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The next day, the three arrived at the dock early to wait for a boat to Girl Gorge. However, instead of a boat, they encountered a listless Horsea.
The Horsea looked like it might faint at any moment. Misty quickly had Starmie rescue it, then took it to the Pokémon Center. This caused them to miss the morning boat. However, after treatment, the Horsea recovered its spirits, which was quite worthwhile.
Anyway, there would be another boat in the afternoon.
But after recovering, the Horsea, upon seeing Misty, babbled something to her. Misty was at her wit's end; although she loved Water-type Pokémon, she couldn't understand what Pokémon were saying!
So, Misty turned her pleading gaze to Ash. Among those present, only Ash could understand.
And when Ash heard the Horsea's words, his brows furrowed tightly, as if what the Horsea said had made his mood turn sour.
"Ash, what exactly did the Horsea say? Speak up!" Misty, seeing Ash's expression, asked with a hint of impatience.
"The Horsea said that someone in this city is building a project on the sea, but that construction site is the nest of the Tentacool. They have encroached upon the Tentacool's nest, and it might lead to a war between the Tentacool and this city."
"What?! Who is so detestable?! Tentacool are so cute! How dare they bully Tentacool!"
Upon hearing this, Misty was furious, consumed by rage!
For her, who loved Water-type Pokémon, this behavior had touched her Outrage!
At this moment, Misty's hair even stood on end, like a fiend returned from hell.
Ash and Brock wiped non-existent sweat from their foreheads, quietly moving a little distance away from Misty.
If they accidentally touched a sensitive spot of hers at this moment, they might be caught in the crossfire.
But then again... Tentacool are cute? Does that thing really have anything to do with cuteness?
Ash thought about the appearance of Tentacool, then shivered. He liked Pokémon, yes, but he couldn't just lie with his eyes wide open!
Cuteness and liking were two different things.
After a fit of impotent rage, Misty finally started thinking about how to solve this problem.
The fact that the other party could build a water amusement park on the Tentacool's nest was enough to show how rich they were. How should they deal with such a rich and potentially powerful person?
"How about... we report it?" Ash quietly raised his hand, like a student speaking in school.
"Good idea, let's report it first!" As soon as he finished speaking, Misty grabbed Ash's hand and dragged him directly to the police station.
Brock, behind them, sighed with emotion—this was youth!
Upon arriving at the police station and seeing Jenny, Brock felt his own youth seemed to be awakening. He was still young! He could still pursue his youth!
However, in the face of a major issue, Brock still managed to suppress his inner restlessness. Then, along with Ash and Misty, he recounted the information they had learned from the Horsea to Jenny.
Jenny usually wouldn't bother with such a report. After all, the location of the water park mentioned by the three was not close to the resort, and investigating whether it was a Tentacool's nest would require manpower to dive underwater.
This would require a significant amount of human and material resources. If every random person who came to their police station expected them to do this, they would have been exhausted long ago.
They needed evidence, proof, for Jenny to dispatch officers.
However, when Ash showed his three badges and the Pokémon Pokedex issued by Professor Oak, Jenny chose to dispatch officers immediately!
It could only be said that Professor Oak's name was indeed very useful. When reporting the St. Anne before, it was also thanks to Professor Oak's name that they were spared a series of troublesome proofs.
By the time they had finished proving it then, the St. Anne would have probably sailed away!
It was the same here. By the time they found evidence, the Tentacool would probably be attacking!
Among Pokémon, Tentacool were not known for their good temper. Since the other party had occupied the Tentacool's nest, it wouldn't be long before they faced retaliation from the Tentacool.
Moreover, the retaliation would not only affect the instigator but possibly the entire dock area, including the resort.
So, many matters were urgent. Without Professor Oak's name, things would truly be quite troublesome.
Under Jenny's investigation, it was confirmed that the matter reported by Ash and the others was true.
So, Jenny led her team to find the source of the park's construction, which was a person named Granny.
Jenny directly ordered her to stop and make corrections. At first, the other party was defiant and wanted to resist Jenny. However, Jenny directly sent out a Growlithe, along with a group of police officers surrounding her, and the League's rectification certificate, which immediately made her compliant.
No matter how much money this person called Granny had, in the Pokémon World, the Jenny and Joy families were among the most powerful families. Resisting Jenny? That could only mean she was tired of living.
In the end, her water park hotel plan not only completely fell through but also incurred a large fine!
Ash and his friends received another bonus because they once again averted a disaster.
If the water park had been dismantled any slower, the Tentacool and Tentacruel groups would have attacked the dock!
It's not unreasonable for Ash to get a small bonus for doing such a great deed, right?
Although this bonus was not comparable to the Team Rockets one, it still increased Ash's travel funds by one.
After this small interlude, Misty also caught the Horsea.
This was the second Pokémon Misty had caught, besides Squirtle. Now Misty had four Pokémon.
She caught Horsea because Misty herself liked Horsea. If it weren't for that person called Granny angering the Tentacool, Misty would have even wanted to catch a Tentacool.
But now the Tentacool were angry, and trying to catch one of them would likely provoke their collective wrath. Therefore, Misty ultimately gave up the idea of catching a Tentacool.
However, catching a Horsea was also good. Ash had checked this Horsea, and its aptitude was quite good. Misty could be said to have found a good catch.
After these events, it was already afternoon. The three rushed to the dock and just caught the last boat.
By the time they arrived at Girl Gorge by boat, it was almost evening. There was a small town in Girl Gorge, and it seemed a celebration was planned for tomorrow. So, Ash and his two companions found a guesthouse in the town to stay.
They would stay here for two nights first. Travel was common, but celebrations were not. It was said there would be a bonfire party tomorrow night, and Ash, who had never participated in such an event, was very curious.
After completing their accommodation registration, the trio also went into town to see what pre-celebration activities they could enjoy.
Things like various snacks, and goldfishing, were all entertainment activities that opened before the temple fair began. Ash and Misty had a blast.
Pikachu and Ralts were also very happy.
However, they didn't notice that as they played, one of them seemed to have disappeared... "Where's Brock?" Ash, who had just finished a shooting game and won a Squirtle doll, suddenly remembered the person he had forgotten.
He had been too engrossed in playing just now and hadn't noticed that Brock was gone!
"Brock probably went off to play by himself. Maybe the activities we young people enjoy aren't quite suitable for him," Misty also noticed Brock was gone but said casually without much concern.
Ash's mouth twitched upon hearing this. Is it really okay to say that? Brock would cry!
He's only five years older than us, just twenty.
"Let's find him first, anyway," Ash said, closing his eyes, and unleashing his Aura.
He had a record of Brock's Aura. As long as he was within a fifty-mile radius, he would definitely be able to find him.
And this entire town wasn't fifty miles wide.
A moment later, Ash opened his eyes and looked in one direction: "He's over here, but besides Brock, there's also a very powerful Aura."
"A powerful Aura?"
"Yes, let's go check it out. I have a bad feeling about this." Ash said, putting the Squirtle doll into his spatial backpack, then taking Misty's slender hand and quickly running towards the detected location.
Misty felt the warm, broad palm, and her face froze for a moment, then a flush appeared on her fair cheeks.
This seemed not to be the first time Ash had held her hand. Lately, there had been many such instances, and she was slowly getting used to it. Was this a good thing or a bad thing?
...As Ash ran, the two arrived at a cliff edge. Here stood a statue of a maiden. The cold night wind blew, making one feel chilly all over, and an eerie feeling involuntarily arose within them.
"This... where is this place? Ash, why did you bring me here?"
"Brock is right here."
"Huh? Is he crazy? Instead of going to the lively celebration at night, he ran to this ghostly place to catch a cold." Misty shrank behind Ash, complaining with some dissatisfaction.
It was summer now, so even at night, there should have been a warm breeze. But the wind in this place was eerily cold.
It blew over them, making them shiver all over.
Ash looked towards the cliff edge. Brock was standing there, and with him was a blue-haired young man, who was James of Team Rockets!
"Why are Team Rockets here too? What are they doing, are they crazy?!" Misty also noticed James's figure, and immediately felt even stranger. How did Brock and James both end up in this place?
Could this place really be weird?
"Hey, little girl, little brat, what did you do to James!" Just then, a hurried footsteps approached, along with a sharp voice.
The two turned their heads and saw Jessie and Meowth coming.
"Who would lay a hand on him! You're always the ones causing us trouble! I wanted to ask what happened to Brock!" Misty retorted angrily. She was very annoyed by Team Rockets' tactic of the villain accusing first.
"Tsk, James, what are you doing? Hurry back!"
At Jessie's shout, James, who was on the cliff, seemed to sober up a bit. He turned to look at Jessie, his eyes devoid of any color, but from his trembling lips, it seemed he was saying—save me.
"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt in that direction!" Ash's expression hardened, then he looked at the dim, empty sky beside him and said to Pikachu.
"Pika? Pika—chu!!" Although Pikachu was a bit confused, it didn't hesitate. Electricity surged from its body and blasted towards the empty sky.
The dark sky was illuminated by golden electric light. Thunderbolt struck the air, but it was blocked by something unknown!
And on the cliff edge, the dazed Brock and James instantly sobered up. They looked at each other, their eyes filled with lingering fear (Brock's eyes couldn't see.jpg).
Just now, their minds were clearly awake, but their bodies involuntarily walked here, and they felt as if their souls were being pulled out. And vaguely, they even saw the ghost of a maiden appear before them.
The ghost looked very beautiful. Upon seeing the ghost, let alone their bodies, even their minds were almost captivated.
If Ash and Jessie had arrived a little later, they would have probably stepped off the cliff.
And just now, the control they were under suddenly lifted. Although they didn't know what was going on, both of them quickly ran back to their main groups, where Jessie and Ash were.
Misty looked in the direction of the Thunderbolt attack and saw a faint purple gas slowly appearing.
The faint purple gas was like a ghost, indistinct, purplish-black all over, like a dark sun shape.
Ghost-type Pokémon—Gastly!
This was the culprit that caused Brock and James to be hypnotized, and it was also the powerful Aura Ash had sensed!
[Species: Gastly]
[Type: Ghost, Poison]
[Gender: Male]
[Level: Elite Four level High]
[Ability: Levitate]
[Moves: Confuse Ray, Lick, Hypnosis, Grudge, Curse, Hex, ... (Hundreds of moves)]
[Six-dimensional stats: Physical Attack B (B) Special Attack A (A) Defense B (B) Special Defense B (B) HP S (S) Speed A (A)]
Gastly's stats appeared in Ash's mind, and a look of shock flashed in Ash's eyes.
Its level was as high as Elite Four level, and all its ability values had reached the upper limit of its potential. What was going on with this Gastly? Was it a wild Gastly?
But how could a wild Gastly be Elite Four level, let alone have all its ability values maximized?
Moreover, this guy also hypnotized Brock, and he didn't know what it wanted to do. It was probably not without a mastermind behind it.
"I didn't expect it, I didn't expect it. Today's young people are truly promising. In this out-of-the-way place, I actually stumbled upon someone who can use Aura, and such a powerful Aura at that." Everyone present was greatly surprised, because the one who spoke these words was none other than the Gastly floating in the sky!
This Gastly could speak human language?!