The Chocovine Contest had come to an end.
Dawn had earned her fifth Ribbon!
Which meant—she now qualified to participate in the Sinnoh Grand Festival!
If she could achieve victory on that final stage, then she could truly earn the title of Top Coordinator!
Anyone capable of becoming a Top Coordinator couldn't possibly be weak.
As for the girl Ursula, seeing Dawn defeat her head-on had shaken her confidence in both her efforts and her own strength.
But it also made her even more determined.
She still firmly believed in her ideals—she just needed to work harder and grow stronger!
To become someone as powerful and elegant as Champion Cynthia!
That's exactly why Ursula decided to capture a Gible—and train it to evolve into a Garchomp!
Because Cynthia often used Garchomp in battle!
However... Ursula still lacked a bit of self-awareness...
After leaving Chocovine Town, Ash and his companions headed toward their next destination:
Gale Town!
That town was home to a Shiny Metagross, something Ash had been looking forward to for a long time.
But before they could reach Gale Town, they had to cross a snowy mountain today.
It was the quickest path to get there.
Coincidentally, both Dawn and Anabel had been wanting to see the snowy mountains for themselves.
So...
They immediately regretted it.
Because—it was freezing!
High up in the mountains was a frosted forest.
Every tree had turned into an icy sculpture.
Still, there was barely enough of a path visible through the trees.
Meanwhile—
Team Rocket had also climbed up the mountain.
They were hoping to beat Ash and the others to their next destination to try—once again—the utterly impossible task of stealing Pikachu.
The blizzard grew stronger on the mountainside.
It soon became hard to see anything up ahead.
"I feel like we made a horrible mistake," Jessie muttered.
"It's freezing..." James shivered.
"Meowth hates the cold, nya... Let's get across this mountain fast..."
While the three of them were complaining, a Froslass appeared ahead!
The moment Froslass showed up, the blizzard seemed to vanish completely.
She floated toward them and began saying something.
Meowth translated.
Turns out, Froslass was inviting them to her home.
At the same time, she had also invited Ash's group.
The moment Dawn and Anabel saw Team Rocket, they immediately prepared to send out their Pokémon—but Ash stopped them.
Because by then, Froslass had already frozen both Piplup and Meowth, leaving only their heads exposed.
Through Meowth, Froslass explained the situation.
She hadn't meant harm—she was just desperately searching for her missing child, a Snorunt.
She didn't know who to trust, so she had resorted to trickery.
Ash closed his eyes—and activated his Aura!
He instantly sensed everything within a 5-kilometer radius!
Roughly 3,000 meters away, a Snorunt was running for its life from a Glalie!
Behind the Glalie was a man on a snowmobile, a Pokémon poacher!
Ash quickly used his Powers of Ruin to communicate the situation to Froslass, who, carrying the still-frozen Piplup and Meowth, immediately followed Ash's group toward the location he sensed.
Sure enough, they found tire tracks from the snowmobile—and fresh Snorunt footprints.
They hadn't been there long; otherwise, the blizzard would've erased all signs.
With Ash's Aura guidance, the poacher had nowhere left to run.
They arrived just as Glalie had cornered the terrified Snorunt.
Ash didn't hesitate—he sent out Charizard!
There was no need for words with people like this.
Capturing and selling Pokémon by force—and even abusing them during transport—putting their lives at risk...
Ash would never forgive that.
Charizard leapt into action—Glalie was instantly defeated!
Ash then ordered Charizard to carry the poacher away.
As for what Charizard would do with him...
Well, this wasn't Charizard's first rodeo.
Back on Mt. Silver, they'd done the same thing when they rescued Larvitar.
After helping Froslass reunite with her child, she led everyone down the shortest path through the mountain.
"Hey twerp! Just because you handled that poacher doesn't mean we're giving up on capturing Pikachu!" Jessie declared.
"That's right, that was just a temporary alliance—we're back to being Team Rocket now!" James added.
"Exactly, nya!" Meowth shouted.
The three of them whipped out Poké Balls at lightning speed.
Ash didn't even flinch. "Pikachu, you're up."
"Pika...CHU!!!"
BOOM!
Thunderbolt lit up the entire mountain.
Team Rocket went blasting off again!
"These three never learn... But honestly, they're not that bad deep down. Having them pop up during our travels is kinda fun," Ash chuckled.
"Pika-pika." Pikachu grinned.
Ash and Pikachu exchanged a knowing smile—they'd known those goofballs forever.
Just ahead was Gale Town!
—
Meanwhile, Team Rocket had landed in the sea again... and washed up on shore.
Stomachs growling.
Starving, they stumbled into town.
Suddenly—a delicious aroma filled the air.
The smell led them to a ramen shop named—
"Jessie & James Ramen"?!
That name...
Whatever. With no money, the three marched in boldly—only to discover that the owner was someone they'd once trained at Rocket HQ!
Back in the day, they'd taken care of this junior member, and now—he'd opened a successful ramen chain, naming the shop after Jessie and James to honor them.
Not only did he refuse to take their money, he promised that any time they came to any of his shops, they could eat for free as thanks for their past kindness.
While they were eating, one of the chefs accidentally tossed dough in their direction.
Meowth reflexively slashed it with his claws—shredding it into dozens of perfect noodles!
The shop owner was stunned—completely floored!
He immediately begged Meowth to stay on as a noodle master, offering a high salary and full benefits!
For Meowth, this was the third person to ever truly recognize his talents—aside from Jessie and James.
Moved to tears, Meowth was tempted...
But Jessie and James rejected the offer for him.
They insisted Meowth had to stay with them.
Right then, Ash and the others entered the shop to eat!
Team Rocket quickly hid.
Meowth tried to hide too... but the offer from the ramen shop still lingered in his mind.
Even so, he chose to stay with Jessie and James.
As expected, once Ash and his friends finished their meal and stepped outside...
Team Rocket launched an ambush!
In a flash, Meowth built a ramshackle robot to try and grab Pikachu!
But Ash had already guessed they'd be here—he was ready.
"Pikachu, Iron Tail!"
CRASH!!
One hit. Robot obliterated. Team Rocket turned into a shooting star.
Splash—back into the sea...
Once again, washed up on shore.
"James! Why did Pikachu's Iron Tail wreck our robot in one shot?! That makes no sense!" Jessie roared.
"It's Meowth's fault—the robot wasn't ready. But it's fine. We'll keep trying! Someday, we will capture Pikachu!" James declared confidently.
As always, he pushed all the blame onto Meowth.
"Our plans are flawless! Every failure is just because the robot wasn't good enough!"
That was the last straw for Meowth!
All that effort, zero thanks!
His mind drifted again to the ramen shop owner's offer...
And this time—he didn't follow Jessie and James.
Staring at their backs as they walked away, Meowth clenched his teeth.
Then, with all the strength in his heart, he shouted:
"I QUIT! I'm never going with you two again—NYA!!!"
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