The instant the rock wall burst, both Ash's group above and the Team Rockets members below froze.
Ash hadn't expected such a scene—Team Rockets making trouble, plus wild Pokémon and even humans taken captive.
They'd also brought that giant Moon Stone—the one Clefairy dance around in the original story!
The Rockets hadn't expected to be discovered!
For a second they thought the cops had found them~
But when the grunts saw only a handful of kids above, their eyes turned vicious again.
"Hmph, daring to break in here?" "No matter who you are, finish them!" "Grab their Pokémon too!""
The Rocket foot soldiers shouted, then sent swarms of Koffing, Beedrill and the Li Ke charging up!
"Onix, build a bridge! Pikachu, Kangaskhan, Charmander—go together!"
"Wuu!!" At Ash's order, the colossal Onix struck first, slamming its head into the wall so its body slanted down and formed a suspended stone bridge on the cliff!
Ash led the three eager little ones and charged down first!
"Li Ke, look after Clefairy!" Takeshi hadn't expected Ash to move so fast; he could only hand the weak Clefairy to Li Ke before following with his own Onix, Geodude and newly-caught Zubat.
The lower they went, the more shocked he became.
Ash's Onix was big enough for Takeshi's Onix to crawl on—what a size difference!
"Kangaskhan, Rock Slide! Charmander, Flamethrower! Pikachu, full-power Thunderbolt!"
Flying stones, blazing flames and crackling lightning... the three little ones instantly tore open a gap, and Ash dropped into the encirclement at the bottom of Mt. Moon!
Yet these Rocket grunts weren't focused on him for the moment... "That guy's Onix..." "Cripple it and steal it!"
At the sight of such a special Onix, greed might as well have been stamped on their eyes!
Several foot soldiers shouted at once and actually called in over a dozen Koffing, planning to blow the Onix apart with self-destruct moves!
"Onix, Curse into Gyro Ball!"
Ash quickly led the three little ones away from Onix and immediately ordered it to trade speed for boosts in both attack and defense!
He kept his eyes fixed on the incoming Koffing, not daring to blink... Boom!!
Over a dozen self-destructs exploded almost at once, but to the grunts' shock, the smoke-shrouded Onix had survived the barrage!
Moreover, it continued to charge forward while panting heavily, tumbling its massive body forward Li Ke a giant stone pillar, directly demonstrating what is meant by 'One roll on South Mountain crushes five thousand'!
"Rest, then return!" Before the remaining enemies could react, Ash had Onix fall asleep on the spot, and then immediately recalled it into its Poké Ball.
Only after completing this did Ash finally manage to let out a sigh of relief.
Although the confrontation was brief, Ash expended tremendous energy. He even used Porygon's power to constantly monitor the stamina and distance of both sides, finding the precise moment when all the Koffing exploded simultaneously!
Ash's Onix has the Sturdy ability. If the Koffing had self-destructed one by one, it might have struggled to cope, but by taking overwhelming damage all at once while at full health, it wouldn't be instantly knocked out, allowing it to execute a powerful retaliatory Gyro Ball charge!
"You three, come back to me! Brock, have Geodude and Onix dive underground to rescue the trapped wild Pokémon!"
At this moment, Ash was completely surrounded, yet he seemed completely unconcerned about the danger around him. Instead, he shook his hand and tossed out another Poké Ball, releasing a shadow that swiftly tackled a Team Rockets grunt near Brock!
It was Heracross. Although it was still recovering from injury, it had to come out and fight now!
"Geodude, Onix, let's go! Zubat, use Supersonic to cause confusion!"
The situation was urgent, and Brock didn't dare hesitate. He immediately commanded his two Rock-type companions to Dig underground, taking him to a corner at the base of the mountain.
Here, there were over a dozen Clefairy and groups of Zubat, Paras, Sandshrew, and other Pokémon, all listlessly huddled in cages, clearly imprisoned after being poached by Team Rockets.
With Ash drawing fire in the center, things went relatively smoothly for Brock. After dealing with one grunt, he quickly released the wild Pokémon from their cages.
"But what good will this do..." Brock watched Ash, who was darting through the grunts, worriedly, completely unsure how he planned to escape the predicament.
As time passed, Pikachu and the other three Pokémon were already injured, and Heracross's old wounds had flared up again... Even the gigantic Onix, which had just recovered its stamina, was now sprawled motionless on the ground!
"Kid, you're finished! Hurry up and hand over all your Pokémon!" a guy who looked Li Ke a minor leader threatened fiercely.
However, he was confused to find that Ash merely smiled confidently.
"You're wrong... The ones who are finished are you! I will definitely win! Because... I have more people than you!!"
"What did you say?!"
Buzz!
The Viridian Power mixed with Aura instantly transmitted a powerful healing force and Ash's determination to all the wild Pokémon present!
(Please, everyone, help me defeat them!!)
Boom!!
A roar suddenly erupted behind Brock. He turned back in astonishment, only to find that the previously listless Pokémon were all getting back up, charging without hesitation toward the strutting Team Rockets members!
In an instant, the tide of the battle reversed again!
There were indeed many Team Rockets grunts at the base of Mt. Moon, but due to Ash's containment, they suffered heavy losses and had no time to notice the change occurring in the corner, forced to watch helplessly as a swarm of wild Pokémon surrounded them!
At this moment, large numbers of Zubat and Sandshrew attacked simultaneously from the air and underground. Coupled with Paras constantly releasing Stun Spore and Spore, and Clefairy using various moves via Metronome, the Team Rockets members were instantly defeated!
"Hoo!" Furthermore, a robust Golbat among them unexpectedly tackled the Team Rockets leader who had previously threatened Ash, pinning him directly to the ground!
After this, it charged into the remaining Team Rockets grunts, unleashing a flurry of Air Slash attacks!
"Heh... This trip was truly worthwhile~"
Watching the heroic performance of this Golbat, Ash couldn't help but reveal a satisfied smile...