A mechanical arm shot out toward Pikachu."Pikachu, use Iron Tail!" Ash shouted.Smash! With a swift spin, Pikachu struck the arm with its glowing tail, shattering it into pieces.
Thanks to Ash's Aura, he had sensed something suspicious. Sure enough—it was Team Rocket.
"What?! How did it break so easily, Meowth?!" Jessie snapped.
"You said this plan was foolproof!" James added, flailing in disbelief.
"It was foolproof—for electricity!" Meowth argued, clearly distressed. "I didn't expect Ash to skip the usual Thunderbolt and go straight to breaking our stuff, nya!"
Ash smirked. "Let's wrap this up. Taillow, Wing Attack!"
Taillow took flight with blinding speed and sliced through Team Rocket's hot air balloon.
"Hey, we didn't even get to do our motto!" Jessie yelled.
"We had lines ready and everything!" James added.
"This feels terrible, nyaaa!""Wobbuffet!"
And with that, Team Rocket was once again sent flying.
After saying goodbye to the eccentric Knickerbocker , Nicholai , Ash and the others continued on their way to Rustboro City.
"Wait up! I can't keep going... Can we please take a break?" May panted, trailing behind the group.
"Come on, May! We just stopped not too long ago," Max said with a sigh. "Your stamina is seriously lacking."
Ash and Brock shared a look. Honestly, they'd lost track of how many times they'd stopped for May already. If not for all the delays, they'd be in Rustboro by now.
"But I'm really tired this time," May groaned as she plopped down on the grass.
Ash sighed. "You really need to work on your endurance, May."
"Pikaaa~" Pikachu nodded in agreement.
"Hey! There's a Pokémon Center nearby!" Max exclaimed, checking his PokéNav.
"Pokémon Center? Does that mean... hot food?!" May's eyes lit up like stars. But someone else was even more excited.
"Pokémon Center?! Let's go—no, let's sprint! For Nurse Joy—I mean, for the food!" Brock exclaimed, grabbing May's arm and dragging her along.
"Wait, stop!" May pried herself free and backed into a tree. "Ow, what the—"
Ash walked over and pulled something out from the bark. "This… is a capture net. It's standard gear used by Pokémon poachers. Not something sold in any shop."
"Poachers?! That's awful!" May said angrily.
"In any case, we should head to the Pokémon Center first," Ash said. "Maybe they've seen something."
"Got it!" everyone responded.
Soon, the group arrived at the nearby Pokémon Center.
"Welcome!" Nurse Joy greeted them warmly.
"Nurse Joy~!" Brock cried, throwing himself forward—only to be shoved aside by May with a perfectly timed block. He slumped to the floor in silent agony. (╥﹏╥)
"Hey, Nurse Joy, did you transfer here from Oldale Town?" May asked curiously.
"Huh?"
"May," Ash said with a chuckle, "every Nurse Joy looks the same. They're all part of a huge family."
"That's right!" Max chimed in, pulling out a notebook filled with group photos of Joys from different towns.
"What?! They're all identical!" May gasped, stunned.
Just like Ash when he started out—truly a kindred spirit.
"Yes, I think you must've met my sister," Nurse Joy added with a smile.
Suddenly, Brock stepped forward, all suave and serious. "Ah, but you're different. I can tell. Your bangs are exactly one centimeter longer than the others."
Everyone: (•́ω•̀ ٥)
Ash thought, Figures. Brock's got talent where it's least useful.
"You're amazing!" May said, genuinely impressed.
"'Amazing' might not be the word I'd use," Max muttered, sweatdropping.
Just then, Officer Jenny walked in with her Growlithe.
"Officer Jenny~!" Brock spun around and dashed toward her. "Among all the Jennys in the country, your eyelashes are exactly half a centimeter longer!"
"Uh… really? I didn't even know that," Jenny replied, blinking in surprise.
"Wait, all of them?!" May gasped again.
"Yes," Max nodded, flipping to a section in his notebook filled with Officer Jenny photos.
"Anyway," Jenny cleared her throat, gently pushing Brock aside, "Nurse Joy, have you seen any injured Pokémon brought in recently? Anything unusual?"
"No, nothing out of the ordinary. Why?"
"We've been seeing a lot of poaching activity in this area."
"So it really is poachers!" May and Max exclaimed together.
Jenny pulled out a wanted poster. "This guy is Pokémon Hunter Rico. He's dangerous and has no concern for a Pokémon's wellbeing."
Ash handed her the broken net fragment. "We found this earlier—might be connected."
Jenny's eyes lit up. "Yes! This is definitely one of the nets used by poachers. Where did you find it?"
"In the forest just before we arrived."
"Can you take me there?"
"Of course!"
The group retraced their steps with Officer Jenny to the location.
"These nets immobilize the Pokémon, making them easy to capture," Jenny said, examining the area.
"Hey! Look at this!" Max called out, pointing to the ground.
It was a set of tire tracks.
"These are fresh. That poacher's nearby," Jenny muttered grimly.
"Agreed," Brock added. "He must still be in the area."
"Taillow, Pidgeot—I need your eyes in the sky!" Ash released his flying Pokémon. He also reached out with his Aura to scout ahead—if he remembered right, this was Team Rocket's turf in the original timeline.
Meanwhile…
Team Rocket was huddled in the bushes, scheming as usual. Meowth, distracted, tripped and rolled down a slope.
"Somebody save meeee—Oof!" Meowth crashed into something covered in a camouflaged tarp.
"Huh? What is this...?" Meowth pulled the tarp away, revealing a cage full of trembling Ekans.
"Wha—Ekans? A whole cage of them?! What's going on here?!"
Jessie and James came sliding down the slope after him.
"Are you okay, Meowth? What's all the noise?" Jessie asked.
After taking in the scene, they quickly figured it out: the Ekans had been captured.
"No way… We've gotta help them!" James declared.
"Yeah! Let's bust 'em out and build our own Ekans army!" Jessie added.
But just as they were about to make their move, a Fearow dive-bombed them from above, knocking them aside.
A jeep roared onto the scene, and a green-haired man stepped out.
"What do you think you're doing with my catch?" he sneered.
In the back of his vehicle, more cages were visible—including one holding Koffing.
It was clear now: Rico had captured not just wild Pokémon, but even Pokémon like Ekans and Koffing—Pokémon Team Rocket themselves once called partners.
The two sides glared at each other.
One side wanted to rescue the stolen Pokémon.
The other wanted to claim them as property.
To be continued...