Team Rocket’s main force had already completed their mission and withdrawn from Mt.
Moon.
Jessie, James, and Meowth, who had been temporarily added to the mission, were naturally ordered to stay behind and cover the retreat.
There was nothing they could do.
After all, Proton was a Team Rocket executive.
No matter how unwilling Jessie, James, and Meowth were, they could not refuse.
Under Ash and his group’s stare, the Team Rocket trio swallowed, and an ominous premonition rose from the bottom of their hearts.
“Why do I suddenly have a really bad feeling…” the Team Rocket trio said in unison.
In the next second, Ash shouted, “Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!
Pidgeotto, use Gust!”
Misty and Brock did not stay idle either.
“Starmie, go!”
“Onix, use Rock Throw!”
The two of them also threw out their Poké Balls and released their Pokémon.
The scene instantly became chaotic.
With Team Rocket’s main force gone, only the Team Rocket trio remained at the scene.
To put it simply, Proton had never taken these three seriously, nor had he considered them his subordinates.
He had merely happened to run into the three of them passing by and dragged them over to do hard labor.
After Team Rocket’s main force withdrew, among the remaining Team Rocket trio, Ekans had already been defeated by Pikachu.
Only James’s Koffing and Meowth still had some combat ability.
But leaving aside Meowth’s fighting ability, these two battle members clearly could not withstand Ash and his group’s joint assault.
Starmie spun rapidly through the air and knocked Meowth flying.
Onix swung its tail, throwing countless pieces of shattered rock down onto the Team Rocket trio.
Pidgeotto flapped its wings, and the fierce wind almost blew them away.
Finally, Pikachu’s Thunderbolt finished things off.
A terrifying electric current burst forth, striking the Team Rocket trio and triggering a violent explosion.
The blast sent them flying away until they disappeared into the depths of Mt.
Moon’s cave.
“What a horrible feeling!”
“Damn you, twerp, little girl, and squinty-eyed twerp!
We’ll definitely be back!”
Inside Mt.
Moon’s cave, only the resentful voices of the Team Rocket trio remained.
It was not just Ash’s group.
Without Team Rocket’s threat, the Science Museum staff also rushed forward one after another and gathered around the old man, their expressions full of concern and worry.
“Director, are you all right?”
“That evil Team Rocket is absolutely hateful!
They actually beat our most respected Director like this!”
The museum employees were each filled with righteous indignation, as if they wished they could tear the Team Rocket executive who had hurt the old man to pieces on the spot.
Seeing this, Ash, Misty, and Brock could not help frowning.
Clearly, these people had looked as if they were afraid the old man would drag them down just a moment ago.
But now that Team Rocket’s threat was gone, they immediately changed their faces.
Was this the world of adults?
It really was ironic enough…
After Ash figured this out, he shook his head and did not take it to heart.
“Are you okay?
Are you feeling any better?” Ash helped the Director up.
After taking a brutal beating from Proton, the already elderly Director was now breathing out more than he was breathing in.
The aura around him grew weaker and weaker, and he looked as if he were on the verge of death.
“He looks like he might not make it…” Brock stepped forward and carefully checked him over, eventually giving a cruel answer.
“How could this happen…” Misty could not bear to look and turned her head away, covering her face with her hand.
Just as everyone sank into a sorrowful atmosphere, a seven-colored rainbow light slowly began to shine.
Everyone’s gaze was drawn to the sudden glow.
“Ash, the source of that light seems to be inside your backpack,” Brock said in surprise, pointing at Ash’s backpack.
Misty and Ash froze when they saw this.
Such a familiar seven-colored light immediately made them think of Ho-Oh’s feather.
“Could it be Ash’s Rainbow Wing?” Misty covered her mouth.
She had never expected this feather to release light at a time like this.
Ever since Ash obtained this feather on the outskirts of Viridian City, Misty and Ash had immediately started investigating the feather and Ho-Oh’s origins.
In the end, the two of them learned the stories related to Ho-Oh from the legends of the Johto region.
According to legend, three Pokémon were accidentally burned to death in a great fire.
Ho-Oh mercifully revealed its divine power and revived them.
That powerful force caused the three revived Pokémon to become Legendary Pokémon as well.
Suddenly, Misty and Ash looked at each other.
Misty hurriedly said, “In the legends, Ho-Oh has the power to bring people back to life.
Ash, hurry and take out the feather!
It might be able to save the Director!”
Ash nodded, not daring to hesitate at all.
He opened his backpack and took out a feather radiating seven-colored light.
As Ash held the feather in his hand, the light blooming from it illuminated the entire cave.
Everyone was bathed in that radiance.
A comfortable sensation made them unable to stop themselves from sighing.
“This feels so nice.
It’s like coming home after an entire day of hard work, taking a hot bath, lying in bed wrapped in a blanket, falling asleep, then waking up the next morning and changing into a fresh pair of underwear.”
“It reminds me of my mother’s embrace when I was little…”
As the museum staff basked in this light, they could not help falling into their most comforting memories one after another.
This was a cheer that came from the instincts of life itself.
Their cells rejoiced, and every nerve seemed to dance.
Ash placed the feather on the heavily injured and dying old man.
A miraculous scene quickly happened.
The old man, who had already been on his last breath, recovered his vitality at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The injuries on his body healed completely, and he even became more energetic.
Even the fossilized egg in the old man’s arms, which had been buried in the river of time for who knew how many years, gradually began to show signs of life.
Its hard outer shell faded away, and the fossilized egg regained life.
It now looked no different from an ordinary Pokémon Egg.
“I… I’ve completely recovered, and I feel at least twenty years younger!” the old man said in disbelief as he looked at the scene.
“Young Trainer, may I take a look at this feather?” The old man’s face was filled with excitement.
He had never imagined that such a miraculous thing would happen to him.
Ash looked at the old man and confirmed that there was no greed in his eyes before handing the Rainbow Wing to him.
After the old man received the Rainbow Wing, the instant he touched it, the seven-colored rainbow light that had enveloped the cave instantly turned grayish-white.
Despair, fear… and all kinds of negative emotions surged into their hearts.
This scene frightened the old man so much that he hurriedly let go of the Rainbow Wing.
When the Rainbow Wing fell back into Ash’s hand, it actually regained its colors once more.
However, it no longer released that warm and comforting light.
It seemed this was a feather that could only display its special effects in Ash’s hands.
In the hands of others, not only could it not heal injuries, it would instead produce powerful negative energy.