Pokemon: With Title System

Chapter 140: Lakeside BBQ and Koga

"I didn't expect my name to have reached the famous Hunter J in Sinnoh," Asahi said.

But Hunter J, hearing the teasing tone in his voice, didn't feel particularly amused.

"I'll remember you."

She glanced at Gardevoir once more before cutting off the video call.

Watching Hunter J's final, threatening glance, Asahi smirked.

Who was she trying to scare?

If she had the guts to come to Kanto, he'd make sure she had a "great" time!

And if he ever went to Sinnoh, she better pray he didn't catch her—because he'd make sure she understood exactly how he earned the title 'Demon Guardian of the Forest'!

After searching the poachers' camp, Asahi found only some vehicles, hunting nets, and a few captured Pokémon.

An Abra, two Scyther, and an Exeggutor.

All relatively rare Pokémon with high black market value.

"They've got good taste…"

But Asahi was slightly disappointed that these guys didn't bring any Sinnoh-native Pokémon for him to confiscate. A Riolu, Buneary, or Froslass—he wouldn't have been picky.

He released the Abra, Exeggutor, and Scyther.

When he stepped out again, the poachers were already bound and handcuffed, guarded by the Slowpoke. Their faces were filled with frustration.

Clearly, being defeated by Slowpoke was a humiliating experience.

If word got out, they'd never be able to show their faces in the Pokémon hunter community again.

Asahi saw their expressions and immediately knew what they were thinking.

Honestly, they didn't need to worry. He had caught so many poachers by now—surely they'd find plenty of like-minded friends in prison.

In fact, he had heard that the captured poachers had even formed prison gangs based on how they got caught.

The Slowpoke Gang wasn't weak.

"Hunter J has abandoned you all. Now… does anyone want to voluntarily provide information?" Asahi asked.

Silence.

"No one? That's fine…" Asahi didn't seem bothered. He turned to Officer Jenny and said, "Illegal entry, poaching, assaulting a League officer—check their records too. Charge them as hardcore offenders and hit them with a super multiplier."

Officer Jenny nodded, following his lead.

Hearing Asahi's words, the poachers immediately panicked.

They knew exactly how many crimes they had committed.

If Asahi stacked up their charges, they might actually spend the rest of their lives behind bars.

"I'll talk!"

"Oh?" Asahi turned, surprised to see that the one speaking up was the poacher leader—the very one who had seemed the most loyal to Hunter J.

His subordinates stared at him in disbelief.

You're giving in already?!

Unbelievable! Why surrender? Why… not wait for us?!

---

After the poachers enthusiastically shared information, Asahi finally understood why they had shown up in his territory.

"A mysterious client specifically requested a Dratini from Kanto?" Asahi frowned.

Did Dratini from Kanto differ from those in other regions?

His first thought was that Team Rocket was up to something—perhaps using Pokémon hunters to test him.

But after thinking it over, it didn't quite add up. If Team Rocket wanted to test him, why go through all this trouble? They had plenty of grunts—sending a few of them would be far more effective than these nobodies.

After all, in the Pokémon world, only those who couldn't cut it in evil organizations ended up as Pokémon hunters.

Setting that mystery aside for now, Asahi also got an unexpected piece of intel.

Hunter J had a major operation planned in Sinnoh next month.

After thinking it over, Asahi sent an email to headquarters.

Sinnoh was currently dealing with Looker's investigation into Team Galactic—this information might be useful to him.

Hope Hunter J hasn't teamed up with Team Galactic… Otherwise, Looker's in for a headache.

Thinking about someone else suffering like he had, Asahi suddenly felt a lot better.

---

On the way back, Asahi and Officer Jenny returned the Slowpoke to their habitat.

Since she had to process the captured poachers and bring them to the police station, Officer Jenny said her goodbyes first.

That left Asahi, Green, and a bunch of Slowpoke by the lake.

To celebrate their victory and make use of the leftover ingredients, Asahi decided to throw a BBQ party.

He also released all his Pokémon.

Gengar, experiencing such a lively gathering for the first time, happily floated around the lakeside, occasionally pranking the slow-reacting Slowpoke.

Seeing the Slowpoke take ten seconds to react to being startled never got old.

Meanwhile, Mini-Lugia carried Eevee, Jigglypuff, and Chansey, diving in and out of the lake like a submarine.

Salamence, on the other hand, was much more reserved—sitting patiently by the grill.

For every skewer Asahi grilled, Salamence ate one.

By the end, over half the food ended up in its stomach.

As for Gardevoir, she had taken Dragonair to visit its mother—just to prove that she hadn't bullied Dragonair and that they were getting along just fine.

---

The party lasted from noon until late afternoon, and everyone had a great time.

Interestingly, when Gardevoir returned from the Safari Zone, she didn't come back alone.

She had also brought back Caesar.

At first, Asahi was happy to see his old friend.

But Caesar didn't return the favor—after expressing shock at Mini-Lugia, he went on and on about how life had been great since Asahi left.

He was eating better, sleeping better, and had Dragonair as company—life was wonderful.

Asahi gritted his teeth in frustration.

Green, watching from the side, covered her mouth to hide her laughter.

After finishing their meal, Asahi quickly had Gardevoir teleport Caesar away.

Sigh… I've been misunderstood by too many… Asahi sighed.

"Slow…?" The Slowpoke nodded in unison.

Translation: "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say."

Looking at the Slowpoke—who clearly wanted him gone but pretended to be reluctant—Asahi suddenly remembered the King's Rock he had found in an underwater ruin.

It had been gathering dust in his bag for ages.

Maybe it was time to put it to use.

A thought crossed his mind, and he smiled at the Slowpoke.

"All good things must come to an end. I can't stay here forever."

"But seeing how much you'll miss me, I'm really touched. So here's the deal…"

"I can take one of you with me on my journey. That way, it'll be like you're all with me."

"How does that sound? Touched?"

The Slowpoke were stunned.

Touched? More like terrified!

They wanted to shake their heads, but under Gardevoir's sharp gaze, they reluctantly nodded.

They even tearfully declared that they were too weak and that a stronger companion should be chosen.

Asahi was very pleased with their understanding.

"Alright then… Anyone who wants to travel with me, step forward."

Whoosh!

All the Slowpoke stepped backward.

Except for one—who got shoved forward by its companions.

The chosen Slowpoke froze in place before turning around, glaring angrily at the others.

The remaining Slowpoke simply put on blank expressions, pretending not to understand.

Before it could protest, the 'Demon King' loomed over it.

"Great! Since you're so eager, you're the lucky one!"

Asahi recognized this Slowpoke—it was Slowbro's kid and had been slightly more diligent than the others during training.

The 'lucky one' considered resisting, but seeing Asahi's gentle smile, it swallowed its words.

With teary eyes, it glanced at Slowbro.

Goodbye, Mom… Tonight, I set sail!

Slowbro, secretly relieved, also shed a tear to see its child off.

After the heartfelt farewell, Asahi tapped a Great Ball on its head and instantly captured it.

Satisfied, he waved goodbye and left the lake with Green.

Just as the Slowpoke relaxed, Asahi suddenly turned back.

"Oh, by the way—I'll be back to check on you. Don't forget to meditate every day!"

The Slowpoke froze in horror.

But as they watched Asahi fade into the distance, they suddenly felt a little… empty.

"Slow~!"

"Slow—!"

Led by Slowbro, the Slowpoke bade Asahi farewell.

Hearing the Slowpoke's farewell, Green was curious. "They really seem to have a bond with you."

Asahi smiled. "Of course. Back when their group was nearly wiped out by poachers, I camped outside the poachers' base for days with Gardevoir—who was still a Kirlia at the time—before finally rescuing them."

"Our connection with the Pokémon in the nature reserve isn't something as simple as liking or disliking."

"What about the others you mentioned? The Kangaskhan, Gyarados, and Tauros?" Green asked.

She was curious about Asahi's past.

Seeing Green's interest, Asahi didn't mind satisfying her curiosity.

"The Kangaskhan family—one time, a baby Kangaskhan got injured by poachers. It was badly hurt, and its mother couldn't treat it. I drove it to Fuchsia City overnight for treatment."

"The Tauros? They had a territorial conflict with a Nidoking group. I mediated the dispute with Gardevoir and helped them redivide their territory. Since then, they've respected me. Their charges have taken down a lot of poachers."

"And Gyarados… you'd have to ask Gardevoir. They're her underlings."

"Her underlings?"

Green glanced at Gardevoir, who was elegantly flipping through a book, and found it hard to associate her with the term 'underlings.'

"Back then, Gardevoir was the terror of the nature reserve—uh, fine, I won't say more!"

Asahi stopped mid-sentence as Gardevoir shot him a glare. He quickly raised his hands in surrender.

Even though Asahi didn't finish, Green understood.

It was her dark history.

Seeing Asahi finally drop the subject, Gardevoir went back to reading.

Green made a mental note of this and then turned to Asahi. "So, where to next? Fuchsia Gym?"

"Of course." Asahi playfully flicked Eevee's ears. "We've delayed long enough. Koga's probably getting impatient."

"Let's head to Fuchsia Gym and give Koga a little Asahi-style shock!"

---

As Asahi expected, Koga was indeed getting impatient.

Not because of anything personal, but because Giovanni had assigned him a mission—to capture Moltres near the Indigo Plateau.

Normally, he should have left immediately.

But with the Gym Challenge approaching, he couldn't just abandon the gym and run off.

Besides worrying about failing the Gym Evaluation, he was also concerned about the League questioning his absence.

Kneeling in a traditional ninja pose, Koga stared at the giant '静' (Calm) character before him, trying to maintain his inner peace.

He was also thinking about the new enemy the organization had encountered in Johto recently.

Ever since their last clash with the Masked Army, the situation in Johto had undergone a dramatic shift. Originally operating in the shadows, the Masked Army had suddenly become highly active.

They had even absorbed some of the Rocket Trainers who had been captured in the previous battle.

The Johto branch could no longer tolerate it.

In the end, one of the Four Generals, Apollo, personally captured a traitor.

Apollo had intended to question the defector about why he betrayed Team Rocket, only to discover that the Rocket member had no intention of betraying them at all—he had been controlled by the mask on his face, his will completely distorted.

This revelation caused an uproar within Team Rocket. The radical faction immediately urged Boss Giovanni to take revenge on the Masked Army and rescue their captured comrades.

However, Giovanni suppressed the dissent with his personal authority.

His reasoning? The Mewtwo Project was about to succeed, so they needed to endure for now.

Besides Mewtwo's impending completion, Giovanni had also assigned tasks—he sent Koga to capture Moltres and had Sabrina go after Articuno…

As for Zapdos, it was originally meant for Lt. Surge. Unfortunately, he had already been captured, so Giovanni decided to personally take action after the Mewtwo Project succeeded.

Just as Koga was deep in thought, a Crobat suddenly flapped its wings and flew in through the window.

The Crobat hovered beside Koga and whispered something into his ear, making his eyes narrow.

"The League's evaluation officer… has finally arrived!?"

---

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