The sun slowly rose, its warm light shining through the ancient tree and spilling across everyone's faces.
Under that glow, an unbelievable sight unfolded before them—
a projection showing the entire life story of the ancient tree.
Once, this forest had been barren.
Only a single sapling stood alone.
As the sapling grew taller and stronger, it scattered seeds across the land.
Those seeds sprouted, grew, and multiplied—until the once-empty plain became the lush forest they now stood in.
Yet as all the other trees thrived, the great ancestor tree aged… and withered.
And today… its long life had finally reached its end.
But as its trunk split apart completely—
a large seed burst free from the broken core.
A new life.
A promise that someday, a new giant tree would rise again.
This was the cycle of life—old giving way to new.
The ancient tree had completed its mission.
Treecko no longer had a reason to remain and guard it.
He turned to Ash—
and challenged him to a battle.
Even if Ash had helped him, even if they had shared foolish moments together—
The proper rite still had to be followed.
In the battle, Treecko displayed incredible agility—
so fast that Pikachu could barely keep up.
Naturally, this made sense.
After all, the Pikachu who arrived in Hoenn had basically been "reset," with only about 20% of his true power accessible…
Still, Pikachu managed to land a beautiful finishing blow.
Treecko was caught.
And thus began the story of Ash and his future Sceptile.
Hoenn – At the Real Ancient Tree
The real Treecko sat weakly on the ground.
He never imagined the tree he lived in would one day be shattered… by humans.
It hurt.
But Treecko was resilient.
After barely five minutes of sadness, he forced himself to calm.
The tree was doomed to die sooner or later—
Team Rocket merely sped up the inevitable.
And because of that, Treecko learned the truth:
The ancient tree had already prepared its successor.
More importantly…
He had not missed the chance to meet the trainer destined for him.
It wasn't that he had "betrayed" his promise.
It was that—
His promise had already been fulfilled.
He truly stayed with the ancient tree until the end.
Now… it was time for him to protect something new.
Treecko stared at Ash's youthful smile on the screen.
Trainer from Pallet Town… show me whether you're worthy of being the one I follow.
Commentary Worldwide
[Lance]: Hmph! Team Rocket is always Team Rocket! Even those three can't stop doing evil!
[Cynthia]: But… ironically, their evil helped Ash again. Without them, Treecko might not have chosen him so quickly.
[Steven]: Cynthia's right. Others do good deeds that become disasters—Team Rocket does evil that becomes blessings.
If not for them, Ash would've missed out on one of his greatest soldiers.
At Team Plasma HQ
Ghetsis froze.
Moments ago, he'd mocked "bonds" and "promises."
Now he looked ridiculous.
Fortunately, only Colress was with him.
If others had heard, he might have "silenced" them…
Back to Team Rocket
"Wh-what the heck?! How did we HELP the twerp again?!" Jessie screamed.
"We DID do bad stuff, nya!" Meowth insisted. "It's just that the twerp messed it all up like always!"
"Do we… not have the talent to be villains?" James whispered.
BONK!
Jessie smashed her fist onto James's head.
"What nonsense! We are the evilest villains in the whole world! Setbacks mean nothing—WE WILL RISE!"
"Yeah-yeah! And our new robot is already in development!" Meowth said proudly.
"I saw something in the Heavenly Dao Shop! A guide called How to Build a Gundam, nya! Looked super strong too!"
"How much?" Jessie asked.
"Only fifty million, nya! A real bargain!"
Jessie & James: ??????
Their entire budget wasn't even half a million.
Fifty million… was a bargain?!
Were they crazy—or was Meowth crazy?!
But Team Rocket's delusions aside, the video continued.
After catching Treecko, the group resumed their journey.
And soon—
The Seviper Incident
While they were eating, a vicious snake Pokémon suddenly slithered toward May's Torchic.
A Seviper.
Red fangs like daggers.
Blade-like tail.
Dark scales.
A cruel, predatory aura.
Definitely not a friendly encounter.
It ate Torchic's food—
Then tried to eat Torchic itself.
Treecko jumped in to protect it.
But during the fight, Seviper's poison strike left Treecko gravely injured.
Ash blasted Seviper away with Pikachu's Thunderbolt, then carried Treecko straight to a Pokémon Center.
[Koga]: That Seviper… its poison technique isn't bad.
[Karen]: Cold, cruel, spiteful… even darker than most Dark-types.
[Grimsley]: Hey! Stop slandering Dark-types! We're nice!
[Karen]: I meant the Seviper, not all Dark-types!
[…]
The two Dark-type elites bickered while Steven rubbed his temples.
Meanwhile—Team Rocket Again
Seviper, driven off by Pikachu, stumbled upon Team Rocket—
who were eating their lone rice ball.
Yes, one rice ball. For three people.
The poorest villains in history.
Seviper wanted the food.
Team Rocket wanted Seviper, a powerful Pokémon was rare for them.
They fought.
Their entire lineup got wrecked.
When the rice ball was about to be stolen…
Jessie sprang forward—
—and snatched the rice ball out of Seviper's jaws.
At the cost of her long, luscious hair, which Seviper BIT OFF.
Jessie: !!!!!!!!
Future Jessie on the screen went berserk.
"HOW DARE YOU?! HOW. DARE. YOU?!"
Jessie Unleashed
Flames of rage burst behind her like a demon from hell.
"My hair—my most precious hair—
YOU DARE TO MESS WITH IT?!"
"Jessie! Calm down! That's FUTURE you!" James yelled.
"Your real hair is still fine!" Meowth cried.
Present-day Jessie touched her hair, sighed in relief… and calmed down.
But video-Jessie was just getting started.
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