Chapter Summaries

Sato and his Pokémon fought the middle-aged trainer, crippling several of his Pokémon before he fled and ordered Ursaring to collapse the underground passage with Earthquake. Sato, Zoroark, and Haunter ran deeper inside, but falling debris and spreading collapses left them trapped with no clear way out.

• Victreebel struck Sato and fractured his right hand, but Sato used Dark Power to restore enough movement to keep fighting.
• Haunter cursed Victreebel, while Sato and Zoroark attacked; Sato cut Venomoth’s wing and drove his dagger into Victreebel.
• The middle-aged trainer realized most of his team was defeated, released Ursaring, and ran after ordering it to use Earthquake.
• Ursaring’s attack shook the underground passage apart, and Sato rode on Zoroark’s back as Haunter led them deeper inside.
• The passage continued collapsing around them, leaving Sato unsure how they could escape.

Sato escaped the collapsed Underground Research Institute and killed the middle-aged man who had guarded it, then concealed his involvement at the National Park Bug-Catching Contest. After winning first place, he left the park to recover from his injuries and considered what to do with the Wooper he had taken.

• The middle-aged man abandoned his attachment to Ursaring and tried to leave with Wooper, but Sato confronted him outside the collapsed entrance.
• Sato ordered Haunter to kill the middle-aged man, while Alakazam departed after thanking Sato for releasing it and helping it raise its child.
• Sato searched and buried the body, then returned to the National Park and caught a Beautifly to avoid drawing suspicion.
• Sato won the Bug-Catching Contest with Beautifly and received a Dusk Stone as his prize.
• Sato left the National Park, had his broken bones reset in a nearby town, and decided he did not want to keep the Pseudo-Elite Four talent Wooper.

After leaving the Ghost Ship Organization, Sato recovered and trained his Pokémon in the peaceful Spirit Fruit Town, staying with Takenō and Masayoshi. A boy who had secretly watched him for a week finally approached, saying he wanted to become a Pokémon trainer but seeming unsure why he had sought Sato out.

• Sato ate with Takenō and Masayoshi, whose playful bickering helped him feel calmer.
• Sato planned training focused on his Pokémon’s abilities and move proficiency, then trained Zoroark, Haunter, Larvitar, and Spinarak in the forest.
• A curious little boy watched Sato train from behind a tree each day for a week.
• Sato approached the boy and told him not to disturb him, prompting the boy to admit that he wanted to become a Pokémon trainer.
• Sato asked why the boy had come to him, and the boy realized he had only wanted to see the trainer he admired.

Sato warned Zhuzhen about the dangers of becoming a Trainer, then let the boy watch his training while leaving the decision to him and his parents. Zhuzhen returned with a Hoppip, eager to begin, as Sato remained in Spirit Fruit Town to recover and prepare for his eventual trip to Goldenrod City.

• Zhuzhen asked Sato how to become a Trainer, but Sato challenged his knowledge and warned him about the dangers young Trainers faced in the wilderness.
• Sato reflected on how the League promoted Trainers while concealing its efforts to crush the Underground Forces by blaming Team Rocket for the laboratory disaster.
• Sato stayed in Spirit Fruit Town to recover and train his Pokémon while planning to travel to Goldenrod City when an important event approached.
• Zhuzhen returned and explained that he feared dying but still wanted to grow stronger after witnessing a rampaging Nidoking kill Yankang.
• Sato introduced himself to Zhuzhen and allowed him to watch training, then demonstrated basic methods over the following days without explaining them.
• Zhuzhen arrived one morning holding a Hoppip after Sato noticed he had missed their usual training session.

Sato left Spirit Fruit Town after recovering and guiding Zhuzhen in training Hoppip, then traveled to Goldenrod City to investigate the escalating National Park incident. After checking his Pokémon and gathering information, he prepared to visit Silph Game Corner that night.

• Sato analyzed Zhuzhen's Hoppip and advised him to practice activating its abilities rather than using Confusion to lift rocks.
• After staying in Spirit Fruit Town for half a month, Sato said goodbye to Zhuzhen and his parents, accepted a jar of honey, and continued south.
• Sato reached Goldenrod City, examined his four Pokémon at a Pokémon Center, and researched the increasingly intense National Park incident.
• While Sato searched for information, Spinarak, Zoroark, Haunter, and Larvitar played around until he stopped them and recalled them to their Poké Balls.
• Sato prepared to visit Silph Game Corner that night.

Sato visited Goldenrod City's Silph Game Corner to scout its layout while pretending to be a curious child. His repeated slot-machine jackpots drew a crowd, and he left with 2,438 Game Coins to exchange.

• Sato exchanged one hundred thousand Pokemon Coins for one hundred Game Coins and explored the Game Corner while discreetly observing its staff and layout.
• Sato played a Rapidash racing game, then found a slot-machine row and won jackpots on his first two pulls.
• Sato hit the grand prize on the slot machine, attracting a crowd that suspected he had a winning technique.
• Sato continued playing until he had won a total of 2,438 Game Coins, then carried them to the exchange counter.
• A staff member told Sato he had 2,438 Game Coins and asked what he wanted to exchange them for.

Sato explored Silph Game Corner’s Pokémon prize room and found a Carvanha with Elite Four Level Dark-type talent among a shipment from Hoenn. He exchanged most of his Game Coins for Technical Machines, leaving 18 coins as he planned to return the next day.

• Sato inspected the prize Pokémon, passed over Elite Level Murkrow, Houndour, and Sneasel, and followed an attendant to see newly delivered Dark-type Pokémon from Hoenn.
• Sato sensed the Pokémon in the shipment and discovered a Carvanha with Elite Four Level talent in a murky water tank.
• Sato haggled over Carvanha’s price, paid 800 Game Coins, and left the prize room with it.
• Sato spent nearly all his remaining Game Coins on Technical Machines and kept 18 coins for his planned return visit.

Sato trained his Pokémon while preparing for a major event in Goldenrod City, and discovered that Carvanha had the rare Speed Boost Ability. He continued scouting the Silph Game Corner with Zoroark disguised as a human.

• Sato had Nurse Joy treat Carvanha after leaving the Silph Game Corner and reviewed his reconnaissance.
• Sato arranged a battle between Spinarak and Carvanha, where Carvanha used Aqua Jet and Bite to defeat Spinarak.
• Sato tested Carvanha’s repeated Aqua Jets and realized it had the Speed Boost Ability.
• Sato watched Zoroark defeat Haunter and considered whether Haunter should evolve, but postponed the decision because the event was only days away.
• Sato trained his Pokémon through the afternoon, then returned to the Silph Game Corner with Zoroark disguised as a human.

Sato’s reconnaissance confirmed that the painting in the Game Corner had changed, and he followed his plan to avoid the scheduled explosion at the Pokemon Center. He survived the blast, fought Team Rocket while searching for Nurse Joy, and discovered that the Pokemon League had gathered nearby under Shiba’s command.

• Sato and Zoroark monitored the Game Corner for several days, and Zoroark reported that the painting had been replaced.
• Sato went to the Pokemon Center and used Haunter and Spinarak’s Protect to survive the explosion at nine o’clock.
• Sato rushed into the burning Pokemon Center, where Haunter detected signs of life and Spinarak stopped an injured trainer’s bleeding.
• Three Team Rocket members attacked Sato, but Haunter and Carvanha defeated their Pokemon while Spinarak bound the trainers.
• Sato found Nurse Joy unconscious beneath Chansey, while a League force led by Shiba watched the destruction and prepared its operation against Team Rocket.

Team Rocket’s bombings devastated Goldenrod City, but Shiba’s Politoed summoned rain and Water-type Pokémon to stop the explosions. As the League began rescue and search operations, Dark Caesar launched Team Rocket’s counterattack across the city.

• Officer Jenny Chief reported that Team Rocket had discovered the League’s plan, and Shiba led an attack on Silph Co., only to find Team Rocket had already left.
• Team Rocket’s Geodude and Graveler exploded throughout Goldenrod City, and Shiba’s Politoed called Water-type Pokémon across the city to bring rain and help stop the chain explosions.
• Shiba ordered Officer Jenny Chief to investigate several suspected Team Rocket sites while Sato treated Nurse Joy and Zoroark waited near the Game Corner prize exchange.
• Dark Caesar ordered Team Rocket’s counterattack, and its members emerged from underground passages to ambush League forces at the Pokémon Center and other locations.
• Master Yasumura and his five Pokémon held off thirty Team Rocket members north of the city as attacks erupted at key sites across Goldenrod City.

Sato and Haunter helped the League regain control of the battles across Goldenrod City, but Team Rocket’s secret base remained undiscovered. Shiba rushed to the Silph Game Corner after its prize Pokemon were released and found the crowd in chaos, leaving him unable to make arrests.

• Sato sent Haunter to take down Team Rocket’s airborne Zubat and Golbat, helping surrounded League members break through.
• Haunter used Shadow Dance to keep Team Rocket occupied while Sato withdrew and the League reorganized its forces.
• Shiba learned that the Game Corner’s prize Pokemon had been released and that a Larvitar had drawn a frenzied crowd there.
• Zoroark, disguised by Illusion, blended into the Game Corner crowd after releasing the prize Pokemon, while Caesar ordered Team Rocket to retreat.
• Nagamura and Sato hurried to the Game Corner as Shiba and Officer Jenny arrived to find players, Team Rocket, and League members tangled together.
• Shiba sent out Primeape, Machamp, Hitmonchan, and Hitmonlee and ordered all four to use Earthquake.

The Pokemon League and Team Rocket clashed over the Game Corner’s Pokémon while Sato and Zoroark reunited amid the chaos. After the League found Team Rocket’s underground base, Shiba confronted Caesar, who released three powerful Pokémon to fight him.

• Zoroark avoided the force of the Earthquake by stepping onto someone, while the attack wrecked the Game Corner and exposed the prize Pokémon.
• Officer Jenny ordered Team C to surround the Pokémon, but the crowd and Team Rocket protested until Shiba sent Politoed to take them away.
• Caesar ordered his subordinates to destroy the computer hosts and clear the escape route after the Earthquake damaged Team Rocket’s underground base and cut off communications.
• Shiba’s force overwhelmed Team Rocket aboveground as Nagamura, Sato, and other League members arrived; Sato and Zoroark spotted each other and quietly withdrew in opposite directions.
• The Pokemon League discovered the underground base, where Shiba confronted Caesar, who released Tyranitar, Rhyhorn, and Nidoking from Dark Balls as the fighting began.

Elite Shiba and Caesar’s Pokémon fought fiercely in Team Rocket’s underground base while Sato sneaked away to steal the base’s files. As the battle turned against Caesar, he escaped on Skarmory and ordered Tyranitar to collapse the base, leaving Shiba and the others facing the destruction.

• Shiba’s Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee slammed Tyranitar and Nidoking into a wall, but Caesar’s Dark Pokémon recovered and resumed attacking.
• Sato slipped away from the battle with Zoroark, found a computer in a storage room, and copied Team Rocket’s files onto his Portable Hard Drive.
• Shiba’s Pokémon wore down Caesar’s team, and Rhyhorn fell before Nidoking was knocked back toward Caesar.
• Caesar learned that one computer had disappeared, then escaped with Skarmory while ordering Tyranitar to use Earthquake and bury the base.
• Shiba ordered Machamp to stop Tyranitar, but the underground base began collapsing.

Sato escaped the collapsing Team Rocket base with Zoroark, Haunter, and Spinarak, while Team Rocket and Pokémon League members fled behind him. He saw the devastation in Goldenrod City and realized his actions had helped cause a disaster far worse than the one he remembered.

• Sato removed the data drive from the computer as the base began to collapse, then used Zoroark and Haunter to find a way out.
• Sato led fleeing Trainers through the rubble and escaped through an exhaust fan as the base came down.
• Outside, injured Pokémon League Trainers and Team Rocket members prepared to fight, but Sato left after warning one Trainer that his Rapidash needed urgent treatment.
• Sato saw that the battle between Shiba and Caesar had damaged buildings across Goldenrod City and left civilians in need of rescue.
• Sato reflected that the destruction was worse than in his previous life and recognized himself as one of the forces behind it.

After surviving the Goldenrod City attacks, Sato recovered valuable Pokémon records from a hard drive and learned more about the Nurse Joys who had been killed. He was summoned to meet the Nurse Joy Clan and local authorities, where Elite Four Shiba revealed details of Sato’s past, leaving Sato wary.

• Sato reviewed the hard drive’s extensive Pokémon records, especially the breeding methods and legends, then rested with his Pokémon guarding the room.
• After waking, Sato took his Pokémon to the Pokémon Center and heard that Team Rocket had attacked all five centers in Goldenrod City, killing four Nurse Joys and a Chansey.
• A Nurse Joy thanked Sato for saving her sister and brought him to meet Joy Meiqing, Officer Jenny, and Elite Four Shiba.
• Officer Jenny offered Sato a chance to become a police officer, while Joy Meiqing thanked him and welcomed him to sit with them.
• Shiba recited Sato’s background and Pokémon team, prompting Sato to look at him with caution.

Sato secured League direct Trainer status and Nurse Joy Clan protection after explaining his past, then left Goldenrod City to begin training. He was preparing Larvitar for battle in the woods when it spotted a brown elk.

• Sato told Shiba and the Nurse Joys that his parents had died in a fire and that he had fled to Johto under a false identity.
• Sato declined Officer Jenny's offer to become a police officer and asked only for direct Trainer status; Elder Nurse Joy registered him under the Nurse Joy Family's protection.
• Nurse Joy Liyia gave Sato a Johto-model Pokédex, offered to care for his extra Pokémon, and explained that he could receive an Elite-level Starter Pokémon, which he declined.
• Sato left the rebuilding Goldenrod City with his team and headed into the woods to train, sending Zoroark and Haunter to find water.
• Sato ordered Larvitar to fight, and Larvitar used Rock Slide against a brown elk.

Sato trained Carvanha to control Aqua Jet and hover without relying on water, while setting Haunter against Zoroark, Larvitar, and Spinarak in a training contest. Haunter gained an early advantage by using Disable to seal the other Pokemon’s Scary Face moves.

• Carvanha defeated a Poliwhirl and claimed the pool as its territory before Sato began its training routine.
• Sato fed Carvanha a blood-touched Energy Cube, then trained it in movement, coordination, and precise Aqua Jet control.
• Sato showed Carvanha footage of a Qwilfish hovering with Aqua Jet and explained how it could balance reverse thrust to stay airborne.
• Sato set a ten-minute contest in which Zoroark, Larvitar, and Spinarak attacked Haunter inside a restricted circle for a chance at extra food.
• Haunter evaded the first attacks, used Protect against the trio’s Scary Face moves, then used Disable to seal those moves.

Sato’s Pokémon battled, trained, and competed for dinner before he chose a specialized training path for Spinarak. He planned to develop Spinarak with both Poison Kill Style and Sniper Style, while considering a future trip to Ecruteak City so Haunter could evolve.

• Haunter used Psychic Interference to stop Poison Sting and Rock Slide, but Zoroark struck it with Dark Pulse and the three Pokémon defeated it.
• Sato cut Haunter’s dinner in half and awarded its extra serving to Spinarak and Larvitar after Zoroark refused its own reward.
• Sato told Haunter to train properly and considered taking it to Ecruteak City to evolve it.
• Sato used Team Rocket records and the Pokémon League Pokédex to review Spinarak’s possible training styles and adjusted its training to prevent it from maturing too quickly.
• Sato chose Poison Kill Style and Sniper Style for Spinarak, whose inherited Toxic Spikes and Sniper Ability suited both approaches.

Sato trained his Pokemon near a waterfall and met Gym Leader Yasumura, who had wandered far from Goldenrod City and lost his way. After accepting Yasumura’s invitation to visit Moomoo Farm, Sato led him back toward the city and discovered just how badly the old man could get lost.

• Sato trained Carvanha, Haunter, Larvitar, Spinarak, and Zoroark near a waterfall, while Haunter practiced dodging stones and battling Larvitar and Spinarak.
• Sato served his Pokemon homemade food, and Yasumura arrived with Wigglytuff after wandering there from Goldenrod City.
• Yasumura admitted he could not find his way back, and Sato invited him to share lunch with them.
• Yasumura thanked Sato and invited him to Moomoo Farm for its Moomoo Milk, so they set off toward Goldenrod City together.
• Sato led the way as Yasumura repeatedly lost his bearings, even turning around while believing he was still walking straight.

Sato visited Master Yasumura’s ranch, where he saw the rare blue Shiny Miltank Can Twenty-Seven calm down. He accepted Yasumura’s offer of a Gym Battle, and the chapter ended with Haunter poised to exploit Tauros’s attempt to use Rest.

• Sato and his Pokémon enjoyed Moomoo Milk at Yasumura’s ranch.
• Akane summoned Nagamura to help calm her unruly Miltank, Can Twenty-Seven, whose light-blue coloring revealed it to be Shiny.
• Nagamura encouraged Sato to challenge the Johto Alliance, then invited him to experience a 3V3 Gym Battle.
• Sato sent Haunter against Nagamura’s Elite Level Tauros, and both Pokémon exchanged status moves as Tauros used Rest and Sleep Talk.
• Haunter inflicted Curse and dodged Tauros’s Zen Headbutt, then Sato ordered Disable and Toxic when Tauros tried to use Rest again.