A gentle breeze rustled through the forest as Ash and his friends continued along the path toward Ecruteak City.
Suddenly, a swift blur shot past them.
Ash immediately felt something lighten on his head.
His signature cap, along with the Ralts that had been peacefully napping on top of it, had been snatched away.
"Hey, wait!" Ash shouted as he gave chase.
But the dragonfly-like Pokémon was incredibly fast, disappearing toward the trees in the blink of an eye.
Startled awake by the sudden commotion, Ralts realized it had been carried away from its Trainer's head.
The little Pokémon instantly became furious.
Its eyes glowed with a blue light as powerful Psychic energy locked onto the mischievous Yanma.
The next moment, Psychic completely overwhelmed Yanma's control of its own body.
It spun wildly through the air like a headless fly, crashing into several large trees before finally plummeting heavily to the ground.
"Ralts!"
The little Pokémon flew proudly back to Ash while hugging his cap, wearing an unmistakable expression that practically screamed, Praise me!
Ash accepted the hat with a helpless smile.
"I have to say, Ralts... don't you think you went a little overboard?"
"Ralts!"
The little Pokémon proudly lifted its chin without the slightest hint of guilt.
Looking at the fallen Yanma, Ash suddenly remembered its story.
If he recalled correctly, this Yanma originally belonged to a boy named Zachary Evans. Because the rapid vibrations of its wings constantly shattered the windows of nearby homes, it had eventually been released back into the wild.
Even so, Zachary cared deeply for Yanma and had never truly wanted to part with it.
Before long, Zachary came running over.
He tried repeatedly to recall Yanma, but the Pokémon stubbornly refused to return. In the original events, it had only gone back into its Poké Ball with Ash's help.
"Thank you so much! My name's Zachary Evans," the boy said, bowing over and over. "I'm really sorry my Yanma caused you all so much trouble."
"It's all right," Ash replied. "This Yanma belongs to you?"
Zachary nodded before leading them into the nearby town where he lived.
Once they arrived, Ash immediately understood why so many of the local residents disliked Yanma.
Every time it beat its wings, the intense vibrations shattered the windows throughout the town.
Zachary himself was constantly blamed for the damage, branded as a troublesome kid, and repeatedly dragged before his father whenever another incident occurred.
In the end, after struggling with the decision countless times, he had reluctantly chosen to release Yanma into the wild.
"You still can't bear to let Yanma go, can you?" Ash asked.
Zachary silently nodded.
"When you become Yanma's Trainer, you have to be prepared to raise it and teach it properly. Ask yourself honestly. Are you really ready for that?"
After hearing those words, Zachary first nodded, then slowly shook his head.
"Go think it over. When you've found your answer, come tell me."
After Zachary left, Brock turned to Ash.
"Ash, you want to catch that Yanma too, don't you?"
"I'll admit that I really like it," Ash replied with a shake of his head. "But I can't bring myself to take someone else's Pokémon away when they still care so much about it."
Afterward, as usual, they headed to the Pokémon Center.
To be honest, the Pokémon Center was practically the only building in town whose windows were still intact.
They hadn't been there long before a crowd of townspeople came looking for Zachary.
The reason was simple.
After Yanma had shattered everyone's windows, two suspicious-looking people had shown up claiming they would replace the broken glass.
Instead, they installed blocks of ice in the window frames.
Naturally, the "windows" melted not long afterward.
Then, somehow, rumors began spreading that Zachary had never actually released Yanma.
Before long, angry residents started confronting him.
Seeing the situation, Ash immediately stepped in to calm everyone down.
At the same time, he spotted Team Rocket's trio lurking among the crowd.
What happened next hardly needed any explanation.
Ash sent out Bayleef, who promptly blasted Team Rocket off into the distance.
After everything that had happened, Zachary's expression became noticeably gloomier as he looked toward Ash.
"It looks like you've made your decision," Ash said.
Zachary nodded.
"Yeah. With the way I am now, I can't convince my dad... or the people in town... to let me keep raising Yanma. But I don't want to abandon it either. So, Ash... please... take good care of it for me."
He clenched his teeth before slowly holding out Yanma's Poké Ball.
Ash accepted it, gently patted Zachary on the head, and said, "I promise. I'll help Yanma discover and bring out its true strengths."
"Then... I'm counting on you."
With those final words, Zachary turned and ran away.
Ash clearly saw a single tear slide down the corner of the boy's eye.
"This must be so hard for him," Misty said sympathetically.
"It may seem heartless," Ash replied softly, "but this is the best outcome. If Yanma stayed with him, it wouldn't be good for Zachary, his family, or the people in town. More importantly, Zachary doesn't yet have the ability to bring out Yanma's potential. Keeping it here would only hold it back. For Yanma, staying in this town would only mean more suffering."
Misty and Brock sighed, unable to find any words to respond.
Ash looked down at Yanma's Poké Ball and smiled.
"From now on, let's take good care of each other, Yanma."
...
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