The reformation of Team Rocket sparked heated discussion. Judging from the Black World footage, everything the Rockets were doing now was proceeding quite smoothly—destroying Dark Balls, gathering intel on Team Rocket, even secretly reporting fugitive members of Team Galactic… Compared to their constant failures when doing evil, doing good seemed to have them blessed by fate, with no setbacks at all!
[Caitlin:] So… the Team Rocket trio should just be good guys! Look how smoothly things go when you're good!
[Chairman (Damalanchi):] That's right! Join the League, Team Rocket trio! Get the five social insurances, one housing fund, and paid vacation!
[Giovanni:] Silence! My loyal subordinates will not be tempted by you lot!
After saying this, a complicated look flashed in Giovanni's eyes. Theoretically… perhaps, as those annoying people said, it might be possible for the Rocket trio to defect to the League very smoothly, but… Giovanni understood better that as long as he led Team Rocket for a day, it was impossible for those three to betray the organization.
The Rocket trio in the Black World had never submitted to Ash's overwhelming strength; no matter how many times they were blasted off, they kept coming back bravely. But after he was captured… the Rockets began to waver a little. Then, the final straw that broke them was the Rainbow Rocket incident. Learning the world faced such a huge crisis, their inner conscience, Giovanni's absence, and their bond with Ash… finally prompted their change. The Rockets in the Black World had essentially become decent people, but not in this world. He still existed here! And there was no Rainbow Rocket crisis to speak of… So, rather than letting them join the League, it was better for them to remain under his wing in Team Rocket. As for getting blasted off repeatedly for doing evil… it didn't matter. The three of them seemed to enjoy it anyway.
[Jessie:] Boss Giovanni is right! We are forever loyal to Team Rocket!
[James:] That's right! We don't care about five insurances, a housing fund, or paid vacation! We won't end up like our other-world selves!
[Meowth:] That's right, meow! Team Rocket loyalty!!
The Rocket trio pledged their loyalty to Giovanni in the live stream, but in an unseen corner, they were swallowing hard. Loyalty was loyalty… but five insurances and a housing fund were really tempting! And paid vacation! Since they started chasing Ash, they could count their days off on one hand! However, Giovanni's kindness to them was enough to prevent them from being swayed by such benefits. After all, they hadn't made any real contributions to the organization in the year they'd been chasing Ash, yet the organization still paid their salaries on time and hadn't fired them. So… they were absolutely loyal to Team Rocket! Loyal to Giovanni!
In the real world, everyone's attempts to persuade Team Rocket were in vain. Meanwhile, in the footage, Ash was about to return to Rustboro Town.
...
In the Black World — As Ash and his party were about to return to Rustboro Town, the Pokémon Egg in Ash's hands, which had been warmed by his Aura power, suddenly emitted a dazzling light.
"About to hatch?"
"Should be."
"Has this little one finally been moved by Ash?"
Ash didn't speak, just watched the Egg intently. Along the journey, he had been using his Aura power to warm it. Besides strengthening the life force within the Egg, he also used his Aura to convey images of his wonderful journey. Ash wanted to tell the little one inside that the outside world… wasn't scary, but beautiful! Whatever reason it had for not wanting to come out, once it saw the splendor and beauty outside, it would surely want to emerge!
Several days passed. Ash patiently used his Aura to warm it daily and give it prenatal education via Aura. Now, this little one was finally willing to face the outside world! Everyone stopped to watch the gray-green Egg slowly transform. Finally, a small Pokémon appeared in Ash's hands.
The Pokémon's skin was the same gray-green as the Egg. It had two black, teardrop-like marks under its closed eyes, sharp, blunt horns on its head, and a diamond-shaped red scale on its belly.
"This is… a Larvitar?" Brock searched his mental Pokémon database and reached a conclusion after a few seconds. This was the Johto region's pseudo-Legendary—Larvitar! Larvitar was a rare Pokémon comparable to Dratini; its final evolved form, Tyranitar, was an immensely powerful Pokémon, useful both in solo battles and in cooperative defense tactics with other Rock-types.
"No wonder poachers stole this Egg… it's a Tyranitar's offspring…" As Sabrina spoke, she poked Larvitar's cheek. The comfortable-looking Larvitar instantly scrunched up its little face. Then, Larvitar slowly opened its eyes. The first thing it saw, lying on its side, was Ash's caring expression.
"Depend on~"
"Yuki~~"
A soft sound came from Larvitar's mouth. It turned its body and reached its small hands toward Ash, a cheerful smile on its face. Its little hands kept waving, like a child acting spoiled with its father.
"Eh~ This little one doesn't seem to recognize strangers. It's very attached to Ash," Misty said with some surprise.
"Of course. Ash has been using his Aura power to communicate with this unborn little one these past few days. Even a stone heart would probably melt, let alone this little guy~" As Brock spoke, he also wanted to poke Larvitar's cheek, but seeing Brock's hand approach, Larvitar immediately curled up fearfully into Ash's arms.
Seeing this, Ash smiled. "It seems this little guy is still a bit shy… It's fine. Spending more time together later, it should get used to it." Spending more time together… but it was unknown if there would be such a chance. After all, this wasn't Ash's Egg but belonged to the Mt. Silver Reserve. Still, for now at least, Larvitar could be considered temporarily Ash's Pokémon. It was hatched by him and very attached to him.
About a day later, the group of four finally arrived in Rustboro Town. During this time, Larvitar still resisted everyone except Ash. Whether Brock, Misty, or Sabrina, anyone approaching Larvitar would make its body stiffen and even render it completely silent. But with Ash, it was completely different. Even when interacting with Pikachu and Ash's other Pokémon, Larvitar looked curious and happy. Only with people… This led Ash to guess that Larvitar's behavior was probably related to poachers. Perhaps it had sensed the poachers' malice while in the Egg, making it very wary of outsiders after hatching. As for why it was close to Ash… wasn't that simple? Ash had brought it into the world with his Aura power! Though it was only a few days, if Ash hadn't been nurturing it and using his Aura to instill images of beautiful things outside, Larvitar might still not have hatched even now! So why wouldn't Larvitar be close to Ash?
...
[Flint:] The Larvitar in the Black World hasn't experienced the dangerous journey of the White World one!
In the White World, Larvitar nearly lost its life upon hatching. If Ash hadn't held it for warmth, it might have died after birth.
[Cynthia:] That's because the White World Larvitar was forced to hatch. Its time in the Egg had reached its limit; it had to be born.
[Cynthia:] However, at that time, Larvitar was still resisting the outside world. Therefore, its consciousness resisted its own birth, resulting in its bodily functions not fully activating, leaving it in a near-death state.
[Cynthia:] But the Black World Larvitar is different. It willingly awakened under Black Ash's Aura power, so it didn't suffer from low body temperature or vitality.
[Cynthia:] But obviously, even the Black World Larvitar retains its hatred of poachers—its 'hatred of the house and the crow'—which extends to all humans except Ash.
[Professor Oak:] Alas, damn poachers. Such people can never be completely eradicated. As long as there is greed in the world, they will continue to appear.
Light and darkness are opposites, two sides that will always coexist in this world. The world cannot be only light, nor only dark. This is a law of the world. Therefore, villainous organizations and poachers… even if the League cracks down, they are essentially inexhaustible. Without Team Rocket, there would still be Team Galactic, Team Plasma, Team Aqua, Team Magma, etc. Professor Oak's words caused many to fall into silence.
At this moment—
[Ash:] No matter whether poachers will vanish or not, if I see such things, I'll deal with them! No matter how many times poachers steal Pokémon, I'll get them back!
[Giovanni:] Hah, naive kid. There are so many injustices in the world; can you handle them all?
[Ash:] I can't handle things I don't know about, things I can't see. Of course, I can't do things that powerful Champions like Mr. Lance, Miss Cynthia, and others can't do either.
[Ash:] But… how can I become a Pokémon Master if I can't stop the bad things happening right before my eyes?
I can't handle all the bad in the world, but I will definitely handle the bad right in front of me. This was Ash's mindset!
Hearing Ash's words, Giovanni was momentarily dazed, then quickly shook his head. Tch, I was almost swayed by this kid… This world's Ash has the brainwashing power of "Talk no Jutsu" too!
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