The battle had been completely one-sided.
Yet in a matter of moments, it had taken a stunning turn. The turning point was not a defeat in a Pokémon battle, either—their crucial airship had been stolen!
Worse, the other side had taken control of it!
Basho had never expected it. He had never even considered it.
It made no sense!
Even if someone broke in, surely they would choose to blow up the airship. Piloting something that enormous took more than sheer determination.
"Buson! Buson!"
Basho tried to contact his partner, but Baimu had already used Porygon to cut off their internal communications at the source. All Basho heard was static.
Then the high-tech nets the Team Rocket members used to restrain Dragon Pokémon "malfunctioned" too. The airship's systems controlled the nets; the crew only had to follow a few simple steps to capture Pokémon with ease.
But that also meant that when Porygon shut the system down, masses of Dragon Pokémon broke free. They poured out through the airship's open hatch in groups.
Dark swarms of them descended all over the village.
The Team Rocket members grew even more panicked and began bunching up with their companions.
"Hahahaha..."
Elder Aoyanagi, who had long since reached his limit, slumped to the ground. Mega Altaria looked at him with concern, but he waved it off. "Looks like I underestimated him!"
"What are you all standing around for? Don't let that guy scare you! As long as we grab these old men—aaah!"
The Team Rocket member who had suggested taking hostages suddenly screamed. If Baimu let someone plot that loudly without making an example of him, the man might think Baimu had no eyes or ears.
"Taking hostages is wrong. That idea of yours is far too dangerous, so here are a couple