"Hey, don't you feel a little hot?"
After several days of travel, Ash and his party felt like they were passing by a huge volcano.
"This is the Volcano zone. There seem to be many natural hot springs nearby!" Brock explained with one of his smile.
"Hot spring?" Molly was a little excited when she heard about the hot spring, "Big Brother, can we take a bath in the hot spring?"
"No, such hot springs are very dangerous! Especially for someone small like you." As soon as Ash finished speaking, a loud voice was heard by all of them, "Team Rocket is blasting off again!" was heard not far away from them.
"It sounds like Team Rocket's voice!" Misty's judgment was indeed very accurate.
People like the Rocket Trio who have no common sense and like to do stupid things must be eager to soak in the hot springs when they encounter one of them. Then they encountered a geyser and was sprayed into the air because of the high pressure.
It was so hot here that Meganium couldn't stand it anymore and began to feel a little sluggish. But Phanpy seems to be almost completely fine.
Ash took Meganium back to rest up, while he carried Molly on his back, and prepared to quickly cross the Volcano zone.
"Ash, look!"
In the Volcano Valley in front of everyone, a large number of Magcargo appeared!
No wonder it was so hot here, they were between tens of suns.
Fortunately, Magcargo had a laid-back temperament, so they just looked at Ash and his group and let them pass by without causing any complications.
Finally leaving the Valley where Magcargo lives, it was a lot cooler, but the group's path was blocked by a Magcargo.
This Magcargo was very big and was sleeping in the middle of the road, blocking the entire valley's already narrow road.
"Hey, Magcargo, wake up!" Molly tried calling the Magcargo to wake up nicely but there was no response at all from it.
So she said, "Big Brother, this Magcargo is so big. Can you please catch it?"
Catch this Magcargo?
And pondered for a moment but ultimately chose to reject this bold idea.
This Magcargo lives alone and has grown to be so big. It must have good strength, but the compatibility with him is really low from what he sees. Whether it is his fighting style or personality, it is not suitable for him.
Among the three of them, there is someone who should be very suitable for this Magcargo.
"Brock, do you want to try to catch this Magcargo? It will be a good fit for you." Ash asked casually when he saw Brock being so attentive to it.
Magcargo is the evolved form of Slugma. After evolution, it gains a huge rock shell, thus becoming a dual Fire and Rock-type.
As the former Gym Leader of the Pewter City Gym, this Magcargo can stay in the Pewter City Gym as a Pokémon in the Gyn even if Brock does not train himself. It can be of great help to the Gym and his younger brother.
After all, Brock's ambition is to become a Pokémon Breeder, not a Rock-type Pokémon Trainer.
Brock decided for himself not to catch him because of not feeling the connection.
In the end, because Brock decided not to catch the huge Magcargo, Ash used his Psychic powers to move it away from the main road. And the group continued on their way out.
After leaving the Volcano area, Ash and his party plunged into one of the many Johto forest again.
"Um?"
"Pika!"
Spark flashed on Pikachu's cheeks and he exclaimed. Ash also frowned and looked into the jungle not far away. He sensed a very familiar Aura.
"Come back, Meganium!"
Ash took Meganium back and the group moved forward carefully, not wanting to disturb the people in the jungle.
"Are you all ready? Our target is not just Zapdos, but the most important thing is the legendary Crystal in the ruins!" This voice was very familiar to Ash and the others!
It's obviously the Team Rocket spy who targeted Mewtwo in Mt. Quena before. Her name seemed to be Domino or something!
She was the secretary of Giovanni in Team Rocket.
Mewtwo wiped all their memories when he left them back then. Now she should not remember Ash at all since in her memories, they have never met.
"Big Brother, are they talking about Zapdos?" After stepping back a little further, Molly released the hand covering his mouth and looked at Ash with a worried look on her small face.
"I remember that woman, she is a very bad person! Big Brother, we can't let Zapdos get hurt by them!"
Misty and Brock also nodded along to what she said, waiting for Ash's next decision.
Since he happened upon Team Rocket's conspiracy once again, Ash certainly couldn't just sit idly by. Plus he was a member of the Pokémon G-Men, so it was kinda like his duty to stop them from causing any more problems for them.
"We know too little about the situation now. We have to follow them quietly first to understand what they are going to do before acting!" Ash's plan was recognized by the group as a whole.
Under the cover of the very dense forest, Ash and his group relied on the power of his Aura to follow Team Rocket's actions from a distance without being caught.
"Who are you people?" Suddenly, a young lady appeared next to them.
Ash quickly pulled her with them and hid in the bushes. Domino in the distance seemed to notice something, but when she turned around, she only saw the dense forest and didn't take it seriously.
"I am a Pokémon Investigator, Ash Ketchum of the Pokémon G-Men!" Ash showed her his Investigator Badge, and it really did work. The Badge he showed did provide that he was telling the truth.
"We are investigating Team Rocket's upcoming operation against the Legendary Pokémon Zapdos. If you know anything, we hope you can provide that information!"
This young lady quickly trusted Ash and his team, and when she heard Ash mentioning Zapdos, her face tightened obviously. She obviously knew something about this subject, so Ash quickly asked her to provide the necessary information.
The young lady nodded, "Ok, and by the way my name is Krystal. I do know something about this, but I hope you can promise me one thing!"
She looked very serious about this, Ash immediately nodded in agreement, "Okay, just say it!"
"I am responsible for managing a secret area near this place, and I am willing to take you there! But I hope you can keep everything you see there a secret to others!"
Apparently this "anything" refers to the "Mysterious Crystal" mentioned by Team Rocket members.
"Okay!" The group nodded to her.
"Then, please come with me!"
Under the leadership of Krystal, Ash and his party climbed over a steep hillside and rushed in front of Domino, arriving in front of a lake on the top of a mountain.
"Huh?"
Ash frowned. He could feel that this lake was extraordinary, and it was clearly glowing with a slight blue light. It was very beautiful!
Electabuzz, Voltorb, Ampharos, Jolteon, Chinchou, Magnemite and other Electric-type Pokémon are all soaking in this lake, looking very comfortable inside.
"They are all Pokémon that have been injured and accumulated a lot of fatigue," She introduced. "This lake is a special lake that is very good for Electric-type Pokémon!"
"Ash, you can put your Pikachu down and let him have a look!" Seeing everyone's surprised expressions, Krystal suggested with a smile.
This lake is obviously good for his Pikachu. Ash immediately put Pikachu into the water. Sure enough, Pikachu flashed with sparks in the lake water, and then electric appeared on his cheeks.
"Pika pika!"
It seems to be very comfortable in the water.
"It's a pity that I sent Raikou back to the Professors Lab, otherwise he could have enjoyed this water very much!" Ash looked at Pikachu and said with a smile.
Now he and Raikou are familiar with each other. Despite the cold appearance of the boy, he is actually just a big cat, very cute.