(...)
(To be honest, Tibbers had never expected that its troublesome little master would come up with the idea of stuffing His Bear Lordship into a Poké Ball and then tossing it out to pass it off as a "Pokémon." It had certainly caught him by surprise.)
"..."
The "Dragonite" across from them was just as surprised.
After all, it had only been ordered to deliver a letter. How had that little girl trainer ended up setting her sights on it and insisting on battling? Its owner wasn't even here. What was the point of starting a battle without its owner? Did she really think it was wild?
If it could speak like a human, it might have already let loose with a string of curses and argued with that clueless little girl.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Meanwhile, Ash, Misty, and Brock were just as dumbfounded.
They had clearly already explained that it was simply a Dragonite mail carrier, and that it really did seem to belong to someone. So why was that troublesome little girl still refusing to let it go and insisting on doing this?
"Annie..."
"You can't catch someone else's Pokémon. You should stop wasting your time."
"If you really want it, you'll have to talk or trade with its owner—or go catch another wild one?"
Seeing that Annie didn't seem to understand the situation, Misty had no choice but to hurry and explain.
Generally speaking, ordinary Pokémon—even some rare ones—could be traded, as long as they weren't legally protected and explicitly forbidden to catch. Some even had set prices and could be traded or exchanged directly in shops.
It was perfectly fine to trade Pokémon for Pokémon or use some other indirect method. There were no restrictions at all, and the Pokémon League had never restricted the