"So this is the Rapid Gym?"
Red pressed a hand against his chest, his face slightly pale.
Standing beside him, Cynthia looked completely unaffected, while Garchomp still seemed eager for more.
Red could only sigh inwardly.
As expected of the Pokémon world… everyone here is basically a superhuman from Pallet Town.
Cynthia glanced calmly at him.
"Gym Leader Red, let's go."
Looking at Red's slightly pale complexion, Cynthia couldn't help but feel a little regretful.
What a shame…
Everything about him is excellent, except his physique seems a little weak.
He even gets uncomfortable from supersonic flight…
Sensing Cynthia's gaze, Red gritted his teeth internally.
I seriously need to improve my physical fitness.
In a world where everyone's basically superhuman, this body really isn't enough.
With their own thoughts in mind, Red and Cynthia walked into the Rapid Gym together.
Incidentally—
Ordinary Poké Balls simply couldn't contain the two ancient giant Pokémon.
Originally, Red had planned to trouble Mewtwo for a while longer and either wait for the System Shop to upgrade or get special Poké Balls from Professor Oak.
But Mewtwo had flatly rejected the idea.
Because Mewtwo had his own solution.
After "educating" the two ancient Pokémon a bit more—
Mewtwo once again demonstrated the unique abilities of a Legendary Pokémon.
After studying the artifact that had sealed Ancient Alakazam, Mewtwo actually used the fragments of Gengar's and Wigglytuff's broken seal artifacts to handcraft two entirely new sealing vessels.
He then stuffed Ancient Gengar and Ancient Wigglytuff right back inside.
Just like that, they became stable batteries for Red's Dynamax system.
As Red and Cynthia entered the Gym—
"Huh. Pretty lively here."
Looking at the crowd-packed Rapid Gym, Red looked somewhat surprised.
Still, this level of crowding wasn't enough to trouble him.
A blue glow flashed in his eyes.
An invisible wave of psychic power instantly parted the crowd, opening a path straight ahead.
Just like that, Red led Cynthia all the way to the edge of the battlefield.
Then, after seeing the current battle situation, Red scratched his head in disbelief.
"Wait… am I seeing this wrong?"
"Why is Ash the one dominating the fight?"
Red was briefly confused.
But the moment he noticed Pikachu battling Raichu—
He immediately stopped being surprised.
After all—
Ash's Pikachu was famously known as a certified Raichu Slayer.
At that moment, Team Rocket, hiding near the battlefield, froze like they had just seen the Grim Reaper himself.
"Why is he here?!"
"Should we run now, meow?!"
"What are you scared of?! There are so many people here—there's no way he'll notice us!"
Just as Team Rocket discussed escape plans—
Red casually raised a hand and waved at them.
Honestly, seeing Team Rocket again after so long actually put him in a pretty good mood.
The moment Team Rocket prepared to flee—
Red's psychic voice echoed directly inside Meowth, Jessie, and James's minds.
"Don't leave yet."
"I've got something I want to discuss with you later."
Feeling their bodies completely locked in place by psychic power—
Jessie, James, and Meowth could only nod tearfully.
After watching Ash command Pikachu for a while, Cynthia said with visible surprise:
"Oh?"
"This child is your disciple too?"
Red proudly patted his chest.
"Of course!"
Cynthia thought back to Paul at the Gym, then looked toward Ash on the battlefield.
"Your teaching style really is completely different depending on the student."
The more she observed Red, the more curious she became.
How exactly had one person managed to gather two disciples who stood at completely opposite extremes?
Yet as she watched the battle continue—
Cynthia slowly frowned.
"Gym Leader Red…"
"Your disciple is about to lose."
Hearing that sudden statement, Red immediately shifted his gaze back toward the battlefield.
Then he noticed—
For some unknown reason, Pikachu had suddenly become sluggish and weak.
"Pikachu! What's wrong?!"
Even Ash immediately sensed something was wrong and hurriedly asked about Pikachu's condition.
The moment Pikachu's state became abnormal—
Machiki instantly launched an aggressive assault.
"Raichu! Use Body Slam!"
Raichu immediately leapt high into the air before crashing downward like a cannonball toward the weakened Pikachu.
At that moment, Red looked closely at Pikachu—
And instantly saw a new negative status appear in Pikachu's status display.
Poisoned.
"That bastard…"
"He really doesn't care anymore as long as he wins?!"
No wonder Red was furious.
Because this wasn't a Poison-type battle.
Neither Pokémon had used a single Poison-type move from start to finish.
There was absolutely no way Pikachu could have been poisoned naturally.
"Pi…ka…"
Pikachu weakly lifted his head.
His vision swam.
His body felt dizzy and powerless.
He couldn't even properly see Raichu's movements anymore—
Let alone obey Ash's commands.
At this point, Cynthia had already taken out Garchomp's Poké Ball, prepared to forcibly stop the match.
Even though she didn't possess Red's System and couldn't directly see status conditions—
As a Champion with absurd battle experience, Cynthia could still tell immediately that something was wrong with this match.
"Let me handle it."
But at that moment—
Red suddenly reached out and stopped her.
As Ash's teacher—
Red felt this was something he personally needed to deal with.
"Marshtomp, go!"
"Teach that Raichu a lesson!"
Just as Ash realized things were turning bad—
And Gary, Brock, and the others also noticed Pikachu's abnormal condition—
Right when everyone thought Pikachu was about to lose—
A blue figure suddenly shot onto the battlefield like a bolt of lightning.
The moment Ash and the others recognized the Pokémon—
They shouted excitedly in shock:
"It's Marshtomp!"
"Master's Marshtomp!"
Facing the incoming Raichu crashing toward Pikachu—
Marshtomp had already prepared itself.
Its body lowered slightly.
Its feet spread apart firmly across the ground.
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