Accelerate.
Accelerate.
Accelerate.
However, this harmony of extreme speed was soon broken.
"Mai!!!"
The usually cheerful Misdreavus suddenly let out a sharp warning screech.
She looked toward the woods ahead on the right side of the road.
Ghost-type Pokémon generally feed on negative emotions... so they are naturally more sensitive to them.
Almost at the same moment Misdreavus issued her warning, the bushes by the roadside shook violently!
"Sreee—!"
Accompanied by sharp, hostile cries, over a dozen figures rushed out from the forest like gray lightning bolts, blocking the middle of the road directly.
It was a flock of Spearow.
And judging by their crimson eyes and raised feathers, they were obviously in a state of extreme irritability.
"Watch out!!"
Ash's pupils contracted, and he roared, his hands squeezing both the front and rear brake levers tightly at the same time!
Screech—!!!
The ear-piercing sound of brakes instantly tore apart the previously carefree atmosphere.
Misty and Brock reacted extremely quickly as well, applying emergency braking almost simultaneously.
The tires of the three bicycles created long black friction marks on the asphalt road, and a smell of burnt rubber permeated the air.
Strong inertia pushed their bodies forward. Relying on their excellent balance and core strength, Ash and Misty managed to stabilize their bikes, though they still slid forward for a distance before coming to a precarious halt.
Battling while riding at high speeds is dangerous... so at this moment, they had no choice but to stop.
Brock's movements were slightly slower, but he also stopped in time. His dark gray bicycle came to a steady halt just a fist's distance from the tail of Misty's bike.
The Vulpix in his basket let out a startled cry and curled into a ball. This Vulpix was not very old, nor was it warlike; it was even somewhat timid.
Pikachu, relying on its small and agile body, performed a light side-slide turn, its four limbs gripping the ground firmly as it stopped in front of Ash's bike.
Facing the flock of Spearow, the electric sacs on its cheeks crackled, bursting with intense electric light as it entered a state of combat readiness.
"These Spearow... what's going on with them?" Misty looked at the aggressive group before her, her brows furrowed tightly.
They didn't look like they were hunting; it looked more like they were... fleeing a disaster?
The Spearow clearly hadn't expected three high-speed humans to suddenly pop out either. Startled, they became even more manic, flapping their wings and issuing louder threats, yet they did not attack immediately, appearing to be wary of something.
"Their condition isn't right," Brock observed carefully.
"They're injured and can't fly high." He saw the scars on the Spearow's wings. "Someone drove them here on purpose!"
Ash did not speak. His gaze bypassed the restless flock of Spearow and cast toward the direction they had flown from—deep within that dense forest.
His intuition told him that the thing making these Spearow so terrified was still behind them.
Misdreavus floated back to Ash's side, the purple mist on her body fluctuating slightly, conveying an emotion of unease.
In the brief standoff, there was only the smell of burnt bicycle tires and the threatening screeches of the Spearow.
This "drag race" on Route 7 had been forced to an end.
A tense and uneasy atmosphere began to quietly spread.
In the distance.
Deep in the shadows of the dense forest.
Three people were holding binoculars, peering through the gaps in the branches, staring tightly at the stopped bicycles and the restless Spearow flock on the road.
"Tsk, their reaction was quite fast," Cassidy sipped a drink from her portable coffee cup, her tone carrying a trace of imperceptible praise.
She had changed into a dark green outfit today, more suitable for field operations, which outlined her slender figure. Her blonde hair was tied back neatly.
Although she was a member of a villainous organization, she was actually quite pretty.
"After all, he's someone Miss Erika treated specially..." Butch leaned against a tree, playing with a Poké Ball.
A trademark, slightly frivolous smile hung on the corner of his mouth, and his short green hair swayed gently in the forest breeze.
He actually hadn't finished his sentence; there was another part to it: —Boss Giovanni specifically instructed us to 'fully assist' our new friend here in achieving his goals, after all.
—But there was no need to say that out loud.
For Cassidy and Butch, this activity was purely an accident.
They had originally thought they would just be recruiting a rookie. They never expected that after recruiting the rookie, they would be given a mission by Giovanni.
And Giovanni's words had been vague and unclear.
With their intelligence, they could only discern one thing—Giovanni didn't care about Cross, but he cared about Ash, and they couldn't reveal the mission's classified details.
In short... their vacation was gone, and they suddenly had to work overtime.
Cassidy: T_T
Butch: _
The benefits of the villainous organization Team Rocket were indeed very good. But the working hours were truly unstable. And once you joined, it was very difficult to quit.
Standing between them was precisely Cross, whose face was gloomy and whose eyes burned with the flames of humiliation and anger.
He clenched his fists tightly, his fingernails almost digging into his palms.
Seeing the sorry state of Ash and the others braking, a surge of pleasure rose in his heart, but it was immediately drowned out by greater irritability.
"Why do this?" Cross's voice was hoarse, carrying suppressed anger as he turned to Cassidy and Butch. "Just to give them a scare? With these useless Spearow?"
He kicked a Spearow near his feet that was crawling on the ground, shivering due to injury. The Spearow let out a wail.
Ash's route could be predicted.
The only remaining Gym in this surrounding area was in Saffron City, and the Gyms Ash had challenged along the way were all the mainstream Kanto Gyms. So Ash would definitely go there.
After all, the next city, Fuchsia City, was a bit far away.
Cassidy put down her coffee cup and wiped the corner of her mouth elegantly.
"Cross, anger is fuel, but stupidity is a trap."
"Rushing up directly like a brainless Tauros—aside from bashing your head until it bleeds, what can you gain?"
Cassidy was truly dissatisfied with this cannon fodder she had recruited herself.
His strength was decent, but his brain was too stupid, and his mentality was poor.
She extended a finger, pointing toward the road. "That Ash... do you know the two people beside him?"
Even for a villainous organization, the principle of 'know the enemy and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles with no danger of defeat' applied.
Cross narrowed his eyes, tried hard to identify them, and shook his head.
His memory of that day of defeat was almost completely occupied by Erika's power and Ash's mockery. He only had a vague impression of Brock and Misty.
He hadn't been in Kanto for too long, and the Badges he collected weren't all from mainstream Gyms either.
"Heh, of course you don't know them." Butch sneered, taking over the conversation, his tone full of malicious guidance.
"That brown-skinned guy with the Vulpix is the former Gym Leader of the Pewter Gym, Brock."
"That orange-haired girl is the current Gym Leader of the Cerulean Gym, Misty."
Although Butch also looked down on Cross, he didn't mind continuing to deceive him. Who says you can't deceive people while telling the truth?
The truth is the easiest thing to incite emotions with!
"Two... Gym Leaders?" Cross's pupils contracted slightly.
The term 'Gym Leader' now carried a complex stinging sensation for him.
"That's right." Cassidy's voice was steady but carried a bewitching power.
"Think about it. A rookie trainer from Pallet Town, out on a journey, yet he has two Gym Leaders by his side to 'escort' him?"
"Isn't this lineup a bit too grand?"
To be honest, Cassidy also suspected Ash's specific identity somewhat.
Bringing two Gym Leaders along, and then having her own Boss Giovanni pay such close attention. The key point was hearing that he had come with Erika to see Boss Giovanni before and had retreated unscathed.
This made Cassidy and Butch suspect... is he Boss Giovanni's illegitimate son?
Considering that the leader of a villainous organization would hide his relatives... this possibility was really high.
If it weren't for this being a mission arranged by Giovanni, and the fact that he even gave them special trump card Poké Balls... Cassidy and Butch wouldn't want to run into Ash at all.
Anyway, they felt this foolish Cross was dead meat.
Butch leaned close to Cross, lowering his voice as if sharing some earth-shattering secret.
"We received news that this kid's background isn't simple. He's extremely likely to be a direct descendant of some high-ranking Alliance official, or even a Professor's family. He is a scion of wealth and power, through and through!"
"Those two Gym Leaders are companions on the surface, but secretly, they are his bodyguards!"
"Otherwise, why do you think he could get the Badge so 'easily' at the Celadon Gym?"
"Why did he dare to speak to you so arrogantly?"
"Because he has nothing to fear!"
These words were casually fabricated by Butch.
Right or wrong didn't matter; as long as it could stimulate emotions and fool the person, it was fine.
These half-true, half-false words, filled with malicious speculation, were injected into Cross's heart like venom.
He recalled Ash's "plain" Gym Battle, and the condescending judgment Ash passed on him. A twisted emotion, a mix of jealousy, resentment, and "so that's how it is," instantly rose up.
"No wonder... no wonder he dared to be so arrogant!"
Cross ground his teeth loudly.
All his failures and humiliations seemed to have found a reasonable, external explanation—he was just a piece of trash relying on family background and bodyguards!
Cassidy watched Cross's reaction with satisfaction and continued to add fuel to the fire. "So, acting directly is the most stupid choice."
"We need a strategy. We need patience."
She pointed to the restless Spearow outside. "This is just a start, a small probe."
"A probe?" Cross frowned.
He usually solved problems directly with violence. It was very direct... he couldn't play these winding games.
"Exactly," Butch explained, wearing a professional expression belonging to a senior villain.
"We want to peel away their trump cards layer by layer."
"Through these 'accidents', we observe their reactions when encountering sudden situations, which Pokémon is sent out first to deal with it, what their battle style is like, and to what extent those two bodyguard Gym Leaders will intervene... All of these are precious intelligence."
He wasn't confident enough to win against Gym Leaders in a frontal fight yet.
So only after collecting enough intelligence could they play dirty tricks.
"Once we figure out their patterns and habits," Cassidy took over, her voice as cold as a venomous snake, "we will formulate a perfect plan."
"Our goal isn't to clash with them head-on here; that's meaningless."
"What we want is a diversion, to create an opportunity."
Precisely because they were a villainous organization, they had to use their brains more.
Even if they were as strong as Team Rocket, if they clashed head-on with the Alliance... they would have been blown up long ago.
She stared at Cross with a burning gaze.
"Based on their route, there is a ninety percent probability that their next large destination after Saffron City is Fuchsia City."
"We will utilize the intelligence collected to find a way to lure away or even temporarily trap those two Gym Leader bodyguards."
Cassidy specifically emphasized the word "bodyguards."
They felt Ash couldn't possibly choose to take a ship or a plane.
The highest probability was still setting off from Route 16 west of Celadon City, going south through Dark City, and reaching Fuchsia City via Route 18.
And the most suitable place to act was Dark City.
After all, that wasn't one of the eight mainstream Gym cities. It was just a small city... most suitable for them to intercept and commit crimes.
Even though they had Boss Giovanni's orders, the two of them didn't want to cause trouble in Saffron City or Fuchsia City.
Whether it was Saffron City's Sabrina or Fuchsia City's Koga... neither was someone with a good temper or easy to mess with.
"Then," Butch patted Cross on the shoulder, revealing a smile full of malice. "We will create a perfect, flawless opportunity for you to go one-on-one with that Ash."
"Without the 'bodyguards' interfering, you can handle your private grudge... to your heart's content."
"Prove to him who the real trash is!"
Although they felt the idiot beside them wouldn't live long, their professionalism was maxed out before the mission was completed.
Everything for Boss Giovanni!
As members of Giovanni's elite guard, they were very loyal and fanatical toward Giovanni.
Cross's breathing became heavy, and the scene of Ash kneeling on the ground begging for mercy had already emerged in his mind.
Cassidy and Butch's plan sounded so detailed, so 'professional,' completely fitting the insidiousness and cunning a villainous organization should have in his mind.
This made him even more convinced that Ash was a dandy relying on his background, and he despised his 'incompetence relying on external forces' even more... This didn't seem to have any causal relationship, but that was just how he thought.
"I understand..."
Cross took a deep breath, the anger in his eyes replaced by a colder calculation.
"We'll do as you say."
"Before he reaches Fuchsia City, I want to know all his trump cards!"
He looked at Ash and the others on the road, who had already begun trying to disperse the Spearow, and the corners of his mouth hooked into a cruel arc.
"Ash... just enjoy this final time of peace to your heart's content... I will... tear all your reliances to shreds with my own hands, and make you howl like a dog in the face of absolute disparity in strength!"
Cross glared viciously at Ash.
The shadows in the forest seemed to grow heavier, swallowing the figures of the three whispering conspirators.
And that flock of Spearow, driven out to act as the pawns for the first probe, continued to screech helplessly and manic on the road.
The scars on their wings looked particularly piercing under the sunlight—and this was a type of bait.
The Spearow were not the real enemy.
The real enemy was the leader of the Spearow—Fearow.
On the road in the distance, Ash naturally could not hear this conspiracy in the woods.
He just focused his guard on the flock of Spearow, while that lingering sense of incongruity kept the warning bells in his heart ringing.
Pikachu blocked in front of him, electricity winding around it.
Misdreavus hovered to the side, sensing the unusual fluctuations in the air.
Even Charmander inside the Poké Ball conveyed a burning will to fight.
____
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