"It's Team Rocket!!!"
Nurse Joy immediately recognized the two people and the cat in front of her, they were the Team Rocket trio that had been causing trouble in Viridian City recently.
"Team Rocket? Leave them to me, Nurse Joy!!!"
For some reason, when facing Team Rocket, Ash suddenly felt a surge of confidence.
He exchanged a glance with Pikachu, and the two of them charged straight at Team Rocket.
"Ash! Pikachu! Don't be reckless!" Nurse Joy shouted anxiously.
Unlike Ash, Nurse Joy understood just how dangerous Team Rocket could be. Ash was still only a rookie Trainer, and Pikachu had only just recovered, how could she not worry?
But her worry was unnecessary.
Ash and Pikachu were practically born to counter Team Rocket.
Pikachu might hesitate or even struggle when facing other opponents, but when it came to the Team Rocket trio, it never showed mercy.
A bolt of lightning crashed down from above.
In an instant, Jessie, James, Meowth, and their Pokémon were engulfed by a powerful Thunder Shock.
A violent explosion echoed through the Pokémon Center as Team Rocket was blasted away.
"We're blasting off!"
The trio screamed as they were launched into the sky, turning into shooting stars before disappearing into the night.
Sam had already mentally prepared himself before Pikachu unleashed its attack, yet he was still stunned by what he witnessed.
He shook his head and smiled wryly.
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, no one would believe that a Pokémon often treated like a pet contained such world-shaking power.
There are no wrong names, only wrong nicknames.
Calling Pikachu a "god" wasn't even an exaggeration.
"What… what just happened?"
The entire Pokémon Center fell silent as Ash asked in confusion.
"Pika, pika."
The first to regain her senses was Nurse Joy.
Even so, she still couldn't believe what she had just seen.
After rubbing her eyes repeatedly, just to make sure she was really looking at Pikachu and not Zapdos, she exclaimed in disbelief:
"This is incredible… Is this really a Pikachu?"
"Yes! This is my Pikachu!" Ash said confidently, looking at Pikachu with pride.
Ash didn't think there was anything unusual about it. In his eyes, maybe all Pikachu were this strong.
"Sam, is the Pokémon next to you Bulbasaur?" Ash suddenly asked excitedly as he looked at Sam's Bulbasaur. "I almost chose Bulbasaur too, if I hadn't overslept this morning!"
"Pikachu!!!"
Hearing that, Pikachu immediately became displeased. It turned its head away proudly, clearly annoyed.
"I—I'm sorry, Pikachu! You're great too!" Ash apologized hastily.
It hadn't been easy for him to finally earn Pikachu's approval.
Seeing Ash's sincere apology, Pikachu quickly forgave him.
"That's great, Pikachu."
"Sam, come have a Pokémon battle with me!" Ash suddenly said excitedly, his fighting spirit fully ignited.
Sam had left a deep impression on Ash during the Spearow incident.
To Ash, who had only just begun his journey, Sam was exactly the kind of powerful Trainer he dreamed of becoming.
In Ash's simple way of thinking, the best way to grow closer to someone strong was to defeat them.
If he defeated Sam, wouldn't that mean he had become just as strong?
And since he still hadn't had a proper Pokémon battle since setting out, his blood was already boiling.
"Are you an idiot?" Misty snapped unhappily. "Do you know what time it is? And you want to battle inside the Pokémon Center?!"
What Misty didn't say out loud was that Pikachu had just recovered, fighting again so soon would be a huge burden.
Sam nodded in agreement.
"Misty's right. Today really isn't a good time to battle," Sam said calmly. "We can talk about fighting tomorrow. Right now, the most important thing is repairing the Pokémon Center."
Thanks to Team Rocket, the Pokémon Center was in complete disarray.
And with no one else around so late at night, they had no choice but to clean it up themselves.
"…Alright! Then we'll battle tomorrow!" Ash said energetically after hearing Sam and Misty.
Now it was time to work.
…
Morning sunlight streamed into the room.
Bulbasaur, resting beside the bed, had already woken up. It stood on the balcony, happily soaking in the sunlight.
For Grass-type Pokémon, nothing was more enjoyable than basking in the morning sun.
Sam glanced at the clock.
It was already eight o'clock in the morning.
As a Trainer, waking up at this hour was actually quite late.
After getting out of bed, Sam felt as though his entire body was falling apart.
They had worked until midnight cleaning up the Pokémon Center. For someone who rarely did physical labor, it had been a brutal experience.
Even now, his arms still ached.
After brushing his teeth and rinsing his mouth, a brand-new day officially began.
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