Beartic Ice Cream—the local specialty of Virbank City.
After spending quite a while in Virbank City, Ash, Cynthia, and Sabrina finally set off on the road again, this ti heading toward Nimbasa City.
Caitlin was there, and she was good friends with Elesa.
Elesa was currently taking part in a Pokémon fashion show there.
And lody—the girl Ash had asked Elesa to help look after—was also there, working hard and honing her skills at the TV station where Elesa worked.
To make the trip more fun, Cynthia insisted on showing off her "driving skills." So the three of them bought a rugged SUV and decided to drive from Virbank to Nimbasa.
They had just left the city limits of Virbank.
"That Beartic Ice Cream was seriously delicious. What about you two?"
Ash patted his stomach in satisfaction.
"Pika pi!"
Suddenly, Pikachu cried out sharply.
Right up ahead on the road—a small, delicate figure had appeared out of nowhere.
Pikachu's alert cry had already drawn Cynthia's attention. The mont she saw the small figure, she slamd the brakes!
The tires screeched loudly.
Luckily, they hadn't been going too fast, and the SUV's quality was solid. The vehicle ca to a halt just in ti—before it could run over the mysterious Pokémon.
"Pika pi!"
Pikachu leapt out first.
Ash was right behind, and when he saw the Pokémon more clearly—his eyes widened.
It was loetta.
The mory of this storyline imdiately ca back to him.
This loetta held a great deal of importance to the Unova Region as a whole.
It had always been secretly protected by soone nad Ridley, who worked to make sure loetta wouldn't be captured and used by evildoers.
But now—sothing was clearly wrong with it.
Cynthia and Sabrina were just about to speak when—
Suddenly, a strange trio ca tumbling down the hillside next to the road!
"Well, speak of the devil—we've been searching high and low, only for it to drop into our laps!"
"Running into you here, twerp! loetta and Pikachu are ours now!"
"That's right, nya! We're not the sa old Team Rocket anymore, nya!"
Jessie, Jas, and owth! The trio burst into the scene, leaping dramatically down from the hill, landing in style.
Trailing behind them were four Pokémon: Arbok, Weezing, Woobat, and Yamask.
"Chaaarbok!"
"Weeeezing!"
"Chaaa!"
"Woooo…"
The trio glared at Ash and Pikachu. Old mories of being fried and blasted off by that yellow mouse returned with full clarity.
But this ti—they had evolved. They were determined to reclaim their pride!
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"
"Pikaaaa—CHUUU!"
Pikachu unleashed a blazing Thunderbolt—not quite as strong as a full-on Thunder, but definitely more powerful than the average attack.
In one electrifying sweep, the entire Team Rocket lineup—including their four Pokémon—was blown sky-high, trailing smoke like a teor shower.
In the original tiline, it was true that this version of Team Rocket had leveled up.
But Ash wasn't the sa Ash from the original tiline either!
As the trio vanished into the sky, once again doubting their lives—
"Wait… Have we really changed? Why are we still getting zapped like this…?"
"I was wondering the sa thing…"
"Not the ti for this, nya! Let's focus on what's important…"
"We're blasting off agaaaiiin!"
Ding!
Ash smacked his forehead.
He had completely forgotten—he should've used Garchomp. That would've let his team gain so battle EXP at least.
Pikachu's level was already too high. Team Rocket couldn't even provide it with any decent experience anymore.
"Ash, it's bad!" Cynthia's voice turned serious. "loetta's really sick—fever, poisoning, major exhaustion. We need to get it to a Pokémon Center right away!"
Cynthia gently cradled loetta in her arms and quickly checked its vitals.
As the Sinnoh Champion, handling sothing like this was second nature to her.
"Ash, I found so berries nearby that should help with poisoning and fever," said Sabrina, using her psychic powers to locate them from the surrounding forest.
But there was a problem—loetta had completely passed out.
It couldn't even chew on the berries anymore.
Ash carefully took loetta into his arms. At this point, there was only one solution—the Universal Elixir.
Thankfully, this item was now purchasable from the system shop using Poké Coins.
"This thing's called a Universal Elixir. It's my newest formula—but due to ingredient limitations, it can't be mass-produced. Still, it can heal any non-lethal Pokémon injury."
As Ash explained, he gently fed the dicine to the unconscious loetta.
loetta was suffering.
But then—her eyes fluttered open.
The first thing she saw was Ash.
Thanks to Ash's Aura power and the power of the Hero of the Wave (Overcoming Power), he exuded a unique warmth and gentleness that Pokémon instinctively trusted.
At the sa ti, Ash activated his full Overcoming Power, letting loetta instantly understand what had happened.
"lolo!"
loetta cried out gratefully, thanking everyone with teary eyes.
Ash finally got a mont to check loetta's stats—it was only Level 50. Combined with its naturally gentle disposition, it made sense that Team Rocket's ambush had actually worked.
But then—a huge shadow fell from above.
It was a Golurk!
The mont Golurk spotted loetta in Ash's arms, it launched an attack without hesitation!
"Garchomp, use Dragon Claw!"
Cynthia's eyes narrowed.
She wasted no ti. With one swift motion, she sent out her ace: Garchomp.
Attacking like that, with no warning? It had officially crossed the line.
With a slash of its bladed fin, Garchomp's Dragon Claw tore into Golurk's chest, sending the massive golem crashing backward.
Then—soone jumped down from Golurk's shoulder.
A man—clearly flustered, staring at loetta with wide, panicked eyes.
"You! What are you doing with loetta?! Hand her over right now!"
loetta quickly jumped in between both sides, waving her arms and calling out in song to stop them.
As it turned out, the man's na was Ridley—he had always been loetta's secret guardian, protecting her from those who would exploit her power for evil.
His Golurk was his partner, and he had been tailing loetta ever since their ho was destroyed by the strange trio.
They had been separated during the chaos.
So when he saw loetta in the arms of strangers, he had instinctively assud the worst—and lashed out in desperation.
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T/N:
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