Orange Archipelago.
Citrus Island.
After the Lugia Birth incident ended, life had to go on.
The Winner's Cup, a small league tournament unique to the Orange Archipelago, continued as usual.
This time, Orange League Chief Trainer Drake faced Ash from Pallet Town.
Ash was also the Trainer whom Lugia had acknowledged during the Orange Archipelago Incident.
Facing Ash, Drake did not dare let his guard down. The two were currently battling with all their might at Citrus Stadium.
"Little brat, give it your all!"
"As long as the little brat wins, it'll prove our worth even more, meow."
"Go, Pikachu...!"
While Ash battled, three part-timers selling drinks in the stands cheered him on as they worked.
They were none other than the Team Rocket Trio.
Though they had been opponents for a long time, the Team Rocket Trio's feelings toward Ash were quite complicated.
Especially now that Team Rocket was supposedly disbanded and they could no longer contact Main Campus, their feelings had become even more complicated.
They no longer knew whether they should keep trying to capture Pikachu.
After this match, it was time for them to make a decision.
"They're clearly Poachers, yet they still cheer so passionately for their opponent."
"A talking Meowth... no matter how many times I see it, it still feels incredible..."
What the Team Rocket Trio did not know was that a silver-white figure in the sky had been observing them for quite some time.
After taking over Team Rainbow Rocket from Fang Yuan, Mewtwo had begun selecting the first batch of qualified personnel.
The Team Rocket Trio were candidates Fang Yuan had recommended to Mewtwo.
Naturally, Mewtwo had come to inspect them personally.
Before observing them, it had not understood. But after watching closely, Mewtwo immediately understood why Fang Yuan thought so