Chapter 48: Untitled
After the call disconnected, Brock kept thinking about his dad Flint's words: Why wasn't Dad willing to tell me details about Mt. Elite Four? And why is Dad suddenly going to Mt. Elite Four? Also, is Mt. Elite Four actually safe or not?!... Brock couldn't figure out any of these things.
Unable to figure things out, Brock went back over beside Misty and the others and found a place to sit down.
Melanie, nearby, saw Brock return and asked him, "Brock, what's wrong? You look unhappy."
Hearing Melanie, Brock replied simply, "It's nothing," then continued watching the battlefield. He was surprised Ash and Lt. Surge's battle still wasn't finished yet.
Meanwhile, Daisy, hearing the exchange between Melanie and Brock, glanced at Brock, then glanced at Melanie, then lowered her head, seemingly lost in thought about something.
On the battlefield, Raichu and Pikachu were fighting neck and neck. Ash watched the battle between Pikachu and Raichu, thinking, I need to find Raichu's weakness, so I can defeat it with one good hit!
On the other side, Lt. Surge was also watching the battle between Raichu and Pikachu, trying to identify Pikachu's weakness. However, more and more sweat appeared on Lt. Surge's forehead. He thought, I didn't expect this kid's Pikachu to be this strong! It's managed to battle my Raichu for so long! Fine! I'll find its weakness, then defeat it in one blow!
Having decided, Lt. Surge commanded his Raichu, "Raichu! Time to use your full power!"
Hearing Lt. Surge's command, Raichu used Thunder Punch with all its might, attacking Pikachu.
Seeing this, Ash yelled loudly to Pikachu, "Pikachu, don't be afraid! Use Iron Tail to meet Raichu's attack!"
Hearing Ash's command, Pikachu leaped up, then used Iron Tail, aiming for Raichu's head. Just then, Raichu and Pikachu's attacks hit each other simultaneously, resulting in this scene: Raichu's Thunder Punch struck Pikachu, while at the exact moment of impact, Pikachu's Iron Tail hit Raichu on the head.
And so, after Raichu and Pikachu clashed, both stood still on the field. After staring at each other for a short while, both Pikachu and Raichu simultaneously collapsed to the ground, having both lost their ability to battle. According to the rules: During a Gym battle, if the challenger's and the Gym Leader's Pokémon faint simultaneously, the challenger is declared the winner. Just like that, Ash won the Vermilion Gym Badge.
After receiving the badge, Ash picked up Pikachu and ran towards the Pokémon Center, wanting to get Pikachu treated quickly. Brock, Misty, Melanie, Daisy, plus Meowth, saw Ash run off holding Pikachu and knew he must be heading to the Pokémon Center. Subsequently, they all headed back to the Pokémon Center together.
Meanwhile, inside a paid telephone booth at the Vermilion City Pokémon Center, stood a teenage girl making a phone call. On the phone screen appeared a woman in her twenties. They were precisely Giselle and the Champion of the Sinnoh region, Cynthia.
Giselle told Cynthia everything about her battle with Brock earlier that day. Afterwards, they hung up. Giselle then walked out of the telephone booth.
Back in a manor in the Sinnoh region, Champion Cynthia stood beside the phone receiver. After hearing what Giselle had told her, Cynthia thought, My Salamence is an Elite Four level Pokémon! Its move actually hit that Dragonite, yet the Dragonite was completely unharmed?! I'd really like to battle that Dragonite myself and see if it's as formidable as my sister Giselle described.
Having made up her mind, Cynthia ran to the back of the manor and boarded her private plane. As soon as she entered the private plane, she told the pilot, "Go to Vermilion City in the Kanto region! Quickly!"
Hearing Cynthia, the pilot replied, "Yes, Young Lady!" then went to pilot the aircraft.
Meanwhile, in a certain manor in the Kanto region, a teenage boy was on the phone. He said to the person on the other end, "Money is no problem. I just want his head."
A voice replied from the other end, "No problem, rest assured! Just get the money ready. Five million, not one cent less!" Then the sound of the call disconnecting was heard.
After the boy finished the call, he turned around. If Brock had been there, he would have recognized him as Damian Oak of the Oak clan. (Phones came in two types: one like video calls, the other like voice calls only).
Damian Oak placed the phone on the table, then sat down. He looked at the phone before him and thought, That kid Brock! Who told you to provoke me?! My family only compromised and chose not to touch you because they didn't want to start a war with your family! But I won't swallow this insult! To kill you, I hired an assassin for five million to take your head!
And what Brock didn't know was that an assassination attempt against him was already underway.
On Brock's side, he and the group were heading towards the Pokémon Center. Brock remembered something and said to Misty and the others beside him, "Misty, Daisy, Melanie, and you too, Meowth! You all head back to the Pokémon Center first! I have something I need to take care of." After speaking, Brock walked off to the side. Hearing Brock, Misty and the others continued towards the Pokémon Center.
On Brock's end, after separating from Misty and the others, he headed towards the Vermilion City shopping mall. Shortly after, Brock reached the entrance of the mall and saw a large group of police officers driving away from the mall. Seeing this scene, Brock became frightened and thought, No way! Did the mall find out things were missing so quickly? And they even called the police?! Hopefully, the police can't trace it back to me!
After thinking this, Brock still felt a bit scared. After all, it was his first time stealing things. To find out if the police had actually found any clues, Brock plucked up his courage and asked an uncle (middle-aged man) nearby, "Hello! Uncle! Do you know what happened here?"
Hearing Brock, the uncle explained, "Well, it's like this: I heard this shopping mall found a lot of things missing yesterday for no apparent reason, so they called the police to investigate for clues. But after the police came and spent the whole day here, they didn't find any clues at all! They could only return empty-handed."
Hearing the uncle's words, Brock thought delightedly, This time I don't have to worry about getting caught! Now I can take things without restraint!
After finishing this thought, Brock entered the shopping mall. He saw there were still many people shopping inside. He then started wandering around. He looked at the merchandise on display and watched the shoppers buying things, seeing them take many goods. After about four hours, Brock felt he had wandered enough, then took a bottle of mineral water from a nearby vending machine. He then went to the counter to pay for it.
Holding the bottle of mineral water, Brock walked out of the shopping mall, then headed back towards the Pokémon Center. By now, Brock had arrived back at the Pokémon Center. After going inside, he greeted Ash, "Ash! How's your Pikachu doing?"
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