Hackles Raised (Third Update)

"Be careful," Lance couldn't help reminding him.

"Mm."

Even without Lance's reminder, Xia Yan had already raised his guard to the highest level upon entering the Power Plant, even more cautious than he had been in the forest.

Thankfully, there was a map on the Power Plant's wall, so the two of them would not wander blindly through the complex structure.

After winding through the corridors for a while, Lance suddenly stopped, his brows tightly furrowed.

"Xia Yan, setting aside how quiet it is, why hasn't Goldenrod City reacted at all when such an important place as the Power Plant has had an accident?"

Xia Yan could not help rolling his eyes at him.

Come on, wasn't that reaction a little too slow?

They should have considered that the moment they decided to come to the Power Plant.

Seeing Xia Yan's expression, Lance knew he had misunderstood and hurriedly explained, "I'm not saying the Pokémon League's response in Goldenrod City is wrong. I mean, what method did they use to completely isolate all news from the Power Plant?"

Now Xia Yan understood what he meant.

After a brief pause, he asked, "As far as you know, there should be Pokémon Trainers stationed at the Power Plant, right?"

"Yes."

Such an important place as the Power Plant would definitely have Pokémon Trainers stationed there. That went without saying.

At the same time, Lance added, "Even without Trainers, there are so many Electric-type Pokémon in the Power Plant."

Xia Yan nodded, slowly analyzing as he thought. "Normally, Pokémon should have come out to stop us the moment we approached. That Magnemite we encountered earlier was probably one of the Pokémon responsible for that task, but its condition..."

The two recalled that Magnemite's strange behavior.

Since it had not caused them any trouble, neither of them had thought much about it. But now that they reconsidered it—

The two suddenly looked at each other, voicing the same thought almost at once.

"Hypnosis!"

Only large-scale, silent Hypnosis could isolate the Power Plant from the outside world while leaving all the Pokémon and staff inside completely unaware.

At the same time, they could create problems with the city's internal power lines, making Pokémon League personnel believe the issue lay with the city's grid rather than the Power Plant itself.

That would buy them enough time.

"Then... what are they trying to obtain from the Power Plant?" Xia Yan immediately thought of the question.

Lance thought for a moment but could not make sense of it. Shaking his head, he said, "There are too few clues. We can't possibly guess. I think restoring the Power Plant's operations is the most important thing right now."

A blackout would have far too great an impact on a city like Goldenrod City, which relied heavily on technology.

Medical equipment would stop functioning properly, transportation would be disrupted, and every tech company would suffer losses.

Perhaps even a single hour could cause massive economic losses and casualties among both people and Pokémon throughout Goldenrod City.

Xia Yan also felt that restoring the Power Plant as soon as possible was most important, so he did not continue thinking about it.

After taking a few steps, another thought suddenly flashed through his mind. He quickly asked, "By the way, Lance, that Provisional Elite Four member you mentioned who betrayed the Pokémon League..."

If an Elite Four-level Psychic-type Pokémon had cast a wide-area Hypnosis, it was possible.

But if it had merely been several Psychic-type Pokémon using Hypnosis, that was a little too wishful.

It was not that Xia Yan had not considered the unusually gifted Drowzee in the Slums. Its abilities were special enough, but it was still far from capable of something on this scale.

Without stopping, Lance waved a hand and said with certainty, "Not him. His name is Tom Ruoqi. You may have seen him in the news before—well, perhaps not. He isn't very famous. But I can guarantee that he isn't a Trainer who specializes in Psychic-type Pokémon. In fact, he doesn't even have a single Psychic-type Pokémon."

As he spoke, he took out a somewhat blurry photograph.

All they could make out was a man in a sharp, clean, tailored suit. He was somewhat thin, with neatly combed hair that seemed a little long. His face was very indistinct, though they could vaguely see the unsmiling line of his mouth.

Xia Yan did not recognize him.

If it was not him—

Then the only person Xia Yan could think of was Goldenrod City's Gym Leader, Sabrina—a Psychic who specialized in Psychic-type Pokémon and also a high-ranking Team Rocket officer.

If it was Sabrina, accomplishing this would not be difficult.

Team Rocket?

"Wuu!"

"Muwoo!"

As the two approached the Power Plant's central control area, Weedle and Dratini cried out at the same time.

This proved that the two Pokémon were indeed more focused than their Trainers.

But when Xia Yan and Lance rounded the corner and saw what the two Pokémon had noticed—

Their hackles instantly rose.

Yes, their hair literally stood on end, though they were also a little shaken mentally.

A mass of Magnemite floated in the air ahead, densely packed together, crowding and piling up as they completely blocked the corridor they needed to take.

There was not even the slightest gap.

As for why their hair had stood on end, Magnemite were Pokémon that hovered through magnetism. With so many Magnemite gathered here, the magnetic force went without saying.

Every hair on Xia Yan and Lance's bodies rose uncontrollably.

The Magnemite did not launch an attack. They might not even have been able to see Xia Yan and Lance.

Still, this had become rather troublesome.

What now?

They had seen on the map earlier that this was the only route to the control room. With so many Magnemite blocking the way, even Lance felt a little intimidated.

No matter how he counted, there had to be nearly a hundred of them.

If they all unleashed Electric-type moves together, both of them would be finished.

"What do we do?" Lance was a little dumbfounded as well.

Xia Yan pondered.

Forcing their way through was definitely not an option. Leaving aside whether they could deal with so many Magnemite, the damage caused might prevent them from continuing onward.

Besides, as Electric-type and Steel-type Pokémon, Magnemite countered Weedle too heavily—far more than Golbat did.

Steel-type Pokémon were immune to Poison-type moves, while Bug-type moves would have their power cut in half.

Seeing that Xia Yan could not think of a solution either, Lance gritted his teeth, removed a Poké Ball from his belt, and held it tightly as he said in a deep voice:

"In that case, there's no other choice. We'll have to force our way through..."

The Poké Ball contained Charizard, a Fire-type and Flying-type Pokémon. Fire-type moves countered Steel-type Pokémon. If they struck from the right angle, it was not impossible to break through the wall of Magnemite.

But if they failed to succeed in a single strike, the combined Electric-type attacks of so many Magnemite would probably be more than enough for a Flying-type Charizard to handle.

"Wait!" Xia Yan reached out to stop Lance from summoning Charizard, his brows furrowed as he stared at the Magnemite.

"What?" Lance paused.

"Don't these Magnemite look a lot like the one we encountered outside?"

"They do look similar, but even if they aren't attacking us, we still have to scatter them." Lance clenched the Poké Ball in his hand, his heartbeat quickening.

"Perhaps... we only need to wake them up and give them a target." Xia Yan narrowed his eyes.

"Hm?"

"Can your Dratini use Thunderbolt or Thunder?" Xia Yan suddenly asked.

"Muwoo~~" Dratini shook her head, and Lance admitted, "She hasn't learned either yet."

"Then there's no other way. When I count to three, have Dratini release Thunder Wave toward the far end of the corridor with all her strength. There are enough free electrons here, so it should be enough." Xia Yan made the arrangements.

"You want to use the Magnemite's..."

"Magnemite's basic food source is electricity. I don't see any exposed power sources over there, so they were not drawn here by electricity. The person who hypnotized them must have deliberately arranged this. As long as we can lure away some of the Magnemite, it will be enough for us to get through."

Xia Yan continued, "If it still doesn't work in the end, then we can force our way through. There's no need to rush."

"Alright!" Lance had no objection to Xia Yan's suggestion. He glanced at Dratini, who immediately understood.

"Get ready, Weedle!"

"Wuu!!" Weedle raised his head and nodded firmly.

Then Xia Yan and Lance's expressions both turned extremely serious.

"Three, two, one! Electroweb!" Xia Yan shouted.

"Dratini, Thunder Wave!"

Here was today's third update~~ Please vote~~