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Ash's heart clenched instantly.
The Tepig was so small and thin, its ribs faintly visible beneath its sparse fur, a stark contrast to its supposed plump and adorable figure.
It anxiously circled the food, emitting helpless whimpers, the rough rope deeply cutting into its flesh, preventing it from even the most basic act of eating.
Ash instinctively stood up, wanting to get closer, but the slight movement startled the highly vigilant Tepig.
It suddenly raised its head, its bright black eyes instantly filled with terror, like a frightened fawn, and turned to desperately run into the deeper shadows of the alley.
"Wait, don't run, I'm not a bad person, I want to help you."
Ash hurried to chase after it, his tone urgent and sincere.
Iris, hearing the commotion, also chased after him, panting, and saw Ash pursuing the skinny black figure into a narrow dead end.
The Tepig was blocked by a tall brick wall, retreated to the corner, curled into a ball, trembling, and let out a frightened whimper from its throat.
Ash stopped a few steps away from it, slowly half-squatted, trying to make his posture as unthreatening as possible.
He slowly extended his hand towards the Tepig, his voice extremely soft and soothing, full of reassurance,
"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, I won't hurt you. Let me help you untie the rope, okay? Then you can eat."
The Tepig remained wary, and just as Ash's hand was about to touch it, it suddenly threw its head back and, with all its might, sprayed a cloud of grayish-black smoke with a strong burnt smell from its bound mouth.
This was the greatest resistance its weak body could muster.
Ash was sprayed with black Ash all over his face and coughed twice, but he wasn't angry at all; instead, he looked at the Tepig trying to protect itself and smiled with a pang of heartache.
He reached up to wipe his face, revealing a smile that was half-white and half-black from the soot, his eyes still gentle: "It's okay, it's okay, I know you're scared and in pain. Trust me, okay?"
He tried again, approaching extremely slowly, then gently extended his hand and picked up the Tepig, which was struggling less and less due to weakness.
The little guy trembled slightly in his arms.
Ash lowered his head, carefully examining the rope that was digging into its flesh, even worn and blackened in some places, his fingers trembling slightly with anger and heartache.
He cautiously, little by little, tried to untie the stubborn knot, his movements as gentle as if he were handling a priceless treasure.
"Who, who is so cruel, tying you up like this, how can you eat—"
After some effort, the rope was finally untied.
The moment it was freed, the Tepig instinctively let out a comfortable and relaxed sigh, its nose and mouth, which had been deeply marked by the rope, finally free.
Its small head unconsciously and dependently rubbed against Ash's dusty arm.
In Iris's eyes, Ash, carefully holding the Tepig, his face dirty but his eyes shining, seemed to glow all over at this moment.
"That's great." Iris let out a sigh of relief and said with a smile.
However, just as Ash was about to feed the Tepig...
"Meow, it seems this won't do, we'll have to reveal our identities, meow."
Meowth's feigned calm voice faintly came from a distance.
Meowth was seen being cornered by several club staff members in another dead end.
Seeing no escape, it suddenly wiped off the still-wet black paint on its body (obviously Jessie's masterpiece) and tried to put on an innocent look,
"A-as you can see, I'm just an ordinary Meowth passing by, meow."
As it spoke, it nonchalantly tried to slip away through the gaps in the crowd.
"Huh? What did you say?"
"J-just a talking Meowth passing by."
The staff members were dumbfounded, looking at each other, their minds not processing it immediately.
Taking advantage of everyone's dazed, Meowth darted out and escaped.
On the other side, Don George, hearing the commotion, rushed over and saw this scene, realizing that the so-called "Umbreon" was actually a farce. He sank helplessly to the ground, his face filled with unspeakable regret and disappointment,
"Originally, I thought I could catch the first Umbreon to appear in the Unova region. I didn't expect it, I didn't expect it to just be a talking Meowth disguised as one."
"Wait a minute, Don George, "
A staff member regained his composure and tried to comfort him,
"A talking Meowth is a very rare discovery in itself!"
Don George, hearing this, suddenly looked up: "That's right! You're absolutely right!"
But when he tried to look for it again, Meowth had already disappeared into the shadows of the complex buildings, without a trace.
"Good, no one's left."
James and Jessie, after confirming that the search party had been diverted, stealthily sneaked back into the warehouse.
James excitedly picked up a box of high-grade energy cubes but unexpectedly found Pikachu, still unconscious, behind a pile of clutter in the corner.
"Wow, look, Jessie. It's Pikachu, he seems to have fainted."
James shouted in surprise.
"What, it's truly like searching high and low only to find it right under your nose. Quick, pack him up and take him."
Jessie immediately pulled out a special black bag from her action box.
Meanwhile, Ash was carefully feeding the Tepig in his arms. The little guy was starving and devoured the food.
Surprisingly, as the food went down, its shrunken belly visibly rounded out, and its entire body quickly returned to the healthy size a Tepig should have.
"That's great, he's back to his original self after eating."
Ash smiled contentedly, gently stroking the Tepig's now warm back.
"Don George!"
Ash, holding the Tepig which had started to doze off after eating, met Don George who was walking with a group of people.
"What we thought was an 'Umbreon' was actually this Tepig."
Ash explained to Don George, showing him the offending rope,
"Because its mouth was tied with this rope, it could barely eat anything, which is why its body was so thin. When it moved quickly on the surveillance, the black shadow flashed by, and we mistakenly thought it was a slender Umbreon."
Don George carefully looked at the round-bodied Tepig, peacefully snoring in Ash's arms, as if recognizing something, and sighed,
"I see. I remember now. This Tepig seems to be a Pokémon that a former Trainer abandoned here."
"Abandoned?" Ash's brows furrowed tightly.
"Yes, it's said that because he lost a few crucial battles, his Trainer disliked him for being too weak and simply abandoned him.
That person completely disregarded the possibility that the problem might have been with his own ability as a Trainer and his commands!"
Don George's tone also carried a hint of indignation.
"Because he lost battles, he was disliked for being weak and carelessly abandoned his partner—"
Ash lowered his head, looking at the peacefully sleeping Tepig in his arms, his eyes almost bursting with anger, "Such a person is simply unreasonable! They don't deserve to be called a Trainer!"
His movements stroking the Tepig became even gentler.
"You brats!"
"Team Rockets!"
Just then, Team Rockets, somehow emerging from another nook or cranny, pushed a small cart full of loot and bumped directly into everyone.
Jessie's shoulder was clearly carrying that bulging black bag.
"It's you again! What are you trying to do this time!"
Iris's eyes widened as she put her hands on her hips and demanded.
"Stop picking a fight! We haven't done anything this time!"
James retorted nervously, his neck stiff, trying to push the cart around them.
Jessie also pulled James, wanting to speed up and leave.
However, Oshawott suddenly jumped out from another direction! Its face still had crumbs from stolen food. It pointed at the constantly wiggling black bag on Jessie's shoulder, from which a faint "Pika" sound emanated, and anxiously yelled at Ash,
"Osha!"
Ash's gaze instantly locked onto that bag; the sound inside was all too familiar to him.
"That sound is Pikachu! You wait a minute! Put that bag down!"
Ash shouted sternly, stepping forward to block Team Rockets' path.
"Hmph! If you insist on making us wait!"
Jessie, seeing that she couldn't bluff her way through, habitually put down the cart and struck a pose.
"Then let me answer you for tomorrow!" James immediately followed up.
"Future! The pure white future is the color of evil!"
"Universe! Granting the dark world a hammer of justice!"
"Our names shall be recorded in this land!"
"Passionate destroyer—Jessie!"
"Dark purity—James!"
"Boundless intellect—Meowth!"
"Come on! Gather under the name of Team Rockets!"
"That's right, meow!"
Meowth jumped out from nowhere, striking the final pose.
Everyone was momentarily stunned by this sudden introductory dialogue.
"What's going on? So it was that talking Meowth from earlier, so you guys are a team."
Don George suddenly understood.
"Shut up, stop with the nonsense! Give Pikachu back to me!"
Ash gritted his teeth, in no mood to listen to them finish.
"Hmph! Give him back to you? You're the one who left him in the warehouse; we just found someone unwanted."
Team Rockets directly snapped back at Ash, turning the accusation on him.
At the same time, Jessie quickly threw the bag containing Pikachu into the hot air balloon basket, and the trio skillfully ascended!
"Oshawott, use Water Gun to intercept them!"
Ash shouted, pointing at the ascending hot air balloon, and Oshawott, trying to make up for its mistake, immediately powerfully shot out a stream of water.
But Meowth was prepared, sneering as it pressed a remote control button, and a transparent protective shield suddenly popped out from the bottom of the hot air balloon.
"Bang!" The water stream hit the shield, splattering into a shower of water, completely ineffective.
"Darn it!"
Ash, seeing that long-range attacks were useless, unhesitatingly rushed towards the bottom of the hot air balloon, trying to find a chance to climb.
However, he didn't notice a small puddle that had formed on the ground from the Water Gun earlier, his foot slipped, and he instantly lost his balance!
The moment his body was about to fall heavily to the ground, he suddenly lifted the Tepig in his arms high above his head, taking the full impact on his own back.
"Thud!"
Ash fell heavily to the ground, mud and water splattering, a dull pain shooting through his back.
"Ash!"
Iris exclaimed!
The Tepig, held high and safe, swayed on Ash's arm. It looked down at its Trainer, who was lying in the mud, wincing in pain but still desperately holding and protecting it, its bright black eyes blinked, a complex light flashing within, and then it suddenly nodded vigorously.
A firm trust was established at this moment.
"Tepig!"
Ash shouted, enduring the back pain, "Will you help me? Attack the hot air balloon's ropes with Ember!"
"Tepig!"
The Tepig let out a firm and loud response, jumping out of Ash's arms.
Its small body erupted with surprising strength, leaping half a meter high, puffing out its cheeks, and a small but exceptionally bright and resolute orange-red Ember gathered in its throat, carrying its will and anger, flying precisely towards the crucial ropes connecting the hot air balloon's basket and balloon.
"Bang!"
Although the Ember was weak, it exploded perfectly at the critical point.
The connection loosened with a snap, and the cage containing Pikachu slid from the edge of the basket, opening.
The moment Pikachu fell from the air, Ash, enduring the pain, rolled over and caught him steadily in his arms.
Pikachu rubbed against Ash's face, which was covered in mud, Ash, and anxiety.
Meanwhile, Team Rockets' hot air balloon, having lost its balance, began to spin uncontrollably.
The trio exclaimed, "This feels awful!", and once again, riding their malfunctioning makeshift gliders, they wobbled and disappeared into the sky.
Ash let out a long breath, holding the recovered Pikachu tightly.
The Tepig ran back to Ash, and with its nose, which still carried the warmth of Ember, it gently and dependently rubbed the back of his muddy hand. In its bright black eyes, there was no longer the previous fear and wariness, only full, unreserved trust.
Ash smiled, ignoring the pain in his back, and reached out to stroke its warm little head: "From now on, let's travel together, let's become stronger together!"
The Tepig comfortably wiggled its ears, looked up, and nodded vigorously and happily at him.
Ash took out an empty Poké Ball and gently, solemnly tapped it on the Tepig's forehead.
A soft red light flashed, and the Tepig was drawn into the ball.
The Poké Ball didn't even shake in Ash's hand; the capture was successful.
Ash looked at the Poké Ball in his hand, which held a new partner and a heavy past, and said softly,
"Hello, Tepig."