Under the fruit tree, the Pinsir that was pretending to sleep sensed Scyther’s appearance and quietly cracked one eye open.
Scyther seemed completely unaware.
It controlled its footsteps, every step careful and cautious, making no sound at all.
It was afraid that the slightest rustle of grass or movement in the wind would wake Pinsir.
Little did it know that while the mantis stalks the cicada, the oriole had already been waiting for a long time.
“Almost there.
Those two Pokémon are already very close.
They could start fighting at any moment!” Ash forcefully restrained his urge to make a move.
Under the fruit tree.
Just as Scyther was still five meters away from Pinsir, its movements suddenly became much larger.
The pair of wings on its back vibrated rapidly.
Scyther leapt straight into the air, relying on the wings on its back to glide toward Pinsir and pounce!
The scythe in its hand was raised high.
If this slash landed, that sharp blade would probably split Pinsir directly in two!
But Pinsir had long since been prepared.
How could a hunter waiting for its prey to take the bait be killed by its prey so easily?
Pinsir immediately erupted into action.
The pair of large pincers on its head snapped shut with a click, clamping tightly onto Scyther’s scythe.
Scyther’s eyes widened.
It had never expected that its attack, which had been just about to succeed, would be blocked by its opponent at the final moment.
Fortunately, it did not have only one scythe arm.
After one scythe was caught in Pinsir’s large pincers, Scyther swung out its other scythe without even thinking.
Pinsir was clearly no pushover either.
After Scyther launched its attack, Pinsir also counterattacked.
It swung out its claws, colliding with the scythe.
For a time, the two Pokémon were actually evenly matched, and neither could do anything to the other.
“It looks like these two Pokémon are about equal in strength.” Ash continued suppressing the restlessness in his heart.
Scyther and Pinsir continued fighting.
Battles between wild Pokémon were extremely cruel, and neither side was willing to show weakness.
The two sides exchanged blows back and forth, leaving quite a few wounds on each other’s bodies.
Seeing this, Ash immediately revealed a smile.
“Now!”
“Go, Pidgey!”
With a wave of his hand, Ash directly brought Pidgey and Pikachu out of the grass.
“Pidgey—”
Under Ash’s command, Pidgey dove forward at extreme speed.
Its wings flapped, whipping up a violent gale.
Both Bug-type Pokémon were weak against Flying-type moves.
Moreover, both Pokémon were now in a state where they had injured each other badly.
Three different circumstances layered together.
This allowed a weak Pokémon like Pidgey to use a basic move like Gust and still produce an unimaginable effect!
The wild wind raged.
Scyther and Pinsir were both directly blown away.
“Seize the chance!
Pidgey, use Quick Attack!” Ash continued issuing attack commands.
The attacks he launched were like a storm, leaving his opponents no room to resist at all.
The moves were tightly chained together, one after another.
Before the violent wind had even stopped, Pidgey used Quick Attack.
Its speed surged, and it brushed past Pinsir and Scyther in succession.
Even though it only grazed them, the power still could not be underestimated.
Pinsir fainted directly.
Scyther was still gritting its teeth and holding on, but it was already making a final desperate struggle.
“Now!
Go, Poké Balls!” Ash took out two Poké Balls and threw them directly at Pinsir and Scyther respectively.
The unconscious Pinsir had no strength left to resist and was caught directly by the Poké Ball.
As for Scyther, its situation was not much different.
With its stamina bottomed out, it was also successfully caught by Ash without any surprise.
“Great!
With this, I’ve caught Pinsir and Scyther…” Ash stepped forward and picked up the Poké Balls, but before he could celebrate—
An unexpected change suddenly occurred.
A huge hot-air balloon descended from high above.
“Twerp, we finally found you!”
The voice was filled with hatred and carried hysterical fury.
“Who is it?”
Ash and Misty froze for a moment, then looked up together.
“Prepare for trouble…”
A familiar line rang out.
Misty’s eyes widened, seeming somewhat incredulous.
“It’s Team Rocket!
Weren’t you guys already arrested by the police?”
Ash, however, did not hesitate.
“Pidgey, use Quick Attack.”
The moment his words fell, Pidgey charged straight toward the hot-air balloon at extreme speed.
Its sharp feathers struck down the hot-air balloon.
With a loud boom, the hot-air balloon crashed to the ground.
However, Team Rocket’s trio clearly would not get into trouble so easily.
Jessie, James, and Meowth crawled out from beneath the hot-air balloon with difficulty and glared angrily at Ash.
“You rotten twerp!
“Yeah!
Don’t you know interrupting other people is super rude, meow?!”
Their voices entered Ash’s ears, but he only found them somewhat noisy.
“There’s no reason to refuse experience points that deliver themselves to my door.
Go, Pidgey.
Use Quick Attack again,” Ash continued ordering an attack.
“Pidgey—”
Pidgey cried out and charged again.
This scene frightened Jessie and James so much that they hurriedly released their Pokémon.
“Young Trainers these days really have no sense of fair play.
Come out, Ekans!
Use Poison Sting!”
“Koffing, let’s use Smokescreen.”
Jessie and James immediately gave orders to their respective Pokémon.
“Koffing~”
Koffing called out leisurely, then spat out a large amount of thick smoke from the holes on its body.
In just a few breaths, the smoke wrapped around Team Rocket’s trio.
Having lost sight of its targets, Pidgey did not dare to attack recklessly.
At that moment, Ekans’s cry rang out.
“Chaa—”
Several poisonous needles shot over.
Pidgey could not dodge in time and was knocked down to the ground.
The figures of Team Rocket’s trio and their Pokémon slowly walked out from the smoke.
“Hehehe.
Twerp, since you dared to ruin our plan, don’t blame us for being ruthless,” Jessie said with a savage expression.
Meowth immediately chimed in from the side, “That’s right, meow!
I’m gonna steal all your Pokémon, then strip you naked and throw you into the river to feed the fish!”
James realized that Jessie and Meowth had already said all the lines, and for a moment, he did not know what to say.
He looked carefully and happened to notice Pidgey collapsed in front of him.
So James strode forward and kicked Pidgey away with one foot, not forgetting to mock it as he did.
“A route-one bird you can see anywhere by the roadside, even less rare than a stray dog, dares to fly around in front of me?
Go die!”
With that kick, Pidgey was sent flying backward.
The pain on its body and the humiliation in its heart made Pidgey completely furious.
It adjusted its posture in midair, its eyes wide with rage.
Pidgey raised its head and cried out.
Its voice grew sharper and sharper, until finally, dazzling light erupted from its body.
“Pidgeo—!!”