Bait

East Gate.

At Team Rocket's Special Training Camp, aside from the main entrance—the West Gate—there was only this East Gate leading into the deep mountains.

Once Team Rocket successfully escaped through the East Gate, even if the Johto Regional Police District had wings, they would be powerless against Team Rocket as they disappeared deep into the forest.

Then the sky would be wide enough for birds to soar, and the sea broad enough for fish to leap!

Inside the East Gate, a long convoy of off-road vehicles stood ready to depart.

"Squadron Leader! The current assembly count is 197. The expected count is 221!"

A hat-wearing Team Rocket member reported to Squadron Leader Lan.

"How much time until the agreed time?" Lan asked leisurely from the passenger seat of an open-top off-road vehicle.

"Six minutes remaining!"

"Then... let's go!"

Squadron Leader Lan sneered and waved a broad hand.

"Yes!" The Team Rocket member answered, then ran to the lead vehicle and signaled the flagman at the base gate.

The flagman immediately understood. Standing where every driver could see him, he gave the signal to depart.

Rumble—rumble rumble!

The engines started. The East Gate opened amid the groan of machinery, and the convoy rolled forward.

"Captain! Are we going to silence everyone in the base?"

A Team Rocket member seated behind Squadron Leader Lan gave a sinister laugh. "I prepared over a thousand tons of explosives! Enough to blow the entire base into the sky!"

He held a wireless remote in his hand, its bright red button painfully conspicuous.

Lan crossed his legs and folded his hands behind his head. "Don't rush it. Wait until those idiots are all inside before you do it! It'd be best if we blew every last one of them into the sky!"

"Hee hee hee! Got it, Captain!"

The Team Rocket member agreed with a beaming smile.

Just as they were speaking!

Boom!

A raging blast of fire surged down from the sky, shooting straight into the lead off-road vehicle!

The vehicle was immediately blasted into the air!

"Stop!"

A cold female voice rang out from the clear sky.

Along with the voice came a dark-blue dragon-shaped energy blast. It struck the ground before the convoy and blasted open a massive crater.

Inside the convoy, Squadron Leader Lan sneered and swung his thick arm.

"Teach that stupid broad a lesson!"

"Yes!"

A Team Rocket member seated diagonally behind him sneered, placing his hand on the Poké Ball at his waist. He leaped up, his body flashing white.

"Shriek—!!"

A horned monstrous bird covered in metallic armor spread its wings in midair.

Its body looked incomparably heavy just from appearance alone, yet strangely enough, it could soar freely through the sky on those metal wings.

The Team Rocket member grabbed onto the metal bird's claws, climbed onto its back, and flew into the sky with it.

Boom!

A dragon-shaped energy blast grazed Skarmory's body and struck the ground nearby.

Another deep crater formed.

"Oh my! That almost hit us!"

"I'm telling you, girl, if you've had enough of this infiltration game, you should leave while you still can!"

The Team Rocket member crouched atop Skarmory, looking at the Pokémon and girl opposite him with blatant frivolity.

He chuckled. "If I remember right, your name is... Serea?"

Opposite him, Serea stared coldly at the Team Rocket member. Beneath her sat an elegant, beautiful bird Pokémon whose wings resembled clouds.

"Skarmory... you're Tero!" Serea identified the Team Rocket member. "Give up resisting, and we'll strive for leniency. Otherwise, bear the consequences yourself!"

"Ha ha ha ha—Swift!"

Tero laughed twice. He could not even be bothered to argue before directly ordering Skarmory to attack.

Skarmory flapped its steel-like wings, sending dozens of golden meteors hurtling toward Serea!

"Flamethrower!"

Altaria slightly opened its sharp beak and expelled a slender stream of flame.

Bang!

The flames collided with the golden stars, erupting into blazing fire and thick smoke!

The powerful shockwave from the clash blew both people back through the air, widening the distance between them once more.

"Move out!"

Squadron Leader Lan picked up his radio, utterly unmoved by the explosion so close at hand.

Serea was tied up by Tero and could not stop the convoy again. She could only watch helplessly as the vehicles drove around the crater one after another.

The convoy advanced once more.

However, several voices rang out again from a high slope deep within the forest.

"Team Rocket members ahead! You are surrounded! Get out of your vehicles, raise your hands, and surrender! We have evidence of your illegal gathering and illegal trafficking of rare Pokémon! This is your final warning! Get out and surrender!"

Lan looked over and saw that the slope was already filled with officers in police uniforms.

There were no fewer than twenty of them.

"Heh heh heh! And this handful of people dares to talk big?"

Squadron Leader Lan sneered and snapped his fingers!

Bang!

Bang bang bang!

Sounds like smoke bombs exploding rang out, and the entire convoy was enveloped in smoke!

"Scatter freely! Regroup at Point A!"

Lan's voice was clearly audible through the fog.

On the high slope, Officer Jenny's expression did not change in the slightest. The officers behind her took out their Poké Balls, white flashes flickering in succession.

One Pidgeot after another, their crests swept back and their plumage long, slowly flapped their wings above them.

"Pidgeot! Defog!"

"Defog!"

Several sharp cries rang out in succession as the Pidgeot rapidly beat their enormous wings.

A powerful wind rolled toward the thick fog surrounding the convoy!

Before long, the mist shrouding the convoy was blown away, revealing the off-road vehicles.

"Go!" Jenny threw her own Poké Ball and shouted, "Don't let a single one escape! Tie them down until the main force arrives! Keep an eye on Squadron Leader Lan! Report immediately if you spot him!"

"Yes!"

The officers answered in unison.

They released their Pokémon and charged toward the convoy.

Bang!

A Machamp charging at the front was just about to punch out an off-road vehicle's tires when it suddenly crashed into an invisible wall.

"It's a Barrier! There are Mr. Mime around us! Everyone, be careful!" a sharp-eyed officer immediately shouted.

Using Mr. Mime to create Barriers and block enemies was an old Team Rocket tactic. They had long received relevant intelligence from Kanto.

"Machamp, Brick Break!"

Machamp's trainer immediately ordered it to use Brick Break.

In reality, Brick Break was the only move capable of destroying most barrier-type moves.

Mr. Mime's Barrier happened to be one of them.

It could be said that this Machamp existed specifically to deal with Team Rocket's Mr. Mime!

Crack! Smash!

The Barrier shattered at once!

"Noctowl! Foresight!"

At the same time, another officer gave an order to the giant owl above him.

Noctowl let out a "hoot hoot" cry. Its eyes lit up as it searched through the convoy like spotlights.

But strangely, it found no people at all. Instead, it discovered a huge number of Koffing.

An officer's face changed drastically as he roared, "Not good! It's a trap! Fall back, fall back! Where are the Pokémon with the Damp Ability?!"

The moment he finished speaking, the pile of Koffing revealed hateful expressions, their bodies suddenly erupting with intense white light!

Boom—!!

Boom boom boom boom!!!

Deafening explosions rang out as enormous shockwaves blasted every officer near the convoy away.

Trees were uprooted, huge chunks of rock flew everywhere, and shattered vehicle parts grazed or struck people's bodies.

In an instant, the officers suffered severe injuries!

Even Serea and Tero, who were fighting in the sky, were caught up in it. The enormous mushroom cloud forced them far apart.

"You people don't value your lives at all!"

Serea's face turned livid. Even ordinary protection could not withstand an explosion of that magnitude, let alone the countless Team Rocket members inside those vehicles!

Tero laughed unconcernedly. "Ha ha ha ha! That's why I say League lapdogs like you don't know a thing!"

"Did you think we'd be stupid enough to tell you everything?" Tero opened several Poké Balls, and numerous floating Koffing flew toward Serea and her Altaria.

Serea's expression changed, and she hurriedly opened another Poké Ball.

Snap!

"Claydol! Imprison!"

Claydol, covered in numerous eyes and strange markings, slowly rotated as dazzling blue light burst from its body.

Several huge red X's appeared over those Koffing.

That prevented them from using Self-Destruct and Explosion! Serea breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"Idiot! Smog!"

Hiss!

Tero gave the order disdainfully, and the Koffing immediately released thick clouds of smoke.

"Defog!"

Serea remained calm. As an International Police officer with systematic training, she had considered every possible way her opponent might escape!

"Something's wrong!" Suddenly, Serea seemed to realize something. She immediately ordered Claydol to break through the murky purple smoke.

The fog was dispersed, and Serea saw a sight that left her both unwilling and furious.

Behind Tero stood a fox holding a spoon, its body covered in countless rings.

It was Teleport!

The Smog had been meant to mislead her Altaria!

"Imprison!" Serea cried urgently, but it was already too late.

Tero made a throat-slitting gesture at Serea, then vanished in an instant.

Anger finally appeared on Serea's usually tranquil face.

"Damn it!"

Below.

A vicious blue crocodile stood beside Jenny amid a scene of utter devastation.

"Why did this happen?! Where's Quagsire?!"

She berated the people under her command. They had clearly brought Pokémon capable of preventing Self-Destruct and Explosion, so why had they failed to use them?

"Chief! It was Ability Swap!" a male officer said aggrievedly. His head was wrapped in bandages, and his clothes were in disarray.

Beside him stood a deeply guilty Quagsire, its head lowered in apology.

After a brief search, the remaining personnel capable of moving had found that aside from a large number of near-dead Koffing, the site contained only dozens of mangled remains and several charred corpses.

After verification, most of them were Team Rocket recruits, while the officers' primary targets had long since vanished without a trace.