Chapter Summaries

Yu Hai defeated the Team Rocket boss and his Pokémon, captured the survivors, and used hypnosis to erase records that could link him to Riolu. He hid in a Black Cloud City hotel with Riolu while the aftermath unfolded and Team Rocket focused on rebuilding its Black Market rather than investigating him.

• Yu Hai and his Pokémon overwhelmed the Team Rocket boss, who fled on Fearow and left Alakazam, Weezing, Grimer, and Golbat behind; Gengar and Darkrai later captured him and the escaping Pokémon.
• Yu Hai hypnotized the Team Rocket boss, learned that only a few people knew about Riolu, and had Nurse Joy delete Riolu’s treatment records and his trainer registration before returning to the hotel with Riolu.
• Yu Hai recovered useful Poison-type materials, burned the bodies, and settled in for the night while Riolu remained wary of trusting humans and Poliwhirl watched over it.
• A Team Rocket Captain arrived too late, learned the boss had pursued the trainer who reported the Black Market, and planned to investigate valuable Pokémon in Black Cloud City.
• A Ping left the reopened Power Plant, Officer Jenny forgot which Pokémon she had promised to find, and Nurse Joy woke without remembering the night’s events.
• Team Rocket turned its attention to rebuilding the Black Market and dividing its profits, leaving Yu Hai’s actions uninvestigated.

Yu Hai left Black Cloud City and was recruited to help investigate Diglett disrupting a reservoir project, where he reunited with Ash, Brock, and Xiao Xia. Ash challenged him to a battle, and Yu Hai sent out Kingler as their match began.

• Yu Hai flew from Black Cloud City toward Saffron City and stopped by a river for lunch.
• Marshtomp found an unconscious worker, whom Yu Hai rescued and learned had been thrown into the river when Diglett overturned his vehicle.
• Yu Hai accompanied the worker to the reservoir construction site, where the foreman had gathered Trainers to deal with the Diglett.
• Yu Hai reunited with Ash, Brock, and Xiao Xia and learned Ash had earned four Badges, while Yu Hai had two.
• Ash challenged Yu Hai to a battle, and Yu Hai sent out Kingler as Ash scanned it with his Pokédex.

Yu Hai defeated Ash and Gary in battles, revealing a strength that left both trainers stunned. Gary accepted Yu Hai as a serious rival and vowed to defeat him at the Indigo League.

• Ash sent Bulbasaur against Yu Hai’s Kingler, but its attacks failed, and Kingler froze it with Ice Beam before Charmander melted the ice.
• Gary challenged Yu Hai with Wartortle, but Poliwhirl knocked it unconscious with a single punch.
• Brock recognized that Yu Hai had held back and judged him stronger than himself, while Xiao Xia also realized she could not match him.
• Gary acknowledged Yu Hai’s strength and vowed to defeat him at the Indigo League, and Yu Hai accepted the challenge.

Yu Hai visited the Diglett colony to capture a Diglett with good Potential, while Ash and his friends discovered why the Pokémon were resisting the reservoir project. After camping with them, Yu Hai foiled Team Rocket’s attempt to steal his Pokémon and settled in for the night.

• Yu Hai left the foreman’s job, and the Trainers’ Pokémon refused to fight the Diglett; Ash, Brock, and Xiao Xia set out to find him while Gary drove away.
• Yu Hai pressured Dugtrio into allowing him to inspect the colony and captured a Diglett with Potential of fifty-three after checking more than a thousand.
• Ash, Brock, and Xiao Xia saw the Diglett planting trees and understood that the colony was protecting its home from the reservoir project; Yu Hai said he had only come to catch a Diglett.
• Yu Hai declined to travel with Ash’s group to Saffron City, then camped with them and drank with Brock while Ash tried a sip of liquor.
• Team Rocket followed Yu Hai into the forest and tried to attack him, but Darkrai put Musashi, Meowth, and Jiro to sleep before Yu Hai returned to camp.

Yu Hai shared breakfast with the Team Rocket trio, learned more about their pasts, and sent them on their way to pursue Ash. He then reached Saffron Gym and forced its young caretaker to agree to a six-on-six battle, leaving the challenge about to begin.

• Yu Hai woke the Team Rocket trio and fed them instant noodles, while Darkrai and Poliwhirl helped bring them to camp.
• Yu Hai revealed details about Musashi's biker-gang past and hinted at Jiro's wealthy family and arranged marriage, prompting the trio to wonder how he knew them.
• The Team Rocket trio thanked Yu Hai and left to follow Ash, but he had to point out that they were heading in the wrong direction.
• Yu Hai flew to Saffron Gym on Golbat and used Rhydon's Earthquake to draw someone out after nobody answered his calls.
• A little girl emerged and, after Yu Hai asked for a Gym challenge, agreed to a six-on-six battle instead of the Gym's usual two-on-two format.

Yu Hai defeated An in three rounds at the Saffron Gym and received the Pink Badge before planning his next journey. After learning of a one-hundred-million reward for a missing boy, he identified the child from memories of his previous life and bought information on where to find Kangaskhan.

• Yu Hai's Scyther defeated An's Weezing and Crobat, then his Rhydon knocked out her Ekans before Aya stopped the battle and An awarded him the Pink Badge.
• Yu Hai left the Saffron Gym, brought his Pokémon to the Pokémon Center for examinations, and decided to pursue the Cerulean Gym after visiting the Safari Zone.
• Yu Hai overheard Trainers discussing a one-hundred-million Missing Person Notice and recognized the missing boy as the child adopted by a Kangaskhan Herd in his memories.
• Yu Hai disguised himself and paid an information broker one hundred thousand League Coins to learn that Kangaskhan lived in the reserve north of the Wild Safari Zone.
• Yu Hai returned to the Pokémon Center, collected his healthy Pokémon, fed them, and went to sleep, planning to search for the Kangaskhan Herd the next day.

Yu Hai found Taro living with a Kangaskhan Herd and used Darkrai to awaken the boy’s memories of his human family, hoping to persuade him to return. Before Taro could decide, Spirit Hunters captured the herd, leaving him helpless and determined to save them.

• Yu Hai reached the Great Prairie, located Taro with the Kangaskhan Herd, and asked Darkrai to influence his dreams so he would remember his human past.
• Taro followed Darkrai’s green light into the forest, but rejected Yu Hai’s offer to take him to his parents and attacked him with a Boomerang.
• Yu Hai disarmed and spanked Taro, who fled back to the Kangaskhan Leader’s pouch; Darkrai then gave him repeated dreams that restored his memories and confirmed his human identity.
• Spirit Hunters ambushed the sleeping Kangaskhan Herd with nets and tranquilizer darts, then captured the Pokémon in Poké Balls.
• When Taro shouted for the Spirit Hunters to stop, one struck him and threatened to kill him, and the hunters left with the herd as Yu Hai watched from the forest.

Yu Hai rescued Taro from the Spirit Hunters, persuaded him to become a trainer, and reunited him with his parents in exchange for the Missing Person Notice reward. With Taro safely home and his savings increased by a hundred million, Yu Hai planned to head to the Safari Zone the next day to search for Dratini.

• Yu Hai freed Taro from the net, convinced him to leave the Kangaskhan Herd and grow strong enough to protect it, then gave him a captured Kangaskhan as his starter Pokémon.
• Yu Hai and Taro caught up with the unconscious Spirit Hunters, and Yu Hai took the captured Kangaskhan and killed the men before Rain Dance washed away the evidence.
• Yu Hai led Taro out of the Pokémon Reserve and brought him to Saffron City's Pokémon Center, where Taro reunited with his parents.
• Taro's parents gave Yu Hai the hundred-million reward, which he transferred to his own League bank account before Taro departed with them by helicopter.
• Yu Hai slept through the day, then decided to leave for the Safari Zone the following day and look for Dratini.

Yu Hai visited the Safari Zone hoping to catch a worthwhile Pokémon, then found a huge Pineco in the forest. He stopped it from exploding and evolving, caught it, and left its future size and evolution as questions to investigate.

• Yu Hai paid to enter the Safari Zone and caught a Tauros with forty-eight Potential, using Darkrai to frighten it into a Wild Ball.
• After explosions sent visitors fleeing, Yu Hai learned that Pineco were causing trouble in a forest and went to investigate.
• Yu Hai searched deeper into the forest, measuring Pineco until he found one over a meter tall with an eighty-centimeter diameter.
• Yu Hai accidentally stepped on a branch and startled the Giant Pineco, which began glowing as if preparing to explode.
• Poliwhirl used its Damp Ability to prevent the Giant Pineco from exploding, and Yu Hai tried to catch it with a Poké Ball.
• When Pineco began to evolve, Poliwhirl knocked it unconscious; Yu Hai used an Everstone and caught it, planning to study its size and evolution.

Yu Hai caught a high-potential Pineco in the Safari Zone and unexpectedly reunited with Xiao Ying, who had also caught a Pineco and traveled to Kanto for the Indigo League. They shared news and Pokémon training ideas, and Yu Hai learned how Xiao Ying had come to terms with the truth about A Ren; the chapter left them preparing to battle after their meal.

• Yu Hai examined Pineco's panel, found its potential was 57%, and registered it and Tauros before leaving the Safari Zone.
• Yu Hai ran into Xiao Ying, who had come to Kanto for the Indigo League and had earned the Crimson Badge and Pink Badge.
• Yu Hai inspected Xiao Ying's Pineco, compared its size with his own, and shared his theories about Pineco's age, potential, and training.
• Xiao Ying told Yu Hai that Keiko had not known A Ren had tried to hunt them, and that the club had turned A Ren into a local hero.
• Yu Hai reassured Xiao Ying about how people accepted convenient stories, then took him to eat and proposed testing his strength in a battle.

Yu Hai found Xiao Ying at a crowded Saffron City battle arena, where Xiao Ying challenged the arrogant Shinji and defeated his Treecko with Infernape. The chapter left Xiao Ying battling Shinji’s Gyarados after Infernape was defeated, with Electabuzz entering the arena.

• Yu Hai left the Pokémon Center, found the battle arena, and realized Xiao Ying had stepped forward to challenge the Trainer insulting Pokémon partners.
• Raisu and his younger brother Shinji mocked the local Trainers, and Shinji accepted Xiao Ying’s challenge.
• Xiao Ying sent out Infernape against Shinji’s Treecko and won after overpowering it with Flame Wheel.
• Shinji sent out Gyarados, which defeated the already-worn-down Infernape with its Water-type attacks.
• Xiao Ying sent out Electabuzz to continue the battle against Shinji.

Xiao Ying defeated Shinji’s Gyarados, then forced him to concede after Electabuzz fell to Onix and Breloom took the field. Raisu challenged Xiao Ying, but Yu Hai stepped in and began a battle against him with Rhydon, leaving Raisu under pressure.

• Xiao Ying’s Electabuzz paralyzed Shinji’s Gyarados with Electric-type attacks and knocked it unconscious with a punch.
• Shinji sent out Onix, which defeated Electabuzz; Xiao Ying then brought out Breloom, prompting Shinji to recall Onix and concede the match without acknowledging defeat.
• Xiao Ying rejected Shinji’s treatment of Pokémon as tools and challenged him to finish their battle, but Shinji refused.
• Raisu stepped in to challenge Xiao Ying, and they sent out Poliwhirl and Electivire before Yu Hai arrived and stopped them.
• Yu Hai challenged Raisu instead, sent out Rhydon against Raisu’s Electivire, and offered not to use Ground-type moves while Raisu refused to switch Pokémon.

Yu Hai defeated Raisu’s Electivire and Garchomp in two battles, with Rhydon overpowering Electivire and Poliwhirl sending Garchomp through the arena wall. Raisu took his injured Pokémon for treatment and resolved to remember Yu Hai as he reconsidered his plans and the Indigo League.

• Yu Hai’s Rhydon used Rock Armor and Fire Punch to withstand Electivire’s attack, then brutally knocked Electivire unconscious.
• Raisu was shaken when Yu Hai pointed out that his urgent calls for Electivire showed a bond between them, and Shinji confirmed he had heard them.
• Raisu sent out Garchomp for the second battle, while Yu Hai chose Poliwhirl and told Xiao Ying to trust it.
• Poliwhirl used Belly Drum and Ice Punch to strike Garchomp with overwhelming force, sending it through the arena’s protective wall and knocking it out.
• Raisu recalled Garchomp, asked Yu Hai’s name, and took Electivire and Garchomp to the Pokémon Center as Yu Hai left with Xiao Ying.
• While waiting for treatment, Raisu reconsidered challenging the Battle Frontier and thought about entering the Indigo League.

Yu Hai parted from Xiao Ying in Saffron City, bought riding gear for Bull Bull and Light Stones for Pineco, then arranged to trade a Heracross capture for more bark. After setting up camp outside the city, he checked Marshtomp and Zapdos’s progress and prepared to strengthen Pineco before its evolution.

• Yu Hai and Xiao Ying said goodbye, with Xiao Ying promising to challenge him at the Indigo League, and Yu Hai noticed the Poliwhirl charm on Xiao Ying’s backpack.
• Yu Hai bought a saddle for Bull Bull and ten Light Stones to support Pineco’s training and eventual evolution.
• Yu Hai searched a Logging Camp for Black Bark and agreed to catch a Heracross for the foreman in exchange for more bark the next day.
• Yu Hai had Gengar swallow the bark he had gathered, then camped beside a stream outside Saffron City and released his Pokémon.
• Yu Hai checked Marshtomp’s and Zapdos’s status, noted their growth, and planned to make Pineco bigger, harder, and lighter before evolving it.

Yu Hai began cultivating Pineco by grinding and quenching its shell, hoping to make its defenses stronger and reduce Forretress’s Fire weakness. After blacksmiths dismissed his plan, he returned to camp and started testing Light Stone powder as the next part of Pineco’s transformation.

• Yu Hai stopped Pineco’s shell-grinding to test quenching in a river and decided to seek a blacksmith’s help refining it.
• Yu Hai visited several blacksmith shops in Saffron City, but their craftsmen dismissed his idea as impossible.
• Yu Hai collected more than ten sacks of Black Bark from the Logging Camp foreman and returned to the riverside camp.
• Yu Hai outlined a three-step plan to purify Pineco’s shell, reduce its weight with Light Stone powder, and add Damp Rock powder for Fire Resistance.
• Yu Hai ground Pineco down to forty centimeters wide and seventy centimeters tall, leaving a compact shell that rang like metal when tapped.
• Yu Hai had Scyther split a Light Stone, then tested its fragments and powder on Pineco and found their weight-reducing effect diminished with damage and grinding.

Yu Hai spent two days strengthening Pineco’s shell with Light Stone powder, bark, and Damp Rock until it learned Rain Dance, then prepared it to evolve. Pineco became a massive Forretress, and Yu Hai measured its new body after welcoming it to the team.

• Yu Hai calculated how Light Stones affected weight and planned separate development methods for Pineco and Hana Hana.
• Yu Hai fed Hana Hana a Light Stone and layered Pineco with ground Light Stones, Damp Rocks, and refined Circle Citrus Tree bark, balancing its shell as it grew.
• Pineco’s shell reached its limit after Rain Dance appeared, weighing sixteen kilograms and measuring one meter twenty tall.
• Yu Hai bought Steel Food and Light Stones, then had Pineco eat Steel Food, Bug Gems, and a Light Stone before evolving.
• Pineco evolved into Forretress, and Yu Hai’s Pokémon gathered to meet the new team member.
• Yu Hai measured Forretress at one meter ninety tall and one meter seventy wide, noting its layered shells and concealed eyes.

Yu Hai tested his Shiny Forretress against a normal Forretress and Magmar, discovering that its unusual size, layered shell, and Damp Rock treatment gave it extraordinary defenses against Fire-type attacks. After the tests failed to reveal Forretress’s true limit, he planned to leave Saffron City and considered how to handle Shelmet’s possible evolution.

• Yu Hai inspected his Shiny Forretress and noted its Veteran Class level, Heavy Slam, and massive size.
• Yu Hai hired a Trainer to compare Forretress defenses, and the ordinary Forretress endured Ember for less than half a minute before fainting after three Fire Punches.
• Magmar repeatedly struck Yu Hai’s Forretress, but its shell remained intact and Magmar fractured its arm before Forretress showed any sign of injury.
• Yu Hai paid the Trainer 200,000 League Coins and concluded that Forretress’s true defensive limits would have to be tested in intense battles.
• Yu Hai considered anonymously reporting Shelmet’s possible Trade Evolution, then rented a room and planned to leave Saffron City for the next Gym.

Yu Hai caught a Pikachu for Ai and sent anonymous research on Shelmet and Karrablast’s Trade Evolution to three researchers. Researcher Redwood verified that the evolution worked and began preparing papers, while Cheng Fu’s assistant betrayed him and Colress deleted the email.

• Yu Hai left Saffron City with Tauros and traveled toward Celadon City, then caught a high-potential Pikachu for Ai after reaching camp.
• Yu Hai reviewed Shelmet’s status and decided to reveal its evolution by anonymously sending research to Researcher Redwood, Cheng Fu, and Colress.
• Redwood tested the proposed Trade Evolution, confirmed it worked, and spent the next three days preparing and submitting papers.
• Cheng Fu’s assistant found the email, betrayed him, and sought to cooperate with another researcher after Cheng Fu ordered the assistant to retrieve the Pokémon.
• Colress deleted Yu Hai’s email without reading it because he was focused on researching Pokémon’s Hidden Power and Talent.

Yu Hai caught a Pikachu from the Pikachu Clan and sent it to Blaine for Ai, then continued his journey to Stone Town to search for Evolution Stones and challenge the Knight Gym. He arranged to evolve Shelmet with a Karrablast and prepared to seek the Knight Badge before exploring Evolution Mountain.

• Yu Hai explained his capture to the Pikachu Clan, and they accepted it after Darkrai explained Trainers to them and they received Electric Energy Cubes.
• The Pikachu Leader gave Pikachu an Electric Energy Cube and left with the clan, and Yu Hai caught the confused Pikachu in a Poké Ball.
• Yu Hai traveled to Stone Town, where Officer Jenny warned him about thefts of Evolution Stones and mining finds.
• Yu Hai teleported Pikachu to Blaine for Ai, learned that Blaine was close to finding Ai's Mother, and refused to lend him Shelmet for research.
• Yu Hai obtained a Karrablast from MikanGym so Shelmet could evolve, then planned to challenge the Knight Gym before searching Evolution Mountain.

Yu Hai defeated all three Eevee Brothers at the Knight Gym and earned the Knight Badge. That evening, he checked Gyarados and Pelipper’s progress at the Pokémon Center and considered the risks of relying on a rain team.

• Yu Hai used Rhydon to defeat Raizo’s Magnezone, then sent Kingler to overwhelm Mizuki’s defensive Cloyster.
• Yu Hai’s Gyarados trapped Aki’s Arcanine with Rock Slide and Hydro Pump, giving Yu Hai three wins and the Knight Badge.
• Yu Hai returned to the Pokémon Center and saw that Gyarados had reached Veteran Class after a month of training and battles.
• Yu Hai checked Pelipper’s status and reflected that rain teams could be dangerous against opponents with Electric-type Pokémon, though he still planned to use one selectively.