Wouldn't it be disastrous if the leader of Team Rocket, Kanto's largest criminal syndicate, was also Kanto's strongest Gym Leader?
Was there really no one left in Kanto? How could the boss of Team Rocket become a Gym Leader… and not just any Gym Leader, but the most respected one?!
Ash replayed all the rumors he had heard about Giovanni:gentle, refined, patient with challengers, a model Gym Leader with the poise of a champion…
Now that he knew Giovanni was the head of Team Rocket, every one of those rumors felt like a cosmic joke.
Team Rocket, an organization involved in arson, theft, murder, illegal Pokémon experiments, and trafficking, was praised publicly while ruling from the shadows?
If the people of Kanto knew, wouldn't they riot on the spot?
Newbie Ash: Why didn't you tell me earlier?! If I knew Giovanni was Team Rocket's leader, I would've reported him to the Pokémon League or Professor Oak long ago!
Champion Ash: It's pointless. The League, and even Professor Oak, already know who Giovanni is. The only reason he's allowed to remain Viridian Gym Leader is because of a delicate balance between the League and Team Rocket.
Newbie Ash: WHY?! How can the League knowingly let a criminal organization's boss become a Gym Leader, and even let him earn such a good reputation?!
Champion Ash's response made Ash's head hurt. None of this made sense. If the League knew, why didn't they arrest him immediately?!
Champion Ash: You're still young, so let me explain. Wherever there is light, there will be shadow. Wherever there is order, there will be crime. As long as the darkness stays under control, the world remains stable.
Newbie Ash: I really don't understand.
Champion Ash: Even if you destroy Team Rocket, new groups will rise, Team Aqua, Team Magma, Team Galactic. Right now, Team Rocket operates under the League's watch. As long as they don't cross certain lines, the League pretends not to see.
Champion Ash: Allowing Team Rocket to gather all of Kanto's criminal forces under one structure actually reduces chaos. If they were eradicated, the League would spend infinite manpower putting down smaller, scattered groups.
Ash fell silent.
Even if the logic made sense… emotionally, he couldn't accept it.
So the League allowed evil to exist because it was convenient?
But what about the people who lost their Pokémon? What about all the Pokémon that suffered?
Champion Ash: But one thing is being overlooked: the League doesn't know Giovanni has Mewtwo. If they knew, they would've already launched a full-scale attack.
Champion Ash: Giovanni is far more dangerous than the League believes. Controlling him is wishful thinking.
Champion Ash: And Blaine is probably contacting the League right now. Which means… your challenge to Viridian Gym will be your first, and also your last.
Champion Ash: The moment you challenge that Gym… you'll inevitably encounter Mewtwo. So before you go, draw your lottery. You'll need whatever you can get.
Champion Ash suddenly steering the conversation to the lottery stunned Ash for a second. But when he checked the notification bar, he indeed had two new draw attempts.
Defeated 5 High-level Pokémon in official battles - Reward: 1 Lottery Attempt.
Directly defeated an High-level Pokémon in an official battle, Reward: 1 Lottery Attempt.
But something didn't add up.
Newbie Ash: Champion Senior, why did the second reward only show up now? Didn't Bulbasaur beat Koga's Crobat earlier?
The achievement had only triggered after defeating Blaine's Magmar. So Koga's Crobat didn't count.
Champion Ash: Because I defeated Koga's Pokémon, not you. It only counts when you defeat it directly. Also, honestly? I never paid attention to these achievements, I finished all of them long before I joined the group.
Newbie Ash: …
True Versailles indeed.
Ash decided to ignore the senior flexing and turned straight to the lottery interface. It had been a while since his last draw. His luck had to be good by now… right?
He started the draw.
Two pointers spun wildly across the prize wheel, clicking faster and faster.
Ten seconds later, they gradually slowed, and then....
One pointer stopped on a slot so small it was practically invisible.
Ash's eyes lit up.
Ash… hit the jackpot.
Congratulations! You have obtained S-Rank One-Time Exclusive Ability: Limit Break.
Congratulations! You have obtained A-Rank One-Time Ability: All-Star Proxy.
One S-rank. One A-rank.
Another day, another absurd harvest.
Ash already knew what All-Star Proxy was capable of. Last time, that one ability alone had pushed Venusaur's strength into a whole new realm.
Thought Venusaur still lagged slightly behind Charizard, but not by much. And half of that massive breakthrough came from Xerneas' Life Tree Branch… the other half was thanks to All-Star Proxy.
To be honest, Ash always suspected this ability was misclassified. Something that could copy power from Champion-level Pokémon? That should have been S-rank, not A-rank.
But he also understood why.
The true cheat wasn't All-Star Proxy itself, it was the lineup of monsters in the group chat.
If the group were filled with newbies, the ability would be average. But with Champion versions of himself sending power across worlds, All-Star Proxy became broken.
Still, that wasn't the star of today's draw.
The real prize was the first one:
Limit Break.
It sounded simple… maybe even unimpressive.
But an S-rank ability, one-time, exclusive, was never ordinary.
Ash couldn't wait and immediately jumped into the group chat.
Newbie Ash: Seniors, I've finished drawing!
Fishing Ash: Bro, WHY are you drawing again?! Why is it that every time I come online, you're drawing?! I just caught a Shiny Magikarp, I was going to brag! Don't ruin my good mood!!
Water Master Ash: Shiny Magikarp? Not bad. Did your luck finally turn around?
Fishing Ash: Turn around my *****!!! Do you know how I got it?! I've been fishing here for HALF A MONTH. Caught like two-to-three thousand Magikarp. I practically emptied the entire lake before finally catching this shiny!
Water Master Ash: Wait, emptied the lake? How?
Fishing Ash: What do you think?! Catch every batch → release them into ANOTHER lake → keep going. If I released them back into the same place, I'd never catch anything again!
The entire group collectively fell silent.
So that was his method. Not blessed by luck? Then use brute force.
Only Fishing Ash would turn shiny hunting into a hostage-rescue operation.
Fishing Ash: Forget it, I'm in a good mood. Show us what you drew. I'll evaluate it.
Newbie Ash: Uh… one of them is an A-rank one-time ability, All-Star Proxy.
Fishing Ash: Ah, that one. You pulled it before too. It's labeled "A-rank," but with the monsters in this chat? It's basically an S-rank disguised as A.
Fishing Ash's avatar nodded like a sage.
This was the world returning to its natural order, Ash drawing something OP again.
If he ever drew that, hell would freeze over.
The ability was useless to him now, of course. At his fishing strength, unless a god descended from heaven, there was nothing left in the mortal realm that could trouble him.
Wait. Why did saying that feel like he was baiting fate?
Champion Ash: And the second reward? You had two draws, didn't you?
Newbie Ash: The second one… I don't understand. It's an S-rank one-time exclusive ability called Limit Break. It's the first time I've seen so many prefixes on one ability.
It seemed to have many restrictions, and he didn't know what it did. However, S-rank abilities come with dedicated analysis, so he would know its effect as soon as he exited the group chat.
Fishing Ash: WHAT?! Limit Break?! Are you kidding me?! That thing can actually appear in the prize pool?!
Breeder Ash: I honestly didn't expect anyone to pull it. The title of Luck King belongs to you, newcomer.
Aura Hero Ash: Tch, tch… with this, you're about to skip months of hard grinding. Looks like you won't need to go to Hoenn to "train" at all.
Newbie Ash: Can someone explain?! It says "exclusive ability," but doesn't say whose. What is Limit Break?
Everyone was reacting dramatically, but no one was giving a straight answer. Ash finally couldn't stand it.
Breeder Ash: I'll explain.
Champion Ash: Yeah, you're the expert. Go ahead.
Breeder Ash: Newbie, I'm sure you've noticed something with Pikachu.
Newbie Ash: Noticed what?
Breeder Ash: That Pikachu's level hasn't budged in half a month. No matter how much training you do, aside from the ability values you got from 'Ability Extraction,' Pikachu's stats fluctuate but don't improve.
Newbie Ash: YES!!! Exactly that! Pikachu hasn't leveled up AT ALL lately! And its strength, no matter how hard we train, it DOESN'T GROW! Why?!
Ash had been frustrated for days. The group had hinted they would "explain when the time came."
Apparently… this was the time.
Breeder Ash: Because Pikachu has hit the limit of its region. It can't grow any stronger in Kanto.
Newbie Ash: What does that even mean?!
Breeder Ash: In simple terms: Pikachu's potential is already maxed out for the Kanto region. Pikachu cannot surpass his current level while you remain here.