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Chapter 197: I Know You’re In a Hurry
🕑 Added 2025-03-01 13:57:19 +0000 UTCChapter 197: I Know You’re In a Hurry
Meowth could still feel the pain in its cheeks just thinking about it.
With Meowth’s reminder, Jesse and James remembered too.
They had met this guy right before the entire St. Anne was surrounded by League officers.
They had barely escaped—only to return and get scolded badly by Giovanni.
And standing not far away was that girl.
Perfect—both enemies were here.
Time to settle old and new grudges!
Jesse glared at Asahi. “Great! Now we can pay you back all at once!”
James nodded. “Jesse’s right!”
Asahi smirked. “So you really don’t recognize me.”
Not only had they failed to recognize him, but they also hadn’t noticed Mewtwo either.
Did they ever pay attention to Team Rocket’s internal intel?
…Then again, it made sense.
Even in Mewtwo Strikes Back, Giovanni had already captured Mewtwo, yet these three still had no idea what it was.
Asahi stroked his chin. “Are you three… being sidelined within Team Rocket?”
The trio flinched.
“W-What are you talking about?! We’re Giovanni’s elite squad!”
“We’re future Team Rocket executives!”
“Yeah, yeah! I used to be Giovanni’s beloved pet, meow!”
They scrambled to deny it.
Seeing how defensive they were, Asahi waved a hand. “I know you’re in a hurry, but calm down…”
“I was just guessing. After all, there aren’t many people in Team Rocket who don’t know me by now.”
But the trio, already agitated, had no interest in continuing the conversation.
“Who cares who you are?! Hand over Slowpoke!”
They reached for their Poké Balls—
“Tsk.”
Asahi had been hoping to chat a bit more, but oh well.
He casually signaled to Mewtwo.
Mewtwo barely moved—just lifted its arm and pressed downward.
Crunch—
The balloon plummeted like a rock.
“Waaaaaaah—!!!”
With a boom, it crashed to the ground, sending Team Rocket sprawling.
Pikachu used the opportunity to escape the claw and leaped back onto Ash’s shoulder, sparks flying from its cheeks.
Team Rocket groaned as they crawled out of the wreckage.
“Who did that?! Show yourself!”
As they looked around in confusion, they suddenly noticed something.
There was an extra figure among them.
They all turned to stare at it—
Right in the middle of their group, Psyduck was crouched down, still holding its swollen head.
“Isn’t this that dumb Psyduck, meow?!” Meowth exclaimed.
“Give me back my Psyduck!” Misty shouted.
As dumb as Psyduck was, she couldn’t just let Team Rocket take it!
Hearing Misty’s words, Jessie was offended.
“Hey… don’t underestimate us! We, Team Rocket, have standards! We don’t need an idiot like this!” She swung a fist and smacked Psyduck on the head.
The moment the punch landed, Psyduck clutched its head in pain.
Its three black head feathers shot straight up, and a faint blue aura enveloped its body.
“Huh?”
Asahi, who had been about to signal Mewtwo to deal with Team Rocket, raised an eyebrow as he felt a surge of psychic energy from Psyduck.
Oh? This Psyduck actually has some potential…
Meanwhile, Team Rocket froze, recalling some very bad memories.
“This can’t be happening…”
Jessie and James reached for their Poké Balls, trying to summon Arbok and Weezing—
But before they could even touch them, an invisible force locked them in place.
“Disable! Yes!” Misty cheered.
Finally, Psyduck was being useful—though not in her Gym evaluation.
The trio stood frozen as Pikachu smirked wickedly from a few steps away.
Their hearts sank.
“NOOOO—!!!”
“Pika—CHUUU!!!”
A bolt of golden electricity struck them directly, sending them flying in a perfectly executed explosion.
And somehow, Psyduck—who was standing right next to them—was left completely unscathed.
Watching Team Rocket’s full blasting-off sequence up close, Asahi found it oddly fascinating.
“Why didn’t you just arrest them?” Silver asked, standing beside Asahi.
He was sure Asahi could have captured them just now.
“Why bother? Don’t you think this is cool?” Asahi shrugged.
Without Team Rocket, Ash’s journey would be so boring.
Besides, locking them up would only waste the League’s resources—letting them continue freeloading off Team Rocket seemed like the better option.
“?”
Silver failed to see anything cool about this.
Confused, he looked to Green for answers, but she just shrugged.
Unlike Silver, she was used to this.
---
Team Rocket came and went in a flash.
With them gone, everyone refocused on Misty’s Gym evaluation.
“Special Agent Asahi, I…”
Misty was about to say something when Asahi interrupted her.
Under her confused gaze, he said, “Congratulations. You’ve passed the Gym evaluation.”
Misty’s expression shifted from confusion to shock.
She had already given up hope—she never expected to actually pass.
“But… why?”
She thought she had done terribly. There was no way she should have passed.
“Do you want the truth or a lie?” Asahi asked.
Before Misty could answer, Ash butted in, “What’s the lie?”
Asahi smirked. “The lie? Your Starmie performed well, and Psyduck demonstrated its potential in battle against Team Rocket, so you passed the evaluation.”
Misty took a deep breath. “I want the truth.”
“Well, the League is already short on Gym Trainers. They’re this close to reinstating Koga and Lt. Surge… and between them and you, a Gym Leader with a clean record, you’re obviously the safer bet.”
Asahi spread his hands as if stating the obvious.
Everyone exchanged looks, unsure of how to respond.
So this was what Asahi had meant earlier—about how, even without an evaluation, the League would eventually lift the restrictions on Cerulean Gym.
“As a personal recommendation… you should get some stronger Water-types for the Gym. Even if they just look strong, they’d still be better than your sisters’ Pokémon.”
Although the League had already considered the takedown of Giovanni, Koga, and Lt. Surge a major success—meaning they no longer cared about Gym competence—Asahi did care.
If Kanto’s Gyms were slacking before the evaluations and slacked off after…
Then what was the point of his work?
---
