Chapter 152: Meeting Ash for the First Time; Team Rocket (4,000 Words)

Petalburg Gym is located on the outskirts of Petalburg City, far from the bustling downtown area. The gym is surrounded by lush trees, with a botanical greenhouse right next to it.

The exterior and layout of the gym resemble a genuine, traditional Japanese-style dojo.

Su Yi walked into the gym's courtyard with Lusa, and the intense sounds of battle echoed from the battle arena inside.

"Oh? Is someone having a battle?" Su Yi walked inside with great interest.

"Pikachu, Quick Attack!"

"Vigoroth, Scratch!"

Intense commands rang out.

Hearing the voice he had heard countless times in videos and found immensely familiar, Su Yi said in surprise, "What a coincidence?!"

Entering the spacious battle arena of the gym, two combatants stood on opposite sides of the field.

A middle-aged man wearing a jacket wore a serious expression as he commanded an ape-like Pokémon, Vigoroth.

Vigoroth wielded its sharp claws with great momentum, attacking in succession and exerting immense pressure on its opponent.

Opposite the middle-aged man, a boy wearing a hat looked anxious.

On the field, the Pikachu he commanded was covered in scratches, clearly having a hard time.

Meanwhile, on the spectator bench beside the arena, a woman and a pair of children were watching the match.

Su Yi's arrival caught the attention of everyone except the boy on the field.

Seeing the gym leader Norman glance over from the arena, Su Yi nodded, took a seat on the bench, and waited patiently.

"A challenger, I presume?" Norman understood, shifting his attention back to the field.

On the field, Vigoroth remained full of energy, while Pikachu was in a precarious situation.

"I finally get to meet the Pikachu God and Ash." Su Yi silently marveled to himself.

The boy on the field was none other than Ash, whose goal was to become a Pokémon Master, though both he and the Pikachu God were still rather green at this stage.

"Pikachu, can you still battle?" Ash asked with concern.

"Pika!" Pikachu responded with a resilient cry.

"Alright, then..." Ash set aside his worries, preparing to fight with all his might.

Just at that moment, with a loud crash, the gym wall was blasted open, and a cloud of dust and debris scattered instantly.

Su Yi and Lusa happened to be right opposite the newly blown-open hole, and a flurry of dust and gravel rushed directly toward them.

"Meow?!" Lusa was baffled by the sudden attack.

"Watch out!" Su Yi quickly scooped up his small shield to block in front of Lusa. For a moment, the shield was battered by a barrage of small stones, making a clattering din.

"Achoo—cough, cough, cough! What... what is going on?!" Su Yi shielded his nose and mouth amidst the dust, coughing as he spoke.

"Wh... what's going on?!" A female voice deliberately imitating Su Yi's tone rang out.

Su Yi: "...Could it be?!"

"Since you eagerly ask us to state our intent,"

"We shall answer you with benevolence and grace."

"To prevent 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 through the galaxy's space."

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight to a white-hot pace."

"That's right, Meowth!"

"Wobbuffet!"

A man and a woman wearing uniforms emblazoned with the letter R, along with a talking Meowth, delivered the classic motto line by line. Finally, a Wobbuffet popped out of its Poké Ball on its own and shouted at the end to wrap it up.

"Team Rocket!" Ash and May, who was watching from the sidelines, exclaimed angrily.

Meanwhile, Norman's wife and May's mother, Caroline, said in surprise, "Oh my? Are these friends of May's? Thank you for looking after her usually."

She even gave a polite bow.

May immediately blushed with embarrassment and said, "They're bad guys, Mom!"

Caroline covered her mouth in astonishment, saying, "Is that so?"

Su Yi: ......

No matter how you looked at it, people who blasted through a wall like this were hardly good guys. You really are an airhead, Mrs. Caroline.

"Hand over Pikachu and Vigoroth!" Team Rocket immediately sent out Arbok and Weezing, initiating a Pokémon heist.

Weezing used SmokeScreen to obscure vision, and Arbok surged into the smoke to snatch the Pokémon.

Su Yi fanned away the smoke, coughing repeatedly as he said, "Cough, cough... Not again?!"

"Meow?! Su Yi, meow!" In the midst of the smoke, Lusa's voice suddenly rang out, rapidly receding into the distance.

"Aibo?!" Su Yi cried out in alarm, then quickly threw a Poké Ball.

"Corviknight! Use Hurricane to blow away this smoke!"

"Caw!" Corviknight flapped its wings, and a fierce gale swept through the smoke, dispersing it completely. The interior of the gym instantly cleared up.

"Pikachu!" Seeing that Pikachu hadn't been carried off by Team Rocket as usual, Ash breathed a sigh of relief.

Norman looked at the Vigoroth beside him and asked, "Are you alright, Vigoroth?"

"Vigor!" Vigoroth was still full of energy.

"Then the one that got dragged away..." May looked toward the breached wall.

Team Rocket had intended to take advantage of the thick smoke to quickly run over to their nearby hot air balloon and escape, but once the smoke cleared, their sneaky figures were instantly exposed.

"Huh? Pikachu is still over there!" James said in surprise, looking back.

"Then who did we catch..." Jessie looked down at the tightly bound little creature in her arms.

"What are you guys doing, meow?! Let me go right now, meow! Su Yi is super strong, meow!" Lusa protested indignantly.

"What kind of Pokémon is this?! It can talk just like Meowth!" James said in amazement.

"And it looks just like a cat, just like me!" Meowth added in wonder.

"It even has a 'meow' at the end of its sentences, and it's so cute—way cuter than Meowth." Jessie was instantly smitten by Lusa's cuteness.

"Such a rare Pokémon, meow..." Meowth rubbed his paws together.

"If we present this to Boss Giovanni..." James immediately caught on, his face filled with anticipation.

Then the trio cheered together, "A promotion and a raise, becoming an executive—we're blasting off with a great feeling!"

"Aren't you guys getting ahead of yourselves?" Su Yi walked forward with a dark expression, while Corviknight behind him flashed a sharp, fierce gaze.

"Oh? Is this your Pokémon? Too bad, it belongs to us now," Jessie said triumphantly, putting her hands on her hips.

"Why do you guys always have to provoke me?" Su Yi sighed.

Normally, he rather liked Team Rocket as the true protagonists, but nobody could ever feel happy when they went around stealing other people's Pokémon and companions.

"What kind of big talk are you spouting?" James scoffed softly.

"You guys! Stealing someone else's partner and still acting this arrogant!" Ash yelled angrily from the side.

Su Yi couldn't be bothered to waste words. He pointed at Team Rocket and commanded, "Corviknight, Brave Bird!"

"Caw!" Corviknight spread its wings and soared into the air, its entire body enveloped in a fiery aura before diving down like a shooting star.

"Arbok!"

"Weezing!"

"Stop it!"

However, before the two Pokémon could even execute a move, they were instantly sent flying by the Brave Bird attack.

Thud! Thud!

Arbok and Weezing collapsed onto the ground with swirling patterns in their eyes.

"Just a single hit..." Meowth said in panic.

"Is that Pokémon really that strong?" Jessie and James stared with cold sweat pouring down their backs at their fallen Pokémon.

"That Pokémon is so strong. Is it also from the Hoenn region?" Ash asked in astonishment.

Norman, however, shook his head and said, "I don't think this is a Pokémon from the Hoenn region."

Ash pulled out his Pokédex to check, only to receive a "Data unknown" prompt.

"It's over. Steel Wing!" Su Yi commanded.

Hum!

Corviknight's metallic wings fluttered with agile grace, cleanly slicing through the rope binding Lusa, and then swept Team Rocket away with a powerful gust.

With a loud crash, they collided with Arbok and Weezing, ultimately tumbling down right next to their hot air balloon.

"Hurricane!"

As the words fell, a violent tempest swept toward Team Rocket.

Crack... sizzle!

Amidst the fierce wind, the hot air balloon seemed to suffer some malfunction, beginning to spark with electricity.

"Oh... oh no!" Team Rocket felt a deep sense of foreboding.

Boom!

The next instant, the hot air balloon exploded, and several dark figures shot straight up into the firmament, disappearing into the clear sky.

"We're blasting off again!"

"Do they really fly that high?" Su Yi looked up at the sky, utterly astounded.

"Su Yi, meow!" Lusa scampered over on its little legs. Su Yi opened his arms, scooped it up, and asked, "Are you hurt, aibo?"

"Not at all, meow." Lusa shook its head.

Ash jogged over, holding Pikachu and looking curious. "It's true! It really is a talking Pokémon, just like Team Rocket's Meowth."

"Hello, I'm Ash from Pallet Town, and this is my partner, Pikachu."

"Pika~" The Pikachu cradled in Ash's arms waved its short little hand, greeting Lusa and Su Yi.

"Hello, my name is Su Yi, an adventurer from a faraway land. This is my partner, Lusa."

"Hello to you too, meow~" Lusa, also held in arms, waved back in a friendly manner.

The representative of cute Pokémon and the representative of Monster Hunter cuteness were now having an epic encounter.

"So, big brother Su Yi, you aren't from the Hoenn region?" Ash asked curiously as they walked.

"That's right, I'm not from Hoenn."

"Between my two partners here, Lusa's species is called an Felyne. Because they look like cute cats, they're generally referred to as Palicoes. They're a race from where I come from."

"As for Corviknight, I caught it in the Galar region," Su Yi introduced.

"Galar...?" Ash had never heard of that place.

"You're a rare visitor coming from a very distant place, indeed," Norman noted with surprise.

"Lusa is so cute." May walked over, gazing at the fluffy cat-like creature, her heart practically melting.

"Torchic?" May's starter Pokémon, the orange-feathered Torchic, looked up at her.

May hurriedly squatted down, stroked Torchic, and said, "Of course Torchic is very cute too."

"Torchic~" Torchic happily raised its head and rubbed against May's hand, acting spoiled.

"Corviknight is so cool! Both Brave Bird and Hurricane were executed so effortlessly," the young boy wearing glasses said excitedly.

Corviknight's sharp gaze and armor-like physique evidently appealed much more to young boys.

"Can I pet it, big brother Su Yi?" The young boy stepped a little closer, asking with an expectant look.

Caroline quickly pulled back the restless young boy and said, "You mustn't be too willful, Max."

Su Yi waved his hand and said, "It's fine, just make sure not to make Corviknight uncomfortable."

"Okay!" Max agreed quickly, then reached out to touch Corviknight's wings.

"Smooth, tough, and it has a metallic feel to it," Max said, filled with childlike wonder as he experienced physical contact with a Pokémon.

"Su Yi, thank you for chasing away the bad guys and protecting everyone's Pokémon and my family," Norman expressed his gratitude.

Su Yi waved his hand dismissively. "Mr. Norman, you're too kind."

With a trace of apology, Norman said, "You came here to challenge the gym, but as you can see, the battle arena is in complete ruins."

"Showing such a messy side to a challenger is a dereliction of duty as a gym leader. Please allow me to dispatch a professional crew to repair the gym. The battles can resume tomorrow at the latest."

Actually, Su Yi wanted to say he didn't mind, but considering that the gym was also Mr. Norman's home, if that breached wall happened to be load-bearing, the danger would be significant.

"It's fine, I have plenty of time," Su Yi nodded.

...

Mr. Norman made a phone call, and within a few minutes, a team equipped with professional tools and Pokémon arrived to begin repairing the damaged gym.

With no other choice, Su Yi decided to take a stroll around Petalburg City first, while May and Max volunteered to act as tour guides.

"If Pikachu hadn't gotten hurt during the battle with Mr. Norman, I'd really love to have a match with big brother Su Yi," Ash remarked on the way to the city center.

"Ash, you really don't know your own limits. You don't even have a full team of Pokémon yet you dare to challenge our family's gym," Max teased.

"I already told you, I want to challenge it using partners I caught in Hoenn!" Ash retorted angrily.

"But just now in the practice battle, you were constantly suppressed by Dad's Vigoroth," Max smiled and scoffed.

"That was because..." Ash was momentarily at a loss for words.

Listening from the side, Su Yi was speechless. Little Max was indeed quite annoying during the early stages of the journey.

"Oh, that's right!" Su Yi suddenly halted his steps.

"What's up?" Ash turned around in confusion.

"Well, not long ago, I went to Kanto to talk business with Professor Oak, and when passing through Viridian Forest, I happened to run into a certain Pokémon."

As he spoke, Su Yi took out his Rotom Phone and pulled up a specific video.

"Ash, this is your Pidgeot, right?"

"Pidgeot!?" Ash looked at the Pokémon in the video. He couldn't possibly mistake it—that was his Pidgeot!

"Is this one of Ash's Pokémon?" May watched with curiosity.

In the video, Pidgeot was chirping happily as if telling them something.

"It says to go on your adventure without worry, meow, because they won't be bullied anymore, meow," Lusa chimed in from the side.

"Pidgeot..." Looking at Pidgeot and the flock circling around it, Ash felt a mix of longing and relief in his heart.

"Is Pidgeot doing well?" Ash asked.

Su Yi nodded and said, "Mmm, under its protection, the Pidgey flock is growing steadily. It's a reliable and powerful leader."

"That's great, Pidgeot." Seeing the energetic Pidgeot in the video, Ash felt a slight sting in his nose.

Su Yi looked at the young boy. At this age, he had already learned how to let go—not for his own selfish gain, but for the sake of Pokémon and their community.

This was a remarkable growth.

"Ash, I understand the feeling of wanting to meet new partners and embark on new adventures with companions you've caught in this region."

"But sometimes, old friends miss you too. Every now and then, let them see the sights you're witnessing now," Su Yi said earnestly.

"Yeah, thanks, big brother Su Yi." Ash flashed a bright smile once more.