Misty snapped, "How dare he harm the adorable Cloyster!!! Damn it, damn it, damn it!"
It was a good thing she wasn't physically there, or she would've shown Damian the full power of a Super Cerulean Human.
But even if she wasn't present, her parallel self was.
"What are you doing, you bastard?!" Misty roared.
"Didn't you see clearly? I'm disciplining my own Pokémon!" Damian retorted irritably.
"You—you—you!" Misty was shaking with rage, but she had no choice. Cloyster wasn't her Pokémon, so she couldn't interfere.
Just when she thought she would have to swallow her anger, Ash moved.
Ash stepped in front of Damian without a word — and slapped him across the face.
It was a hard slap, the kind that sent Damian rolling almost two meters away.
Bewilderment, shock… then pure fear.
Clutching his swollen cheek, Damian stammered, "W–what are you doing?! Attacking a Trainer during a Pokémon battle is against the rules!!!"
"Yes," Ash answered calmly. "I broke the rules. What do you want to do about it?"
Damian froze. What did he want to do? Forget rules — he wanted to go home to his mom!
Out here in the deep mountains, there was no Nurse Joy and no Officer Jenny. Facing a barbarian like Ash, all he could do was swallow his pride.
"C-Can you let me go?" Damian asked weakly. The arrogance he had earlier was completely gone.
"Release Cloyster, and I'll let you go," Ash said coldly. "Someone like you doesn't deserve to be Cloyster's Trainer."
Someone who would punch and kick Cloyster because it lost a battle… what right did he have to train any Pokémon?
"Okay! Okay!" Damian didn't hesitate even half a second. A Cloyster was nowhere near as valuable as his own life.
He released Cloyster on the spot and fled, stumbling over his own feet.
[Comparison Livestream Chat]
[Misty: Argh! That guy got off way too easy! Parallel World Ash should've slapped the other side of his face too!]
[Lorelei: A guy who hurts the adorable Cloyster can never be forgiven. Lance, call me when you catch him. I'm coming too!]
The moment Lorelei said that, Damian fainted from fear. He was just a small-time thug! Why were two Elite Four members involved in his life?!
Couldn't they just let him go like a fart?
Clearly not.
Damian could only wait for justice to arrive at his house.
After chasing Damian away, Ash turned to Misty.
"Misty, would you like to catch Cloyster?"
"Of course!" Misty replied instantly. She loved Water-type Pokémon with her whole soul. Catching Cloyster was a dream.
Ash then turned to Cloyster. "Cloyster, would you like to become Misty's Pokémon?"
He didn't make the decision for it — he asked for its choice.
Misty held her breath, terrified Cloyster would refuse her.
But Cloyster had seen Misty defending it so fiercely moments ago, so it happily agreed to join her team.
Perfect resolution:
• Damian learned a painful lesson
• Cloyster escaped its tormentor
• Misty gained a new Pokémon
Congratulations all around!
Wait.
Where was Charmander, the little culprit who caused the conflict?
"Mew."
Thankfully, there was one reliable member in the team. Mew transformed into a Growlithe, sniffed Charmander's trail, and sprinted off.
"Go! We must catch that Charmander!"
They found Charmander near Route 24 — and on the way, they found a Squirtle abandoned by its Trainer near a small village.
After Ash promised to take it to the highest stage and make its old Trainer regret everything, Squirtle joined his team.
[Ash: Why is there only one Squirtle? Where are the others?]
[Misty: We met Squirtle a year later than Black Ash. Maybe those Squirtle haven't been abandoned yet.]
[Brock: Yeah, that makes sense.]
[Ash: I really don't understand why those guys abandon Pokémon! If they don't like them, why catch them in the first place!]
A cold voice suddenly cut in.
[Paul: Hmph. How do you know if you like them if you don't catch them? Besides, releasing Pokémon with no potential back into the wild is perfectly normal.]
[Ash: Normal? That's not normal at all!!!]
[Paul: Don't be so sentimental. Some Pokémon might want to be released by their Trainer.]
Some people were just born natural rivals.
Paul had only spoken once in the chat and was already butting heads with Ash.
[Misty: Alright, alright, stop fighting! Can't such an exciting video shut you two up for a bit?]
With Misty's scolding, the two finally fell silent.
...
Author's Note
I've created a second Webnovel account under the name Shadow_demon_007A2.
So far, I've already posted 9 different fanfics, including works from:
High School DxD, Shin Chan, Dragon Ball, Marvel, Ben 10, Pokémon, and Versatile Mage, with more on the way.
If you enjoy my stories, please visit the new account, give your support, and add the novels to your library—it really helps a lot.
Thank you for reading and supporting my work!
— Shadow_demon_007