Chapter 268: Hiring the Team Rocket Trio Again
"Misty, I've heard about you from Lorelei. She said you are an excellent Water-type Pokemon Trainer. Are you interested in taking over for Lorelei?" Damanqi asked, looking at Misty.
"Huh?" Misty was quite surprised. She gathered her thoughts and said, "Lorelei has mentioned it, but I still have a lot to learn from her."
"That's good, that's good. Later, discuss it with your sisters and submit a Gym development plan in the name of the Cerulean Gym. You don't need to write it in too much detail; just clearly state the funding requirements and what resources you need, such as resident Pokémon, Pokémon items, and Evolution Stone. You just need to write the proposal, and I will personally approve it later."
"Brock, the same applies to your Pewter Gym. Just write it up, and I will review it personally later, ensuring that the resources and funds you apply for are issued as quickly as possible.
Also, this is something I asked the Hoenn Region Champion, Steven, to get for me. There were two in total; one was given to Jasmine of the Olivine Gym, and this one is for you."
After saying this, Damanqi handed a box to Brock.
Brock curiously opened the box and saw a Mega Evolution set inside.
Upon seeing this set, Ash was dumbfounded.
This old man was really generous. He just gave away a Steelix Mega Evolution set like that; there was no need to go that far just to win people over, right?
And judging by the old man's words, he had also gotten a set for Jasmine.
Brock looked at Ash, somewhat excited, and asked, "Ash, could this set be..."
"Yeah, this is indeed the mega stone for Steelix." Ash nodded and then gave a thumbs up. "Mr. Damanqi, your generosity is truly impressive."
"Circumstances forced my hand; I had no other choice. The leagues of the Kanto and Johto regions are the two weakest, aside from the Alola region, which is still in preparation."
Damanqi just wanted to shed the label of "weakest" before he retired. That was why he even threw away his pride and lowered himself to ask Steven from Hoenn to acquire the mega stone sets.
"Actually, our two regions might not necessarily be the weakest. Mr. Damanqi, do you remember Giovanni and his group?"
"The Gyms originally associated with the Team Rockets are not weak in strength. So, I feel you could have a chat with Giovanni to see if he's willing to wash his hands of the past and take over for you," Ash suggested.
"Giovanni?" Damanqi was taken aback, but after thinking about it, what Ash said made sense. "That is actually a decent option. I'll consider it later."
"If there's nothing else, we'll be going then."
Ash and the others quickly fled the scene.
After Ash and the others left, Damanqi suddenly recalled that he seemed to have forgotten to ask Misty and Brock when they would be returning to take charge of their Gyms.
In a room at the Athletes' Village.
Brock, having just put down his luggage, picked up the Steelix mega stone and examined it for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "Misty, do you remember if Mr. Damanqi said we had to do anything?"
"I don't think so. He just asked us to write some kind of Gym development plan; there was nothing else," Misty said.
"It's good that he didn't say anything. Anyway, your Pokémon are at a high level, so it wouldn't be a problem to have them rotate in at the Gym to handle things."
Ash's words were mainly directed at Brock. Misty would be returning to take charge of her Gym soon, but Brock's family Gym was guarded by his father, Flint, and his younger brother, James. Coupled with Brock's own Pokémon, the difficulty level was no longer something an average Trainer could challenge.
Therefore, Ash still wanted to keep this top-tier babysitter, Brock, around for another two regions.
"That's true. By the way, Ash, after the Silver Conference, is your next goal the tournament in the Hoenn region?" Misty asked.
Ash replied, "Probably."
"Then I'll go with you! The Hoenn region should have many Water-type Pokémon that aren't in the Kanto and Johto regions!"
Misty was already imagining encountering Water-type Pokémon from the Hoenn region.
"Uh..."
Ash felt embarrassed to interrupt Misty's fantasy.
He could only change the subject and asked, "By the way, Brock, what is the schedule for the Silver Conference?"
"The schedule for the Silver Conference? Let me see..."
Brock took out the strategy guide for the Silver Conference.
"Found it. The book says you have to pass three rounds of preliminaries first. 48 people will advance to the knockout tournament. The knockout tournament will be divided into 16 groups, with three people in each group competing in a round-robin format. Those with the most points advance to the Top 16..."
"When do the preliminaries start?" Ash asked again.
"Next week, but you can register now. Just operate the computer."
After Brock finished speaking, he pointed to the computer next to the door.
"Alright."
Ash skillfully opened the computer and followed the steps to register for the preliminary groups.
After finishing everything.
The group found a random restaurant to have a meal.
"You bunch actually stole food meant for customers? You're all fired!"
Ash and his group arrived at a very opportune moment, just in time to see the Team Rocket Trio being kicked out of the door by a restaurant owner.
"You three idiots caused trouble again?" Ash asked.
"Ki... Ash?"
Upon seeing Ash, the Team Rocket Trio immediately shrank back.
"Don't worry, as long as you don't cause trouble, I won't do anything to you. Speaking of which, I actually have a task I'd like your help with. Why don't we go inside and chat while we eat?" Ash revealed a meaningful smile.
When it came to helping others, the Team Rocket Trio were like gods.
Ash still remembered that before the Indigo Plateau Conference, he had hired the Team Rocket Trio as special training coaches, which had allowed his Pokémon's strength to improve quite a bit.
"Chat while we eat?" James swallowed his saliva and asked, "Ash, are you the one treating us first?"
Ash replied as a matter of course, "Of course. I have something I need your help with, so naturally, I'm treating you."
He only said he was treating them, but he didn't say he was paying the bill. The Team Rocket Trio had a large sum of dividends in his hands.
Meowth was moved to tears and said, "Ash, you really are a good person, meow!"
After entering the restaurant, the Team Rocket Trio didn't stand on ceremony at all and just started ordering everything on the menu. Seeing their stance, Ash wasn't stingy either and directly had the restaurant owner cook the entire menu.
The restaurant owner, faced with this sudden large order, was grinning from ear to ear and eventually even invited Ash and the others into a private room.
"Ash, what exactly do you need our help with?" Jessie asked.
"Nothing major. The Silver Conference is about to start, and I just want you to give my Pokémon some special training. The rules are the same as before the Indigo Plateau Conference, and the compensation is the same, too," Ash said.
"No way, Ash! Your Pokémon are too strong; it hurts a lot when they hit us!"
"That's right! Meow!"
Ash said bluntly, "How much of a raise do you want? Just say it."
"Hmm... wait a second, let us discuss it."
The Team Rocket Trio huddled together and whispered for nearly five minutes. Finally, James held up five fingers to Ash and said, "Add this much to our daily wages!"
Ash glanced at it and said dismissively, "Add 50,000 a day, right? Fine, no problem."
"50,000?"
The Team Rocket Trio were completely dumbfounded.
"Before, excluding Meowth who was 15,000 a day, the other two were 10,000 a day. Forget it, I'll round it up for you: 180,000 League coins a day."
As Ash said this, he directly transferred 10 days of wages to the three of them.
Finally, he even returned the dividend bank card that belonged to the three of them, temporarily letting them use it to purchase the necessary materials.
Throughout the entire transaction, Ash's main strategy was basically getting things for free.
Loving Book So Far Check Out 80+ Advanced Chapters At Pa Treon:
patreon.com/FicTonic1