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"What's so impressive about that? At the critical moment, you disregard everything else because your heart is too soft! You must be influenced by that Oak fellow."
An unsympathetic voice interrupted the praise, and a hunched but spirited figure emerged from the shadows. The speaker clearly didn't take the commendations given to Ash seriously.
"Elite Agatha, you're here as well!" Despite Lance having surpassed her in rank, he still maintained respectful deference toward the elderly woman. After working alongside her for an extended period, he understood her temperament and the reasoning behind her harsh words.
Lance sometimes felt that Elite Agatha's perspectives were overly extreme, but he chose not to argue with her about it.
Elite Agatha wasn't the type of person who simply talked without backing up her words, and she never relied on her senior status to show off. Because of this, nobody really minded her abrasive personality.
"Agatha, Ash and the others are still young. Aren't you being too harsh on them?" Master Keaton couldn't help but speak up in Ash's defense.
"Is there something wrong with my assessment? In a situation like what just occurred, we could have prevented Team Rocket's escape, but instead we allowed those criminals to slip away right in front of us."
"I had originally planned to protect Moltres before it could be captured, but now it's gone while others were saved instead! Trying to protect both sides simultaneously—if he hadn't given up the chase just now, or if Lance hadn't appeared when he did, we might not have been able to protect either!"
Agatha's expression remained stern and cold, giving off an aura that warned others to keep their distance. At the same time, she was analyzing the previous situation with clinical precision.
In truth, since she had been present during the entire incident, she wouldn't have allowed anything to happen to Green and Blaine. She had wanted to observe how Ash would choose when faced with such a critical decision.
Team Rocket's ambitions were far from small. If Moltres couldn't be recaptured this time, they undoubtedly had other schemes in motion. If they succeeded in their current plan, many more people could become involved and endangered.
It was true that Blaine and Green had been in danger, and she would naturally have intervened. However, given her personality, at a moment like that, she would definitely sacrifice the few for the many.
Even if it hadn't been Blaine and Green in danger but her own relatives, she would have acted without hesitation. But Ash had done the opposite, allowing Team Rocket to escape.
This made Agatha, who held a grudge against Professor Oak, believe that Ash had been negatively influenced by the professor's soft-hearted philosophy. Generally speaking, it was a chain reaction that even extended to her attitude toward Gary when she encountered Oak's other protégé.
"Agatha, what you're saying is too extreme!" Blaine shook his head with disagreement.
"Really? You understand Team Rocket's ultimate purpose, and you know how many people and Pokémon will suffer if they succeed in their goals, correct? Are you willing to sacrifice your life to prevent that from happening?"
Agatha looked directly at Blaine after hearing his response. In fact, she already knew his answer even before he could voice it.
"Of course I would!"
"Then what else is there to discuss? You're willing to sacrifice yourself, so why coddle him? Not to mention that I was present there!" Agatha responded immediately after hearing this confirmation, while explaining that her presence meant she would have prevented any real danger.
"Elite Agatha, you're wrong to say that. Ash had no way of knowing you were there at all," Green quickly came to Ash's defense after hearing the exchange. She couldn't accept this line of reasoning.
"He knew!" Agatha looked at Ash and stated with certainty.
With her keen senses, she had noticed that Ash had detected her presence during the crisis.
"You might say I acted foolishly because my heart was too soft just now! But if you're going to criticize Professor Oak, I can't agree with that assessment. I won't apologize for my choice. If I let them escape today, I can take responsibility for that decision."
"Whatever they do next, I will stop them."
At this point, Ash, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke up.
Perhaps he really had been overly compassionate in that moment, but he felt no regret about his choice. As for Professor Oak, in Ash's opinion, what the professor had accomplished was greater than both Agatha and Lance standing before him.
If Professor Oak hadn't chosen to dedicate himself to research, he might now hold a position even higher than Lance's in the trainer hierarchy. But he had given up that personal glory and chosen to work behind the scenes.
He had cultivated one outstanding trainer after another. A single trainer represented only individual strength, but what Oak had accomplished was training entire generations of trainers. Perhaps not every one of them could achieve excellence, but it was precisely because of that difficulty that made his work so much greater.
So Ash felt no fear of Agatha whatsoever. Hearing Ash's response, Agatha's eyes narrowed slightly, and she exuded an intimidating aura that made Green pause nervously.
"Do you understand who you're speaking to?" At that moment, Elite Agatha's hand gripping her walking stick raised slightly, her index finger positioned as if she might open the Poké Ball mounted on the cane at any moment.
"Don't raise your voice at me. Elderly people can easily become irritating when they're too demanding!" Ash showed no sign of fear.
"If you have personal issues with me because of some grudge, then..."
Ash could sense that Agatha's hostility stemmed from her feelings toward Professor Oak, so it was understandable that she would harbor negative emotions toward people connected to the professor.
As soon as he finished speaking, Ash raised two fingers and pointed them directly at Elite Agatha. Such a gesture was actually quite disrespectful, but Ash didn't care about propriety at this moment. He first pointed at Agatha, then turned to indicate Lance as well.
"Whether it's you or him! One day, you'll both become opponents I've defeated. When that time comes, I'll show you just how narrow your perspective really is!"
At this point, Ash had stopped using respectful language and spoke to them as equals in status and position.
The meaning was crystal clear. If she thought her words carried weight based on her rank and age, then one day he would stand above her, and his words would carry that same authority.
"You'd better take good care of yourself and live for several more years!" Finally, Ash looked directly at Agatha with a confident smile playing at his lips.
Even Lance, Agatha, and Blaine present were shocked by Ash's bold declaration. They were all renowned figures in the Kanto Region at this point.
But at their age, none of them had possessed the same courage that Ash was displaying. They might all have harbored dreams in their hearts of surpassing the peak trainers of their time.
But never had any of them stood directly in front of such legendary figures and pointed at them while declaring their intention to defeat them.
Elite Agatha's personality differed from ordinary people. Seeing Ash's almost insolent behavior, instead of becoming angry, her dormant competitive spirit began to reawaken because of his provocative words.
"Ha ha ha! It seems you haven't been completely corrupted by that old fool after all. Very good, very good! I'll make sure to stay alive then, waiting for your challenge!"