Ash, with his invincible physical body, wants to become a Pokémon Master...

The next day, they quickly arrived at the Oceanographic Institute according to the address, where they met the director and an old acquaintance.

"Ah, beautiful Miss Chengmei, our meeting must be arranged by fate. Please allow us to have dinner together..."

"Hahaha……"

Faced with the persistent, squinty-eyed dark-skinned man, the red-haired woman could only manage an awkward, embarrassed smile.

Thanks to him, Xiaozhi immediately recognized the director he wanted to see.

"But that familiar voice is..."

"Xiao Gang!"

"Ash, Misty, what are you doing here?"

"Hey, wait a minute..."

Severely punishing the harasser and helping Sister Chengmei out of a predicament, Xiaozhi has done another good deed!

[Ding! Xiao Gang: Affection +1]

It was then that Ash learned that Brock had come here specifically to study how to raise Water-type Pokémon after he had dealt with the Ninetales Mansion incident.

But to their surprise, they were captivated by Chengmei as soon as they entered, and then came the scene that Xiaozhi and the others had just witnessed.

"However, although Director Chengmei has a mature woman's charm, she's not exactly pretty, is she?"

Xiao Zhi was a little confused. This was very different from Xiao Gang's usual aesthetic, but why did he seem to be even more obsessed with it?

Seeing Xiao Gang's infatuated expression and his apparent intention to harass the director, Xiao Xia suddenly noticed something important.

"Could it be because Director Chengmei's temperament is similar to Dr. Uchiki's that Xiaogang liked her so much?"

"That's really true!"

They are both short-haired, white-coated, researcher-type mature women, and they do look quite alike.

But upon hearing this, Xiao Gang felt like his world had collapsed.

"Huh? What? How could this be..."

"Stop talking...stop talking..." Xiao Gang immediately went into self-isolation mode and collapsed to the ground like a paramecium.

After that, he probably lost all interest in bothering Director Narumi. Ash accepted the egg that Professor Elm had given him, amidst Narumi's grateful gaze.

This is a light green Pokémon egg, which looks quite plain, but Ash felt a powerful energy from it the moment he took it.

[Ding! Congratulations, host, you have triggered a new side quest, "An Egg Destined to Meet": Please take good care of it and help it resolve its inner conflict!]

【奖励：联盟币+4000；攻击+2；体力+2；自由属性点+2；技能沙暴+1】

"An egg destined to meet?"

This egg appears cold when Misty holds it, but becomes exceptionally warm when Ash picks it up—it's truly amazing.

"It seems to really like you." Chengmei handed the egg-containing container to Xiaozhi.

"This egg has been in bad condition ever since I found it, which is why I wanted to contact Professor Elm to take care of it. I'm counting on you guys, Ash."

"Yes, don't worry about leaving it to us. I will definitely deliver it safely to Dr. Kongmu."

The egg emanated fear and panic, and Ash held it tightly in his arms.

At the same time, it uses its own waveguide to comfort the little life inside the egg, which gradually stabilizes the egg's condition.

Ash is now a seasoned egg-hatcher who has cared for several eggs, so taking care of this egg is naturally a piece of cake for him.

After leaving the research institute, they continued their journey towards Ruoye Town. Xiaogang stayed at the Ocean Research Institute because he hadn't finished his studies.

"Be careful on your way, Ash! I'll be there to cheer you on at the tournament!"

"Take care of yourself, Xiaogang!"

However, ever since Xiaoxia said that he looked just like Dr. Ueki, Xiaogang has been in a gray state. We can only hope that everything goes well for him at the Ocean Research Institute.

But to everyone's surprise, just a few days after Ash and his friends left, the egg started to glow.

"This looks like it's about to hatch!" Ash quickly hugged the egg to his chest; the egg's temperature was now excessively low.

Even the flash of light revealed its weakness, so Ash could only place the egg into his burning chest and warm it up using the method of an old hen incubating an egg.

Xiaoxia immediately prepared a hot towel, and Pikachu quickly jumped down from Ash's shoulder to anxiously guard the egg.

Finally, after a brief flash of light, the earthy green egg hatched into a tiny and adorable Larvitar.

"Wow, it's Yukira!" Xiaoxia quickly came closer, curious.

This is practically a rare Pokémon, but it seems the child's condition hasn't been very good since birth.

It lay motionless, hard in Ash's arms, its body unusually cold, and the aura emanating from it gave off an ominous feeling.

"Even if Larvitar is a Rock-type Pokémon, its body temperature shouldn't be this low." Misty noticed something was wrong as soon as she touched Larvitar's forehead.

The newborn Pokémon wouldn't drink the healing potion, and Larvitar's body temperature continued to drop.

"We need to get to Dr. Kongmu's place as soon as possible."

At this point, Ash couldn't care less about the slow pace of training his Pokémon along the way. He immediately grabbed Misty's Pikachu and Togepi, and carried all the luggage.

He held Lark close to his chest, warming it with his own body heat, and then quickly took off, rushing through the air towards Wakaba Town.

Chapter 309 This is kidnapping!

Wakaba Town, Kumoki Research Institute.

It was just after nightfall, a beautiful night with a bright moon overhead, and Dr. Kuki was still engrossed in studying the newly delivered samples.

He's always like this; once he gets busy, he becomes completely focused and no longer pays attention to external affairs, even forgetting to eat.

This was originally his strength, which allowed Professor Elm to make rapid progress in his research after graduating from Professor Oak's tutelage.

Moreover, in this town where the winds of beginnings blow, a place heavily guarded by the League, Dr. Elm has not encountered any problems except for the time when the starter Pokémon he prepared for the newcomers were stolen.

But he's in trouble again tonight, because a group of men in black uniforms have been secretly watching him.

They landed silently from the helicopter and arrived at the roof of the research institute.

"Target confirmed. All the assistants have left the research institute; only Dr. Kumoki is inside..."

Scarface, who was in the lead, was using a miniature telescope to discreetly observe the layout of the research institute through the skylight.

At that moment, his subordinates used hypnosis with Gastly to eliminate all the security forces around the research institute and simultaneously knocked out the alarms.

Their movements were clean and efficient, without any unnecessary actions; it was immediately clear that they were a professional unit.

Once he confirmed that everything was proceeding smoothly as planned, Scarface immediately gave the hand signal.

Team Rocket agents quickly infiltrated the research facility.

Meanwhile, Dr. Kumoki was still engrossed in his microscope and had no idea what was happening.

The Team Rocket group slowly approached in the darkness until they completely surrounded Professor Elm.

The leader, Scarface, shook his head and swaggered out of the shadows.

He casually pulled over a chair from the research lab, walked over to Dr. Kongmu with feigned ease, and revealed his weapon.

At the same time, he put his hand on the doctor's shoulder.

"You must be the famous Professor Elm! Come with us, our Team Rocket leader wants to see you!"

Scarface's tone was fierce and threatening, and the clicking of weapons being cocked echoed around him.

But the Rockets didn't hear the panicked voice they expected from Dr. Skywalker; the atmosphere was eerily quiet.

"To be such a brave Pokémon professor." Scarface frowned and then said more fiercely.

"Kujiki! Don't think that just because you're an expert on Pokémon evolution, we won't dare to touch you!"

"Team Rocket has a research project about Mew that needs your participation. You'd better come with us!"

"Otherwise, I can't guarantee what will happen to your wife and children in the lab's backyard!"

As he spoke, Scarface pulled out a dagger and held it to Kongmu's neck.

But Dr. Kumoki didn't even raise his head, completely ignoring Scarface's words.

"Okay, okay, then let's do the experiment as you say~"

The air was completely still, and you could even hear a few crows cawing overhead. The Team Rocket members responsible for the encirclement were starting to get nervous.

"What kind of people are these?!"

Scarface, the leader, suddenly felt like he was punching cotton.

"Hey Kongmu, we're not your assistants!"

"We are the Rockets, and we're trying to hold you hostage. Can't you show us some respect?"

Scarface couldn't take it anymore and was about to forcibly pull Kongmu off the research equipment when...

A loud bang suddenly came from the sky outside the research institute. The helicopter that was originally responsible for picking up Team Rocket agents was smashed to pieces by an unidentified flying object.

The Rockets members' eyes widened instantly.

"What? What happened?"

At that moment, the door was kicked open.

"Who are you? You're not allowed in... Ouch!"

"Get out of my way!" Little Chile landed and kicked away several Team Rocket members who tried to surround him, then quickly walked inside.

Seeing this, the remaining Team Rocket members quickly released their Pokémon in an attempt to stop Ash from advancing, but they were immediately paralyzed by Pikachu's Thunderbolt.

Even Scarface was electrocuted so badly he started breakdancing, spewing black smoke as he collapsed.

"I really shouldn't have taken this mission..."

[Ding! Congratulations on completing the side quest: Do a good deed today: Defeat Team Rocket and stop their plot (67/∞)]

[Rewards: Alliance Coins +5000; Free Attribute Points +5; Region Favorability +5; Region Reputation +5]

"Team Rocket?" Ash was wondering who these people dressed in all black were.

Oh, it's Team Rocket! I thought it was just some random Pikachu by the roadside.