It was another early morning, the sun, like a mischievous girl's hand, flickered across Yu Feng's eyes.
Yu Feng awoke from his slumber, answering his body's call. His blue hair, illuminated by the sunlight, had a dreamlike quality. With a lazy stretch, Yu Feng brushed away the shimmering specks of light around him that were refracting a rainbow of colors. These things had almost kept him from sleeping last night.
“Ah, let me see what time it is.”
Yu Feng rubbed his already styled hair, yawned, and pulled out his Pokédex to check the time. Glancing at the screen, Yu Feng's eyes instantly widened.
“Did I misread that? How is it only six o’clock?” Rubbing his eyes in disbelief, Yu Feng was stunned, wondering when he had ever woken up this early.
He thought about his two lives spanning thirty years; he had never woken up at six, except for school and work. Yu Feng looked up at the sky. Yep, it was confirmed: he had been waking up at six-something his entire life.
Since he was up, he might as well do something good for his health. Thinking this, Yu Feng released Indeedee from its Poké Ball.
A short while later, Yu Feng, having changed clothes, emerged from the tent looking refreshed, with Indeedee wiping its arms behind him.
“Ai Wan!”
Indeedee, still wiping its arms, spoke sternly to Yu Feng, as if criticizing him severely.
“I know, I know, I’ll come out for breakfast from now on.”
Yu Feng reluctantly agreed to Indeedee’s request. All he did was spill milk in the tent during breakfast, did she really have to keep nagging him about it?
Glancing at Xiao Xia and Ash, who were still asleep, Yu Feng prepared to go for his unshakeable training. He had been consistent for four or five years; he couldn't slack off now.
After releasing his Pokémon, he was ready to find an open space and train with them.
But when he returned, he saw Xiao Xia slap Ash across the face.
“What’s wrong with you two? Xiao Xia, why are you…?”
Yu Feng found it strange; weren't they getting along well last night? Why had they suddenly started again today?
“Xiao Feng, you be the judge! He actually made Caterpie attack Pidgeotto!”
Xiao Xia pointed angrily at Ash, who was also somewhat upset. She really couldn't tell if Ash was faking it or serious.
Ash didn't indulge Xiao Xia either, as suddenly hitting someone was truly disrespectful.
Yu Feng reluctantly separated the two who were about to fight, clutching his head which was aching from their bickering: “You two, explain yourselves clearly. What exactly happened?”
Xiao Xia recounted the incident to Yu Feng again, and while doing so, looking at Ash's face, Xiao Xia even wanted to make his face symmetrical.
“Alright, alright, I generally understand.”
Yu Feng stopped Xiao Xia’s actions, rubbing his temples. He hadn't realized it earlier, but now he understood that this was when Ash was trying to catch Pidgeotto. He also knew why Xiao Xia was so angry. For a wild Pokémon to be eaten was natural, but if you caught it and it was eaten because of your actions, that was a different matter.
“Ash, this time it really is your fault.”
“But…”
“No buts! Don’t you even know the simple common sense that birds eat bugs?!”
Yu Feng was about to criticize Ash, but Xiao Xia interrupted him. Xiao Xia was now furious.
“Common sense? But I thought having fighting spirit was enough.”
Ash was somewhat shocked. He had always believed that as long as he had fighting spirit, he could win Pokémon battles.
“But Pokémon duels aren’t won by your fighting spirit!” Xiao Xia pushed Ash back a step, looking at him furiously and saying, “The most important thing is the Trainer’s judgment! Just liking Pokémon isn’t enough.”
At this moment, even Yu Feng didn't really want to stop Xiao Xia, fearing that she would turn around and drag him into it too.
“Ha ♦ Ha ♦ Ha ♦ Ha ♦”
An inexplicable sound came from a distance, bringing Ash and Xiao Xia’s confrontation to a temporary halt.
“We meet again.”
A mature male voice came from the direction of the laughter.
“That voice is…”
Ash had a premonition of ill omen, feeling that this voice would be present in his life for a very long time.
Yu Feng looked at Ash’s expression with some curiosity. Was this an acquaintance of Ash’s? So he asked, “Ash, is this an acquaintance of yours?”
Before Ash could answer, the other party spoke first.
“I heard someone asking who I am.”
“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.”
“I am Musashi!”
“I am Kojiro!”
Three figures, two tall and one short, emerged from the shadows. In fact, the moment they spoke, he knew who they were. Weren't they the Team Rockets trio who would faithfully follow Ash for the next twenty years?
Sure enough, they struck very exaggerated poses and continued their self-introduction.
“We’re Team Rockets, blasting off at the speed of light!”
“Surrender now, or prepare to fight!”
“Meowth, that’s right!”
As Meowth jumped between the two, their self-introduction concluded.
A red and white Poké Ball was hurled at Meowth in the middle, only to be slapped away by Musashi.
“You brat, what’s your deal? Why are you throwing Poké Balls around?”
Musashi clenched her fist, a vein throbbing on her forehead, as she looked at the culprit who threw the Poké Ball.
“Ahem, a Meowth that can talk seems pretty rare. You guys continue.”
Seeing his Poké Ball slapped away by Musashi, Yu Feng coughed a few times, signaling them to continue. He had just wanted to try and see if he could sneakily catch Meowth. In reality, he felt the possibility was very small, after all, Meowth used to be Sakaki’s pet, so it wouldn't have gone uncaptured.
“You shut up, you little… big-headed kid, the person we’re looking for isn’t you…”
Musashi compared her height to Yu Feng’s and, out of caution, changed her address.
“It’s that Pikachu!”
Kojiro, however, had no such qualms and, along with Musashi, pointed at Pikachu, who was watching the show from the side.
“Huh?” Ash was a bit confused as to why they were targeting his Pikachu, but since it was his Pokémon, Ash still had to say something. “There are as many Pikachus as stray dogs on the street, you know.”
Although saying that about Pikachu wasn't very nice, Ash's statement wasn't wrong. At least in Kanto, Pikachus were indeed as common as stray dogs on the street; they weren't some rare Pokémon. Was it worth all this trouble for the two of them?
“Too bad, it’s exactly the one we’re looking for.”
Musashi maintained her pointing gesture at Pikachu, explaining the reason to Ash.
“We’re always looking for rare Pokémon, and that Pikachu~~”
Kojiro continued Musashi's words, completely oblivious to the extremely strange expression on Meowth's shoulder.
“It might just be the Pokémon we’re looking for!”
As Musashi finished speaking, Meowth’s anger seemed to have reached its peak, and it unleashed Fury Swipes on the two, scratching them while scolding them: “Idiots! Why do you two explain so much to them?!”