A few days after the incident with the Wailord and Combusken, May takes part in the Pokemon Contest with her Marill. The two breeze past the performance round easily with clever use of Water Gun, Bubble Beam and Slam from the aquatic mouse Pokemon. But falling victim in the second round against a coordinator named Drew and his Roselia. May left that contest with no ribbons but a rival.
With the contest done, the trio decided to explore Slateport City for a bit before moving on to Mauville City. The Sea Museum was one of the sights that the trio wanted to visit but found that it was closed. There was a robbery not long ago and the police were investigating the matter.
With nothing more to see, the trio leave Slateport and head for Mauville City.
The trio finally arrived at Mauville, only to find that the city was in an uproar. The police were evacuating people from all the buildings for some reason and it confused the three.
"Kids!" Officer Jenny rushed to them, "We need to leave now! It's not safe here!"
Ash was about to ask what was going on, only to be interrupted when a transformer burst. The trio rushed away with Officer Jenny as more transformers burst, the officer rushed them to the edge of the city, where civilians had gathered and were screaming and wailing.
"What's going on?" Ash asked the Officer.
"A pack of Manectric appeared at the Power Plant. We don't know much else than that. The Gym Leader's gone to check in on things but he's not returned yet. Everyone here is expecting the worst."
Frowning Ash pulled his Pokedex out to check.
"Manectric, the Discharge Pokemon. Manectric is constantly discharging electricity from its mane. The sparks sometimes ignite forest fires. When it enters a battle, this Pokémon creates thunderclouds."
"They are probably overpowering the grid from all the electricity they discharge" Max theorized. Another transformer burst and the people screamed in terror.
"Is this a normal thing?" May asked the Officer.
"No. Usually, they stay away from the Power Plant and have their meadow to hang about. Something must have happened" the Officer explained before she was running off.
"I'm going to go and check on the Power Plant" Ash decided, to the shock of May and Max. "The Gym Leader hasn't returned, it could be bad."
"I'm coming with" May and Max declared, but Ash insisted the two stay behind, in case the Manectric decided to come here for some reason. The real reason was that Ash did not want to put these two in danger, but it was not something he told them.
The three break off and Ash rushes to the Power Plant after getting directions for a civilian.
Ash heard the sound of lightning crackling even before he reached the Power Plant. A man stood before the building, A Magneton and an Electrode fighting against a pack of Manectric. Ash rushed over to him, sending his Cacnea and Treecko out, the only two who resisted electric types.
"What is going on?" Ash demanded to know, commanding his Pokemon to attack while staying grounded.
"The field where Manectric usually lounged about and rested was taken over by a construction company. They sent the pack away and now these Manectric are taking their revenge" the fat man who could only be the Gym Leader explained.
Of course, it'd be other humans messing things up for everyone.
"I don't know who you are, but help me capture the remaining ones."
Ash nodded and got to work with Cacnea and Treecko, staying grounded the whole time the two attacked, dodged or countered. The Gym Leader's Pokemon knocked a few out and Ash caught those before Cacnea and Treecko knocked a few out and the Gym Leader caught those. Slowly the duo managed to capture them all.
And then the Gym Leader was off, Ash running close behind him.
The meadow that the Gym Leader mentioned was overrun by construction workers, beginning their process of digging and laying a fountain. The Gym Leader stopped it all with one Thunderbolt from his Magneton that killed the power of every machine in the meadow.
"What is the meaning of this?!" a man in a hard hat rushed over, stopping when he saw the Gym Leader. "Oh, Watson."
"What do you think you're doing?!" Watson snapped. "This place was marked as a preserve. Who gave you the right to construct anything here?!"
"That would be me."
A man in a black suit and slick back hair approached the Gym Leader with a smile.
"I bought this land here."
"From who?"
"From the City of Mauville of course."
"Funny you should say that when the mayor of Mauville is standing right in front of you."
The smile fell from the man's face.
"Because of your little stunt here, the Manectric attacked the Power Plant and have caused irreversible damage to the City of Mauville. Thousands of Poke Dollars worth of equipment need to be replaced now to restore power!"
"I don't see how that's my fault" the man shrugged, "it was the Manectric who did it."
"After you invaded their home and started making whatever it is you're making!"
"A hotel" the man smiled again.
"There will be no hotels here. Empty this place right now."
"This land is mine."
"A land you claim Mauville sold to you, but I as the mayor know nothing about" Watson's eyes narrowed. "Clear the meadow, or you will hear from my lawyer."
The man stared down at the shorted Gym Leader, cold and calculating, before sighing.
"Pack it up."
The construction company and their materials were all cleared away and the man in the black suit drove away in his car.
"Who was that?" Ash asked.
"A business Tycoon who thinks he can get whatever he wants by paying people off" Watson grunted. "I'll need to look into who sold him this land, and send him a letter from my lawyer for the damages his actions have caused the City of Mauville."
Watson then pulled out some Pokeballs and released the Manectric, much to Ash's shock.
"The man won't bother you anymore" Watson spoke with a grin, "next time if something happens, you come to me instead of attacking, alright?"
The Manectric nodded, before looking at Ash expectantly.
"I'll release your buddies soon. They got sent to Professor Oak's Laboratory and need to be brought back."
"Professor Oak?" Watson asked, "Rare to see a Kantonia here."
"I'm on my journey to conquer the Hoenn League" Ash declared.
Watson was grinning.
"So you're here to challenge the Gym then?"
"Yup!"
"Tomorrow. Today I need to settle things in the city and get things back and running on backup power."
That was fair. Watson was also the mayor of Mauville City, he had his responsibilities.
It also gave Ash to come up with a winning strategy against the man.