"I lost..."
Inside the Viridian Gym, Ash recalled his defeated Charizard, his expression somber and dejected.
In the first round, Pikachu and Nidoking had knocked each other out. In the second, Squirtle had suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the opponent's Onix. Finally, although Charizard performed admirably, it couldn't turn the tide in a two-on-one disadvantage and narrowly lost to Rhydon, bringing the challenge to an end.
"As a rookie trainer, you're decent, but you're still missing that final spark. With your current abilities, you aren't worthy of my badge." Giovanni stood up and turned to leave.
Up by the skylight, Jessie cheered, "Alright! The Boss is amazing as always. He beat that twerp so hard he couldn't even fight back."
"Is that so? I felt like the Boss almost lost for a second there," James said, scratching his head.
"Huh? Are you questioning the Boss and me? Everything was within the Boss's calculations."
"Is it really?"
"Why are you two standing around discussing this? We need to hurry and see the Boss to congratulate him on his victory, meow," Meowth reminded them.
"Oh, right!"
The trio immediately scrambled down and scurried toward Giovanni's office.
Back on the battlefield, Pikachu tugged at Ash's pant leg, his expression filled with self-reproach and concern. "Pika?"
"Pikachu, you guys performed great. The fault is mine," Ash said, patting Pikachu's head.
Brock walked up and offered comfort. "Ash, I think you did a wonderful job. It's just that the opponent was too powerful."
"Yeah, yeah! After watching that battle, I've actually changed my opinion of you," Misty added.
"Even Gary couldn't win; this Giovanni is indeed incredibly strong."
"And his standards are so strict. Based on Ash's performance, he clearly should have earned the badge."
Brock and Misty took turns consoling Ash.
"I'm fine," Ash said, shaking his head. "A loss is a loss. How can I blame the opponent's strength for my defeat? It's because I'm not strong enough. In that case, I just have to get stronger."
"I've decided. I'm coming back to challenge him again tomorrow. I won't leave without that Earth Badge! Pikachu, we're doing some hellish special training today!"
"Pika!"
Misty and Brock shared a smile and said in unison, "We'll help you out too."
"If you don't mind, I'd like to lend a hand as well," Aomori, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke.
Ash looked at his companions, deeply moved. "Everyone, thanks a lot!"
"Let's head to the Pokémon Center first to let Charizard and the others recover their strength."
"Yeah!"
…
In his office, Giovanni sat in his swivel chair and let out a sigh of relief. The battle just now hadn't been as easy as he made it look.
"Ash from Pallet Town? Interesting. If he weren't part of the League's direct lineage and so reckless, I might have wanted to recruit him."
During the battle, he could feel Ash's love and passion for Pokémon. Someone like that would never agree with Team Rocket's methods. If it were a frustrated commoner trainer, he could easily lure them into Team Rocket's ranks with a bit of incentive, planting a "nail" within the League. This was one of the main reasons he operated the Gym.
At that moment, a knock sounded, and two humans and a cat walked in with their hands behind their backs. Suddenly, they pulled out party poppers. Pop! Pop! Colorful confetti rained down, some of it landing right on Giovanni's head.
"Congratulations to the Boss on his glorious victory! We wish the Boss—"
"..." Giovanni squinted at the three buffoons. The coldness in his eyes made their planned congratulations die in their throats.
"Jessie, James, Meowth," Giovanni said. As he called each name, that person involuntarily stood up straighter. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Congratulating you on your victory, Boss!"
"Idiots! Winning against a rookie trainer... what is there to celebrate?"
"That twerp isn't an ordinary rookie..." James muttered under his breath.
"What? Do you have something to say, James?" Giovanni asked coldly.
"No, nothing! You're absolutely right, Boss!" James shook his head violently.
"You three have been out for a long time. Do you have anything worth reporting to me?"
"Yes, yes, yes! We've discovered a super-powerful Pikachu, and we're preparing to capture it and present it to you, Boss!"
"A Pikachu? Why bother catching such a common Pokémon? We need rare, high-value Pokémon!" Giovanni couldn't help but roar. He glanced at the trembling trio and calmed his tone. "Fine. As long as you don't do anything to harm Team Rocket, it's fine. Dismissed."
"Yes, sir..." The trio left the office dejectedly.
"What now? The Boss is angry," James said with a long face.
"There's nothing we can do, since we haven't caught Pikachu yet, meow," Meowth said, spreading his paws helplessly.
"But even so, the Boss didn't punish us. He's so gentle, it makes me want to cry."
"He really is."
"The Boss still places great hopes on us, meow."
The three hugged each other and wept, making a firm resolution: "We must achieve results to show the Boss!"
…
At the Pokémon Center.
"Nurse Joy, long time no see!" Misty waved to the pink-haired young woman.
"Oh, it's you!" Nurse Joy quickly recognized Misty and Ash. They were quite memorable in her records, after all. The Pokémon Center had once been destroyed in a massive explosion closely linked to these two. "Ash, Misty, this place was only recently rebuilt, so please try not to break it again."
"Ahaha, that was all Team Rocket's fault; it didn't have much to do with us." Ash gave an awkward laugh and handed over Pikachu and the Poké Balls containing Charizard and Squirtle. "Nurse Joy, please treat them for me."
"Certainly, no problem." Nurse Joy took them with a graceful smile.
Infected by her beautiful smile, Brock immediately floated over, took Nurse Joy's hand, and said passionately, "Beautiful lady, could you perhaps heal my heart, which pines for you?"
"Huh?" Nurse Joy was stunned.
"Brock, don't interfere with Nurse Joy's work!" Misty expertly pinched Brock's ear and dragged him away.
"Ow, ow, ow..."
"Err..." Nurse Joy snapped out of it and said to Ash, "Please wait here a moment. You'll see them healthy and full of energy again very soon."
"Okay, I'm counting on you."
Ash and the others sat on the lobby sofa, waiting for Pikachu and the others to return.
"Ash, have you thought of a strategy for facing Giovanni again tomorrow?" Brock asked.
"Yeah, I have a rough idea." Ash thought back to the battle while he spoke. "Nidoking and Pikachu are similar in strength. Pikachu should be able to take it down with Quick Attack and Iron Tail. The key is that Nidoking's Earthquake prevents Pikachu from moving fast. So, I'm thinking of training Pikachu's balance so he can still move at high speed even on vibrating ground."
"That's a good idea," Misty affirmed.
"As for Onix, I think I'll still use Squirtle. He'll need to battle your Onix, Brock, to get a handle on the rhythm."
"Sure, I'll have Onix cooperate with Squirtle," Brock nodded.
"The final Rhydon is the problem. Not only is it thick-skinned, it has both long-range and close-quarters skills. It's even stronger than Charizard and has no obvious weaknesses. It seems very hard to deal with; I don't have a plan for it yet," Ash admitted.
"True, that Rhydon is strong. One Hyper Beam can severely injure Charizard. Meanwhile, Charizard's Flamethrower did very little damage." Brock pondered for a moment, but he didn't have a good solution either.
"Use Bulbasaur?"
"No, the power gap is too large. One Hyper Beam would knock it out instantly."
"Ash, do you want me to lend you my Water-type Pokémon? That should make Rhydon easier to handle," Misty suggested.
"No, if I don't use my own Pokémon, the challenge has no meaning," Ash shook his head in refusal.
The three thought for a while but still couldn't come up with a good method. Ash turned with hopeful eyes to Aomori, who had been in deep thought for some time. "Aomori-san, do you have any ideas?"
Aomori looked up, meeting Ash's gaze, and said softly, "Charizard's disadvantage is that it can't deal effective damage to Rhydon. Maybe we can have Charizard learn Steel Wing or Iron Tail. I happen to have the corresponding Move TMs."
"Steel Wing? Iron Tail? If those are used unexpectedly, they'll definitely catch him off guard," Brock said. "Ash, that's a great idea, but is there enough time?"
Ash's eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly. "Don't worry, there's definitely enough time! Aomori-san, thanks! You've helped me out big time again!"
"You're welcome. Between the two, I suggest learning Steel Wing. Though it's slightly less powerful than Iron Tail, for a Charizard that uses its wings constantly, Steel Wing is easier to learn and easier to hit with," Aomori advised.
"Alright, then I'll have Charizard learn Steel Wing!"
Aomori logged into his Laptop and showed the contents of the Steel Wing TM to Ash. "Ash, study it slowly. I'm going to the restroom."
"Okay!" Ash's attention was completely glued to the screen.
Aomori stood up, went into the Pokémon Center's restroom, and closed the door. After confirming there was no one else and no cameras, he released Ditto. "Ditto, I have an important mission for you. You go like this, then do that... understand?"
"Understood!" Ditto transformed into Darkrai's form, turned into a shadow, and left the Pokémon Center alone.
"Don't let me down, Team Rocket," Aomori muttered with a smile as he leisurely left the restroom.
…
Pikachu and the others soon returned to health and were handed back to Ash. Their special training began immediately.
Pikachu had to run across a trampoline to maintain his balance; Squirtle was battling Brock's Onix to find a winning rhythm; and Charizard followed the instructions on the TM to learn Steel Wing.
"Everyone, for the sake of tomorrow's victory, let's give it our all!" Ash shouted.
"Pika!" "Roar!" "Squirtle!"
Everyone's morale was high.
From a large tree next to the Pokémon Center, the Team Rocket trio was closely monitoring the training.
"What's that twerp doing? Don't tell me he hasn't given up and wants to challenge the Boss again?" Jessie said, puzzled.
"Pikachu, Squirtle, and Charizard are the same Pokémon he used before. It looks like they really intend to try again, meow," Meowth said in surprise. "Talk about overestimating yourself, meow."
"If they're doing targeted training, they might actually succeed," James said, rubbing his chin.
"How could we let that happen!" Jessie shrieked. "If the Boss loses, wouldn't that be a slap in the face to Team Rocket? We can't let them succeed!"
"Right, we must sabotage their training!"
"And we might as well catch Pikachu while we're at it, killing two birds with one stone, meow."
"Excellent. The operation plan is up to you two," Jessie said. "This time, failure is not an option! The Boss is watching us!"
"Roger!"
"Mission accomplished, meow!"
…
Aaron was an outer-circle member of Team Rocket. As a newcomer, he was working hard to complete his promotion mission. The mission required him to capture twenty Pokémon worth training in the Viridian Forest within ten days.
However, since he only owned a Zubat, the capturing process wasn't going smoothly. At the start, he could only catch one every day or two. Now on the fourth day, he had only caught five, leaving him far from his goal.
"Talk about bad luck. I almost caught that brightly colored Pidgeotto," Aaron watched as the Pidgeotto flew away, seemingly taking his heart with it.
"What do I do? If I fail the promotion, I'll be kicked out of Team Rocket." Aaron refused to accept that all his hard work would stop at the final step. "Keep going! You can do it!"
Even as night began to fall, he didn't stop searching. At night, his Zubat was stronger, and his capture success rate was higher.
Suddenly, Aaron saw a pink Pokémon fly through the air. It was small and delicate, with a long tail.
"What is that?" Aaron's heart hammered against his ribs. Drawing on a sudden surge of adrenaline, he whipped his phone out of his pocket, aimed at the pink silhouette, and pressed the shutter.
The movement was fluid and seamless. By the time he lowered his phone, the pink Pokémon had vanished, as if it had never been there.
"Was it a hallucination?" When Aaron looked down at his phone, his doubts vanished. On the screen was a blurry, pink figure.
"I... I've hit the jackpot. This is huge." Aaron's hands trembled as he dialed his direct superior. He spoke slowly and clearly, "Captain... I... I saw the legendary Pokémon, Mew."