Chapter 107: The Team Rocket Trio Sets Off for the Kanto Region

Wela Town had a direct ferry to the Kanto region.

After purchasing his ticket, Hu Yang stood at the harbor, waving goodbye to Slowpoke King.

This time, Dr. Odaguro also came along to see him off.

It was quite a coincidence.

Dr. Odaguro had originally intended to visit the ecological park to request Hu Yang’s permission to continue observing the ancient spiny fish.

When he arrived, he happened to catch Hu Yang saying farewell to Slowpoke King.

Upon learning that Hu Yang was preparing to leave and planned to leave one of his Pokémon behind at the park, Dr. Odaguro volunteered to help care for it.

Seeing his demeanor, Hu Yang immediately guessed that he planned to observe the behaviors and habits of both the ancient spiny fish and Slowpoke.

However, he did not refuse and instead said, "Then I’ll leave it in your care."

Dr. Odaguro smiled warmly and replied, "Of course, we’re neighbors after all!"

Hu Yang patted Slowpoke King on the head and said, "Slowpoke, goodbye."

Slowpoke King replied, "Hu Yang, goodbye."

At that moment, the ferry bound for the Kanto region was about to depart.

Hu Yang didn’t linger any longer. He turned and passed through the ticket gate, boarded the ship, and stood on the deck, gazing at the gradually receding Hoenn region.

Somewhere along the deserted coast of Wela Town, Suicune stood atop a hillside, watching the departing ferry with a question mark figuratively hovering over its head.

That direction... seemed to be where the Rainbow Trial took place...

Yet Hu Yang had clearly said he wouldn't participate in the Hero Trials.

Still, Suicune didn’t ponder for long.

Because it sensed the presence of Entei in that direction.

Entei, the other guide who leads chosen trainers through the Rainbow Trial.

Once the chosen one carrying the feather and accompanied by Marshadow arrives on land, Entei would immediately be able to sense them.

Therefore, the upcoming trials and guidance would now fall under Entei’s responsibility.

Suicune watched a while longer, then turned and departed.

...

The Hoenn and Kanto regions were separated by a great distance.

The ferry ride would take five days to reach the destination.

Standing on the deck, gazing out at the endless sea, Hu Yang reflected on the backgrounds of the trio.

First was Meowth.

Meowth’s life in this world began at a Pokémon camping school.

At that time, Meowth was entirely alone.

Often starving for lack of food, it even mistook baseballs in a basket for rice balls.

When Meowth rushed to climb into the basket to grab the “rice balls,” it got trapped by the basket’s cover.

A school coach then hung Meowth up in a tree. Meowth struggled incessantly but eventually passed out from hunger.

At night, Meowth was awakened by the voices of children and saw a Hollywood film touring around about Meowth.

In the movie, Meowth saw other Meowths enjoying ice cream and fried chicken, which made its mouth water.

Desperate, Meowth broke free from its bindings and decided to seek this paradise called Hollywood.

However, upon arriving in Hollywood, Meowth still had to rely on stealing to eat—and often failed.

Soon, though, a Meowth gang led by a cat boss took it in.

It was there that Meowth met a glamorous female Meowth named Madonna.

Meowth confessed its feelings to Madonna but was rejected.

Madonna favored wealthy, two-legged humans, and felt pity for the poor stray Meowth.

Because of this, Meowth began studying human language and walking upright to win Madonna’s favor.

Yet when it finally mastered these skills, Madonna rejected it again.

She found a Meowth that spoke human language disgusting.

Heartbroken and desperate, Meowth resolved to become a top-tier villain, willing to force Madonna to be its own by any means.

Thus, it left Hollywood and joined Team Rocket.

Next was Jessie.

Jessie’s mother, Miyamoto, had once been the assistant to Sakaki’s mother.

Because sending children to kindergarten and daycare was expensive, Miyamoto joined Team Rocket and went to a mountain range somewhere in South America to search for Mew—but never returned.

Five-year-old Jessie was adopted by a poor family. Unable to get enough food, Jessie resorted to eating dishes made of snow to fill her stomach.

When she grew up, Jessie aspired to become a Pokémon nurse but, due to insufficient grades, ended up at the Togepi Nurse Academy.

There, she met a Togepi.

On graduation day, Jessie left the nurse academy and entered a Pokémon research school, where she met James.

But soon after, the two were expelled and became petty delinquents, riding bikes along a certain bike path.

Jessie could swing an iron chain while riding, which impressed the local bad kids.

As a result, they highly respected Jessie and called her the Big Boss.

Later, Jessie and James joined the Team Rocket Academy and met Meowth there.

Unlike Meowth and Jessie, James had the best family background among the trio.

He was born into a millionaire family.

Because his parents wanted him to become a useful person, they hired 23 private tutors to teach him reading, etiquette, violin, and so forth every day.

But James always hated the upper-class lifestyle, where even holding a spoon required etiquette.

Over time, he grew tired and often skipped classes to play elsewhere.

Later, unable to endure Rumiko frequently forcing him into marriage at home, James ran away.

Eventually, James entered the Pokémon research school, where he met Jessie.

...

Regarding their whereabouts during this time, Hu Yang could vaguely guess.

Finding them would not be difficult.

The challenge was how to recruit them.

At just over ten years old, Hu Yang was just a little kid like Ash to Jessie and James.

Meowth initially joined Team Rocket to become wealthy and embrace villainy.

Jessie loved trying new things—flower arranging, tea ceremony, ninjutsu—so out of curiosity, she joined Team Rocket.

This was also portrayed in the anime series “Origin of Love and Youth.”

Of course, it might also have been because her mother Miyamoto had worked for Team Rocket.

Unlike Meowth and James, Jessie always aimed to become a famous actress and once confided that she dreamed of challenging the Pokémon League.

As for James, he sought freedom and escape from his original life, accidentally joining Team Rocket alongside Jessie.

Hu Yang pondered seriously on how to bring them over to Hoenn.

Just then, he suddenly sensed a gaze fixed upon him.

Feigning casualness, he glanced back and saw, not far away, an elderly woman leaning on a cane, dressed in a purple dress with golden hair, watching him intently.