"Do you guys think I was a bit too harsh on Jimmy this afternoon?"
It was late at night, and Ash and his friends were in their room discussing the events of the day. Ash spoke with some regret.
"You were indeed a bit rash. After all, Jimmy is still just a student at the Pokémon Judge Training School. It's normal for him to not handle some details well in battles," Brock analyzed rationally, showing his reliability when not distracted by beautiful women.
Rex didn't want to comment much. From a trainer's perspective, anyone would be upset if their Pokémon was still able to fight but was judged incapable of continuing. However, considering that their battle was merely for Jimmy's practice, they shouldn't take it too seriously.
Suddenly, Pikachu, who had been quietly listening by the window, seemed to notice something. It pointed outside, signaling everyone to check it out.
"Uh, that's Jimmy. Why is he still outside so late? He looks pretty down," said Rex, who was closest to the window. He saw Jimmy sitting on a large rock by the lake, looking despondent, with his Wartortle and other Pokémon comforting him.
Seeing this, Ash was the first to rush down, followed closely by the others.
"I'm really sorry about earlier today. I got too excited and complained about your refereeing, Jimmy!" Ash apologized quickly upon seeing the downcast Jimmy.
"No, I'm the one who should apologize. My poor judgment caused you trouble," Jimmy replied, not accepting Ash's apology. He knew he had failed as a referee, which was why he was by the lake late at night, contemplating whether he was suited for judge school.
As the conversation progressed, Jimmy started to recount his past.
Jimmy had once been a Pokémon trainer. His starter Pokémon was a Squirtle, which later evolved into Wartortle. During an adventure in a forest, he coincidentally caught an Ivysaur with just a rice ball. Later, he obtained a golden Magikarp, which a passing man traded with him for his Charmeleon.
Hearing this, Rex could only think of two golden words: "The Lucky One." Jimmy's luck was unparalleled, rivaled only by Ash, the protagonist.
However, Jimmy's journey as a trainer wasn't smooth. He never won a single battle against other trainers and only obtained one badge, the Cascade Badge from Cerulean City. He didn't earn it through a battle, but as a reward for helping Daisy clean the pool.
Rex could hardly believe it. Holding three evolved starter Pokémon, Jimmy should have had better results. But Rex reasoned that Jimmy might have been more of a help to his opponents than to his own Pokémon, leading to his poor record.
Just as Jimmy recounted sleeping on a small boat and being drifted to Bomba Island, the Team Rocket trio burst in with a giant robot, capturing Jimmy's evolved starters.
Seeing the trio, Rex thought it best to keep a low profile. Team Rocket, known for surviving legendary Pokémon attacks and crafting robots by hand, were formidable foes despite their comedic failures.
Jimmy, desperate to save his Pokémon, climbed the robot, only to be thrown off. His Wartortle, moved by Jimmy's bravery, evolved into Blastoise, breaking free and rescuing the others.
Afterward, everyone teamed up to defeat Team Rocket, sending them blasting off again. Jimmy, regaining some confidence as a trainer, decided to leave the judge school and resume his journey, thanks to Serena's encouragement.
Rex felt drained from the night's events. Although he had mostly watched, being around the main characters seemed to bring constant excitement and exhaustion.
The next morning, the group boarded a small boat to Bomba Island, seeing off Serena and Jimmy. During the voyage, Pikachu and Torkoal alerted Ash to a Spoink floating on a piece of wood.
From their conversation, Rex learned that Ash's group had met this Spoink before. However, a large wave knocked Spoink off its wood, and Ash had the captain stop the boat to rescue it.
Onboard, Spoink was happy but accidentally knocked its pearl into the sea. Without its pearl, Spoink became anxious, trying to place anything round on its head.
Torkoal, seeing its friend in distress, leaped into the sea to retrieve the pearl, forgetting it couldn't swim. Rex quickly called out Poliwhirl to save Torkoal, who returned with a belly full of seawater.
They released all their Water Pokémon to search for the pearl but found nothing. The captain urged them to continue to Bomba Island, where they could seek another solution.
On the near Island, Spoink tried to fit anything round on its head, even a Wailmer. Seeing this display of psychic power, Rex was impressed by Spoink's potential but refrained from capturing it due to its bond with Ash's group.
A researcher named Isaiah told them that Spoink's pearl could be replaced with one from a Clamperl, as Spoink's pearl originally came from Clamperl. They visited his lab filled with Clamperl but found no pearls.
They found a rare blue pearl in the lab, which excited Spoink, but it was an important research item. They left to search for wild Clamperl on the beach but found none with pearls.
(End of the Chapter)