Pokémon, Ash is going to become a perfect man from now on.

Ken finally got his wish and became Professor Oak's assistant.

This result is absolutely wonderful for everyone. Ken is able to get up close and personal with his idol and learn from him, and Professor Oak has finally found a capable assistant to fill the void left by Nanami being kidnapped by someone.

Ash and Lyra were naturally very happy. Tracey's ability to raise Pokémon was definitely not bad, and the Pokémon they kept at the lab were well taken care of... Although they hadn't kept many Pokémon yet, the number they had would eventually increase.

"By the way, speaking of handheld Pokémon... Ash is going on a trip to Johto soon, so he should have decided on his handheld Pokémon by now, right?" Misty thought of a crucial question.

"There will be some exceptions this time. We won't be bringing them all... Magikarp, Lapras, Snorlax, Dragonite, and Shellder. These five will not be with us for the time being."

Ash actually likes to keep his Pokémon with him, since his logistics are always strong, and he can easily support a dozen or twenty at a time.

But sometimes, this is actually bad for Pokémon.

For example, Magikarp and Lapras need to swim and train every day. Ash can let them run wild in the Orange Islands, but if they go to Johto, keeping them in their Poké Balls for a long time will actually hinder their training progress.

The same principle applies to Snorlax. It needs to have enough food and sleep to accumulate fat and increase its strength. So it should spend most of its time sleeping in the backyard of the research institute. It only needs to be trained with special moves periodically.

As for Dragonite and Ankylosaurus, they are going to Dragon Island.

The environment of Dragon Island is suitable for Dragonite to continue developing its Dragon-type energy, while Shellder is currently in the stage of accumulating power for evolution, and staying on the island will be very helpful for it.

Aside from those, Ash will still keep the rest of his Pokémon with him. He will continue to train them and seek out opportunities to become stronger through the guidance of the bent spoon of fate!

“Dragon Island… Brother, can my Hakkar go train there for a while too?” Lila suddenly asked. “Also, I might need an Everstone.”

"Did Dragonair not want to evolve?" Ash also noticed this problem. Dragonair had suppressed its own evolution when it was fighting Yuji.

“Yes, I’ve spoken to it, and it wants to look similar to its mother,” Lila explained. “Also, uh…”

She was clearly finding it difficult to say, but Xiaozhi had already guessed it.

It's just that they think it's ugly~

Lila's Hakkar is a girl, and her pink and tender appearance is just right, but whether it evolves into a pink or green fat version, it would be an absolute nightmare for her.

"The Everstone is easy to buy. Anyway, we're not leaving for a few days, so it will definitely be mailed to us by then," Ash said after thinking for a moment.

With that, the travel plan is complete.

Of course, Ash didn't forget to call Brock and invite him to be his companion on the trip to Johto.

Upon receiving the call, Brock immediately agreed. He had missed the opportunity to go to the Orange Islands because he was busy preparing for the gym exam. He had heard that Ash not only knew Professor Neptune but was also traveling with Cynthia, and he was... ahem~

Well, what Xiaogang means is that it would be such a pity not to be able to witness Ash and Misty's beautiful love, Ash's heroic act of saving the world, and the glorious moment when Ash, Misty, and Ash's trio won the championship.

As for Xiaoxia, she didn't have anything to prepare, and she was in a delicate cold war with her three older sisters, so she simply stayed at Xiaozhi's house.

Consider it a good opportunity to get familiar with the place beforehand; it'll be my own home from now on anyway.

Chapter 327 Reunited 'Old Friends', A New Journey Begins!

A few more days passed, and Xiao Zhi spent his time with his mother and preparing to set off again.

While ordering an Everstone for Lila, he also specially found a high-quality Moon Stone to help his Nidorino evolve into a pink Nidoking.

Nidorino with the Vigor ability evolves into Steadfast, which is perfect for using with the Life Orb that replaces Shellder.

The forceful execution of Nidoking was so devastating it could only be described as a chaotic massacre.

While waiting, Ash not only encountered Brock but also a special group of people…

Of course, this wasn't an accident; he had taken the initiative to call the other party over.

...

In a private room at his own guesthouse restaurant, Xiao Zhi sat facing his three "old friends," and the atmosphere was somewhat somber.

"Wait... why are you guys so nervous? Didn't you already leave Team Rocket?" Ash looked speechlessly at the two people and Meowth in front of him who were acting like they were facing a formidable enemy. "Relax, I just wanted to have a meal with you guys."

“How can we relax when we’re suddenly brought here…” Kojiro said, shrinking his neck.

"Yeah, quitting Team Rocket... that was clearly something you forced me to do!" Musashi also looked extremely unwilling.

"Meow, I'll never get the boss's love again, meow..." Meow was already crying her eyes out...

"Enough!" Ash's face suddenly turned cold. "I only gave you a chance to reform because I saw you weren't beyond redemption... Jessie and James, if you insist on clinging to Team Rocket, then go to jail with the others! In that case, I can hand over Meowth, Arbok, and Weezing to someone else to catch!"

"No way! Meowth doesn't want to be caught!" "Arbok is my Pokémon, why should I give it to someone else?!" "You can't separate me from Weezing!"

Sure enough, the Rocket trio immediately erupted at the mention of the keyword 'capture'.

"You still have the nerve to criticize me?" Ash retorted disdainfully. "When you were committing evil deeds as Team Rocket, did you ever consider that those were other people's Pokémon? Why should they be given to you? Just because you can't be separated from your own Pokémon doesn't mean others deserve it!"

The trio fell silent.

They actually know how hypocritical their behavior is, but they've always considered themselves villains and thought it didn't matter...

To put it bluntly, it's about having flexible bottom lines; you can be a good person when you want to... but most of the time you're willing to be a bad guy.

But now, Ash is demanding that they never be bad guys again and must completely sever ties with Team Rocket. These three wild kids are definitely not going to be able to accept this right away.

But they were powerless to refuse!

Even the fact that they're standing here is thanks to Xiao Zhi's approval; otherwise, they'd still be hiding and running away.

"Forget it, let bygones be bygones, I don't want to bring it up again... You guys have suffered a lot these past few days, you've been punished enough." Ash waved his hand, then his expression turned slightly gossipy, "Also... I heard that Kojiro and Musashi got married?"

"Uh, yes..."

"What do you mean, 'yes'? That's clearly a fake marriage!" Kojiro was about to give a dumbfounded reply when Musashi retorted, bristling with anger, "And it's all Meowth's fault! What a terrible idea it came up with!"

"Musashi, that's going too far, meow! I only did that to save you! Besides, you two are so close, what difference does it make whether it's true or not, meow..."

"That's a huge difference, isn't it?!"

One was uneasy, one had its hair on fire, and another was indifferent... Ash watched this 'internal strife' with great interest.

Ash had heard some of the stories of the three main characters, and he had to admit they were quite exciting!

It is said that after being heartbroken in Matsumo Town, Meow Meow resolved to rescue Kojiro and Musashi, so it ran back to find Kojiro.

With Meow Meow backing him up and giving him ideas, Kojiro became much more assertive in front of his parents. During this time, Meow Meow even helped him plan several escapes... and they even succeeded twice, but they still went home on their own afterward!

This made Kojiro's parents realize that their child was no longer as easy to control as before.

With this concern, the Sasaki family naturally began a tug-of-war to negotiate terms. Kojiro's parents originally promised that as long as Kojiro married Rumika, they would bail out Musashi... In the end, they also made concessions and agreed to bail out Musashi first, and then hold a wedding for Kojiro.

Musashi was under the control of the League at the time, so the matter was delayed for a long time until Team Rocket basically disappeared in Kanto. Only then did the League finally relent and agree to let the Sasaki family bail Musashi out.

After that, just when Kojiro's parents thought everything was going smoothly and began to make intensive preparations for the wedding, Meow Meow did the most outrageous thing in the whole incident!

It was clear to it that once Kojiro got married, he would be kept under close watch by Rumika and would lose his freedom completely!

So it went all out and pulled off a big one. First, it had Musashi perform a "Wishing You Happiness" act before resolutely leaving. The actress's reputation was well-deserved, and everyone believed that she had severed ties with Kojiro.

But who would have thought that Musashi would sneak back to the Sasaki family home on the wedding day, and take advantage of the chaos caused by Kojiro's Growlithe to ambush and knock down Rumika... and then take her place!

As for Kojiro, knowing that his marriage to Musashi was a sham, he didn't resist as much as before, and instead became very obedient to his parents... The Sasaki couple, overjoyed, inevitably became somewhat lax in their vigilance and failed to keep an eye on their son...

In the end, the bride, groom, groom's dog, and a magical cat who carried the whole event all made a triumphant escape!

After escaping the Sasaki family, they lived a life of constant hiding, evading the pursuit of Kojiro's parents and Rumi, while also worrying about being wanted by the League.

During this time, they considered returning to the Rockets, but Giovanni had already given up on Kanto, so they could only continue to wander around.

If Ash hadn't found out about this later and asked someone to take them to Pallet Town, the real protagonist would probably be begging for food right now!

"Jessie, James, I can return Arbok and Weezing to you... but I have conditions!" After seeing the main characters causing a ruckus, Ash called out to stop them and gave them a decision that would surprise and delight them both.

"Really?" "What are your conditions?"

"I've already told Meowth the conditions. From now on, you'll serve me!" Ash said bluntly. "If you agree, I'll return those two Pokémon, and I can also guarantee that no one will bother you again... not even James's family!"

Honestly, Ash has done more than enough for the trio.

If it were Yamad and that scoundrel's group today, he would have slapped them across the face long ago and left them to rot and stink in jail!

As for using the other party's Pokémon as a threat... First of all, we need to understand that Arbok and Weezing were so-called 'benefits' distributed by Team Rocket at their first meeting. To put it bluntly, those two were stolen goods!

Xiao Zhi simply didn't return them; instead, he tamed them in the wild and released them back into the wild, which was perfectly in accordance with the proper procedures.

"We...", "Okay, that's fine.", "I can work for you, meow..."

After much deliberation, the trio finally gave in... They might not have been sincere, but Ash didn't care.

"Very good~" Xiao Zhi nodded in satisfaction. "From today onwards, you are all my direct employees... I will assign you your positions and specific salaries and benefits. From now on, you will act according to my instructions! But there is one thing..."

Ash's tone shifted abruptly, becoming extremely stern: "I don't want to hear the words 'Team Rocket' or 'Goblin' from your mouths again! If you dare to betray us, I will never give you another chance!!"

"No...no way! We absolutely won't do that (meow)!" *3

The trio was startled by Ash's imposing presence and immediately huddled together in panic, hurriedly swearing oaths of loyalty.

"Alright then, your Pokémon are in the backyard, just go and claim them yourselves." Ash resumed his nonchalant demeanor and instructed, "I'm about to embark on a trip to the Johto region, you guys go there too."

"But what are we supposed to do?" Kojiro asked, puzzled.

"Just do what you're good at..."

"So...it's to prevent the world from being destroyed?" Musashi asked, still somewhat doubtful.

"To protect world peace?"

"Evil... uh, justice that embodies love and truth."

"Cute and charming..."