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"Eddie, you'd better come up to my location quickly—to the chairman's office on the top floor of Silph Co. Building. Otherwise, once I give the order, Team Rocket members will once again capture the residents of Pallet Town. But this time, I won't be so gentle. You know what I mean."
Giovanni said "gentle" because he had previously issued an order not to harm the townspeople of Pallet Town. Team Rocket had only captured them and done nothing else.
And now, Giovanni's threat was crystal clear. If Eddie didn't come up, he would take action against the townspeople.
"Hmph! You've got me there! Everyone, I'll leave this to you. I'm going to meet the strongest Gym Leader in the Kanto Region!"
Eddie's expression changed when he heard this. He had been wondering why, after rescuing the townspeople of Pallet Town, the rescue mission hadn't been marked as completed. It turned out that because of Giovanni, the mission was still ongoing.
"No! Eddie, you can't go—this is definitely a trap! It's too dangerous!"
Upon hearing this, Ash immediately tried to stop Eddie from going up. Although he didn't know exactly how powerful Giovanni was, it would definitely be dangerous if Eddie went up alone at this moment.
However, compared to Ash who was trying to stop Eddie, Gary had a gloomy expression on his face and remained silent.
He naturally understood that it would be extremely dangerous if Eddie went up, but unlike the impulsive Ash, Gary realized the dilemma they faced. If Eddie didn't go up, the citizens of Pallet Town would be in danger.
Therefore, he didn't know whether he should stop Eddie or not.
In terms of numbers, the residents of Pallet Town definitely outweighed Eddie—after all, there were many people there, while Eddie was just one person.
However, weighing lives on a scale like this was fundamentally wrong. Gary naturally understood this. He couldn't bring himself to say to Eddie, "For the sake of the residents of Pallet Town, you should go up." But he also couldn't say, "For the sake of your own safety, Eddie, you shouldn't go up."
Since he couldn't say either of those things, he could only remain silent with a gloomy expression and leave the decision to Eddie.
No matter what Eddie's choice was, Gary wouldn't interfere. This was the conclusion Gary reached after rational thinking.
"Ash, let him go. Don't you know what kind of person Eddie is? Trust him."
Green, who would most likely have been expected to persuade Eddie to stay, actually came out to support Eddie's departure.
"You! Can't you see that this is a trap? Eddie might go up there and..."
Ash's face was filled with disbelief. Everyone present could clearly see that Green liked Eddie, so he had assumed Green would be on his side, trying to stop Eddie from going up.
"Everyone can see that this is a trap, but compared to your concern that his life might be in danger, I choose to believe in him. Eddie—he'll definitely be able to handle this situation."
It would be impossible to say that Green wasn't worried about Eddie. Compared to Ash, Green, who had feelings for Eddie, was obviously far more worried about him. But being worried didn't prevent Green from trusting Eddie.
She believed Eddie could solve any problem. She believed Eddie could overcome any difficulty. She believed Eddie could...
Green and Eddie had known each other for a relatively short time, but having adventured with Eddie throughout the Pokémon world, she obviously understood and trusted Eddie better than anyone else present.
Therefore, at this moment, Green chose to believe in Eddie and support Eddie's decision.
"Ash, you've known me longer than Green has, but you don't trust me as much as she does."
"But! You—"
"Don't say anything more. Even if you don't believe in me, you should think about it from another perspective. If I don't go, Giovanni will give the order and the people of Pallet Town will be in danger. No matter what, I have to go up there."
Eddie said this with a righteous tone, displaying quite the heroic spirit of "if not me, then who?"
But in reality, he knew that Giovanni had other hidden methods. Even if he didn't go up now, Giovanni still had other ways to force him upstairs.
Since he had to go up no matter what, Eddie might as well be straightforward now and display his selfless spirit.
Ash fell silent, Gary looked somewhat moved, and Green wore an expression that said, "I knew it."
"Ding! Because of your words and actions, Ash and Gary's affection for you has increased significantly, and they now consider you a close friend!"
Oh, Green's affection hasn't changed—is it because she already trusted me completely?
But it didn't matter. The way women and men expressed their affection was completely different. If Green's affection were to rise further, it would probably reach the level of "deep love," but this kind of affection level was obviously difficult to achieve.
Eddie thought silently as he listened to the system notification.
"Alright, I'm going up now. Ash, if you're really worried about me, then quickly defeat this three-headed bird and resolve the situation here, then come up and help me."
Looking at Ash's anxious expression, Eddie tried to reassure him.
Although he knew that even if Ash and the others defeated the three-headed bird, they would probably be exhausted and unlikely to be able to support him.
Furthermore, with Giovanni's strength, even if Giovanni didn't want them to interfere, Ash's current level would still be insufficient even if he was in peak condition.
"Anyway! I'm leaving this to you! Sabrina, I'll have a proper battle with you next time we have the chance!"
Eddie jumped onto Charizard's back and flew it directly toward the top floor.
"Gary, Green... let's take down this three-headed bird right now."
Ash, watching Eddie leave, became unusually calm, with almost no expression visible on his face.
He had shown this expression before back in Pallet Town, which meant that his anger toward Team Rocket had reached its peak.
Of course, apart from his anger, he also felt frustration at his own lack of strength. If his strength was comparable to Eddie's, why would Eddie need to take such risks at this moment?!
"Hmph, you don't need to tell me that. Now let's give this everything we've got."
"Hehe~~~ Although I'm just a girl, I won't hold you back~~~"
Although the three of them had different tones and expressions, the meaning they wanted to convey was the same.
Then, all three of them did the same thing.
They each pulled out a bracelet and put it on.
There was no doubt—these were Mega Bracelets with Key Stones embedded in them.
Sabrina watched the three trainers' actions silently. Whether it was because of her confidence or something else, she simply observed them coldly.
"Venusaur/Charizard/Blastoise! Mega Evolve!!"
The three Kanto starter Pokémon shone brilliantly together.
Since the top floor wasn't far from their current location, Eddie reached the chairman's office on the top floor very quickly.
Eddie didn't hesitate and directed Charizard to fly straight through the window.
After entering, he saw Giovanni sitting calmly at the desk, looking at Eddie with a composed expression.
"Now that you're here, sit down and rest for a while."
"Then, let's discuss whether you'd be interested in joining Team Rocket."