Chapter 28: Team Rocket Appears

Chapter 28: Team Rocket Appears

Giving Ash a sidelong glance, Misty said, "Even though he won the battle just now, he traded his Butterfree for the opponent's Rattata."

"Traded?" Xia You was stunned at first, but after recalling this plot point, he couldn't help but shake his head. "Isn't Butterfree your partner? Why would you trade it? Besides, your goal isn't to complete the Pokédex, and Rattata isn't exactly a rare Pokémon. There was no need to trade with them."

"But..." Ash was also very conflicted, his tone unable to hide his disappointment. "Brock agreed to the trade just now, too."

"He was too busy staring at the other person's female companion; he couldn't take his eyes off her, so how could he possibly listen to you?" Misty was utterly helpless regarding Brock's habit of acting like a fool whenever he saw a beautiful woman.

Since things had already turned out this way, Xia You did not advise Ash to go and trade Butterfree back immediately. After all, everyone grows at their own pace; this was a stage Ash had to experience. Moreover, it was a trade request he had agreed to himself. The person who tied the knot must be the one to untie it; even if he regretted it, he had to wait until Ash understood it for himself.

"By the way," Misty said, taking another bite of cake and asking Xia You, "where did you go just now?"

"I just wandered around nearby," Xia You smiled, glancing at the pieces of cake in Misty's hand. "Even though you're in your growing years, don't eat too many sweets. It's easy to gain weight, you know."

Hearing this, Misty glanced at Xia You. She seemed to remember something; though she felt a bit regretful, she slowly put down the cake in her hand.

The sound of a whistle rang out again. The St. Anne had been sailing for a long time now; outside the window, no land or other ships could be seen, only the vast blue sea in every direction.

Sitting down beside Misty, Xia You had just taken a few bites of food when suddenly, with a loud *bang*, all the doors to the hall were slammed shut. A group of ill-intentioned people emerged from nowhere.

These people wore black hats and eye masks, dressed in black uniforms emblazoned with the letter 'R'. They carried machines equipped with several suction tubes and surrounded the passengers.

Just as everyone was bewildered and lost, the lights in the hall suddenly dimmed. Two figures, a man and a woman dressed in white uniforms, jumped onto a high platform made of stacked tables. Then, amidst arrogant laughter, a beam of light struck the two of them.

"To prevent the world from being destroyed!"

"To protect the peace of the world!"

"To carry out the ideology of love and truth!"

"Those twirling, cosmic villains!"

"I am Jessie!"

"I am James!"

"We are Team Rocket, blasting off across the galaxy!"

"The White Hole, a white tomorrow awaits us!"

"That's right, Meowth~" A standing Meowth finally jumped between the two.

The Team Rocket trio, who permeated the entire Pokémon anime, had finally made their grand entrance!

With thick, reddish-purple hair, Jessie placed her hands on her hips and shouted to the passengers, "Every Pokémon here today—Team Rocket is taking them all!"

"That's right!" James shouted as well, crossing his arms. "If anyone dares to stand in our way, don't blame us for being ruthless!"

Before the passengers could react, the Team Rocket members in black activated a switch. Instantly, a gust of wind swirled, and with powerful suction, more than half of the Poké Balls held by or attached to the people at the front were sucked into the machine.

Chaos erupted instantly among the crowd. Because Xia You, Ash, and Misty were standing further away, they had not yet been affected by the airflow.

*Team Rocket really is acting against the passengers just like in the anime...*

After the brief panic, the passengers naturally would not surrender without a fight. As Pokémon were released one after another, they fought back under their trainers' commands, clashing with Team Rocket's Pokémon.

The Pokémon held by the Team Rocket members were almost all Poison-type, with Arbok, Koffing, and Zubat being the most common.

The Pokémon held by the passengers were much more diverse, though despite the variety, most were unevolved species like Rattata, Pidgey, and Bellsprout.

Ash, Misty, and Brock joined the battle at this time.

A fierce battle broke out in the hall, and soon, explosions and flames left the place in ruins.

However, generally speaking, if Team Rocket had no other tricks up their sleeves, their defeat would have been inevitable even without Ash and the others intervening.

*Is a long-planned scheme really that simple?*

Xia You watched everything calmly. Suddenly, he saw in the second-floor corridor that the man codenamed "Handsome" was battling a feminine-looking man with a purple mohawk wearing a Team Rocket uniform, accompanied by two Pokémon.

Moved by a sudden thought, and without having time to say goodbye to Misty and the others, Xia You ran to the stairs and reached the second-floor corridor of the hall.

Handsome's two Pokémon were a frog with a punchable expression—Poliwrath—and a Growlithe with tiger stripes and a lion-like mane.

As for the feminine man, his Pokémon were a Zubat with no eyes but a wide, bloody maw, and a Weezing that constantly emitted poisonous gas.

The four Pokémon were in the heat of battle. Seeing Xia You arrive, Handsome's face instantly lit up with joy, while the feminine man's expression became even more unsightly.

"Xia You!" Handsome called out, then pointed at the man and shouted, "This guy is Lambda, one of the four executives of Team Rocket and the field commander of this robbery! If we catch him, we will truly stop this riot!"

"Damn it, don't get in our way!" Lambda roared. "Whether you are Interpol or some other trainers, if you dare to stop Team Rocket's plan, you will pay the price!"

*So he was the field commander. No wonder the Team Rocket members below are as disorganized as a pile of sand now that he's tied up here.*

"Give up," Xia You said. "Look down below. Your plan has completely fallen apart, and your subordinates are being scattered in flight. Defeat is inevitable! Kirlia, use Confusion!"

In the next second, Lambda's Zubat was as if its neck had been squeezed, and it was slammed violently to the ground.

With Xia You's arrival, the stalemate was instantly broken.

Seeing this, no matter how unwilling he was, Lambda could only swallow the bitter fruit of defeat.

"Don't celebrate too early, we will be back!" After glaring fiercely at Handsome and Xia You, Lambda ordered, "Weezing, use Smokescreen!"

A massive cloud of black smoke erupted from Weezing's body, enveloping Lambda.

"Oh no!" Handsome cried out in alarm. But when he covered his nose and rushed into the smoke, he found that Lambda and his Pokémon had already vanished without a trace.

(End of Chapter)