahaha!"
Gary: ???
Brock: ???
Misty: !!!
Unbelievable.
A pretty girl grabs him—
And THAT'S his reaction??
WHACK!
A lump instantly appeared on Ash's head.
Misty blew on her smoking fist:
Even the Iron-Headed Champion of Pallet Town was nothing special!
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