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he knowes pokemon more than i know _Chapter_080_en
Chapter 80
Chapter 80: Team Rocket, You've Lost Your Flavor
2024-05-15 Author: Samsung Charmander (Author Name)
“Abstinence before marriage, moderation after marriage. Cultivate the mind and character, nourish the body and soul, and strive for self-improvement.”
“As long as there is life, the fight against lust never ends.”
Brock bestowed upon them all the wisdom he had learned from the abstinence forums. It was as if a heavenly spring gushed from the earth and supreme Sanskrit chants echoed in their ears, leaving Ash and Misty to listen in a daze like a pair of country bumpkins.
“I think... I get it?”
Coming back to his senses, Ash immediately began to clap, thinking to himself that this was expected of Teacher Brock; every word he spoke was a golden nugget of wisdom.
Misty, however, frowned, a hint of horror creeping into her expression.
If this had been a week ago, Brock would have already tossed his Metapod into the air, loudly championing free love and the rock-solid will to bravely pursue one’s true love.
The Brock of today seemed nobler in character, but something felt very wrong…
“Bang!”
A loud noise suddenly erupted from the horizon, as if something had exploded. The three of them quickly looked up at the sky.
At some point, a giant bug-catching net had appeared in the sky. It was vast and overwhelming, capturing countless Butterfree within its mesh, leaving them unable to escape.
“Bree... bree...”
“Bree... bree...”
The giant net tightened, gathering nearly a hundred Butterfree into a single, tightly bound cluster.
Only a few scattered Butterfree had managed to escape, but they were terrified. Like monkeys scattering when a tree falls, they flew off in all directions.
Following the net to its source, the trio saw a machine resembling a hot-air balloon hovering in the sky. The balloon itself was a giant Meowth head, in rather poor taste.
“Who are you!?” Ash shouted.
Unexpectedly, this question seemed to trigger some kind of mechanism. The trio was instantly blinded by a flash of colorful fireworks, and a heart-shaking bang seemed to ring in their ears.
“Did we hear some small fry asking who we are?”
“Since you’ve asked the question with such sincerity!”
“We’ll be merciful and tell you!”
“Jessie!”
“James!”
“Meowth, that’s meow!”
The long-absent Team Rocket trio struck an elegant pose in the wooden basket hanging from the hot-air balloon, their delivery sharp and concise.
This efficient and simple opening line made Ash very uncomfortable.
Having not seen the three in a while, his eyes first flashed with surprise, then with anticipation, but finally, his expression suddenly changed to one of utter disappointment.
“That’s it?”
Before, it was all about protecting the world from devastation, to unite all peoples within our nation, and a whole bunch of other stuff. And now, this?
As expected of you guys. When it comes to being disappointing, you never disappoint.
“Hey, Team Rocket, you’ve lost your flavor. I’m going to ask again. Can you make it a bit longer this time?” Ash yelled at the top of his lungs.
Misty and Brock: “?”
Why does it feel like this kid really appreciates Team Rocket’s opening monologue?
The trio in the hot-air balloon were still holding their poses, but Ash’s words deflated their momentum by more than half, and their faces couldn’t help but darken.
Damn it!
Did he think they didn’t want to say a few more lines? Team Rocket was currently on the cutting edge of the economic development era, in the most critical decade of its history. Internal reforms were being implemented from top to bottom as they set sail for new horizons.
The very first thing to go was the flashy, ostentatious opening lines of low-level grunts.
They were already being cautious just by striking a pose. If some passerby took a photograph and posted it on Team Rocket’s official blog, they’d be fired by the next day.
“Still, the haul is pretty good.”
The reason they were conducting a large-scale bug hunt here today was that after submitting their corporate team-building report for the S.S. Anne, the three of them had been idly scrolling through the Viridian headlines and happened to see an article.
*Bizarre! Mass Ascension Event Occurs East of Saffron City, Pokémon League Remains Silent After Viewing.*
Seeing that it wasn’t far, the trio had come over to check it out.
“We just need to catch a hundred Butterfree. Then, after Giovanni finishes a long day of work, he’ll walk out of the company building, look up, and see a sky full of dancing butterfly silhouettes. He’ll definitely feel so relaxed.”
“‘The ones who made me feel so comfortable are the Meowth trio, meow! As expected of the pillars of Team Rocket, my most loyal right and left arms! I’m going to upgrade their rank from Fearless Bronze to Unyielding Silver, meow!’”
Meowth mimicked Giovanni’s tone, patting Jessie and James on the shoulders.
Maybe Giovanni would even be overcome with emotion and start dancing gracefully with the butterflies.
The plan was excellent. The trio quickly crunched the numbers, drafted a proposal, wrote up a budget, built the giant net device that night, and successfully implemented it today.
Looking at the whimpering “Bree, bree” of the Butterfree in the giant net, the three were very satisfied. A quick count suggested there were already about a hundred of them.
However, they had taken a quick look earlier. The coordination among this wild swarm of Butterfree was not yet refined. It was certainly shocking, but it lacked elegance and emotional depth.
Simply put, their dancing was terrible.
They were just about to take them back for some proper training. What little brat was trying to ruin their business development?
The trio frowned deeply, looking toward the source of the voice with unfriendly expressions.
“Oh, so it’s the discerning brat and his abnormal variant Electric Mouse. Hmph, you’ve delivered yourselves right to our door!”
Jessie’s gaze instantly turned cold.
“And the flat-chested little girl. Tsk tsk, still no improvement.”
James felt his own chest muscles and covered his mouth to chuckle mockingly.
Misty: “?”
“And the number two blind kid we saw on the S.S. Anne, meow. Hey, how did you grow eyes, meow?”
“That’s a medical miracle.”
“And why is it that the more I look at those big eyes, the more I get this urge to just let go of the net…?”
Damn it!
As expected, people who keep their eyes closed are on a whole other level when they finally open them!
The Team Rocket trio quickly slapped their faces, forcing themselves not to look at Brock anymore.
Brock: “?”
After all the fuss, Ash looked at the Pokémon trapped in the giant net above and quickly realized what the priority was.
“Hey, Team Rocket, let the Butterfree go!”
Jessie retorted, “Huh? Why should we let the Butterfree go?”
“Because… catching Pokémon is wrong, isn’t it?”
As soon as he said it, Ash’s originally firm statement turned into a question.
“How strange, you little brat. If we catch your Electric Mouse, that’s wrong because it’s your Pokémon. But these Butterfree are all wild. Why can’t they be captured?”
“Isn’t that how you caught that Metapod next to you?”
“You’re pretty funny, meow.”
The trio’s verbal assault made Ash’s face flush red. He wanted to fire back but didn’t know how to refute their points.
That’s right, it was all about capturing Pokémon. It was fine when he did it, but now it was a problem when Team Rocket did?
“That’s not right… I only caught one, but you caught a hundred…”
Ash’s tone had clearly weakened, but he still pointed his finger with righteous indignation.
“Is there a difference? If I like them, can’t I catch a few more?”
“I bet that in the future, when you find a Pokémon you like, you’ll probably catch 30 of them at once,” Jessie and James said with a shrug, their tone full of mockery.
“Nonsense! I would never catch 30 of the same Pokémon!” Ash retorted again, his face red. As he spoke, he finally figured out a counter-argument and shouted,
“We use Poké Balls to catch them, but you used a giant net! That’s against the law!”
“Idiot. Bug Catchers all use nets to catch Bug Pokémon.”
“Poké Balls and nets are both external tools. What gives you the right to look down on a bug-catching net?”
“Do you have any idea how hard a bug-catching net works, meow?”
Ash: “…”
He quickly turned his pleading gaze to his two seniors beside him.
This was a battle of words; naturally, it had to be a 3v3!
Brock blinked his big eyes and said in confusion,
“Eh, their logic is a bit twisted, but I really don’t know how to refute it.”
Misty also frowned.
“A bug-catching net really does work hard, you know.”
When it came to verbal sparring, Team Rocket always had a knack for it.
Ash: “…”
When he came back to his senses, he realized the situation had somehow turned into a 5v1.
(end of chapter)
2024-05-15 Author: Samsung Charmander (Author Name)
“Abstinence before marriage, moderation after marriage. Cultivate the mind and character, nourish the body and soul, and strive for self-improvement.”
“As long as there is life, the fight against lust never ends.”
Brock bestowed upon them all the wisdom he had learned from the abstinence forums. It was as if a heavenly spring gushed from the earth and supreme Sanskrit chants echoed in their ears, leaving Ash and Misty to listen in a daze like a pair of country bumpkins.
“I think... I get it?”
Coming back to his senses, Ash immediately began to clap, thinking to himself that this was expected of Teacher Brock; every word he spoke was a golden nugget of wisdom.
Misty, however, frowned, a hint of horror creeping into her expression.
If this had been a week ago, Brock would have already tossed his Metapod into the air, loudly championing free love and the rock-solid will to bravely pursue one’s true love.
The Brock of today seemed nobler in character, but something felt very wrong…
“Bang!”
A loud noise suddenly erupted from the horizon, as if something had exploded. The three of them quickly looked up at the sky.
At some point, a giant bug-catching net had appeared in the sky. It was vast and overwhelming, capturing countless Butterfree within its mesh, leaving them unable to escape.
“Bree... bree...”
“Bree... bree...”
The giant net tightened, gathering nearly a hundred Butterfree into a single, tightly bound cluster.
Only a few scattered Butterfree had managed to escape, but they were terrified. Like monkeys scattering when a tree falls, they flew off in all directions.
Following the net to its source, the trio saw a machine resembling a hot-air balloon hovering in the sky. The balloon itself was a giant Meowth head, in rather poor taste.
“Who are you!?” Ash shouted.
Unexpectedly, this question seemed to trigger some kind of mechanism. The trio was instantly blinded by a flash of colorful fireworks, and a heart-shaking bang seemed to ring in their ears.
“Did we hear some small fry asking who we are?”
“Since you’ve asked the question with such sincerity!”
“We’ll be merciful and tell you!”
“Jessie!”
“James!”
“Meowth, that’s meow!”
The long-absent Team Rocket trio struck an elegant pose in the wooden basket hanging from the hot-air balloon, their delivery sharp and concise.
This efficient and simple opening line made Ash very uncomfortable.
Having not seen the three in a while, his eyes first flashed with surprise, then with anticipation, but finally, his expression suddenly changed to one of utter disappointment.
“That’s it?”
Before, it was all about protecting the world from devastation, to unite all peoples within our nation, and a whole bunch of other stuff. And now, this?
As expected of you guys. When it comes to being disappointing, you never disappoint.
“Hey, Team Rocket, you’ve lost your flavor. I’m going to ask again. Can you make it a bit longer this time?” Ash yelled at the top of his lungs.
Misty and Brock: “?”
Why does it feel like this kid really appreciates Team Rocket’s opening monologue?
The trio in the hot-air balloon were still holding their poses, but Ash’s words deflated their momentum by more than half, and their faces couldn’t help but darken.
Damn it!
Did he think they didn’t want to say a few more lines? Team Rocket was currently on the cutting edge of the economic development era, in the most critical decade of its history. Internal reforms were being implemented from top to bottom as they set sail for new horizons.
The very first thing to go was the flashy, ostentatious opening lines of low-level grunts.
They were already being cautious just by striking a pose. If some passerby took a photograph and posted it on Team Rocket’s official blog, they’d be fired by the next day.
“Still, the haul is pretty good.”
The reason they were conducting a large-scale bug hunt here today was that after submitting their corporate team-building report for the S.S. Anne, the three of them had been idly scrolling through the Viridian headlines and happened to see an article.
*Bizarre! Mass Ascension Event Occurs East of Saffron City, Pokémon League Remains Silent After Viewing.*
Seeing that it wasn’t far, the trio had come over to check it out.
“We just need to catch a hundred Butterfree. Then, after Giovanni finishes a long day of work, he’ll walk out of the company building, look up, and see a sky full of dancing butterfly silhouettes. He’ll definitely feel so relaxed.”
“‘The ones who made me feel so comfortable are the Meowth trio, meow! As expected of the pillars of Team Rocket, my most loyal right and left arms! I’m going to upgrade their rank from Fearless Bronze to Unyielding Silver, meow!’”
Meowth mimicked Giovanni’s tone, patting Jessie and James on the shoulders.
Maybe Giovanni would even be overcome with emotion and start dancing gracefully with the butterflies.
The plan was excellent. The trio quickly crunched the numbers, drafted a proposal, wrote up a budget, built the giant net device that night, and successfully implemented it today.
Looking at the whimpering “Bree, bree” of the Butterfree in the giant net, the three were very satisfied. A quick count suggested there were already about a hundred of them.
However, they had taken a quick look earlier. The coordination among this wild swarm of Butterfree was not yet refined. It was certainly shocking, but it lacked elegance and emotional depth.
Simply put, their dancing was terrible.
They were just about to take them back for some proper training. What little brat was trying to ruin their business development?
The trio frowned deeply, looking toward the source of the voice with unfriendly expressions.
“Oh, so it’s the discerning brat and his abnormal variant Electric Mouse. Hmph, you’ve delivered yourselves right to our door!”
Jessie’s gaze instantly turned cold.
“And the flat-chested little girl. Tsk tsk, still no improvement.”
James felt his own chest muscles and covered his mouth to chuckle mockingly.
Misty: “?”
“And the number two blind kid we saw on the S.S. Anne, meow. Hey, how did you grow eyes, meow?”
“That’s a medical miracle.”
“And why is it that the more I look at those big eyes, the more I get this urge to just let go of the net…?”
Damn it!
As expected, people who keep their eyes closed are on a whole other level when they finally open them!
The Team Rocket trio quickly slapped their faces, forcing themselves not to look at Brock anymore.
Brock: “?”
After all the fuss, Ash looked at the Pokémon trapped in the giant net above and quickly realized what the priority was.
“Hey, Team Rocket, let the Butterfree go!”
Jessie retorted, “Huh? Why should we let the Butterfree go?”
“Because… catching Pokémon is wrong, isn’t it?”
As soon as he said it, Ash’s originally firm statement turned into a question.
“How strange, you little brat. If we catch your Electric Mouse, that’s wrong because it’s your Pokémon. But these Butterfree are all wild. Why can’t they be captured?”
“Isn’t that how you caught that Metapod next to you?”
“You’re pretty funny, meow.”
The trio’s verbal assault made Ash’s face flush red. He wanted to fire back but didn’t know how to refute their points.
That’s right, it was all about capturing Pokémon. It was fine when he did it, but now it was a problem when Team Rocket did?
“That’s not right… I only caught one, but you caught a hundred…”
Ash’s tone had clearly weakened, but he still pointed his finger with righteous indignation.
“Is there a difference? If I like them, can’t I catch a few more?”
“I bet that in the future, when you find a Pokémon you like, you’ll probably catch 30 of them at once,” Jessie and James said with a shrug, their tone full of mockery.
“Nonsense! I would never catch 30 of the same Pokémon!” Ash retorted again, his face red. As he spoke, he finally figured out a counter-argument and shouted,
“We use Poké Balls to catch them, but you used a giant net! That’s against the law!”
“Idiot. Bug Catchers all use nets to catch Bug Pokémon.”
“Poké Balls and nets are both external tools. What gives you the right to look down on a bug-catching net?”
“Do you have any idea how hard a bug-catching net works, meow?”
Ash: “…”
He quickly turned his pleading gaze to his two seniors beside him.
This was a battle of words; naturally, it had to be a 3v3!
Brock blinked his big eyes and said in confusion,
“Eh, their logic is a bit twisted, but I really don’t know how to refute it.”
Misty also frowned.
“A bug-catching net really does work hard, you know.”
When it came to verbal sparring, Team Rocket always had a knack for it.
Ash: “…”
When he came back to his senses, he realized the situation had somehow turned into a 5v1.
(end of chapter)
