NahinS77
patreon
Chapter 151: Asahi: I’m Not, I Didn’t!
🕑 Added 2025-02-17 13:38:46 +0000 UTCChapter 151: Asahi: I’m Not, I Didn’t!
The sudden turn of events drew the attention of everyone present.
The referee stood there, dumbfounded, unsure of what was happening.
Green subtly gripped her Poké Ball and stepped closer to Asahi.
Meanwhile, Asahi turned his gaze toward Blaine, wearing an amused expression.
Tap, tap, tap...
A series of footsteps echoed through the gym as a group of Team Rocket grunts, each bearing a bold red "R" emblem on their chests, emerged from the smoke and stepped into the Cinnabar Gym.
The leader of the group sneered at Blaine. "We finally found you, Blaine!"
Blaine: "....."
Dealing with Asahi’s Gym Challenge had already been stressful enough. Now, with Team Rocket showing up, Blaine felt completely drained.
The reason he had shut down the gym and gone into hiding was precisely because Team Rocket had been hunting him down ever since he defected from their ranks.
But then, Asahi's exam notice forced him to reopen the gym for the challenge. At the time, he had hoped he could get through it quickly and shut down again before being discovered. But fate had other plans—Team Rocket had found him almost immediately.
Asahi's questioning gaze made Blaine's head pound.
One thing was certain: under no circumstances could he let Asahi know he was once a part of Team Rocket.
After a brief moment of contemplation, Blaine decided to play the victim. "How dare you attack my gym, Team Rocket?!"
Without giving the grunts a chance to respond, he immediately commanded his Magmar to attack.
"Fire Blast!"
Magmar opened its mouth and spewed a massive, fiery blast in the shape of the kanji for "big" (大), roaring toward the Team Rocket grunts.
The Team Rocket leader had barely begun speaking when he saw Blaine's sudden attack. His expression darkened.
However, these weren't just any grunts—they were elite trainers assigned to track down Blaine. They reacted instantly to Magmar’s assault.
Boom!
A flash of white light erupted as an Aggron emerged, stepping forward to shield the Team Rocket leader.
The battle-hardened Aggron, serving as a living shield, had no room to dodge. Facing Magmar’s Fire Blast head-on, it slammed its feet into the ground, causing the floor to crack beneath it. Then, with a swift motion, it hurled a barrage of stones into the flames.
Fire and rock collided in midair, triggering a massive explosion.
Despite the hasty defense, Aggron was clearly at a disadvantage. It raised its armored arms to block the remaining embers and shards of stone, taking visible burns and scratches in the process.
The Team Rocket leader, hiding behind Aggron, broke into a cold sweat. If Aggron hadn’t shielded him, he’d probably be in the hospital right now.
His expression turned grim. "You traitor! Trying to silence us?!"
The moment the word "traitor" left his mouth, Blaine’s face changed.
He instinctively glanced at Asahi, only to see him staring back with an expression that was a mix of curiosity, surprise, disbelief... and sudden realization.
I’m not, I didn’t...
Blaine desperately wanted to explain, but Team Rocket wasn’t about to give him the chance.
Their counterattack came swiftly—Muk's Acid Spray, Weezing's Sludge Bomb, and Golbat’s Supersonic.
The Team Rocket grunts moved as one, clearly intending to overwhelm Magmar with a single decisive strike.
Blaine instinctively reached for his belt, wanting to send out another Pokémon.
Then he remembered—his two main Pokémon had already been defeated in battle against Asahi.
Aside from Magmar, the only Pokémon left in fighting condition was his Ninetales.
With no time to hesitate, he swiftly released Ninetales to join the fray.
"Flamethrower!"
"Fire Blast!"
Both Ninetales and Magmar unleashed torrents of fire, attempting to counter Team Rocket’s onslaught. But... the enemy numbers were overwhelming!
Even though Blaine’s Pokémon were stronger individually, they were heavily outnumbered. Their flames managed to stall the attack for only a moment before Team Rocket’s offensive broke through.
Sludge Bomb struck Ninetales, staining its beautiful fur with a disgusting purple-black sludge.
Magmar barely managed to use its residual magma heat to evaporate some of the incoming poison, but the fumes surrounded it, forcing it to inhale the toxic vapor—leaving Magmar poisoned as well.
Seeing his forces gain the upper hand, the Team Rocket leader finally stepped out from behind Aggron.
"Blaine, you can’t escape. Hand over the data you stole and come back with us to Team Rocket!"
"The boss is willing to—"
"Wait... Did you just say 'the boss'?"
A sudden voice interrupted him.
The Rocket Team officer turned impatiently toward the source of the interruption. "Who are you? We're in the middle of Rocket Team business—"
Before he could finish his sentence, his voice cut off abruptly, as if someone had seized his throat mid-sentence.
Because he had recognized the person speaking.
"T-The Demon Ranger… Asahi?!"
In the internal Rocket Team files, "Demon Ranger" Asahi was classified as an A-rank threat, possessing Elite Four-level strength. One of the three Rocket Team Executives, Koga, had been captured, and he was suspected to be involved.
Damn it, when did he get here? And why hadn’t they noticed him at all?
The officer felt a cold sweat soak through his back instantly.
"Oh? You recognize me?" Asahi smiled. "Then could you tell me something about your Rocket Team boss? I'm quite curious."
However, instead of answering Asahi’s question, the officer immediately shouted to his subordinates, "Retreat! Fall back, now!"
He didn’t even care about Professor Blaine anymore.
From the officer’s perspective, this made perfect sense—he was just a mid-level officer, and his subordinates were nowhere near strong enough to deal with someone as dangerous as Asahi.
Staying meant sending themselves to their deaths. But if they retreated now, they might still preserve some of their forces.
The lower-ranked Rocket Team members, however, had never seen Asahi’s profile. Hearing their captain give such an abrupt retreat order despite their clear advantage, they hesitated, confused.
Still, their years of training in following orders kicked in, and they ultimately chose to obey.
One by one, they recalled their Pokémon and prepared to withdraw.
But…
An invisible, transparent barrier had silently sealed off the hole they had blasted in the wall, cutting off their escape route.
Asahi still wore that gentle smile. "You haven’t answered my question yet. And you think you can just leave after interrupting my Gym Challenge assessment? That’s quite rude, don’t you think?"
—
Comments
Ewan Shin
Chapter 150 is missing
sfasdf
Where’s chapter 150?
