Chapter 329: Looks Like Mewtwo Wasn’t the Only Thing That Got Stolen Away

The video continued playing.

An invisible psychic field slowly spread outward from Sabrina’s palm.

Many of the smaller aircraft began trembling violently the moment they approached.

Unable to move any farther, they were forced to stop and hover in place.

However—

The large black transport aircraft leading the formation was completely unaffected a it continued advancing toward Asher.

"That aircraft seems to be equipped with some kind of special defensive system."

Sabrina spoke calmly.

"It’s blocking my psychic power."

"All right."

Asher stood up.

"Nana, go around to the other directions and stop the small fry."

"Steven and I will stay here and meet an old friend."

Sabrina looked at him.

Then she nodded.

"...Be careful."

"Relax."

"When has your husband ever messed up?"

Sabrina’s face reddened.

She didn’t respond.

With a flash of blue light she disappeared from the helicopter cabin.

"Here, Steven."

Asher reached beneath the seat, pulled out a surfboard, and tossed it to him.

Steven caught it with a strange expression.

"Brother Asher, aren’t we supposed to be stopping Giovanni?"

"Why are you giving me a surfboard?"

"Because it looks cool."

Asher pulled out another surfboard and set it beneath his feet.

"You’ll understand in a second."

"Cool?"

Steven nodded immediately.

"I accept that reason."

He stepped onto his own surfboard and wobbled experimentally.

"But my balance isn’t exactly amazing. Can’t I get something a little more stable?"

"Stop complaining."

"Keep up."

Asher tapped the surfboard with the tip of his foot.

Bzzzt—

The anti-gravity device beneath it lit up.

The board carried him straight out of the cabin.

Steven hurriedly followed.

Before long the two arrived alongside the large black transport aircraft.

Its cabin door slowly opened.

A man in a black suit stepped out, both hands tucked into his pockets.

Giovanni.

"Asher."

Giovanni didn’t speak loudly, yet his voice carried remarkably clearly through the sea wind.

"So it really is you."

"Yep."

"I heard you were working on some huge project, so I came all this way to show my support."

Asher pulled out a packet of sunflower seeds and casually started cracking them open.

"So?"

"How much did you invest?"

Steven immediately leaned over with practiced familiarity.

"Brother Asher, give me a handful."

"Open your own pack."

"I didn’t bring one."

"Then watch me eat."

Giovanni fell silent for a moment.

Then he looked down toward New Island.

"I assume the two of you didn’t come all this way merely to admire the results of my research?"

"Now that’s not fair."

Asher finally handed Steven a fistful of sunflower seeds.

"How did this suddenly become your research result?"

"Didn’t we contribute materials too?"

The corner of Giovanni’s mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.

Every time he spoke with Asher, he could practically feel his blood pressure rising at a subtle but steady rate.

Steven began cracking sunflower seeds too.

"Giovanni, I’m just saying."

"Instead of carrying out cloning research out here, Team Rocket could be giving Lance a little more work pressure."

"What?"

"Is Kanto no longer big enough for you?"

"Mr. Steven."

Giovanni remained completely unhurried.

"If Devon Corporation is willing to hand over its headquarters, I’d be more than happy to relocate there."

Steven burst out laughing.

"Hand it over?"

"Sure."

"Beat me first."

Giovanni said nothing more.

He simply clapped his hands lightly.

The dozen or so subordinates behind him simultaneously threw out their Poké Balls.

Red light erupted like fireworks.

More than a dozen Pokémon appeared in formation, radiating an imposing aura.

Steven stuffed the sunflower seeds into his pocket and rolled his neck.

"Brother Asher."

"What do you think?"

"Want me to go first?"

"Sure."

Asher shifted backward slightly.

"Take your time."

"I haven’t finished my sunflower seeds yet."

"No problem."

Steven lightly snapped his fingers.

Metagross’s eyes glowed blue.

In an instant every opposing Pokémon was completely immobilized.

Then, one by one, they were neatly stacked along the tail of the aircraft.

Steven folded his arms.

"You guys want to join them for some pull-ups?"

The Team Rocket grunts’ faces turned green.

Giovanni, however, still hadn’t moved.

He simply stood before the cabin door with his hands in his pockets, his expression revealing nothing.

At that moment—

The air behind Asher suddenly distorted.

Giovanni’s Beedrill.

Its speed was so extreme that the naked eye could barely follow it.

Even the wind was split apart, leaving a vacuum trail behind it.

Its target—the back of Asher’s neck.

But before it could get close a fist crackling with electricity met it head-on.

Thunder Punch!

Dragonite’s fist slammed into Beedrill and sent it flying backward.

Beedrill tumbled dozens of times through the air before finally stabilizing itself.

Asher didn’t even turn around.

"Giovanni."

"It’s Beedrill every time."

"A sneak attack every time."

"Can’t you come up with something new?"

"Your Dragonite..."

Giovanni’s voice still carried almost no emotion.

"It seems to have gotten stronger again."

"Oh."

"Thanks."

"..."

The wind over the ocean suddenly picked up.

"DAD!!!"

"WE’RE BACK!"

Two silver-white figures flew rapidly in from the direction of New Island.

They landed steadily beside Asher.

"Oh?"

Asher looked over the sisters.

"Faster than I expected."

"Where’s Mewtwo?"

"Right here!"

Selene raised a Poké Ball.

"What do you think, Dad?"

"Pretty amazing, right?"

"Very."

Asher rubbed Selene’s head.

"Oh, right."

"The gentleman across from us is Boss Giovanni, the man who spent a fortune creating Mewtwo."

"We can’t exactly take someone’s stuff for free."

"Go on. Say thank you."

"Oh!"

Selene put away the Poké Ball.

Then she turned toward Giovanni with an absolutely radiant smile.

"Boss of Team Rocket, thank you!"

"Sure, your laboratory exploded, all your research data got ruined, and Mewtwo ran off with me..."

"But at least you gained lots of valuable work experience from the whole thing, right?"

Steven gave her a thumbs-up.

"Niece Selene’s mouth really has surpassed her teacher."

Giovanni’s gaze fell on the Poké Ball at Selene’s waist.

His right hand, still tucked inside his pocket, shifted slightly outward—

Revealing the faintest trace of iridescent light.

Aurelia noticed immediately.

Without hesitation, she reached into Selene’s bag, pulled out one of the custom flashbangs, and threw it toward Giovanni.

The next second a blinding white flash exploded through the air.

At the same time, a rapid series of voice lines began blasting from it: "FOR BOSS GIOVANNI, MEOWTH!!!"

Steven flinched at the sudden spectacle.

"What the hell is that?"

"A flashbang with sound effects."

Selene covered her eyes.

"It’s just..."

"The activation rate seems unusually high this time?"

By the time everyone’s vision recovered Giovanni’s black transport aircraft had already disappeared.

Several hundred meters away—

Giovanni sat silently inside the cabin, staring at the flashbang’s discarded wrapper in his hand.

Printed across it were portraits of Jessie, James, and Meowth.

Beside them was a small slogan: FOR BOSS GIOVANNI—EVEN WORKERS CAN SHINE BRIGHTLY.

Giovanni stared at the wrapper for a very long time.

Only after the aircraft had completely left New Island’s waters did he slowly crumple it into a ball in his fist.

"..."

[VIP Chat Group]

[Volkner]: That final shot of Giovanni slowly crushing the wrapper into a ball... Why was that so ridiculously funny? Hahahaha!

[Raihan]: Hahahaha! That flashbang is killing me. It doesn’t trigger the sound effect on anyone else, but the moment it’s thrown at Giovanni it starts blasting it nonstop?!

[Cassidy]: You three had better prepare yourselves. Boss Giovanni is probably already considering firing all three of you.

[Meowth]: Impossible! The three of us are irreplaceable, meowth!

[James]: Exactly! Besides, that’s something that happened in a parallel world. What’s it got to do with us?

[Bruno]: Hahaha! Seeing Giovanni take a loss like that, Lance is probably going to be full of energy for overtime tonight!

[Clair]: Cousin, the corners of your mouth are practically reaching your ears. Try to restrain yourself.

[Lance]: ...I’m not smiling.