Under the moonlight.
Half of Team Rocket Headquarters' futuristic base had collapsed.
Black smoke billowed into the sky through a shattered, pale-purple barrier, with sparks bursting amid the haze.
Atop a cliff beside the base.
"It was blocked."
Calyrex frowned, dissatisfied with the result of Astral Barrage.
Previously, each entire base had gone up like a giant firework. This time, only half had. Little Deer felt he hadn't done his job properly.
Spectrier gave a neigh of agreement.
Baimu's expression remained unchanged.
"It's Team Rocket Headquarters, after all. It's only natural that it could take a hit. And the fact that they activated a Protective Barrier means they already know what happened to those bases in Johto."
He had originally planned to destroy the Johto Branch and leave, but then he thought: since he was already here, how could he not pay Team Rocket Headquarters a visit?
It would buy Unit Zero more time to work.
Team Rocket had plenty of talented people. If he didn't put some pressure on them, they might end up putting pressure on Unit Zero.
Still, Baimu was rather cautious.
He had already told all his Pokémon to prepare for battle, including the Five Regis, Hoopa, and Lugia and her child.
If an ambush backed by a lineup like that could still go wrong, he would have no choice but to give in.
The facts proved otherwise.
Team Rocket couldn't withstand the attack.
Their high-tech Protective Barrier had saved only half of headquarters.
Just as Calyrex prepared to switch to Glastrier and fire another shot, a woman's voice suddenly boomed from the base's loudspeakers.
"Please stop, Lord Baimu!"
"I'm supposed to stop just because you say so? Ignore her. Tear down the other half!"
Baimu guessed the speaker was Matori. He wasn't surprised Team Rocket