“Damn it, the plan still failed!” Lance said angrily, reluctantly loosening his clenched fists.

Lance hadn’t expected Giovanni to send out his main force to participate in battle. If it weren’t for concern about the safety of the Pokémon League headquarters, Lance wouldn’t be in such a frustrating position.

For a moment, Lance couldn’t help but envy Red’s free status.

Lance knew that chasing after Beedrill at this point would just be a waste of time. Since Team Rocket had advance knowledge of their actions, they had definitely made thorough preparations for evacuation.

Lance was just trying his luck with a hopeful attitude, but unfortunately reality had dealt a harsh blow to Lance’s pride.

Due to the hidden bombs, Viridian Gym was completely destroyed within moments, leaving only piles of rubble to prove to passing trainers that this had once been Viridian Gym, known as the strongest gym in the Kanto region.

Although Viridian Gym had become ruins, the underground base beneath was still successfully discovered. The dispatched League members rescued many Pokémon that had been imprisoned there and forced to undergo cruel experiments.

League members analyzed the computer data, and after careful review and processing, they discovered that the remaining data was just garbage mixed with useless information that couldn’t provide the League officials with useful intelligence. Instead, it had quite a few harmful viruses planted within it.

Near Evening

Although it ended with Team Rocket’s victory, the Viridian Gym incident still concluded smoothly.

Although he hadn’t obtained the green badge from Viridian Gym, Ash had already qualified to participate in the Indigo Conference, so he wasn’t too disappointed; he just inevitably grumbled with a few complaints.

After all, Ash had rarely been so confident about challenging his limits, only to have to leave disappointed.

However, Ash and Gary, this pair of cheerful childhood friends, still couldn’t escape their habitual bickering comedy routine.

According to Gary, even if Ash had challenged Viridian Gym, he definitely wouldn’t have been able to obtain the green badge. Gary was actually ‘jealous’ of Ash’s ‘luck’ in not being able to challenge Viridian Gym.

What Ash couldn’t stand most was Gary’s continuous mockery. He angrily argued with Gary, determined to have a Pokémon battle with Gary right then and there to settle things.

Unfortunately, Ash’s challenge was subconsciously refused by Gary.

Of course, Gary had his own reasons for refusing. After experiencing the battle with Mewtwo at Viridian Gym earlier, Gary’s main Pokémon were almost completely exhausted and simply couldn’t battle Ash. He could only postpone this regrettable duel to the upcoming Indigo Conference.

“What the heck!” Ash grumbled, having to reluctantly give up the idea of battling Gary at that moment.

As it was getting late, Red and Ash’s trio gave up the idea of walking back to Pallet Town, planning to stay overnight at the Pokémon Center in Viridian City to rest and reorganize properly.

However, Gary, with his beautiful companions and cool sports car, didn’t have such concerns. He decisively waved goodbye to Red and the others, then got in his car and headed toward Pallet Town.

“Gary Gary, he’s so great! Gary Gary, he’s so cool!”

“Damn it, I’m still so jealous of that Gary!”

Brock cried tears as he continuously pounded the wall, watching Gary surrounded by beautiful cheerleaders. He jealously bit his handkerchief, trying his best not to let his grievance show on the surface.

‘Why can’t any young ladies see through my tough exterior…’

For a moment, Brock desperately looked up at the sky, not understanding what he lacked compared to Red and Gary.

Unfortunately, what Brock considered his grievance was purely a joke in others’ eyes.

Before long, unable to stand the disdainful looks from passersby, Misty decisively grabbed Brock’s ear with an exasperated expression, making Brock cry for mercy until the previous depressing scene finally ended.

“Your travels really are colorful,” Red said teasingly upon seeing this scene.

The Next Day

Red and Ash’s trio set out on foot back to Pallet Town. When passing a small road with a phone booth, Ash anxiously called home, wanting to quickly contact Delia to tell her that he and Red were almost back to Pallet Town.

However, Delia happened to not be home, so Ash only faced the answering machine. But Ash wasn’t too disappointed and continued excitedly:”Mom, big brother and I are almost home! I hope you can cook my favorite dishes! I’ve been dreaming about your food!”

After speaking, Ash didn’t forget to turn and look at Red behind him, asking: “Big brother, don’t you want to say something to mom?”

“That’s not necessary; we’ll be in Pallet Town soon anyway,” Red waved his hand helplessly. Having Red say such embarrassing things was really a bit much for him.

However, after seeing Ash’s trio walk away, Red still secretly called home and embarrassingly left a few words.

Then Red blushed and turned to catch up with Ash’s trio.

…

After making the phone call, Red and Ash’s trio continued their journey. Because they were close to Pallet Town, the excited Ash gradually increased his walking speed. It looked like only Red could keep up with Ash’s pace, but Red decisively chose to walk leisurely.

Because there was a transparent light screen blocking the road ahead. Why bother rushing to smash face-first into it?

Seeing this scene, Brock and Misty both showed expressions of despair. What they couldn’t stand most was Ash in an excited state.

“Hey, Ash!”

“You don’t need to rush that fast!”

Brock and Misty helplessly called out to Ash, who was gradually moving away from their sight, but it was completely useless.

“I know! I know!”

That’s what he said, but Ash started running directly, completely ignoring the feelings of Brock and Misty behind him.

“What do you mean you know? You’re already running, Ash!”

Brock shouted, struggling with Misty, who was holding Togepi, to catch up with Ash’s pace.

Seeing this scene, Red smiled helplessly and didn’t choose to match Ash’s speed, planning to ride Pidgeot directly back to Pallet Town later.

Right now Red was just accompanying Ash, and besides, Red didn’t plan to participate in the upcoming event.

“We can see Pallet Town soon, Pikachu!” Ash said excitedly.

“Pika!”

Pikachu also answered excitedly.

Just as Ash was getting excited, a transparent wall suddenly appeared in front of him. Ash slammed his entire face into the wall, and the impact force made Pikachu on his shoulder fall directly to the ground.

“Pika…”

Pikachu painfully rubbed its landed bottom.

“What is this!” Ash complained.

“What are you doing, Ash?”

Misty asked in confusion as she caught up.

“There’s something here!” Ash explained.

“How is that possible?”

The puzzled Brock tapped in front of him, only then discovering there was an invisible wall ahead.

“This is Mr. Mime’s Light Screen. Didn’t you notice that guy leisurely climbing up there?”

Red, who had walked over, pointed at the Mr. Mime above that was leisurely climbing.

The Mr. Mime above paid no attention to Red and the others’ gazes below, continuing to climb leisurely.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep