With time left on hand, Ash took May and Max to stroll around the backyard of Professor Oak Laboratory for the day. Except for Groudon and Charizard who were away at the Cinnabar Island volcano, the only ones the group didn't see were Rayquaza, Dragonair and the Eon Duo.
They seem to have been taken to high altitudes for special training by Rayquaza. Since it's been a while since Ash used Dragonair, and now after its new training, Ash couldn't wait to test out its new power level.
When leaving Professor Oak's Laboratory, the crying baby Squirtle fell in love with May. And with Professor Oak realizing that the crybaby wasn't suitable to fit a new Trainer, he agreed to Ash in letting a "more experienced" Pokémon Trainer like May, who got along with it, take the little guy away.
This time, May coming from the distant Hoenn Region has added another new Kanto Region Royal Starter, now having Bulbasaur and Squirtle. May's luck was surprisingly very high.
After doing this, the journey of Ash and his party was ready to begin again.
In order to get Ash to agree to take Max along with him to continue traveling, Norman agreed to share his experience in training Vigoroth and Slaking with his future son-in-law without any reservation.
Experience is often the most valuable asset that belongs to a Trainer after the bond shared with their Pokémon.
Therefore, Ash decided to take Vigoroth along with him and train him as hard as possible. He will definitely train him into a Slaking that truly lives up to its insane potential.
Never be a Potential Man, yes, that was Ash's life philosophy.
On a side note, May decided to leave her Bulbasaur in the Lab and ask Ash's powerful Venusaur to train her, believing that her Bulbasaur will definitely improve more than if she was with her.
Of course, the poor Zeraora was detained by Professor Oak, and it just so happened that he also got along with the Fighting-types at the Lab. There were even some exchange matches with Annihilape and Hitmonlee, with Blaziken and Breloom taking notes from the side.
This thing cannot be learned by relying on its own type. Zeraora's current fighting style relies more on the power gained from its lightning. He obviously has a strong fighting talent, but as of yet, he cannot use it properly.
So in Ash's opinion, it's best Zeraora is left under Annihilape-sensei, who's the most knowledgeable about different types of techniques.
And he can also learn the hidden combat skills of Ninjutsu Scizor learned in his training at Jujutsu High, and combine its own special abilities to integrate all in its strengths and weaknesses, and then its power as a Mythical Pokémon will continue to grow.
With this, the Pokémon Ash wants to take away has already been decided. In addition to the fixed Pikachu, Ralts and the newly evolved Togekiss, there are his new Eevee, Growlithe and Vigoroth.
Since she evolved, Togekiss became much more than just becoming stronger, she became much more mindful and calm, so she graciously accepted to go back inside her Poké Ball, and she also no longer needs to stay with Ash at all times.
Its position was originally replaced by Eevee. At this moment, Pikachu and Ralts occupied each of Ash's shoulders, so Eevee climbed onto his hat and lay there very obediently.
Before leaving, Professor Oak gave the two of them new Pokédex's. After this period of development and research, the Pokémon Pokédex has received many updates.
Ash really didn't need it anymore, but to help the old professor in his research, every time he sees a new Pokémon, he scans them for the "seen" completion. And he also handed over his multifunctional PokéNav to Max, which already had all the necessary Battle Frontier information. The first Battle Facility was the Battle Factory, which was very close to Cerulean City, so he could go back with Misty.
Unexpectedly, just when they were passing through Pewter City, Brock rushed out to join them. Now the group was really reunited.
(Tracy and Todd Snap: Why are we still here? Just to suffer?)
"Speaking of which, today is a full moon. Maybe we can see Clefairy's full moon dance!" When the group came to the foot of Mt. Moon, Brock suddenly said with great expectations.
Max also became excited after hearing his other Big Brother figures' words. He had done a lot of homework before setting off, "I know, there are Cleffa and Clefairy here, right?"
Mt. Moon was indeed most famous for its wild Clefairys, frequent meteor falls and Moon Stones.
"I really want to see them!" May was the one looking forward to it the most. Cleffa and Clefairy are both very cute Pokémon and so perfect for her Pokémon Contest team.
"Impossible, Cleffa rarely appears in front of people!" Max couldn't help but pour cold water on May.
Well, they were certainly rare, but not impossible. When Ash, Misty and Brock came to Mt. Moon for the first time, the only reason they saw a group was because of some Team Rocket shenanigans.
Anyway, just as Max was about to continue on why they wouldn't see any wild Cleffas, something happened.
He still underestimated his sister's luck. As soon as he finished speaking, he heard rustling in the bushes in front of them, and a Cleffa appeared in front of them.
A grand slap in the face.
"Why would a Cleffa appear in the foothills like this, and in front of so many people?" Misty and Brock were also very puzzled.
It was quite unreal that they could meet Cleffa this fast and in this way.
This Cleffa just jumped up and down in front of them. The Pokémon around Ash jumped down one after another, especially Azurill, who was held in Misty's arms, who was happily saying hello to a fellow baby.
However, the next second, a gust of wind blew up, and Cleffa and Azurill were both whipped up.
"Togekiss!"
Ash threw the Poké Ball casually with no panic, seeing this, Misty didn't panic either. As long as her Ash was there, nothing would happen to them.
Sure enough, Togekiss' figure flashed past and rescued the two little guys in less than a second.
Looking up, Ash immediately showed a real smile and yelled, "Team Rocket, come down! Right now!"
In mid-air, the Team Rocket Trio emerged from the basket of Meowth's hot Air Balloon. This time, there was a high-power suction fan attached to the Air Balloon, which was the one responsible for trying to take away the small Pokémon of the group.
"Prepare for trouble from the skies…"
"...From beyond the stars a nasty surprise!"
"An evil as old as the galaxy…"
"...Sent here to fulfill our destiny!"
"Yeah!"
"Jessie!"
"And James!"
"And Meowth are the names!"
After hearing that, Ash, Misty, and Brock applauded together, "You even changed your entrance intro. It was good! Can you say it again?"
"Yeah, I have to send it to Forest and the others!" Brock said.
"Actually, I still like the original version better," Ash really felt the old classic version sounds more exciting and much more in tune with the Trio.
The three members of Team Rocket were stunned for a moment by this and had tears in their eyes, "Did you hear that, James? The original twerps understands us!" Jessie cried again.
"Yeah, Jessie!" James flared his nose, "It took us a lot of thinking to come up with this!"
"This is for a brand new chapter of our life, Meowth!" Meowth grinned with tears.
"Wobbbbb!" Wobbuffet chimed.
The Trio had just gone back to Team Rocket's Kanto headquarters before this, which is also the headquarters of the entire Team Rocket, and naturally Giovanni was there.
Even if they followed Ash's orders and took the credit for the disassembling of both Team Magma and Team Aqua, they still failed to get Giovanni's attention.
Well, more like Giovanni hardly thought his favorite incompetent trio was the one who did it. His spies in the League Headquarters relayed information that Lance was also in the Hoenn Region during that time. So it was most likely that Flying-types' word.
So the Trio immediately felt depressed and ran directly in front of Ash, intending to capture his Pikachu and all of Mt. Moon's Clefairy at once. Getting two and a half birds in one stone.
"Just why don't you three ever rest?" Ash said in mild annoyance and looked at Jessie, "Yo, Jess, I'm looking forward to your performance in the Kanto Contests!"
"Anyway… Pikachu, Thunderbolt! Eevee, Swift!"
Now that Ash was focusing on raising his Eevee, he knew it's a great idea to let her gain some experience that will always come in handy.
An explosion happened and Team Rocket yelled their classic "Team Rockets blasting off again" and that was the end of that.
Since it happened to be a full moon, Ash used his Aura Force to explore and train a little, along with Brock and Misty following the route in their memory, they finally found the huge Moon Stone near the top of Mt. Moon and let May and Max admire it a little.
The Moon Dance of the Clefairies.
When they were about to go down the mountain, Misty received a call from her older sister Daisy. It turned out that a large number of Pokémon Trainers came to the Cerulean City Gym. With the three older sisters' abilities as Trainer business, they had to urge Misty to come back quickly.
Hearing the news, Ash and his team sent Misty back to the Cerulean City Gym, only to find that the three sisters had packed their luggage again.
"Oi, where do you think you three are going?" Misty suddenly flailed.
But Daisy and the others ignored her at all. Instead, they looked at Ash and smiled, "Oh my, it's Ash, do you want to come with us? Cameran Palace of Rota City is about to hold a Pokémon Tournament and celebration of Aura Guardians!"
"Aura Guardians?" Misty and May murmured together.
When it comes to Aura Guardians, the only one they can think of is the insanely strong guy next to them, Ash.