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"What are you talking about, you stubborn old woman? I'm human, not some dummy puppet!" Misty exclaimed, clearly frustrated.
The person Misty was speaking to became furious upon hearing her words. As they took a closer look, they realized she was a thin, short elderly woman.
Despite her age, she had ostentatious red hair tied into double ponytails. As for her height, she barely reached Brock's chest, and honestly, Ash, Misty, and the others weren't that tall either. The old lady in front of them was only a head taller than a standing Meowth, which explained why she went unnoticed at first.
"Misty, how can you say that?" Ash scolded, glancing at the old woman. He finally understood what it meant to have a truly villainous face. Compared to her, Jessie and James seemed almost charming.
"That's right, your words were pretty harsh!" The old woman, Brutella, assumed Ash was defending her.
"If you're saying that, isn't the dummy puppet too pitiful?" Ash turned back to Misty, raising a finger as he spoke seriously.
"Pi pi pika pi pika pikachu!" Pikachu chimed in, mimicking Ash's serious expression by raising a finger to its mouth.
Pfft! Pfft!
Because Ash and the others had just defeated Team Rocket and saved the day, a crowd had gathered, and the audience couldn't help but laugh at the exchange between Ash and Misty.
Even Gary, who usually disagreed with Ash, was standing by with his arms crossed, nodding in agreement.
"You kids are driving me mad!!" Brutella's wrinkled face turned beet red as she shouted at Ash and Misty.
"Brutella, don't let the kids get to you! What's going on?" An older man stepped up, frowning as he looked at Brutella.
It was obvious they knew each other. Despite her age, Brutella was known for being mean and vengeful, and the man clearly didn't trust her.
"What's the matter, you ask? I'm here to remind you that the money you owe me is due tomorrow. Since your shop was destroyed, if you can't replace it, you'll have to use your yacht as collateral!" Brutella smirked smugly as she spoke. True to her greedy nature, she was eager to collect on the debt.
"What!! Wait, not the yacht!" The old man's face paled. He had forgotten his shop had been damaged during the recent attack. Without it, he couldn't earn money, and without money, he couldn't repay Brutella. But losing the yacht? That was out of the question.
"Hmph! I don't care about your problems. If you don't pay me by tomorrow, you'll be handing over the yacht!" Brutella declared triumphantly, before turning on her heel and walking toward a seaside restaurant nearby.
"How could this be..." The old man fell to his knees in despair on the beach.
"Grandpa, what's going on?" Misty asked sympathetically, stepping forward to comfort him.
"I spent years saving up for that yacht. I planned to travel the world with it. To earn enough money for the journey, I borrowed from Brutella to open ten shops...," the old man explained his situation to everyone. They also learned his name was Moe Liu, so they all respectfully called him Mr. Moe.
Although Moe had opened a shop, it struggled to attract customers, as they were all drawn to the luxurious restaurant Brutella had opened next door.
"She basically borrowed money from you, but she intentionally stole your business. She wanted your yacht from the very beginning!" Misty said, piecing everything together as Moe explained his situation.
Gary, with his sharp mind, instantly understood what was happening. "It's clear now. She lent you the money, knowing you'd open a store, but then she deliberately stole your customers. She was planning to make sure your business failed so that you couldn't repay the debt, and she could take your yacht."
"Yes, I realized that too, but by the time I understood her plan, it was too late," Moe said, lowering his head.
"That's awful!" Misty sympathized, feeling sorry for Moe. The thought of an elderly man, who only wanted to travel the world, being taken advantage of like this made her heart ache.
"Actually, it's not all bad! If everyone helps out, we might be able to get your business back on track!" Ash said, surveying the damage to Moe's ice cream shop. Though a large hole had been blown in it, Ash believed it could be repaired.
"Even so, my shop hasn't had any customers... I'm afraid it won't make a difference," Moe said hesitantly.
"How do you know if you don't try? We'll help you!" Ash replied with determination.
"Thank you so much!" Moe said, moved by Ash's kindness.
The group returned to the shop, and Brock and Misty immediately began helping Moe clean up. Seeing this, Ash reached for his Poké Balls.
"Everyone, come out and help!" Ash released his Pokémon to assist with the cleanup, and Misty and Brock followed suit. Onix handled the heavier tasks with ease.
Ash and Brock climbed onto Onix to help fix the roof, while Misty and Moe worked on cleaning the shop from below.
"Ugh, you're still as meddlesome as ever. Fine, I'll help too!" Gary muttered, shaking his head with a slight grin. He joined in, calling out to his own group of Pokémon to assist.
Ash simply smiled, knowing that Gary wanted to help but was too proud to admit it directly.
"This boy, Ash, is growing more and more mature!" Delia, Ash's mother, said proudly as she watched from a distance alongside Professor Oak.
"Yes, and it's not just him. He's influencing the people around him too," Professor Oak added with a satisfied nod. He glanced at Gary and mused that, without Ash's example, Gary might not have stepped up to help.
"That's right! I'm here to lend a hand too," Delia said with a smile, stepping forward to join the cleanup effort.