In the morning, Ash and his Pokémon were doing radio exercises, which supposedly helps prevent bone fractures in old age.

“Alright, let's continue towards becoming a Pokémon Master!”

“Pikachu!”

The harder you work, the luckier you get!

Ash and his Pokémon loudly declared, a rush of excitement filling him, their enthusiastic shouts making Misty's head throb.

By the way, what exactly does a Pokémon Master mean?!

“Hmph, a Pokémon Master is, of course, the greatest existence…”

Ash hadn't finished speaking when he heard a sudden loud noise from the sky, and three dark figures descended.

“Who's there?!”

Ash instinctively shouted.

“Prepare for trouble!” “And make it double!” “To protect the world from devastation!” “To unite all peoples within our nation!” “To denounce the evils of truth and love!” “To extend our reach to the stars above!” “Jessie!” “James!” “Meowth, that’s right!” “We are Team Rocket, soaring through the galaxy!”

The trio struck a bizarre new pose on a rock platform, looking somewhat cool.

“You Team Rocket are truly persistent!” Misty frowned, complaining unceremoniously.

“Hmph, we came specifically for insightful brats.” “That's right, that Pikachu must be a rare variant; it has to be ours, Team Rocket's!” “Idiot, Meowth, don't tell them the plan!”

Ash initially thought they were there to encourage him, but he didn't expect them to be after Pikachu, so he quickly hugged Pikachu tightly.

“Oh ho, still trying to resist?” “We only lost to you last time because we were careless; this time, you're guaranteed to lose!”

With that, the two released Ekans and Koffing again. No choice, with limited funds, low-ranking members like the Team Rocket Trio could only request such Pokémon. However, it's said that Team Rocket is undergoing internal reforms, actively increasing supply-side demand, so perhaps in a few days, they'll also have the chance to requisition powerful Pokémon used by high-ranking members.

Ash was completely bewildered; wasn't this their first encounter? How could they have defeated them before? But seeing the clearly hostile Koffing and Ekans in front of him, Ash didn't dare be careless and prepared to send out his Pikachu to battle.

Speaking of which, this was his first battle, and just thinking about it made his blood boil.

“Wait a minute, Pikachu is a trophy, so you can't send it to battle!” Jessie suddenly interjected, looking utterly righteous.

Ash was stunned, paused for a moment, and said:

“Oh, that's right, come back, Pikachu.”

Misty: “???”

What's with this strange sense of tacit agreement?

“In that case, I choose you, Pidgeotto!”

Seeing that Ash seemed to genuinely intend to fight two against one, Misty quickly reminded him from behind:

“There are two of them, you should send out a second Pokémon too!”

“But that violates the battle rules…?” Ash weakly retorted.

In the Kanto region, single battles were common, and double battles were rare.

“Does your League law state that you get their Pokémon if you defeat them?!”

Misty was about to faint from anger; how could Ash have acted like a seasoned veteran last time, but now he was like a greenhorn just starting out? Are you just trying to mess with me? Do you need to act to this extent?!

Team Rocket wouldn't just stand by and let the two argue; they seized the opportunity and launched their attack first.

“Ekans, use Bite! Koffing, use Poison Gas!”

Facing Ekans's wide mouth, Pidgeotto's speed was not slow, and it quickly flapped its wings to dodge. Seeing the purple smoke approaching, it flapped its wings again, stirring up a yellowish whirlwind to blow it away.

Hurricane!

After all, Pidgeotto was already a second-stage evolution, so its strength wasn't too weak; it could fight right away.

Ash quickly scanned Pidgeotto with his Pokédex.

“Pidgeotto, a common bird Pokémon, likes to eat Caterpie.” “Skills: Tackle, Quick Attack, Hurricane, Sand Attack.”

Upon hearing this, Ash was overjoyed and instructed:

“It's our turn, use Quick Attack!”

Pidgeotto transformed into a white blur and rushed towards Ekans, but the latter had already seen even Pikachu's Extreme Speed, so it wasn't too panicked and simply leaped into the mud to avoid the attack.

“Koffing, use Mud Attack!” “Pfft!”

Koffing spat out a muddy black projectile, narrowly missing Pidgeotto's body.

“Now's your chance, Ekans, use Bind!!”

Ekans suddenly burst out of the ground beneath Pidgeotto, leaping up to the latter's height, its purple tail wrapping around, firmly locking Pidgeotto, who hadn't had time to react. One against two was still too much for Pidgeotto.

James pressed his advantage, ordering again: “Koffing, use Mud Attack again!”

“Pfft!”

This time, the pitch-black mud successfully splattered all over Pidgeotto's face.

“Darn it, Pidgeotto!” Ash was flustered for a moment, unsure what to do next. This was his first battle against someone else, after all.

“Idiot, quickly use your second Pokémon!” Misty quickly reminded him.

These words instantly brought Ash back to his senses, and he threw out a second Poké Ball.

“I choose you, Rayquaza!”

A Caterpie appeared in everyone's sight.

Team Rocket: “???”

Has Caterpie recently been officially renamed by the Pokémon League? And to such a majestic and arrogant name? If so, Team Rocket couldn't fall behind the times; from today on, all Caterpie they saw would be referred to as Rayquaza. Otherwise, they'd be thought of as country bumpkins from some village!

“Hmph, but what can Rayquaza do?” Jessie said disdainfully.

“That's right, Rayquaza is known as the most useless Pokémon, on par with Magikarp!” James also mocked.

Misty: “…”

Did I get out of bed the wrong way today?!

The battle fell into a stalemate; it was indeed difficult to break the deadlock with Rayquaza's delicate body, which left Ash in a dilemma.

When in doubt, quantum mechanics!

Ash quickly scanned Caterpie with his Pokédex.

“Beep. Caterpie, nickname: Rayquaza, skills: Tackle, String Shot, Electric Net.”

“Electric Net?”

Ash frowned; what kind of skill was Electric Net? He had never heard of it. But it sounded like an Electric-type skill, so it definitely couldn't be used; Pidgeotto was still surrounded by those two Pokémon.

“Then use String Shot! Rayquaza!”

“Zzzzzz…”

Caterpie spat out a large amount of white silk, directly shooting the unreacting Ekans into an Ekans ball.

“Pidgeotto!”

Pidgeotto took the opportunity to break free.

“Good chance, Rayquaza, use Electric Net!”

Caterpie flicked its mouth, and the color of the white silk it spat out changed, turning into a dazzling yellow, forming a vast net that covered Koffing and Ekans. Immediately, the electric current paralyzed them, causing the two Pokémon's movements to halt.

Seeing this, Ash's eyes lit up, and he roared loudly:

“Final blow, Rayquaza, Pidgeotto, use Tackle!”

The double Tackle sent Koffing and Ekans flying, along with the Team Rocket Trio behind them, turning them into shooting stars disappearing into the sky once again.

“Rayquaza… what an amazing Pokémon…”

The battle concluded, and the successful first battle made Ash very excited. He joyfully recalled his Pidgeotto and hugged Caterpie, spinning several times, while Misty and Pikachu beside him also clapped. She had never thought that Rayquaza could be so strong.

“Damn it, how did I get sidetracked too!” Misty quickly shook her head to compose herself.

Just as Ash was about to put Caterpie back into its Poké Ball, a white light suddenly shone from Caterpie's body.

“This is…?” Ash widened his eyes, looking utterly bewildered.

“This is the light of evolution,” Misty explained.

Battles gain experience, and experience allows Pokémon to evolve; this is common knowledge.

“Evolution… oh no, Pokédex, Pokédex!!”

Ash instantly reacted; now was not the time for evolution! Only by continuously suppressing evolution, when Caterpie reached its perfect max level form, could it directly evolve into the invincible Rayquaza.

“B button… B button…!”

He stared intently at the light of evolution, pulled out his Pokédex, and pressed down on the B button's location.

“Huh?”

Why didn't it feel like a button?

Ash quickly lowered his head to look closely, only to see that the original B button location on the Pokédex was bald, and it had been coated with a strange glue into an unpressable shape.

He could only watch helplessly as Caterpie in the white light completed its evolution...

“Damn it, which bastard removed my B button!!”

Ash's roar echoed throughout Viridian Forest.