"Is anyone here? Excuse us!" Ash and his friends walked in.
The place was small but fully equipped with a computer, bookshelves, a table, and chairs. On the table were dolls of Loudred and Zigzagoon! It felt incredibly cozy.
"What in the world is this place?!" (⊙o⊙) Everyone was surprised.
"There's even a personal computer!" May exclaimed.
Max walked over to the bookshelf, took out a book, and said, "Hey, this is The Guide to Winning Pokémon Battles!"
"Really? There's a book like that?" May came up behind Max, (⊙o⊙) astonished.
"Don't touch that!" Everyone was startled and turned to see a small boy standing behind a Nincada, shouting.
However, the boy was a little timid, and in his nervousness, he spoke quickly. "Don't you dare come into my secret base without permission!"
"Ah, it's a Nincada!"
"A secret base..."
"We're sorry, we didn't know..."
The boy, with the most timid expression, yelled, "Get out! Get out!"
"But we didn't come in on purpose!"
"I won't listen, I won't listen! Nincada, use Fury Swipes!" The boy was on the verge of tears and chased Ash and his friends out. "Don't let me see you again!" Bang!
Ash and his friends had no choice but to return the way they came.
Meanwhile, Team Rocket, who had been hiding and listening to their conversation, didn't hesitate to kick the boy out and keep the Nincada. They then made the place their own secret base and called their boss, Giovanni.
On the other side, Ash and his friends were exploring another cave. They had just finished looking at a group of Zubat and were now leaving the cave!
"That was awesome! It was my first time seeing so many Zubat!" Max said happily.
"Of course! It's daytime, so the Zubat are all still," Professor Birch explained.
Just then, May froze for a moment. She saw a boy sitting on a rock nearby. "Hey, isn't that the boy from just now...?"
Ash and the others looked over and saw it was indeed the boy from the secret base!
"I'm sorry for trespassing in your secret base just now! My name is Ash from Pallet Town. What's your name?" Ash walked up to him and introduced himself. "Pika~"
"I... I'm Kazuteru," Kazuteru said, his eyes red as if he were about to cry.
"What's wrong with your Nincada?" Max asked, accidentally breaking the camel's back.
Kazuteru burst into tears, sobbing as he said, "It... it was... stolen by bad guys!"
"Was it a guy, a girl, and a Meowth?" Ash asked.
Kazuteru nodded.
"Ah! It's Team Rocket again! That's just awful!" (??v_v??:) May said angrily.
"I've never won a Pokémon battle, not once, ever," Kazuteru suddenly said, his mood sinking as he fell into his own memories.
"Never won?!" Max looked at Kazuteru in shock.
Kazuteru glared at Max with wide eyes.
"Um... sorry." (??w???) Max was startled and quickly apologized.
"I love Pokémon, but I hate battling with them," Kazuteru continued.
"Is it because you've never won?" Brock asked with concern.
"Yeah! It's boring to always lose! Honestly, I'm so tired of losing that I just want to hide in a hole. That's why I came here and built my secret base," Kazuteru said, admitting he was just running away from reality in his secret base because he couldn't win battles.
"Did you build that secret base?" Max asked curiously.
Kazuteru explained, "No, Nincada helped me build it. No one would bother us there. It was our own little world."
May couldn't stand listening anymore. (??へ??╬) She yelled, "This is ridiculous! You can't have a Pokémon battle without an opponent! You should be catching Pokémon and battling with friends! Crying in your own little space won't change anything!"
Ash and Brock nodded, thinking May had a great point in theory, but in practice...
(￢_￢) Max said, speechless, "Big sister, you're trying to give advice on Pokémon battles, but you're not very convincing!"
"But..." May fell to the ground in frustration, hearing Max tear down her argument.
"How about this, Kazuteru? Let's go get your Nincada back together!" Ash suggested.
Kazuteru looked up (＠゜▽゜＠)ノ. "Really, Ash? Thank you!"
At the secret base, Team Rocket had already been chased out by Team Magma, who had driven a drilling vehicle in and created a tunnel through the wall.
Later, Ash and the others arrived at Kazuteru's secret base, only to find it in ruins. The tables, chairs, and everything else were destroyed, and there was a huge hole in the wall leading into a tunnel.
"No! My secret base is destroyed!" (?﹏?) Kazuteru said sadly.
"This is too much!"
"Who would do something like this?!"
"Wait, Nincada, where are you?" Kazuteru began to worry about his Nincada.
"Let's go in and see! Maybe we'll find something!" Ash said, pointing to the tunnel.
Ash and the others walked into the tunnel. After a while, they came to a wide-open area with tall buildings rising all around them!
"I can't believe there's a huge ruin like this behind the cave," Professor Birch said in awe.
BOOM!!
Everyone looked in the direction of the explosion and saw a man in a red uniform with a Houndoom standing next to a building, and five people in blue wetsuits, with a Sharpedo in the water nearby.
"It's Team Magma and Team Aqua! What are they doing here?" Ash recognized the uniforms from the members he had previously sent to jail. He also remembered this part of the plot. These ruins were useless and only served to introduce the goals of Team Magma and Team Aqua in the anime.
"Great work, Team Magma! Thanks for your help," the female leader of Team Aqua said mockingly.
"Team Aqua, it really is you," the male leader of Team Magma said.
"I'll handle things here. Everyone else, please leave. We should avoid pointless battles and prioritize the mission," the woman ordered.
After that, the Team Aqua members ran into the building to search.
"Team Leader Tabitha, for you to come out personally, this ruin must be very important to Team Magma!" the woman teased.
"Team Leader Shelly, you should be happy there's water here so you can use your pride and joy, Sharpedo," Tabitha retorted.
"Maybe I can teach your Houndoom how to swim!" Shelly said with a laugh.
"Heh, you want to try me?" Tabitha didn't back down.
The two were at odds, but they didn't actually fight.
Ash and the others, observing from a distance, heard May say, "Their relationship seems pretty bad!"
"I've heard those names before. They're people who use Pokémon to do bad things, but what are they looking for in these ruins?" Professor Birch said.
"Let's wait and see. There are too many of them. We'll watch what they do and then decide," Ash suggested. Mainly, my strongest Pokémon aren't with me. Going in there now would be suicide!
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Just then, Tabitha's walkie-talkie buzzed. "This is Magma One. The Aqua gang has invaded the interior? No problem! Continue the mission."
"Yes."
Tabitha asked Shelly, "What if we find what we're looking for, and there's no power for you here?"
Shelly smiled and asked him the same question. "I'll ask you the same thing: even if the power you or we are looking for is here, can you control it?"
"What, did you bring the Red Orb?" Tabitha sneered.
Shelly then probed, "What if I did?"
"Then, of course..." Tabitha stepped forward. If Shelly said yes, he would immediately launch an all-out attack.
After a moment of confrontation, Shelly backed down first. "Hmph! Unfortunately, I'm not yet worthy of touching that thing. I guess you're not worthy of bringing out the... Blue Orb either."
The non-flying Red Orb and the chubby-headed Blue Orb? No! That's not it. The matchups are wrong. They must just be orbs that can control them! It seems both organizations have already acquired the orbs to control them and are now looking for the place to awaken them. But they're just a bunch of frogs in a well; the ocean and land are nothing compared to the sky. If I had to choose, I'd choose Rayquaza, Ash thought dismissively.
"Why do you need the power of the land?! The power of the ocean that we seek can wash everything away! You have no chance of winning!"
"Only someone who doesn't understand the power of the land would say that!"
Tabitha and Shelly stood at a stalemate, exchanging insults.
"Did we just hear some big-time secrets?!" May asked carefully.
Everyone nodded. The information was indeed quite shocking.
More than shocking, we're about to find out their ultimate goal! Ash thought to himself.
Just then, a report came through Tabitha's walkie-talkie. "This is Magma Two. All floors have been searched. No 'G' signal found anywhere."
Tabitha immediately gave an order. "Understood. All personnel, withdraw immediately." "Yes!"
Shelly mocked him, "What do you think? Looks like you came up empty-handed."
Just then, her walkie-talkie buzzed. "This is Cyclone A. No 'K' signal was found inside the ruins. My guess is that this isn't the 'Temple of Awakening' but just an ancient tower of blessing." Shelly's face was slapped with reality.
Shelly said in a huff, "Understood. You can disengage." Why now? Why not earlier?! "Yes!"
Tabitha laughed at Shelly. "Looks like you guys also came up empty-handed! It seems this isn't the 'Temple of Awakening' after all!"
Shelly sighed. "I guess not."
"Why would ancient people build such an ambiguous place?" Tabitha said, speechless.
After a brief confrontation, both Team Aqua and Team Magma withdrew.
Ash and his friends discussed what they had just witnessed.
"What were those people looking for?" Max asked.
"I don't know," Ash replied, not planning to tell them the truth. First, he had no proof, and second, it wouldn't make a difference if he did. Ash then saw Team Rocket jump out, celebrating. "Huh? Team Rocket!"
"Yay! Yay! Yay!"
"Those troublemakers are finally gone!" Jessie said, holding the Nincada that was wrapped in white thread.
"And those guys left without taking anything."
"We should hurry up and start our treasure hunt, meow."
"Sonnans~"
"Nincada, you have to help us look for treasure, too." Jessie gave a kind smile.
"Nincada!" Kazuteru yelled. Ash and the others showed themselves, glaring at Team Rocket.
"Give us back Nincada!"
"Noctowl, use Psychic to send us down!"
Noctowl carried everyone down from the ledge.
"Hey! Don't come down here!" "We haven't started our treasure hunt yet!"
"Pikachu, use Quick Attack and Iron Tail to save Nincada!" "Pika~"
A flash of white light cut the white thread wrapped around Nincada next to Team Rocket.
"Ah! You darn brats!" The three members of Team Rocket started shouting.
"Alright, Kazuteru, go!" Ash said to Kazuteru.
"But I'm scared!" Kazuteru was a little frightened.
"Kazuteru, you have to believe in Nincada!" Ash encouraged.
Kazuteru saw Nincada smile and nod at him.
"Okay! Nincada, use Secret Power!" Kazuteru mustered his courage and commanded.
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"
"Pikachu"
Pikachu released a yellow bolt of electricity, and Nincada fired a white beam, hitting Team Rocket.
"That's a nasty feeling!" "Sonnans (???)~"
Afterward, Professor Birch reported the information to the Pokémon League, and Ash had a battle with Kazuteru. The result was a foregone conclusion, as Ash couldn't use his newborn Ralts and Mudkip. So, the battle served as an experience-booster for Ash's Pokémon, and Quilava reached the peak of the Elite level!
Thankfully, defeating Team Rocket gave Kazuteru new confidence, and he decided to rebuild his secret base!
To be continued...
Ash's Team: Pikachu, Noctowl, Quilava, Croconaw, Ralts, Mudkip