Chapter 231

Chapter 231: Chapter 231

"What happened?!" Ash shouted when he realized that nearly all the Pokémon around them had suddenly been captured.

From atop the strange flying machine, two painfully familiar voices immediately began reciting their motto.

"Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it double!"

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"..."

Mike raised his head and stared at the trio dramatically posing on top of the robot, only for a strange thought to cross his mind.

’Wait... if all three of you are standing on top of the machine, who the hell is actually driving it?’

For some reason, despite being confronted by Team Rocket, he couldn’t feel even the slightest sense of danger.

Maybe the peculiar reassurance that came with seeing these three had simply become too deeply ingrained in his mind.

With a sigh, Mike decided not to wait for them to finish their motto.

"Gengar, Shadow Ball."

Inside the transparent compartment, Gengar had been curiously examining the strange material surrounding him.

As soon as he heard Mike’s command, a spinning sphere of shadowy energy formed in his palm, and he pressed it directly against the wall.

BOOM!

Shadow Ball detonated violently against the transparent barrier, and Gengar froze with an expression that practically read ∑(〇?〇)!!! when the smoke cleared.

The compartment holding him and the others was completely unharmed.

Mike’s eyes widened.

’What the hell is that stuff made of? Even Gengar couldn’t leave a mark on it?!’

"Hey, you down there!" Jessie called from atop the robot, her wine-red hair whipping in the wind.

"Isn’t interrupting people in the middle of their introduction incredibly rude?"

"Exactly!" James chimed in beside her. "Didn’t anyone ever teach you basic manners?"

"Team Rocket!" Ash pointed at the trio as he finally recognized them. "You captured Mr. Mike’s Pokémon and Paul’s Pokémon too?!"

"That’s right, twerp!" Meowth shouted back. "And don’t worry—your Pikachu is joining them next!"

Meowth immediately disappeared into the robot’s interior, and a mechanical arm shot toward Pikachu a moment later.

Ash grabbed Pikachu and threw himself aside, narrowly avoiding it before shouting, "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

"Pika—!"

Pikachu leaped high into the air as tremendous electrical power gathered in his cheek pouches, then unleashed a massive bolt of yellow lightning at the machine.

The attack struck the robot squarely, only for the electricity to scatter harmlessly across its surface.

"Pika?" Pikachu blinked in confusion, while Ash stared upward in disbelief. "What happened?!"

"Hahaha! Give up already!" Jessie laughed with all the theatrical confidence of a genuine supervillain.

"We’ve been watching your battles for quite a while! We modified this machine with special capture compartments that can withstand attacks, and the outer armor is insulated against Electric-type moves. Nothing you do is going to work!"

Mike stared at her in astonishment. "Wait. Are you saying you guys just built this robot after watching our battle?"

"What are you talking about? Of course not!" James immediately shouted back. "How could anyone possibly build something this huge in such a short amount of time? We only made some temporary modifications!"

Mike fell silent.

’You only modified it?’

That was still absurdly impressive.

For the first time, he found himself genuinely shocked by Team Rocket’s terrifying practical ability.

Apparently, if they needed a giant machine altered to counter a particular group of Pokémon, they could simply find the materials and modify the damn thing on the spot.

"Staravia, I choose you!" Ash shouted as he threw another Poké Ball.

Staravia emerged in a flash of red light, and Ash immediately followed with, "Use Aerial Ace!"

"You’re not getting away with that!" Jessie threw out a Poké Ball of her own. "Seviper, use Poison Sting!"

Mike watched Staravia rush toward the robot only to be blasted out of the air by Poison Sting, and his expression darkened slightly.

’Yep. That was very Ash.’

Paul also sent out another Pokémon, and before long, Ash, Dawn, Brock, and Paul were fighting Jessie and James together.

What surprised Mike most was that Team Rocket was somehow holding their own against all four of them this time.

...

Inside the transparent compartment, Gengar sat against the barrier and continued studying it with unabated curiosity, periodically forming another Shadow Ball and pressing it against the same spot to see whether repeated attacks would make any difference.

Explosion after explosion shook the enclosure, but the material stubbornly refused to break.

Glameow paced along the bottom of the compartment before lightly tapping the wall with her tail.

After testing it once, her spring-shaped tail hardened with metallic energy and she lashed out with Iron Tail, only for the recoil to travel back through her body so violently that her fur instantly puffed up.

Snivy watched the barrier with her large eyes narrowed thoughtfully, while Beedrill chose a much more straightforward method, focusing on a single point and repeatedly driving his lances into it.

Even he seemed surprised by how resistant the material was.

"Based on the current situation, it appears that we have indeed been captured, roto," Rotom announced in an increasingly ominous voice.

"If nothing unexpected happens, there is a significant possibility that we’ll be taken away and sold to someone else, roto..."

Nearby, Paul’s Electabuzz repeatedly fired Thunder into one corner of the enclosure, but those attacks were no more successful than everyone else’s.

On the ground below, Hatenna stood pressed against Mike’s leg, staring upward at Gengar and the others as her tiny body began to tremble.

"H-Hatenna..."

Mike immediately noticed the fear in her voice.

Hatenna had escaped capture only because she had remained close beside him, and seeing her shaking so badly, he crouched down and carefully lifted her into his arms.

"It’s okay. I’m here, so nothing’s going to happen." He slowly stroked her head, trying to soothe her.

"H-Hatenn..."

[My friends... before... they were taken away by machines too... Gengar and everyone...]

Mike’s brows drew together as he understood what had frightened her so badly.

Hatenna had been captured by Pokémon Hunter J in the past, and that experience had not only brought her all the way to Sinnoh but had permanently separated her from the companions she once knew.

She had never seen those friends again.

He continued gently stroking her head. "It’s okay, Hatenna. Trust me. Gengar and the others aren’t going to be taken away."

Hatenna slowly raised her face.

Her bangs shifted just enough for Mike to see her eyes clearly for the first time, revealing beautiful pink-and-white eyes filled with unmistakable fear.

The sight made his heart ache, but he kept his expression gentle as he lightly pinched her little nose.

"Trust me, okay? Didn’t we make a promise? We’re going to travel together and see more clouds—prettier clouds than anything you’ve ever seen before."

"Hatenna..."

[Our promise...]

Mike nodded before looking back toward the flying machine.

"Gengar! Can you get out of there? Hatenna’s scared."

Gengar scratched his large backside, thought about it for a moment, then slowly sank into the transparent wall.

His ghostly body passed straight through the supposedly indestructible material without resistance.

Inside the compartment, Snivy looked down at Hatenna trembling in Mike’s arms.

Her eyes sharpened for a moment before she closed them, and when she opened them again, white evolutionary light had begun spreading across her body.

...

Gengar passed through the robot’s exterior and floated into its interior, where Meowth was busy operating the controls.

He silently drifted up behind him with an enormous grin.

Meowth turned around, nearly jumping out of his fur when he found Gengar floating right behind him.

"How’d you get in here, meow?!"

"Gar—!"

"What?! You used your shadow powers to slip through the prison and phase straight into the robot, meow?" Meowth puffed himself up despite his obvious alarm. "Well, don’t get cocky! I’m not scared of—"

Gengar floated directly into his face, his eyes glowing with Hypnosis.

"...So sleepy, meow..."

Meowth collapsed over the controls before he could finish his sentence.

Gengar hovered above him and stared seriously at the enormous control panel.

There were buttons everywhere, along with switches, lights, gauges, and more levers than he had any hope of understanding.

After frowning at the whole thing for a few seconds, he apparently decided that understanding any of it was completely unnecessary.

’Forget it.’

His face immediately split into a delighted grin.

Gengar began pressing every button within reach, flipping switches at random before finally grabbing the largest lever on the console and yanking it all the way upward.

’Activate everything GAAAAAARRRR!’

The robot immediately began shaking violently in midair before losing stability and plunging toward the ground.

"MEOWTH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Jessie screamed from outside, desperately grabbing onto a gap in the robot’s plating and flattening herself against the machine to avoid being thrown off.

Below, Hatenna stared at the falling robot with growing fear.

Gengar and the others were still aboard, and the transparent compartments containing her companions were falling with it.

Memories from her time with them began rushing through her mind.

Gengar was always telling her stories about how he and Beedrill were great heroes.

No matter what she said, Snivy would patiently listen and nod along.

Glameow acted aloof and often pretended not to care, yet she had still allowed Hatenna to sleep beside Mike.

Beedrill rarely displayed much emotion, but whenever wild Pokémon attacked, he was always one of the first to place himself between danger and the others.

Even Rotom, unbearably noisy as he could be, was always there talking, complaining, explaining, or making some kind of noise.

Then there was Mike.

"Hatenna, would you like to come see the clouds with me?"

"Hatenna, would you like to travel with me?"

Those words echoed through her memory as she looked at the robot falling from the sky.

Suddenly, Hatenna jumped free of Mike’s arms and threw herself upward.

"HATENNA!!!"

[I WANT TO!!!]

Brilliant white evolutionary light erupted around her body as her silhouette began to change.

Inside the falling compartment, Big Sis Snivy tightly gripped the Leaf Stone hanging against her chest.

The evolutionary light surrounding her own body intensified, but after seeing Hatenna enveloped in that same light, surprise flashed through her eyes.

A moment later, that surprise softened into warmth, and she forcibly suppressed her own evolution until the light around her gradually faded.

Mike could only stare upward.

"This is..."

"Hatenna’s evolving!" Brock shouted from nearby. "That’s evolutionary light!"

(Wth i can hear brock voice)

"Because she wants to protect everyone?" Ash stopped commanding Pikachu altogether and stared upward in amazement.

"That’s so touching..." Dawn murmured, while even Paul turned toward Mike and silently watched the evolving Hatenna with an unreadable expression.

When the light finally receded, Hatenna had grown noticeably larger.

The party-hat-like structure formed by her tail had taken on the appearance of a witch’s hat, while her hair had become thicker and fuller.

Her bangs had shortened and curled upward enough to reveal her adorable pink-and-white eyes, and her newly developed body now had small limbs along with two long, thick braids trailing behind her.

"Hattrem!!"

Her clear, ethereal cry rang through the air, immediately followed by a terrifying eruption of psychic power.

The falling compartment suddenly stopped in midair, suspended by Hattrem’s telekinesis, and she carefully lowered the entire structure toward the ground before tightening her control around it.

CRACK!

The transparent prison that had resisted Gengar, Beedrill, Glameow, and Electabuzz shattered under the sheer pressure of her psychic power.

Behind it, the out-of-control robot slammed into the ground with a deafening crash, sending an enormous cloud of dust billowing through the clearing.

Two Vine Whips immediately shot from the smoke and wrapped around nearby branches, and Snivy swung herself free before landing gracefully in front of Mike.

Her vines reached upward again and caught Hattrem as she descended.

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