I have added this story to my Patreon. You can support me and read the 50 latest and advanced chapters there. It also fed and motivate me to write more chapters!
Free Members will get 10 Chapters Ahead of the schedule on Patreon!!!
Link: Patreon.com/AVRKingsTL
—------------------—
"Ash? Why are you wearing a Team Rockets uniform?!"
Red looked at Ash, who was currently wearing a jacket emblazoned with Team Rockets' 'R' logo, and asked in disbelief.
How could this be?!
Ash's face was reflected in Red's red pupils; he simply couldn't believe that Ash, his own brother, had become a member of Team Rockets?!
How did this happen?
Red almost felt the world spinning; how could this be?
Ethan, who was following behind Red, also looked at Ash in utter shock.
"Red… you… I…"
Ash was incredibly embarrassed at this moment; he hadn't expected to run into Red so coincidentally here.
Although, since he was participating in the battle, encountering Red on this battlefield was inevitable, when it actually happened, Ash still felt extremely awkward.
Diantha, Wallace, and Paul all keenly sensed a subtle atmosphere.
After all, Red and Ash looked quite similar, and given Red's questioning…
For a moment, the scene fell silent.
"Why?"
After a long pause, Red finally spoke again, slowly pulling down the brim of his hat, the shadow covering his red eyes, and a slightly hoarse voice came through.
Only now did he understand why Ash hadn't appeared for the past few days.
And why, when he had asked him earlier, Ash had replied that he would participate in the battle.
It turned out Ash had joined Team Rockets!
Participate? He did participate, but he was representing Team Rockets.
"Why did you join Team Rockets?" Red questioned again in a low voice.
"Red, Team Rockets is not an Evil Organization anymore."
Ash took a deep breath; he knew he couldn't avoid this.
Forcing himself to calm down, Ash turned to face his older brother, responding to him seriously.
"How can you be so sure?"
Red looked directly into Ash's eyes.
"Because I joined Team Rockets, and that's how I confirmed it!" Ash didn't flinch.
"I personally experienced life in Team Rockets, and I am very sure that Team Rockets is a righteous organization!"
"Mammon, he is also a person who truly reveres truth, goodness, and beauty!"
Ash replied to Red in a deep voice.
"We went through the St. Anne together, Ash!"
Red didn't understand why Ash had become like this.
They had both witnessed Team Rockets' evil deeds and fought against them side by side.
"Yes, but that was the old Team Rockets!" Ash still responded directly.
"Red, Team Rockets has changed. You can't keep looking at the new Team Rockets with old eyes; that's pure prejudice!"
"The current Team Rockets is led by Mammon. All of us are moving forward under Mammon's policies. We have always been helping others, protecting the environment, and helping Pokémon!"
Ash's voice was firm.
"Prejudice… huh?" Red fell silent, his pupils trembling slightly.
He never imagined that one day he would be refuted by his own brother with such words.
"Then what about this battle? What does this battle count as?" Red's voice grew even deeper as he asked.
"Is the Pokémon League also wrong, Ash?"
The Pokémon League, the maintainer of world order.
"Is the Pokémon League necessarily right?" Ash, however, retorted without hesitation.
"Ash, do you know what you're saying?"
Red looked at Ash in shock, his gaze as if he were seeing his brother, with whom he had grown up, for the first time.
"Red, I've always admired you so much!" Ash's eyes were incredibly firm.
"I've always seen you as my idol, as my goal to pursue, because you, Red, have always been so perfect."
"But, Red, have you ever considered that if the Pokémon League was truly completely right, then why would Team Rockets still exist?"
Hearing Ash's rhetorical question, Red fell silent again.
"The former Team Rockets was despicable, greedy, and evil, stopping at nothing to achieve its goals, snatching Pokémon against their will, and treating Pokémon as tools."
"But… the Pokémon League has always been pursuing Team Rockets, hasn't it? It's because of the Pokémon League that Team Rockets was contained."
Ethan spoke weakly, because the situation was too unexpected, and the debate between Red and Ash, the two brothers, was too intense.
Only now did he find an opportunity to interject, and even then, his voice dared not be loud.
"Yes, but why could it only be contained? Is it because the Pokémon League didn't want to eradicate it?" Ash looked at Ethan.
That unprecedented sharp gaze made Ethan involuntarily take a step back. The current Ash was so incredibly 'fierce'!
It wasn't fierce in the literal sense, but a kind of 'fierce' that Ethan couldn't describe in words.
And were these really words Ash would say?
Ethan truly felt a sense of unfamiliarity; the Ash he knew… didn't seem to be like this.
"No matter the reason, the Pokémon League simply couldn't eradicate Team Rockets, couldn't eradicate these cancerous growths in the Kanto region. This is the reality I see!" Ash's words were firm.
"But Mammon did it!"
"Mammon changed Team Rockets, solving everything from the root, he eliminated these cancerous growths and completely transformed them into positive things."
"Not only Kanto, but Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos… Team Rockets eliminated Evil Organizations in all regions and gathered so many like-minded partners to protect this world together!"
"Red, it's precisely because I saw this that I stand here!"
Ash's righteous words made Red press his lips tightly together, his gaze towards Ash extremely complex.
"That's just a facade." At this moment, Wallace spoke, looking at Ash seriously.
"Young man! You've been blinded by Mammon's current performance. You only see the current beauty, but is Mammon's goal really like this?"
"You yourself said it, Team Rockets now covers almost all regions, and Team Rockets' influence has expanded to an extremely exaggerated degree. That's what he wants!"
"Mammon is an ambitious and cunning person, young man, you've all been deceived by him!"
Wallace gritted his teeth, heartbroken. Well, he was still expressing himself without any personal emotions.
Alright, Wallace admitted there was a little personal grudge.
But Wallace could be sure that he was a victim of Mammon himself!
With Mammon's vile personality, how could he truly be someone working for the people's well-being and happiness?
Ash looked at Wallace, his face creased, but Paul was not polite at all.
"Heh~ Pure hater."
Paul glanced at Wallace, sneered, and replied expressionlessly.
"Huh? What did you say?" Teacher Wallace gasped.
"I, Wallace, you call me a hater?"
"Isn't it?" Paul said lightly, "Do I need to remind you? Master Wallace, spreading rumors without any evidence is a violation of Pokémon League law."
"Since you dare to slander Boss Mammon, you must have been mentally prepared, right?"
"Alright, alright, alright! You brat!"
Wallace laughed in anger, rolled up his sleeves, and prepared for a real-life PK with this poker-faced guy.
"Ash, the Pokémon League is the root of stability in this world. Leave Team Rockets."
Red sighed deeply, slightly pulling down the brim of his hat, and said to Ash in a deep voice.
Although his beliefs were indeed shaken by Ash's words, Red still believed that Team Rockets… was still untrustworthy.
Perhaps it was due to his initial impression; Red didn't deny this point.
Whether Team Rockets was truly a righteous organization, he didn't know, but what he did know was that the Pokémon League was the stabilizer of this world. It was because of the Pokémon League that there was current peace and order.
So, his stance remained with the Pokémon League.
"Red, why are you so stubborn?" Ash looked at Red with disappointment at this moment.
"Stubborn… Is that how you see me now, Ash…"
Red didn't understand what kind of spell Mammon had cast on his brother. Ash had always been so obedient.
Even Red's chest couldn't help but heave due to the emotional fluctuations, and his tone grew even deeper.
"Ash, was I too gentle with you before? Or is this your rebellious phase?"
Red's Poké Ball enlarged in his hand, his red eyes fixed on Ash.
"I'll say it one last time, Ash, either you leave Team Rockets, or you leave Saffron City now and don't get involved in this incident."
Red had always been a quiet person who wasn't good with words, but when facing Ash, he was truly different.
Because he was an older brother, and Ash was his younger brother.
As an older brother, he had the responsibility to look after his brother on behalf of their mother.
"I'm an adult now, Red, I have my own will and choices!"
Ash's stubbornness also flared up.
Anyone familiar with Ash knew that sometimes Ash's temper was incredibly stubborn, the kind that even an ox couldn't pull back.
"…"
Red fell silent.
He said no more, simply opening the Poké Ball in his hand.
A powerful Charizard landed heavily in front of Red, and a Pikachu also appeared.
Red's movements were continuous; he raised his left hand and pressed it against the wristband on his right wrist, and the Key Stone gleamed.
Mega Evolution!
Accompanied by Charizard's Domineering roar, the light of evolution flashed and disappeared, and a black-blue Charizard X made a grand appearance.
A deep, scorching pressure permeated the air, and Charizard X's majestic dragon eyes gazed at Ash and the Pikachu in front of him.
Meanwhile, Red's Pikachu stood up on its hind legs, tilted its head, and looked at Ash's Pikachu in confusion, then glanced at its Trainer.
But sensing Red's suppressed and heavy mood, Red's Pikachu silently closed its mouth, gave Ash's Pikachu an apologetic look, and assumed a battle stance.
Although it didn't know why its Trainer was so angry, it was Red's Pokémon, and since its Trainer decided to battle, it only needed to obey its Trainer.
"Greninja!"
Ash was not to be outdone, throwing out his Poké Ball.
Greninja landed gracefully in front of Ash, slowly straightened up, crossed its arms, and its stern eyes fixed on Charizard X.
"Um… actually, we can talk things out, no need to be so serious, right?"
Ethan chuckled, trying to mediate.
"Red, don't be so serious, and Ash, just admit you're wrong."
"I wasn't wrong in the first place! Why should I admit I'm wrong?"
Ash retorted to Ethan without hesitation.
"Team Rockets is right! It's clearly Red who refuses to admit his stubbornness and still looks at Team Rockets with past eyes."
"This kind of foolish brother deserves a profound lesson!"
Hearing Ash's heated words, Ethan was numb, no longer thinking of mediating, and silently took a few steps back.
He felt that he was truly having a difficult time.
"…You want to teach me a lesson, huh…"
Red was silent, again pulling down the brim of his hat, the shadow completely covering his red pupils.
"I see, my foolish brother."
Red's voice wasn't loud, but it carried no emotion.
"If you can do it, then try."
Red had completely confirmed that his brother was in his rebellious phase. In that case.
He really had to hit him hard to wake him up.
Red's pupils under the shadow of his hat gradually became indifferent, making Ash's hair instinctively stand on end.
Ash swallowed, but still spoke stubbornly.
"I'm not afraid of you! Paul! Lend me a help!"
"Let's go take him on together!"