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

Chapter 531 Small Stomach, Big Flexibility

"When those two suddenly burst into the classroom this morning, they said they were attracted by the lively activity of making energy cubes."

"So, in such a good mood after my trip, I'd like to offer free guidance on how to make energy cubes."

"Seeing how confidently they spoke and how genuinely skilled they were, the trainees were convinced and asked them for help."

"Everything was fine until everyone came back from lunch and suddenly discovered that all the energy cubes they had made had disappeared without a trace."

"When something like this happens, everyone's first reaction is to suspect that it was the work of the little Munchlax that just happened to wander into the backyard."

"The little Snorlax is a wild Pokémon that lives in this area. It usually comes over to help me with the leftover food every day."

"At first, I didn't believe that Munchlax was responsible for this, but then those two masters came forward to testify, and everyone started targeting Munchlax."

Nurse Joy told Ash and the others everything that had happened in one go.

Now the group finally knows where the little Snorlax went after it ran away.

"Oh, I see."

Having understood the whole story, Xiao Zhi sensed the familiar aura emanating from the two masters and immediately realized that...

What happened?

Although Xiaoyao and Xiaosheng did not have waveguide sensing, they still instinctively sensed that something was wrong.

"Poor little Snorlax was wrongly accused."

"That's right, those two so-called experts and masters are really suspicious."

At this moment, the little Snorlax was still in a daze, biting its fingers and completely unaware of what was going on.

For it, thinking about anything other than rice every day is too energy-consuming.

The little Snorlax glanced at the basket of berries lying unattended next to the control panel, immediately assumed they were unwanted, and ran over to eat them by itself.

"Stop it!"

"Hey, you wretched guy, you've eaten so much and you're still not full!"

Everyone in the classroom thought that the culprit was Snorlax.

I never expected that even in this situation, it would still go its own way in the face of everyone's criticism.

The rare raw materials left over to be used for other energy cubes were almost eaten up by Munchlax in the blink of an eye.

This situation naturally intensified the anger on everyone's faces.

"This won't do; we have to teach it a lesson!"

"Let's all attack together!"

"Wait a moment!"

Just when the situation was about to spiral out of control, Xiaoyao stepped forward.

She nimbly vaulted over the windowsill and jumped directly into the classroom, standing protectively in front of Snorlax.

"I don't think Snorlax is the culprit."

"Ah, what evidence do you have to prove it's not the murderer?"

"this----"

The stereotype of Munchlax having a huge stomach is so deeply ingrained that no matter how eloquent May is, the people in the classroom simply refuse to believe her.

However, May still refused to believe that Munchlax was the culprit.

"I've met this little Snorlax before, and it was very polite."

"Back then, my companion made those high-level energy cubes, but the little Snorlax didn't eat any of them."

Back then, Snorlax was just showing off all the junk May had made.

"The Energy Cubes my friend makes are super delicious. Even Snorlax can resist the urge to eat them."

"I don't think it's the kind of Pokémon that would steal someone else's important things."

Unfortunately, the little Snorlax didn't know how to defend itself. While it was eating berries, it would glance at May, who stood up for it, between bites.

Those deep, narrowed eyes seemed to be thinking about something.

At this point, the two experts were still confidently asserting that the culprit was Snorlax.

"These are all your opinions; who knows if you're lying?"

"That's right, that's right!"

They forcefully pushed through the crowd, trying to use their powerful aura to overwhelm all those who doubted them and regain control of the situation.

But to their surprise, the two experts broke out in a cold sweat the moment they saw Xiaoyao's familiar face.

"This little girl looks familiar."

"Does her being here mean that—"

Sure enough, they soon heard the voice they usually dreamed of ringing in their ears.

"Hey you guys, you stole everyone's Energy Cubes from the classroom yourselves, and now you're trying to get away with it by framing Munchlax? Is that fun?"

Xiao Zhi's voice was deep and powerful, and everyone present seemed to receive a magical power upon hearing it, calming down and looking at him.

Our old friends, Yamato and Kosaburo, were trembling but managed to remain calm.

"Huh? What did you say?"

"This is slander! We can't pretend we didn't hear it!"

"Come on, don't give me that."

Ash executed a stylish side somersault and entered the room, leisurely approaching the crowd with Pikachu in tow.

The closer he got to the duo, the more they couldn't hide the fear on their faces.

He almost collapsed when faced with Ash's powerful aura.

The people around also lowered their heads, not daring to look directly at Xiaozhi at this moment.

Then the muscular man slightly toned down his imposing presence and ripped off their wigs, revealing their true faces.

"We meet again, Amazon, Little Three Times~"

"It's Kosaburo!"

"What's the point of saying all this now? Run! Houndoom, Dark Mist!"

Everyone present was immediately choked by the murky fog. After releasing Houndoom, Amado immediately grabbed Kosaburo and fled like a frightened bird.

Actually, Ash's accusations didn't present any substantial evidence. Yamato and Kosaburo still had the advantage of being the first to act, which gave them more trust from the others present.

Unfortunately, Ash's pressure on them was too strong, and they were completely unprepared this time, without bringing any weapons.

The two of them dared not stay any longer and immediately tried to run towards the door.

But at that moment, the door was instantly closed by Max, who had been waiting there at Ash's command.

"Ah, all is lost!"

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

With a bang, the long-absent Team Rocket duo, carrying Houndoom, flew into the sky through the classroom's enormous window.

"Ah, why? We just couldn't find a job in ages and came here to borrow some energy cubes for a meal, how did this happen!"

"I'm not happy about this," Yamato shouted, his hair spiky from being electrocuted. Kosaburo could only wave his hand helplessly.

"This just shows how incredibly unlucky we were. The evil plan wasn't prepared, and the machine flew away before it was even built."

"And—we didn't give our opening remarks this time!"

"That makes me feel even worse."

Yamato and Kosaburo exchanged a glance and then flew up and hugged each other.

"Damn it, what a nasty feeling!" ×2

[Ding! Congratulations on completing the side quest: Do a good deed today: Defeat Team Rocket and stop their plot (78/∞)]

[Rewards: Alliance Coins +2000; Free Attribute Points +2; Hoenn Region Affinity +5; Hoenn Region Reputation +5]

When they saw the sudden burst of lightning, everyone in the classroom was stunned.

"What's going on? Where did this brave man come from? Why did you say the expert was a bad guy? And how did the expert disappear?"

"Hey, those two look like Team Rocket, the evil organization we've heard about on the news."

Finally, someone in the crowd recognized the faces of Yamato and Kosaburo, the two faces that had appeared on the wanted poster. (The wanted poster images were kindly provided by Higana; she's a professional at tricking her former employer.)

Ash nodded. "That's right, they are Team Rocket."

Suddenly, one of the students saw several energy cubes fall from the spot where Amado and the others had been standing.

Upon closer inspection, I discovered that one of my own works was among them.

"These are the energy cubes I made, how could they be—"

"Could the killer really be an expert?"

With all the evidence in place and the culprit gone, everyone finally realized they had misunderstood Munchlax and apologized to him.

The little Snorlax was sitting behind May, still completely clueless about what was going on.

It lunged again at the basket where everyone had stored the tree fruit.

"Kirby!"

"Ah, our precious tree fruit! Stop it, you bastard!"

"It really should be expelled!"

It was all thanks to May who once again stepped forward and threw some of her newly made poison—no, I mean, improved version of May's Food—at Munchlax.

It immediately attracted its attention; this little Snorlax really liked what May made.

At this moment, Miss Joey came to Haruka's side.

"It seems this kid likes you a lot. Although he didn't do anything wrong this time, it seems best for Munchlax to stay away from the center in the future."

"Could you please tame it?"

"Of course!" Xiaoyao nodded happily, like a chick pecking at rice.

This time, everything was finally in place. With Ash's encouraging gaze, May took advantage of the moment when Munchlax was eating and used May's food to lure it little by little to the open space in the backyard, where everyone moved to a different location.

"I'm going to start catching you now, Munchlax!"

"Kirby?"

The little Snorlax looked confused, but it didn't run away when May took out the Poké Ball.

Seemingly aware of what the other party was about to do, he rarely showed such a sharp look, and waved his arms in response—or rather, in response.

Before the fight even started, its attention was already drawn to a tree fruit rolling down the ground.

"Go, Mighty Chicken, Skyward Fist!"

This time, May used a Fighting-type Combusken, which is super effective against Normal-types, to battle the silly Munchlax. She felt confident of victory.

But to everyone's surprise, this little Snorlax was incredibly agile. Just as the Mighty Chicken's Sky Punch was about to hit, the little Snorlax bent down to pick up some fruit, thus dodging the attack that was aimed at its head.

"This must be a coincidence! Mighty Chicken, unleash another Skyward Punch!"

"Qia Mao"

However, this time, Munchlax dodged the attack from Combusken again with a tiger-like pose.

Then Munchlax would sneeze, scratch its head, and chase butterflies—in short, Combusken threw more than a dozen punches but didn't land a single one.

"What the hell?!"

"Is this Snorlax strong?" Ash asked, looking at the comical scene.

Xiao Sheng happily recorded the amazing performance of this little stomachy creature.

"With the attack power of its older sister, Mighty Chicken, it was able to dodge all the attacks. This little Snorlax is indeed extraordinary."

"Ah, it's all a coincidence, it's all a coincidence!" May didn't believe in her own command abilities; now she couldn't even beat a Munchlax.

She cunningly took out a few energy cubes and tossed them forward.

"Look at the little Snorlax, it's May's treat!"

"Kirby!"

Seeing the food, the little Munchlax was instantly attracted and pounced on the food in the air with its mouth open.

"Right now, Merach, use Flame Vortex to control Snorlax's movements!"

The placement of the Power Cube thrown by May was quite tricky, placing Snorlax in the perfect attack position for Combusken, while also leaving it with nowhere to grab leverage and dodge because it was in mid-air.

The little Snorlax was immediately surrounded by a vortex of fire.

"It looks awful, Haruka."

"Sister, isn't this cheating?"

"Stop making so much noise! ​​This isn't an official competition. Wild battles are called wild battles precisely because they involve any means necessary!" (Ash's famous quote)

It's clear that May really learned the essence of Ash during her travels.

At that moment, she seized the opportunity and threw a Poké Ball. "Even if Snorlax is very agile, it should have used up its stamina after exercising for so long."

May stared nervously at the Poké Ball, silently praying, "Success!"

When Munchlax saw May throw something out again, it assumed it was new food and pounced on it again, ignoring the flames surrounding it.

"Kirby!"

"Oh no, it swallowed the Poké Ball?"

Does this foodie want to eat anything round?

May was immediately worried that swallowing a Poké Ball would harm Snorlax, so she quickly pulled Nurse Joy over to give the little guy some emergency treatment for his stomach.

But unexpectedly, after Munchlax swallowed the Poké Ball, it triggered the button on the Poké Ball.

With a thud, it turned into a red light and captured itself into a Poké Ball.

After a violent shaking, Munchlax was successfully captured.

"Hey, Ash, are you guys going to Slateport City for a grand festival?"

Afterwards, Ash and his friends followed Nurse Joy to the center's front desk to check in and asked her for directions for the rest of the journey.

It was only then that Miss Joy was surprised to learn that Haruka had already become a participant in the Grand Festival, having earned five magnificent ribbon medals.

He immediately showed a look of admiration.

"You're amazing, Miss May. With you taking care of Munchlax, I can rest assured."

"Oh, it's nothing, I'm fine."

Although she said that, Xiaoyao was actually so happy that her nose was practically pointing to the sky.

But then Miss Joey suddenly said something strange.

"But I remember that the League didn't give away every Coordinator who qualified to participate in the grand celebrations for free."

"Would you like a group luxury cruise ticket? Why did you choose to travel by land and even get lost?"

"A gift from the alliance?"

"Luxury cruise tickets!"

Is that true?

Ash and his friends were stunned and looked at each other blankly, none of them knowing anything about this.

Suddenly, Xiaoyao remembered, "Ah, at the medal awarding ceremony of the Twilight Water Conference, Mr. Conkenstein did seem to have said something to me about the ship tickets."

"But at the time, I was so excited because I had finally won my fifth Ribbon Medal that I didn't hear it at all."

"Now that I think about it, it must have been about the luxury cruise ship."

"How could you forget something so important!"

Ash and Max were both heartbroken upon hearing this.

So they could have taken a free luxury cruise to Kaina City. What's so special about all the hardships and getting lost they went through on the way?

Seeing Ash and his friends looking dejected, Nurse Joy suddenly remembered something and asked them to search on the computer at the center.

Finally, she found the flight information for tomorrow and said to Xiaozhi and the others with a smile.

"Don't worry, everyone. It seems the Alliance's luxury cruise ship will dock at a port nearby tomorrow, and you can board there."

"Really? Thank you so much, Miss Joey!"

Ash and his friends were overjoyed.

"Okay, it's decided. Let's head to the port and board a luxury cruise ship!"