PS041

Ponyta Tale (Japanese: VS ポニータ VS Ponyta) is the 41st chapter of the Pokémon Adventures manga, and the first chapter of the .
==Plot==
An old woman is standing outside the ruins of the collapsed Silph Co. building, marveling at its thorough destruction. Shifting through the remains with her cane, she smiles to herself as she finds the Pokémon Badge Energy Amplifier. It is revealed that it has been two years since the battle at Team Rocket's headquarters, as the scenery changes to northern Pallet Town.
A mailman riding a is unable to regain control of his mount, frantically holding on tight while he tries to calm it down. He notices that Ponyta has changed direction, charging directly at a person sitting down nearby. The person quickly stands up, revealed to be , and intervenes by sending out Saur, who quickly incapacitates the Ponyta and catches the mailman on top of his flower. 
Red comforts Ponyta, and explains to the mailman that Pallet Town's fresh air tends to reinvigorate Pokémon, and figures that Ponyta just wanted to run around for a while. The boy starts getting back to work, and begins to clean up the spilled mail back into his bag. Red notices a letter identifying itself as being from the Pokémon League and curiously picks it up. The mailman says the letter was simply addressed to someone named Red, and asks if he knows him at all. 
Red proudly identifies himself as Red from Pallet Town, much to the surprise of the mailman as he realizes he's in the presence of the ninth winner of the Pokémon League. Thanking the boy for delivering the letter, he opens it as he walks back to where he was sitting, curious after finding out an invitation for a battle is contained within. 
Elsewhere, in northwest Kanto, Bruno is undergoing rigorous training, when he notices a woman's voice from behind him. Lorelei sarcastically compliments him on his involved training, before suggesting he should ease up on it a bit. She lets him know that she sent out a letter of challenge in his name to the most recent Pokémon League , Red. She acknowledges his indifference to participating in such a battle, encouraging him to do it anyways for Lance's sake, since it was his idea. 
One month later at Professor Oak's Laboratory, and Misty are having a video chat. Misty is shocked at hearing he hasn't heard or seen Red since he received the letter of challenge. Misty somewhat calms down, recalling how many challenges he's been getting since his victory. Professor Oak begins to reminisce on when he won the Pokémon League, Misty interrupting to ask about Red again. The Professor doesn't consider it a cause for concern, as no normal Trainer would be able to cause him any trouble. His real issue is that Red is still yet to complete his Pokédex, annoyed that all he wants to do is take on challengers and level up his already existing Pokémon. 
Misty questions if such a task is really that urgent, but Professor Oak reasserts his opinion, letting her know he's been hard at work on a completely new Pokédex since finding out the number of Pokémon is far higher than the 151 he thought there was. Misty realizes that Red really has his work cut out for him, especially since he's been having her help him with the process of becoming an official Gym Leader. Professor Oak chuckles to himself, happy he's keeping himself busy. He remarks that since and have left on their journeys as well, he's been left alone to focus on his research. 
Misty catches notice of a letter sitting on the Professor's table, who explains that it's the letter of challenge Red was sent, finding it curious that someone would still bother to write a handwritten letter. Inspecting it closer, he struggles to read it and can't make out the name of the sender. Suddenly, there's a buzzing of electricity at the door, and the Professor puts on his rubber gloves, anticipating it to be Red and Pika. 
The door opens, revealing Pika by himself, exhausted and heavily injured. Professor Oak and Misty are both shocked, and the Professor drops to his knees to try and figure out what happened, but Pika wobbles and collapses to the ground.
==Major events==
* Agatha searches the ruins of Silph Co. and finds the Pokémon Badge Energy Amplifier.
* Red leaves Pallet Town to battle his challenger.
* One month later, Pika returns alone and injured.
===Debuts===
====Pokémon debuts====
* 
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* (flashback)
* (flashback)
* 
* Misty
* Agatha
* Bruno
* Lorelei
* s (flashback)
* Mailman
===Pokémon===
* (Poli; 's; flashback)
* (Saur; 's)
* (Pika; 's)
* (; flashback)
* ('s; flashback)
* (Jiggly; 's; flashback)
* (Bruno's)
* (Mailman's)
* 
* (silhouette)
* An unknown Pokémon (silhouette)
==Trivia==
* This chapter is included in The Best of Pokémon Adventures: Yellow.
* states that he is working on a new Pokédex after discovering there are far more than 151 species of Pokémon. His files include photographs of two silhouetted Pokémon; one is while the other does not resemble any released Pokémon.
* To the dismay of Professor Oak, still hasn't completed the original Pokédex.
* This chapter also mentions that Red is seeking official permission to become a Gym Leader.
===Errors===
* Agatha and the narrator refer to Silph Co. as "Sylph". This may have originated from the company being known as Sylph in Japanese.
==In other languages==
de:VS. Ponita
es:PMS041
fr:Chapitre 41 (Pocket Monsters Special)
it:LGA041
zh:宝可梦特别篇 第41话