“Gible, I choose you!”
“Nice to meet you.
Go, Bunnelby!”
Ash and Clemont released their respective Pokémon at the same time.
[Pokémon: Bunnelby (Clemont)]
[Type: Normal]
[Gender: Male]
[Strength: Ordinary High-tier (17)]
[Ability: Pickup (Sometimes picks up items used by opponents or found during an adventure)]
[Held Item: None]
[Moves: Sand Attack, Dig, Double Slap, Double Team…]
Clemont’s pupils shrank.
“To think you have such a rare Pokémon like Gible?
You truly are a Trainer who has traveled through many regions.”
Bonnie said in enchantment, “Gible is so cute”
“Big brother, Ash, you both do your best!”
Clemont said, “Bunnelby, for us, this is also your first battle.
Just relax and go for it!”
“Here it comes!
Draco Meteor!”
Ash opened with a powerful move.
Gible opened its mouth and fired a ball of light into the sky, which burst into several streaks of falling light.
Clemont said, “Bunnelby, use Dig.”
Bunnelby’s ears twisted into a drill as it tunneled underground, avoiding the damage from Draco Meteor.
“Gible, feel the vibrations of the ground carefully.
Use Bite!”
Hearing this, Gible closed its eyes and focused on sensing the tremors beneath it.
After all, Gible is a Ground-type Pokémon, so it could track Bunnelby’s location through the vibrations with ease.
Seeing how incredibly calm Ash was, Clemont felt the pressure mount.
“Bunnelby, be careful!”
As Bunnelby prepared to emerge from underground, Gible leapt high into the air a second before it surfaced, opening its mouth and waiting for Bunnelby to appear.
Boom!
The first thing Bunnelby saw upon emerging was a gaping maw right above its head, leaving it no room to react.
Gible bit down on Bunnelby’s large ears.
Clemont thought to himself, “Oh no!”
Like Buneary, Bunnelby is a Normal-type rabbit Pokémon whose offensive capabilities are mostly concentrated in its long ears.
Having its ears pinned by an opponent was no different from having its hands tied.
Just as Gible was biting Bunnelby’s ears and preparing to use Draco Meteor to finish it off, an Electro Web was suddenly fired from the side.
Both Gible and Bunnelby were caught in the net.
“Those three…
there goes my first victory!”
With such familiar methods, Ash naturally knew who was interfering.
There was no one else who would target his Pokémon besides the Team Rocket trio.
Clemont looked around and shouted loudly, “Who did this?
This is very dangerous!”
The Team Rocket trio appeared on the nearby street.
Bonnie questioned, “Who are you?”
“Since you’ve asked so sincerely,”
“We shall answer you with great compassion!”
“To prevent the world’s destruction,”
“To protect the world’s peace,”
“To denounce the evils of truth and love,”
“A lovely and charming villainous character.”
“Jessie!
James!”
“We are Team Rocket, traveling through the galaxy!”
“A white hole, a white tomorrow is waiting for us!”
“Meowth, that’s right!”
“Wobbuffet!”
The Team Rocket trio’s classic introduction lines rang out once again.
“It’s you three again.
I can’t believe you followed me all the way to the Kalos region,” Ash said helplessly.
Bonnie asked in confusion, “Ash, are they your friends?”
“Meowth just spoke!
That’s amazing!”
Clemont’s attention was entirely focused on the fact that Meowth could speak human language.
Ash grabbed Clemont’s shoulder and explained, “Clemont, they are members of Team Rocket, an evil organization from the Kanto region.
They’ve followed me through several regions just to steal Pikachu and my other Pokémon.”
James said, “Brat, you seem to have a misunderstanding about us.”
“Our goal isn’t just your Pikachu!”
“Powerful and rare Pokémon from this region are also among our targets.
We’re going to build an evil Pokémon army.”
“As for now, since we can’t catch Pikachu, that Gible and that rabbit Pokémon are also good choices!”
“Pull in the net, Meowth!”
Meowth pressed the remote switch in his hand, and a specially made rope shot out toward the Electro Web.
Just as the rope was about to connect to the net and drag Gible and Bunnelby away, two clumps of bubbles shot out from a nearby tree, knocking the rope aside.
“That is…”
“A Pokémon?”
“Whatever it is, since it dares to interfere with our operation, we’ll catch it too!”
Jessie said as she took out a cube and threw it toward the tree.
The cube burst open midair into a specialized Electro Web.
Ash said, “Pikachu, Iron Tail.”
Pikachu jumped up and struck the core of the net with Iron Tail.
A light blue frog-like Pokémon with a Bubble-like scarf around its neck jumped down from the tree.
Froakie, one of the Kalos region’s starter Pokémon.
Ash also recognized it as the base form of that special Greninja, the main ace used in Kalos in the original storyline.
[Pokémon: Froakie]
[Type: Water]
[Gender: Male]
[Strength: Ordinary Low-tier (13)]
[Ability: Torrent (When HP is low, the power of Water-type moves increases)]
[Held Item: None]
[Moves: Bubble, Pound, Quick Attack, Water Pulse, Mind Reader]
Clemont exclaimed, “It’s Froakie!”
Ash said solemnly, “Froakie, thank you for lending a hand just now.”
Froakie turned to look at the Team Rocket trio.
“Kemenkemen~”
“Waken~” (“Villains who ruin a battle are unforgivable!”)
“It says we’re unforgivable villains, Meowth?” Meowth translated subconsciously.
Jessie said, “Mind your own business!
Catch it too!”
“Alright!”
James threw two Electro Web devices this time.
Froakie’s reaction was swift, instantly forming two clumps of bubbles and throwing them forward.
However, the trio’s equipment had trigger mechanisms.
The bubbles had barely made contact before the devices exploded.
The stray electrical currents struck Froakie, injuring it quite badly.
Ash realized that the Team Rocket trio likely did not have any other Pokémon with them.
Without backup, Wobbuffet would probably be their trump card.
He pulled out a Poké Ball.
“Spritzee, I choose you!”
A female Spritzee appeared.
“Use Attract!”
Jessie’s Wobbuffet was male, and Spritzee’s Attract immediately caused it to fall into an infatuated trance.
“Now’s our chance!
Pikachu, Thunderbolt!
Gible, Draco Meteor!”
The two powerful attacks blasted forward.
Without Wobbuffet to reflect the damage, the Team Rocket trio was sent flying like shooting stars after the explosion.
“What a nasty feeling!”
[Ding…
Battle settlement in progress…
Evaluation: D-]
[Ding!
Congratulations on obtaining rewards: 20,000 Alliance Coins, 100 Points]
Seeing the Team Rocket trio blasted away, Froakie’s vision went dark and it fainted.
Ash stepped forward and caught it.
After a careful inspection, he frowned slightly.
“The injuries are quite serious.
Spritzee, use Aromatherapy.
Clemont, is there a Pokémon Center nearby?”
Bonnie said, “From here, it’s faster to take it to Professor Sycamore’s lab than to a Pokémon Center!”