I caught a Pokémon

This is a complete reversal! Both Pokémon collapsed to the ground, unable to battle!

But no one expected that in the end, Psyduck would turn the tide of this chaotic battle!

However, although Psyduck ultimately made the difference, if it hadn't entered the fray on its own and instead Misty had used another Pokémon, Xia You and her friends might have won the match much earlier.

But all things considered, the result was not bad.

"We lost..."

Ash was a little discouraged, but even though they lost, he and Brock were still very happy, after all, they had defeated Xia You's Pokémon!

Keep in mind, this is a formidable opponent that is unbeatable in official matches! Unexpectedly, they managed to defeat them in this exhibition match!

Chapter 360 The Flame Emperor Appears

After the match, everyone recalled their Pokémon and left the battlefield together.

On the way back to the Pokémon Center, they couldn't help but compliment each other, especially Rika and Xiaoling, who were seeing Misty and Psyduck for the first time and gave them extremely high praise!

Compared to the regular Psyduck, Misty's Psyduck is undoubtedly more special and more impressive!

When Xiaoxia told them with a smile that her Psyduck, although a Water-type Pokémon, couldn't swim at all, the two were even more amazed!

"Psyduck can't swim?!" Xiao Ling was extremely surprised and couldn't help but ask, "Is it just it? Or is the entire species unable to swim? Wait... that's not right, I've clearly seen many evolved Golducks, and they are all very good swimmers!"

"This..." Xiaoxia scratched her cheek awkwardly, "It's probably just that my Psyduck is acting strange..."

Listening to their casual conversation, Xia You, who hadn't participated in commanding the battle, was able to oversee the entire situation. After watching the whole battle, he mentally assessed everyone's performance.

It can be said that not only are he and Ash constantly improving, but Misty and Brock have also grown a lot after such a long journey!

Everyone has shed their awkwardness and is striding forward toward their dreams!

It seems I have to work even harder... I can't let my guard down for a moment, otherwise I'll be overtaken by these guys without even realizing it!

Upon entering the Pokémon Center, they went to the restaurant to rest and ordered some drinks. But before they could even sit down, they heard several cars approaching from afar.

They went out with Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy, and their assistant John. When they arrived outside the Pokémon Center, they saw a minibus coming from down the mountain, escorted by a police car.

When the bus came to a stop, a very familiar man got off the bus first.

The familiar white robe, the familiar silver-gray short hair, the familiar face—it's Professor Oak!

"Professor Oak!?"

Ash and his friends gasped in surprise. They never expected that the so-called expert would be Professor Oak!

They had initially thought it would be Dr. Kumo from Wakaba Town, or someone else, investigating the matter! They never expected it to be him!

However, upon closer examination, this is not difficult to guess. After all, there are very few people in the world more authoritative than Professor Oak, and Pallet Town and Johto are not very far apart, so it is not surprising that he was invited here.

John addressed this academic giant with utmost respect, saying, "Dr. Oak, we have been waiting for you for a long time!"

Professor Oak nodded to John first, then turned his gaze to Xia You and the others.

He was already somewhat surprised that Ash happened to be in the Green Field, and then he saw the strange pair of Xia You and Rika, which made him raise his eyebrows in surprise.

"Oh, so you guys are here too. Honestly, if I had known, I could have just handed this over to you guys. I wouldn't have needed to come all this way here!"

"Huh? Why should we have it?"

Before Ash could realize what Professor Oak meant, Pikachu seemed to have discovered something, suddenly cried out, and then ran straight towards Little Bar!

"Pikachu, what's wrong?"

Before Ash could even be surprised, he saw his mother, Hanako, get out of the car behind Professor Oak!

"Huh? Mom? What are you doing here with Professor Oak?"

Compared to Ash, who still makes a fuss, Xia You is already used to Oak and Hanako being together. In fact, he would only be surprised if the two of them didn't appear together one day!

Hanako first crouched down and petted Pikachu, then walked over to Ash. The two shared a deep mother-son bond and cared for each other. This heartwarming scene was broadcast live by a reporter on camera.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Officer Jenny, eager to solve the case, immediately drove Professor Oak to the crystals for a closer look.

They then led Hanako to a nearby parasol, and it was then that they learned why she had come here with Professor Oak.

Hanako took a sip of her juice and said slowly, "Professor Shuri used to study at Professor Oak's place often, and that's when we met."

As she spoke, she took a photo out of her bag and placed it on the table.

Xia You peeked out and saw that in the photo, Hanako and Ash were standing to the right of Professor Oak, with Ash making a "V" sign and smiling happily.

Another family of three stood on Professor Oak's other side. The couple looked to be middle-aged, but their daughter was a few years younger than Ash.

Hanako pointed to the photo and said, "This photo was taken a few years ago in Pallet Town with Professor Oak and Professor Shuri's family. They are all very easy-going people."

Despite saying that, after seeing the photo, no matter how much Xiaozhi tried to recall, he had no memory of it because he was too young at the time.

Hanako continued, "I saw the news report about this last night, and especially after learning that Dr. Shuri was also missing, I was really worried about his daughter, so I came here with Dr. Oki to check on her."

"So that's how it is."

Just then, Pikachu suddenly sensed something and looked into the distance warily. Even Gengar emerged from the shadows and protected Xia You behind it!

This sense of vigilance, as if facing a formidable enemy, is as if some powerful foe is approaching!

"Huh? What's wrong with you guys?"

Attracted by the actions of the two Pokémon, everyone, including Xia You, hurriedly turned to look. A few breaths later, a figure suddenly descended from the sky—a beast-shaped Pokémon appeared right before their eyes!

With just one glance, Xia You immediately recognized its identity!

It's Emperor Yan!

At the same time, a gasp came from beside her. She covered her mouth in surprise, clearly recognizing the Pokémon as well!

Just like Suicune we saw before, Entei is also one of Ho-Oh's guards!

At this moment, it stood there majestically, exuding an aura of power! And when its gaze fell upon them, everyone felt a powerful sense of oppression!

In terms of appearance, Emperor Yan has orange-red fur, strong limbs with iron rings, red six-pointed star-shaped structures on his cheeks, and golden hair shells like clover on his forehead.

Although many people say it looks like a lion, Xia You feels it's more like a Tibetan Mastiff!

Chapter 361 Emperor Yan Snatches People

Although Ash had never seen Entei before, he was still awestruck by the majestic aura of this peculiar Pokémon. He couldn't help but be surprised and took out his Pokédex from his pocket, pointing it at Entei.

Pokémon Pokédex entry: "Ding, Entei, Fire-type, Volcano Pokémon, one of the Legendary Pokémon. Entei is enormous and possesses a molten passion within its body. Initially, some believed it was born from a volcanic eruption, and because it could not completely suppress the surging power within it, it ran back and forth across the land. According to folklore, some also believe it is a unique Pokémon formed after being resurrected by Ho-Oh, and it is said to exhale flames hotter than volcanic lava, burning everything in its path!"

"Emperor Yan!?"

Upon hearing that the Pokémon in front of them was the legendary Pokémon Entei from the Johto region, Ash, Misty, Brock, and Ling all stood up, their movements so dramatic that they didn't even notice their chairs tipping over!

Apart from Xia You, none of the people present expected that they would actually encounter Emperor Yan here!

Why would Emperor Yan come here?!

Shocked, everyone's mind was filled with this question!

But when faced with such a legendary Pokémon, Ash and his friends dared not make any rash moves, worried that even the slightest action would instantly enrage it!

Unlike them, Xia You was undoubtedly much more relaxed, having already subdued the three sacred birds.

He even observed the Flame Emperor with great interest, and keenly noticed that crystallization had occurred in the places where the Flame Emperor had stepped. This meant that, just like in the movie, the one in front of him was not the real Flame Emperor, but was related to the crystallization of the manor, and was formed by those unknown totems!

In the midst of the standoff, perhaps by some twist of fate, Hanako, for some unknown reason, or perhaps thinking that as the eldest and elder, she should step forward to confront the situation, unexpectedly stepped forward and questioned Emperor Yan: "Who are you? What are you doing here?!"

This sudden, impulsive decision, seemingly a suicide mission, caught everyone off guard and was impossible to stop.

It can be said that Emperor Yan's purpose this time was to find her, but unexpectedly she took the initiative to step forward!

Sure enough, upon examining her, Emperor Yan spoke in human language: "Mother...you are my mother..."

Before anyone could understand what it meant, a strange light suddenly flashed in the eyes of the Flame Emperor. After being hit by the light, Hanako was as if hypnotized, her mind went blank for a moment, and she stood there motionless!

The next second, Emperor Yan leaped in front of Hanako, caught her body, and carried her away!

"Mother!!!"

Ash was shocked and hurriedly took a step to chase after it, but Entei only took a few leaps and had already created a great distance. Even if they tried their best to chase it, they could only watch helplessly as it ran further and further away, heading towards the giant petal crystal, until it disappeared into the eerie crystal forest!

Ash rushed to the edge of the crystal, but Brock grabbed him and pulled him back!

"Xiaogang! Let me go!"

Despite his desperate attempts to break free from Xiaogang's grasp, he was unable to move forward at all because Xiaogang was holding his arm tightly!

Clearly, in this tug-of-war, the Pallet Town super rookie with the strength of a thousand pounds was undoubtedly defeated by the Nibi City people who were as resolute as stone!

"Wait a minute, Ash!" Brock shouted through gritted teeth as he grabbed Ash. "The situation is unclear right now, don't act rashly! Besides, we don't know if these crystals are harmful to humans! If we get crystallized too, that would be terrible!"

"But Mom..."

Xia You knew the general direction of the plot. Although she knew that Hanako would not encounter any danger, she still did not reveal everything. She simply comforted her, saying, "Don't worry. You should know that the three sacred beasts of the Johto region are relatively gentle in temperament, unlike the three sacred birds of Kanto, who are irritable. Your mother was taken away by the Flame Emperor this time for some special purpose, but at least she is not in any danger to her life!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt the several super balls in his waist bag shaking violently. Clearly, his words had provoked them, and they were now complaining incessantly!

"Is that really true..." Hearing him say that, Xiaozhi hesitated, but was still somewhat unsure.

In fact, Xia You said this entirely because of his precognitive understanding of the plot. If it were his own family members being kidnapped, he would never have been so calm!

However, he also understood that the matter needed to be resolved as soon as possible. After all, the reason he and Lijia stayed here was to help the people here resolve this issue!

“Xia You is right.” Rika, panting, ran up to the group, her chest heaving slightly. She also advised, “We really can’t be impulsive right now! Our opponent is the legendary Pokémon Entei, extremely powerful. We also don’t know what’s on the other side of the crystal, so we must not rush things. The most important thing now is to meet up with Professor Oak and see if he has found anything out!”

See, this is one of the benefits of traveling with Rika.

If Nazi were still by his side, she wouldn't offer any advice or words of comfort; she would simply observe coldly and silently follow Xia You's lead.

Lijia is clearly more opinionated and thoughtful. Most importantly, with her around, Xia You gets more new ideas when problems arise!

Ash naturally wanted to rescue his mother immediately, but he was just a child and his mind was not mature enough. Since the people around him said so, he could only suppress his anxiety and reluctantly return to the Pokémon Center with Xia You and the others, looking back every few steps.

On the way, Xia You informed Professor Oak about the matter by phone, so when they arrived at the Pokémon Center, Professor Oak had just returned there by car.

They met in a lounge. Professor Oak looked serious about Hanako's abduction, but his opinion was the same as Xia You's.

"I never expected Entei to appear here..." He exclaimed in surprise, then looked at Ash and comforted him, "Don't worry, Pokémon rarely abduct humans on their own, let alone a legendary Pokémon like Entei. I believe your mother will be alright."

With Professor Oak's encouragement, Ash felt much more relaxed, but he still asked, "Professor, how's your investigation going?"

Professor Oak took out his computer and, with a few taps of his finger, presented the investigation results to everyone.

"According to my investigation, crystallization has no effect on humans or Pokémon, and judging from the speed at which it spreads, its power seems to be waning, but it is still very dangerous and not conducive to traveling directly! However, Officer Jenny has already had bulldozers brought in, and it is expected that a road leading to the manor will be cleared tonight. At that time, we can go there and find out what's going on!"

Chapter 362 Heading Towards Crystallization

At that moment, Professor Oak suddenly received an email.

The email had no mailing address and no signature, as if it had appeared out of thin air on his computer, which greatly surprised him. As a Pokémon professor, his computer had very high security encryption, making it impossible for ordinary people to hack into! Even a hacker couldn't do something so stealthy!

After a moment's hesitation, I moved the mouse and opened the email, only to find that it was a video!

When he started the video call, a little girl who looked about six or seven years old appeared on the screen.

In the video, the girl, despite her childlike appearance, spoke to the camera with a very serious and composed tone: "Daddy and Mommy are back, and Xiaomei is very happy. Everything is fine as it is for now. Please don't let anyone come in and disturb us!!"

As she finished speaking, the video finished playing. In just a few short seconds, the content was astonishing!

Xiaoxia asked in surprise, "The 'mother' she's talking about must be Aunt Hanako, who was kidnapped, right? But why is she calling Aunt Hanako 'mother'? And what's strange is that she said her father has also returned? But Dr. Shuri has already disappeared, hasn't he?"

As he spoke, he looked at Ash with a suspicious gaze.

Could this girl named Xiaomei be Hanako and Dr. Shuri's illegitimate daughter?! Is that why she kidnapped Hanako and calls her "Mom"?

It's not that Xiaoxia has a dirty mind, but that the word 'Mom' is just too suggestive!

However, this also shows that Hanako did not encounter any danger after being abducted.

Unfortunately, no one except Xia You could answer Xiaoxia's question, and even Xiaozhi was shocked and looked completely bewildered!

……

After leaving the room, Xiao Zhi looked worried and sat silently in the corner of the restaurant, which was quite different from his usual optimism and cheerfulness.

Seeing his expression, Xia You knew what he was thinking. He was simply figuring out how to get to the rescue without being stopped by others.

Lost in thought until noon, after having lunch with Xia You and the others, when no one was paying attention, Xiao Zhi finally made up his mind, took Pikachu, and sneaked out of the Pokémon Center, running towards the Crystal Petals.

He thought he had left quietly, but before he had run a few hundred meters, he suddenly heard Xia You's voice coming from under the trees nearby.