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After determining his next course of action, Ash planned to return to Pallet Town first, then find a suitable place to conduct final training with his Pokémon.
After resting overnight in Viridian City, the next morning, all the Pokémon Ash had left at the center were fully recovered.
After the three said goodbye to Nurse Joy, they continued their journey back to Pallet Town.
Viridian City wasn't far from Pallet Town anymore. The journey had taken a bit longer when he first started traveling, but he had already walked this route once before and had been traveling for quite some time now.
Still, he didn't want to waste any more time. After being away from home for several months, Ash found himself missing it, and unconsciously quickened his pace along the road.
Meanwhile, as Ash made his way back to Pallet Town, events were unfolding elsewhere.
After his defeat to Ash the previous day and awarding him the Earth Badge, Giovanni had immediately announced Team Rocket's disbandment, and the news spread like wildfire.
When Team Rocket members received the news, their immediate reaction was disbelief—especially Giovanni's top executives like Archer and Ariana.
They never imagined that the ambitious boss they had sworn to follow would actually choose to disband the organization and retire because of a kid who had constantly opposed them.
After Archer and the others received the news, they contacted Giovanni as quickly as possible, but the responses they received confirmed without a doubt that Giovanni had already made his final decision.
This decision was unacceptable to many Team Rocket members, particularly Archer and Ariana.
They had always followed Giovanni, hoping to build something great, but now everything had come to nothing. All their previous efforts had become meaningless.
Team Rocket was a mixed group with all kinds of people. Some members had joined involuntarily, some were just trying to make a living, but there were also truly vicious individuals among them.
Those who had been forced to join and those who were simply making ends meet chose to quit Team Rocket. However, the most dangerous members had nowhere else to go.
Many of them had criminal records and had committed numerous crimes in various locations. They were being watched by the police, and now that their protective umbrella had fallen, they found themselves without options.
These individuals were organized by the radical Archer, who believed that Giovanni had only been temporarily swayed and didn't truly want to disband Team Rocket.
He decided to preserve the organization and wait for Giovanni's eventual return.
So Archer continued using the Team Rocket name to recruit members who were unwilling to quit the organization, gradually moving operations to the Johto Region.
Most of those who had been forced to join chose to leave Team Rocket directly, but there were still some people who genuinely admired Giovanni and chose to remain by his side.
Thus far, in the Kanto and Johto Regions, the once-feared Team Rocket had announced its disbandment, though some radicals still operated under the Team Rocket name.
This news didn't just spread within Team Rocket—even the Pokémon League received word of it.
The two sides had been in conflict for so many years, and there were actually Team Rocket infiltrators within the Pokémon League. Otherwise, how could Giovanni have built the Viridian Gym so openly?
Conversely, there were also Pokémon League agents within Team Rocket, and they too received news of Team Rocket's disbandment as quickly as possible.
After receiving the information, the League immediately convened the Elite Four to begin a meeting. The main topics of discussion were naturally whether the matter was genuine and what attitude they should take when dealing with Team Rocket and Giovanni.
According to intelligence sent back by undercover agents, Team Rocket's disbandment was real, and Giovanni had indeed given the order. However, it couldn't be considered a complete dissolution.
From the current situation, it appeared that some of Giovanni's radical followers were unwilling to give up, though it couldn't be ruled out that this was all part of Giovanni's scheme.
He might be pretending to disband the organization while letting others take charge, all while secretly controlling everything from behind the scenes.
Because of this possibility, the Elite Four and League executives began discussions about how to handle the remaining Team Rocket members.
Like Team Rocket, there were also radicals within the League, such as Elite Four member Agatha.
She believed that regardless of whether it was a scheme or not, the remaining Team Rocket members in both regions must be eliminated, including Giovanni himself.
Similar to Misty and Brock's views, she argued that even if the organization disbanded, those who had committed crimes should still be arrested.
However, Lance, the leader of the Elite Four, argued that they shouldn't attack at this time. Regardless of whether Giovanni's decision was genuine or not, now wasn't the right moment to arrest him.
His reasoning matched what Ash had thought. From the current situation, if Giovanni had truly decided to disband the organization, that would be a positive outcome.
There were still radicals within Team Rocket. If they forced Giovanni to abandon this plan, the consequences would outweigh the benefits.
Giovanni was so dangerous that even the Pokémon League didn't dare take unnecessary risks, but Agatha believed Lance's thinking was too naive.
All in all, the meeting ended on a sour note. However, based on the investigated reasons for Giovanni's disbandment of Team Rocket, Lance and Pokémon League President Goodshow decided to maintain a wait-and-see approach for the time being.
Ash had once again come to the attention of Lance and others. This time it wasn't just Lance, but also Pokémon League President and the two other Elite Four members.
Because of this incident, they were all very interested in Ash. Of course, Ash remained unaware of any of this.
"This is the river, Ash! I was being chased by Spearow and met you right here."
On the way back to Pallet Town, the three of them passed by a river, and Misty spoke nostalgically.
"Yeah! And that Fearow—I wonder if it still likes bullying others."
Ash felt a bit nostalgic too, not just about the Spearow, but also about the Fearow he had defeated during a camping trip when he was younger.
"Hahaha! After being scared off by you, it probably won't dare anymore!" Misty couldn't help but laugh.
"It seems like a lot happened before you reached Pewter City!" Brock said with interest.
"Yeah, it sure did!"
The three of them walked and chatted. Suddenly, something cut through the air, and then a girl's voice rang out near them.
"Watch out!"
"Ah!"
Hearing the warning, Misty was startled. The three of them turned their heads to look. Ash, who was standing in the middle, noticed something being thrown toward them. Seeing this, he instinctively raised his hand to catch it.