The strongest gym leader starts by beating up Gary.

The poacher leader's face stiffened.

"Alright, if you have anything to say, go say it in hell."

Fang Yuan nodded to Bangiras behind him.

Bangiras understood Fang Yuan's meaning perfectly.

The next second, quicksand appeared beneath the poacher leader's feet.

Watching himself being swallowed up by the quicksand, sinking slowly like a drowning person, losing control of his body, and feeling his life rapidly slipping away filled the poacher leader's face with terror.

"No! Don't kill me! I still have money! I have hundreds of thousands in my bank account! I'll tell you where the Dark Elf Ball came from, please don't kill me!"

Fang Yuan stood up and shook his head.

"I don't need these hundreds of thousands, I just want you dead!"

"Besides, your two underlings already told me about the Dark Elf Ball, so you're no longer of any use to me. I was just teasing you earlier."

"Those two traitors! They deserve to die! They deserve to die!"

Upon hearing Fang Yuan's words, the poacher leader was swallowed by quicksand in despair.

The fear of being gradually swallowed by quicksand caused him to bleed to death before he was even completely engulfed by the quicksand, due to excessive struggle.

The remaining two poachers unfortunately died during the capture.

Fang Yuan, the owner of the Matsuzamo City Museum, expressed his deep regret over this.

After dealing with the three poachers, Fang Yuan looked at the black Poké Ball in his hand.

"Dark Poké Ball... Sigh~ This kind of thing shouldn't even exist in this world!"

Without hesitation, Fang Yuan destroyed the Dark Elf Balls on the three poachers, and even the remains were crushed into powder by Tyranitar with sand.

According to these poachers, the black Poké Balls were sold to them on the black market by a burly man over two meters tall wearing a robe.

"That two-meter-tall, robed giant? And that black Poké Ball... Could it be Mewtwo?"

Fang Yuan couldn't help but think of the black Poké Ball in the Pokémon movie "Mewtwo Strikes Back," which could even capture Pokémon inside their Poké Balls.

In Fang Yuan's opinion, the Dark Elf Ball in the animation was simply outrageous.

It's far more insane than the Masterball.

"So these Dark Poké Balls were actually given to them by Mewtwo?"

"So the Dark Poké Ball in Bishas's hand originated from Mewtwo?"

Fang Yuan felt a headache coming on and rubbed his head.

"I hope Mewtwo will go berserk a little later. Besides, I'm just an ordinary gym leader. There's no way Mewtwo's letter could be delivered to me. That's absolutely impossible, right?"

In mid-air, out of Fang Yuan's sight, a humanoid figure two meters tall flashed by.

Faced with the mountain of Poké Balls piled up by the poachers, Fang Yuan glanced at them, picked out a few Pokémon with decent potential, and kept them temporarily to see if they would be willing to stay at the gym.

Fang Yuan released all the other spirits back into the wild.

Fortunately, none of the elves were injured.

Of course, Fang Yuan didn't need to personally handle things like releasing the spirits.

Instead, they had Xiaozhi's trio and Xiaowen do it for them.

As for the injured Xiao Mao, he sat to the side to rest.

Finally, after things were mostly resolved, Officer Jenny and Joey arrived late.

"Master Fang, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, but my disciple is injured."

Upon hearing Fang Yuan say that only his disciple was injured, Miss Officer Jenny and Miss Joy both breathed a sigh of relief.

"Fortunately, it was only my disciple who was injured. It would have been bad if you, the dojo master, had been injured."

Fang Yuan's lips twitched slightly when he heard what Officer Jenny and Joey said, but he didn't say anything.

Just as Miss Joey was about to come up and check on Xiao Mao's injuries, everyone suddenly felt the temperature around them drop significantly, and everyone felt a chill down their spines.

"What's going on here?"

Why do I feel a chill down my spine?

Just as everyone was wondering, an old man's voice said softly.

"You're fine just because your disciple is injured? Don't other people's lives matter too?"

"Who's talking here?!"

Officer Jenny was the first to realize something was wrong, and patted the Arcanine next to her, saying...

"Don't think you can get away with hiding like that just because you have a Ghost-type Pokémon! Arcanine, use your sense of smell!"

Arcanine lay down and sniffed hard, then barked a few times at the shade of a large tree before leaping out.

But in the next second, a shadow claw exuding a sinister aura grabbed Arcanine by the neck.

An elderly man with white hair finally emerged from the shadows.

"Don't the younger generation even recognize me anymore?"

When they saw the old man, Officer Jenny and Joey stared in shock.

"Ku...Ku Zi Tian Wang!"

Upon seeing Kikuko's appearance, Fang Yuan's expression changed, especially when he saw the injured Xiao Mao. Fang Yuan felt like he had two heads to crack.

"Why did they have to come at this time of year?"

Just when the atmosphere at the scene was so oppressive it was terrifying, an elderly man, equally aged but with a remarkably cheerful tone, slowly spoke.

"Kikuko, after all these years, you still can't change your temper."

"What others said is true. Disciples are indeed not as important as the dojo master, even if they are my grandsons. There is no need to make things difficult for them because of a single sentence."

Kikuko stood in the shadows, looked up at Professor Oak, who was standing on Dragonite's back bathed in sunlight, and said coldly.

"You've done all the good work."

But Kikuko still released Officer Jenny's Gyrocopter.

"grandson?!"

Officer Jenny and Joey's eyes widened in shock.

Officer Jenny quickly apologized to Gary, then stood obediently to the side with her Arcanine.

Miss Joey kept her head down, quickly checking Shigeru's wounds and praying that his injury wasn't serious.

At this moment, Officer Jenny and Joey both glanced at Fang Yuan. They both knew that Fang Yuan had taken on a disciple, but they never expected that Fang Yuan's disciple was actually Professor Oak's grandson!

Fang Yuan scratched his head and thought to himself.

'You didn't ask either.'

However, looking at the two elderly people in front of him, Fang Yuan felt immense pressure, especially with the arrival of Kikuko, who was considered to have the worst temper among the Four Heavenly Kings.

Fang Yuan respectfully performed an alliance salute.

"This junior, Fang Yuan, greets King Kikuko and Professor Oak."

Chapter 38 Old Man Da Mu! You want to steal my disciple?

Seeing Fang Yuan bow, Kikuko's expression remained unchanged.

Professor Oak greeted him with a smile, then said in a friendly manner...

"You must be the newly appointed head of the Matsumo Pavilion, right? I know you; you're truly young and promising."

"Grandpa, this injury isn't..."

Shigeru wanted to explain a few more words for Fang Yuan, but Professor Oak interrupted him.

“My child is still young and doesn’t know his place. I’m very grateful to Master Fang for taking care of him during this time. Now that he’s accidentally injured, I plan to take him back to Zhenxin Town to heal.”

Upon hearing Professor Oak's words, everyone present couldn't help but applaud his magnanimity!

Look at what true vision and perspective are!

She wasn't angry that her own grandson was injured; instead, she spoke to Fang Yuan so politely.

Fang Yuan, on the other hand, changed his expression and couldn't help but curse inwardly.

"Damn it! This old man is here to steal my apprentice!"

Xiao Mao is still a child, so what does that mean? It means that Xiao Mao is too young to be accepted as an apprentice.

Take him back to Pallet Town to heal? If you take him back, will I ever see my precious apprentice again?

Without Gary, where am I supposed to get points to improve my Pokémon's stats? Did you take Gary with you? You took my lifeline!

“I would like to, but my disciple’s Pokémon training has just reached a critical moment and cannot be left easily. The medical level in Matsumo City is also quite good. As Gary’s master and gym leader, I agree to your request.”

"I will make sure my disciple receives the best treatment, and there will be absolutely no aftereffects!"

Professor Oak's expression froze as he watched Fang Yuan, who couldn't stop talking about his apprentice. He couldn't help but think to himself.

'These younger generation are getting more and more cunning! They can't stop talking about my disciple—my disciple, he's still my grandson!'

Fang Yuan and Professor Oak were still smiling, but in their hearts they were cursing each other countless times.

"Professor Oak, I think we should respect my student's wishes..."

"Master Fang, the child is playful and still young; some things shouldn't be taken seriously..."

The two engaged in a heated verbal battle for quite some time, neither able to gain the upper hand in the argument.

Finally, having no other choice, Fang Yuan had to use his ultimate move!

"By the way, Ash, as Gary's good friend, do you think it's better for Gary to go back and recuperate, or stay at the gym to train?"

"Yeah, Ash! Don't you think it would be better for Gary to go home?"

Upon seeing that it was Ash, Professor Oak's eyes lit up, and he frantically winked at Ash while speaking.

Ash stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and then said seriously.

“Professor Oak, I think it would be better to let Gary stay at the gym to train. Nurse Joy also said that Gary’s injury is not serious.”

Professor Oak stared at Ash in shock. Had he been betrayed?!

At this moment, Fang Yuan laughed heartily, stepped forward, and patted Xiao Zhi on the shoulder with satisfaction.

"That's absolutely right! Trainers getting injured is common! The training of Pokémon is more important."

“That’s what I think too, Master.”

Upon hearing the word "master," Professor Oak stared at Fang Yuan in shock, inwardly cursing.

"You shameless brat! There have only been two promising talents in Zhenxin Town in the past few years, and you want to steal them both, huh!"

But looking at Ash, who was grinning foolishly, and Gary, who kept wanting to talk, they were surprised.

Professor Oak knew it would be difficult for him to take Gary away this time, and sighed, looking somewhat weary.

“What Master Fang said makes sense. I’ll head back to Songzao City now.”

Fang Yuan finally smiled as he watched Professor Oak fly away.

"You're no match for me! You didn't expect that, did you? I even managed to steal Ash away!"

Just after Professor Oak was driven away by Fang Yuan, Kikuko suddenly burst into laughter.

"Hahahaha!!! You young man are truly a talent! In all these years, I've hardly ever seen this old man get the short end of the stick."

"You're pretty good, kid."

Kikuko looked at Fang Yuan, her wrinkles smoothing out, and said cheerfully.

"Alright, I just came to take a look. This mountain is too gloomy for an old man like me. I'm going back to the Pokémon Center to wait."

Looking at the two people who came and went in a hurry, Xiao Zhi said, completely confused.

"What are Professor Oak and that old lady doing here?"