Chapter 263: Shared Pokémon
2024-05-15 Author: Samsung Charmander
"What kind of riddles are these two top players speaking?"
After Green departed with a livid expression, Ash's group was left completely bewildered.
Realm?
What realm?
"You can think about that when you reach the level of a League Champion," Red replied faintly.
With Red on his side, Ash cast Gary and Green to the back of his mind. He then looked at the Viridian Gym before him, took a deep breath, and pushed open the doors, slowly walking inside.
Here I come, my final Badge!
*They were strong enough to beat that Gary guy into a stupor?*
*Could it be the legendary Giovanni?*
*I hope to have a battle with no regrets today!*
Ash's heart surged with excitement. A resolute spirit filled his chest, his heroic aspirations soaring, as if he could conquer the world.
This time, the two Spartan-like guards parted their spears, allowing Ash to enter.
Misty and Brock, who were behind him, were blocked. According to the Viridian Gym challenge rules, only one person could enter at a time.
Of course, the two of them had no intention of entering anyway. The moment Ash's back was swallowed by the great doors, they had already turned around and headed back to the Pokemon Center for tea.
"Just the two of us, we can't play Fight the Landlord anymore."
"Not a problem. We'll just ask Nurse Joy to join us."
"You get it."
Inside the Viridian Gym.
It seemed to have recently been the stage for a grand and powerful battle. The air was now thick with the dangerous scent of gunpowder, and even the surrounding walls and ground showed occasional signs of cracking.
Ash gulped, not daring to be careless as he continued deeper inside.
*I have to be steady when facing Giovanni. This time, I'll just act like a rookie trainer who doesn't know anything. The goal is just the Gym Badge; I'll ignore everything else for now.*
Soon, he arrived at a training ground where the lights were not very bright.
This training ground was riddled with pits and craters, covered in the marks of a great battle. The cracks on the surrounding walls were much larger; several walls had even been smashed open, leaving a large pit, and the ground was covered with rubble and piles of dirt.
"Looks like this is where the big battle just happened…"
Fine smoke and dust still lingered in the air, proving that not much time had passed.
Ash stood on the designated challenger's platform, then his voice deepened as he shouted:
"I'm Ash from Pallet Town, here to challenge the Viridian Gym!"
Although he couldn't be too arrogant, he had to display his spirit.
"Clank!"
After about ten seconds of silence, the sound of lights turning on suddenly echoed around him.
On the second-floor railed platform, a figure had appeared out of nowhere. It was impossible to see their specific features, only a black silhouette illuminated by a circular spotlight. The figure was curvaceous with long hair—it had to be a woman.
A female voice rang out, "Prepare for trouble!"
Ash frowned. The voice and tone were a bit familiar.
Another spotlight shot out, illuminating a second figure on the other side of the railing. A male voice added, "And make it double!"
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all peoples within our nation!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Jessie!"
"James!"
"Team Rocket, blasting off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"
The lights came on fully.
The long-unseen Jessie and James were striking a cool pose on the second-floor platform. Meanwhile, Meowth was in the Backstage, operating the flashy lights and cuing the cool BGM, unable to join them on the battlefield.
"Something's missing."
Ash stared blankly, unable to hold back his comment.
Although he was finally hearing Team Rocket's motto again, without Meowth, it just didn't have the same feel.
"Wait a minute!"
Ash suddenly snapped back to reality. Wasn't his opponent supposed to be Giovanni? How did it suddenly become Jessie and James?
*Gary* was beaten into a stupor by these two?
Trivia: Back when he was at his third Gym, the Pokédex had already evaluated Ash, stating he could take on two members of Team Rocket by himself.
After so much training, the current Ash was confident he could take on ten members of Team Rocket alone. That shouldn't be a problem, right?
These couldn't be the trainers he had to battle for his final badge. This wasn't what he had expected at all...
He knew that Team Rocket was behind the Viridian Gym, so he didn't suspect that these three had maliciously usurped the place.
"Hey, what's with that look, twerp?"
"Who are you looking down on?"
Jessie and James noticed Ash's expression and immediately became indignant.
It was true. Giovanni was out in the Johto Region hunting an Elder, and his secretary Matori was busy investigating suspicious new trainers in other regions. The remaining core members had their own skeletons in the closet and didn't dare come near Viridian City. For a time, the great Viridian Gym was without a top player in charge.
With the tiger away from the mountain, the trio became the new kings.
They were, at the very least, Giovanni's direct subordinates, their status a billion times higher than the average person's, so the three of them naturally became the Gym Leaders of the Viridian Gym.
Temporarily.
Since there were no top players managing the Gym at the moment, they were even showing off in public, openly putting on a flashy opening performance.
So satisfying.
"Ah, this…"
Ash's face instantly darkened. His final battle was supposed to be epic, but it turned out to be... this?
"Twerp, we're a whole new Team Rocket this time! Don't you look down on a cat, meow!"
Meowth did a flip in the air from the Backstage lighting room and landed in front of Jessie and James, the sharp claws at the tips of his paws extended and pointing at Ash.
"And your Electric Mouse! This time, it'll definitely belong to Team Rocket, meow!"
Seeing Pikachu by Ash's leg immediately drop to all fours in a ground-hugging, Diglett-like mode, the electric sacs on its cheeks crackling with electricity and its expression unfriendly, Meowth shivered and quickly changed his tune:
"Ahem, but this time we're just Gym Leaders, so the matter of the Electric Mouse can wait for a bit..."
*Damn it, have we been offline for too long? Why does it feel like this Electric Mouse's strength has jumped up another huge notch?*
"Alright then…"
Seeing the green, leaf-like badge Jessie was holding, Ash had no choice but to return to the commanding platform on the training ground. After taking a deep breath, his expression turned serious.
Since it was the last Gym, even if the opponents were a bit underwhelming, he had to make the battle an epic one!
*Arbok and Koffing, is it? I'll just have Pikachu steamroll them.*
But to his surprise, this time Team Rocket didn't pull out their own Poké Balls. Instead, they dragged out a gashapon machine-like device from the back. A large letter "R" was engraved on it. Through the transparent glass, he could see a considerable number of purple-black Poké Balls piled inside—dozens of them, by a rough count. Each one was also engraved with the letter "R," representing Team Rocket.
Trademark protection.
"What's this...?" Ash asked, puzzled.
Seeing Ash's clueless expression, James revealed a smug look and explained with an air of importance:
"Hmph, this is Team Rocket's latest invention. It gathers powerful Pokémon together so that every member can use them instantly when needed. After use, they are promptly returned for the next member who needs them, allowing resources to be recycled for maximum efficiency."
In other words, the so-called Shared Pokémon.
"You know the shared Ditto that's so popular at the Pokémon Day Care right now? That was copied from our Team Rocket's idea."
Ash: "…"
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