Team Rocket tugged the net tight around the squirming Clefairy, grinning ear to ear.
"Of course we followed you here!" Jessie sneered. "You really made us search all over! At first, our target was just that Pikachu of yours…"
James leaned in with a smirk. "But then you showed us this rare little cutie. Naturally, we'll be taking it to the boss too!"
"And don't forget Pikachu!" Meowth chimed in, pressing a button. From his paw shot a mechanical claw, whirring through the air straight toward Pikachu like a giant arcade grabber.
Ash's instincts kicked in. He twisted, swung a backfist,
CRACK!
The steel claw shattered mid-air, snapping off the rod and clattering uselessly to the ground.
Meowth froze, his grin turning to a horrified gape. "N-nyani?! He broke solid steel… with one punch?! Is this kid Superman?!"
Jessie and James' jaws hit the floor. Even Brock, usually composed, blinked hard behind his narrow eyes. A bare-handed punch snapping reinforced steel? That wasn't normal strength.
Ash calmly lowered his fist. He'd added Aura to the strike, nothing strange about the result to him. What mattered wasn't the claw, but the fact that Team Rocket had followed him all this way.
"So this is what the group meant by 'bad karma,' huh…" he muttered under his breath. They'd blasted off in Viridian City, yet somehow still tracked him here. Kanto was huge, and these three still managed to find him. Ridiculous!
Aloud, he shouted, "You three, let Clefairy go!"
Jessie stuck out her tongue. "Heh! As if villains would ever listen!"
James gave a mocking shrug. "Right! If we told you to hand Pikachu over, would you do it?"
Ash's eyes narrowed. He crouched, hands flat to the ground. Pikachu leapt up, landing neatly in his palm. With a swift motion, Ash hurled Pikachu forward like a javelin.
"You wanted Pikachu, right? Then take him!"
Team Rocket froze mid-pose. "H-he's really throwing it at us?!"
"Pikachu, THUNDERBOLT!!"
"『Σ(ﾟдﾟlll)?!』"
Before Jessie or James could even fumble for a Poké Ball, a blinding surge of electricity exploded point-blank.
"ZZZAAAP!!"
Golden lightning engulfed the trio, their screams echoing through the cave before a deafening BOOM! launched them skyward, straight out of Mt. Moon's entrance.
"You rotten brat, we'll be baaaack!"
"I didn't even get to send out Weezing!"
"My beautiful machine! He busted it bare-handed, Meowth!!"
"WHAT A NASTY FEELING!!!"
Their cries faded into the night as a twinkle shot across the sky.
Ash exhaled and sprinted to the trapped Clefairy. With a tug, he ripped apart the net. "You okay, Clefairy?"
"Clefairy~!" The pink Pokémon twirled happily, nodding to show it hadn't been hurt at all.
Team Rocket's net only had a restraining effect and wouldn't actually harm Clefairy.
"That's good. Be careful next time, don't get caught by bad guys." Ash stroked Clefairy's small head. Clefairy's eyes narrowed, clearly enjoying the gentle touch of his hand.
"Hey, Ash, you're really popular with Clefairy, aren't you? When you touched it just now, it didn't run away, and now it's letting you pet it." Misty walked up with a hint of envy in her voice.
"This Clefairy must be really friendly to people. Misty, you should try too," Ash said, stepping aside as Pikachu hopped back onto his shoulder.
"Really?" Misty, half-believing, approached Clefairy and carefully extended her hand. To her surprise, Clefairy didn't flinch or try to escape.
Encouraged, she placed her palm on Clefairy's head. The soft, velvety texture made her smile with satisfaction.
"Clefairy~~" After a while of interaction, Clefairy raised the Moon Stone in its hand and pointed toward the depths of the cave, gesturing urgently.
Misty glanced at Ash, confused. She didn't understand what Clefairy meant, but Ash should.
"It wants us to follow. Its tribe is holding a ritual to pray to the gods," Ash translated, though he couldn't help but feel puzzled himself. What kind of ritual could this be?
"A ritual to pray to the gods?"
"Ash… you can actually understand what Pokémon are saying?" Misty and Brock both spoke at once, though their focus was on different things.
Brock, especially, looked shocked, he hadn't known about this side of Ash.
"Yeah, I forgot to mention. Because I have Aura, I can understand Pokémon, and my body's a bit stronger than normal too. But now isn't the time for that, let's follow Clefairy and see what it wants to show us."
As Ash spoke, Clefairy was already heading deeper into Mt. Moon, glancing back every few steps to make sure the group was following.
Brock put aside his questions for now, and together with Ash and Misty, trailed behind Clefairy into the cave's depths…
Ten minutes later, the tunnel opened into a vast chamber.
The group froze in awe.
Dozens of Clefairy, each clutching a Moon Stone, danced in circles around a massive, glowing Moon Stone in the center. Their high-pitched voices echoed in unison, and their movements seemed to form a sacred pattern.
"What is this…? Is this the ritual to pray to the gods that Clefairy mentioned?" Ash whispered, swallowing hard.
Clefairy, so rare in the outside world, were here in numbers beyond counting. And Moon Stones, normally priceless treasures, were scattered everywhere, glittering like stars across the cavern floor.
What was this place? A Clefairy sanctuary? Their secret base?