Chapter 190: Two Women Vie for a Son, the One Who Lets Go Wins
2024-05-15 Author: Samsung Charmander
"Ling-ling~"
"The best Trainers also need brains, so the second round is a test of intelligence. Dragonair is going to ask two questions for us to answer separately, meow."
The trial continued, with Meowth still acting as the translator.
"Ling-ling-ling~~" Dragonair quickly presented the question.
Hearing this, Meowth's brow furrowed. It secretly thought that this question wasn't simple at all.
"There are ten Slowpoke that need to cross a river, but in the river are Sharpedo that specialize in eating Slowpoke tails. These Slowpoke can't use any moves, and they don't have any protection, meow."
"Just then, a group of Arbok appears on the bank behind them, also wanting to eat their tails. The ten Slowpoke must immediately enter the water and cross the river, meow."
"But they only have one protective sleeve for a tail. The question is, how much are ten Slowpoke tails worth, meow?"
Ash: ?
That was a pretty wild twist.
"Ling-ling~"
Dragonair's eyes flashed fiercely, indicating that Meowth shouldn't twist its words.
Besides, Ash went first in the last round. Now it was Team Rocket's turn.
"Oh, oh, my mistake. The question is how to get across the river without their tails getting eaten, meow."
This question made everyone fall into deep thought. The situation seemed impossible to solve.
"Guu~~"
With his mind constantly on Slowpoke tails, Ash's stomach rumbled. They're said to be an exquisite delicacy.
"Think faster, Meowth!"
"Believe in yourself! You're Team Rocket's Number One Strategist!"
Jessie and James shook Meowth by the head. In situations like this, the two of them usually just provided moral support from the sidelines.
Brains are a good thing, but theirs were on the smaller side.
"Let Meowth think..."
Meowth mulled over the process in its mind. After a moment of intense brainstorming, its eyes finally lit up. A cunning smile spread across its face as it found the answer.
"I've got it, meow! Have the second Slowpoke hold the first Slowpoke's tail in its mouth, and so on down the line. The last Slowpoke then uses the sleeve to protect its tail!"
"Wow, that's our Meowth, a world-shaking genius!!"
"Without our Meowth, the ages would be like an endless night!"
Jessie and James were already setting off fireworks on the side to celebrate, their expressions ecstatic.
Even Ash and his friends were dumbfounded. Thinking it over, it really did seem like a perfect answer.
"Hold the tail in its mouth, huh? I thought it was..."
Brock blushed, but quickly returned to normal. No one noticed his strange expression.
Dragonair nodded. Although the two humans on that side didn't seem too bright, this Meowth's intelligence wasn't low.
Then, it turned its gaze to Ash. The pressure was now on his side.
"Ling-ling-ling~~" It posed another question.
Meowth nodded and translated again:
"Oh, oh, meow! It says the background is the same, but this time the Slowpoke's sleeve was taken by a human with some... *unconventional* ideas. The question is, how many hours would it take to drain the river?"
Ash: ?
"Ling-ling-ling!!" Dragonair was a little angry. Its tail swayed, looking like it was about to smack Meowth.
Meowth quickly behaved and explained, "Oh, oh, I misspoke. It's still asking how to cross the river?"
Ash looked down at the stream beside him, bowing his head in thought.
No matter how he thought about it, the previous answer was already perfect. Without the sleeve, how could they possibly cross unharmed?
"Brother Red, you're a man of understanding, help me!"
He quickly sought help in secret from the person of great wisdom.
Ash was a big fan of one of Brother Red's sayings: If you can use your fists, don't use your brain.
Ash usually wouldn't even think about this kind of problem. If it were up to him, he would have just thrown the Slowpoke across from the bank. Why would they stupidly get in the water and let the Sharpedo bite their tails?
Red: ...
He didn't say much, instead forming a picture of the answer in Ash's mind.
"Ort~Ort~Ort~Ort~Ort~Ort~Ort(~)"
Ash: ?
Red gestured for him not to panic, then showed him another picture.
"
Ort~Ort~Ort~Ort~Ort~Ort~Ort~
|_______________________________|
"
"I get it!"
Ash's eyes instantly lit up. He understood Brother Red's abstract explanation and shouted it out.
"The answer is, the middle stays the same! The first Slowpoke holds the last Slowpoke's tail in its mouth, forming a closed loop!"
Everyone: !
"That's Ash for you, to even think of that!"
"I thought it was a human centi..."
Brock and Misty clapped without reservation. Even Dragonair nodded. This round was another stalemate.
Finally, they'd reached the match point. This round, unlike the previous two, couldn't end in a draw; it was a trial that would definitively decide a winner.
"Ling-ling~~"
Hearing this, Meowth was stunned for a moment. He hadn't expected this trial to be so simple and brutal. Seeing the eager expressions on everyone's faces, he didn't delay and announced the contents of the trial.
"Ahem, the trial is this: we and the twerp will each grab an end of the Dratini—its head and tail. Whoever pulls it over to their side wins. This trial is a test of brute force, meow!"
These words made Jessie's and James's eyes light up. This kind of simple, brutal, no-brainer challenge was exactly what Team Rocket wanted.
On the other side, Ash immediately did ten push-ups on the spot without even breaking a sweat, secretly thinking that he could finally stop using his brain and start using his fists.
Dratini: ?
The Dratini in the middle seemed to understand the trial. It looked at its mother's expression, which was a mask of utter bewilderment.
"μ."
It looked at the strapping James, then at the strapping Ash, and couldn't help but gasp, wondering to itself, *Is Mother planning to tear me in half?*
"Ling-ling~"
Dragonair, however, paid no heed to Dratini's expression, looking completely confident.
"I get it! This trial isn't actually about brute force, but about love!"
The spectating Misty suddenly slapped her own head and spoke up.
When she was little, she had heard a story from her three older sisters. It was about a wise judge in ancient times who served as an official in the Pokémon League. One day, two women came to see him with a child, both claiming the child was theirs.
So, the wise judge had the two women pull the child by the arms, saying whoever won the tug-of-war could keep him.
In the midst of the struggle, one of the women couldn't bear the pained expression on the child's face as he was being pulled, so she tearfully let go.
"Thud!"
With the force suddenly gone, the other woman couldn't dodge in time and fell backward, hitting the back of her head on a pillar and dying on the spot.
And so, the woman who let go got the child.
That wise judge was thus praised by later generations. As the saying goes: when two women vie for a son, the one who lets go wins.
What Dragonair was testing right now wasn't who had greater strength, but who loved their child more!
"That's a clever take on it," Brock said, patting Misty's shoulder, then added:
"But it's completely pointless."
Following the direction Brock was pointing, she saw that Ash and James had already taken off their shirts, revealing their lean muscles. They faced off, a fervent fire burning in their eyes. Judging by their stance, they probably wouldn't stop pulling until the Dratini was torn to shreds.
Once a man's pride is on the line, he won't back down even if his ancestral graves are being dug up, let alone for a single Dratini!
Dragonair: ...
Hm... this was certainly not what it had expected.
Dratini: ???
(end of chapter)