However, even after he shook his teammate hard several times, there was no sign of him waking up.
Alarmed, he was about to shout when he suddenly heard something behind him. He hurriedly turned around and found a large, round, pitch-black face right in front of his own.
Before he could scream, a broad, thick tongue, glistening with saliva, licked his face.
Instantly, he felt the world spin, and he collapsed unconscious on the floor just like his companion.
"Heh heh..." Gastly chuckled wickedly. "Enjoy your nightmare!"
After dealing with the two Team Rocket members, Gastly surveyed the surveillance equipment in front of him, formed a Shadow Ball beside himself, and hurled it at the Control Panel. A moment later, amid crackling sparks, row after row of screens went dark.
"That should do it."
Satisfied with his handiwork, Gastly nodded and was about to disappear when the Walkie-Talkie beside him suddenly crackled to life.
"Surveillance room? I thought I heard something just now. What happened in there?"
Gastly's body began to change, eventually taking on the appearance of the Team Rocket member from earlier.
He picked up the Walkie-Talkie and answered in the same voice and tone as the man he was impersonating. "Reporting in. Everything's normal here. That noise was just me accidentally bumping into a chair."
"Oh, I see." The person on the other end of the Walkie-Talkie suspected nothing. "Keep monitoring!"
Inside the office on the Fifteenth Floor, Xia You peeked into the corridor again. Seeing that the surveillance camera's red light had gone out, he knew Gastly had succeeded. He beckoned to Sabrina, and the two hurried toward the stairs.
Under the circumstances, they naturally dared not take the elevator. If they were discovered there, they would truly have nowhere to retreat.
But unexpectedly, they still got off to a bad start. Just as they were about to reach the stairwell, a jumble of footsteps suddenly came from inside.
Xia You's heart lurched. The footsteps were so close that they seemed only a moment away from running into whoever was coming. They had already gone too far to make it back to the room in time.
Before he could react, Sabrina grabbed his sleeve and pulled him into a nearby room.
They had barely closed the door when they heard several people emerge from the stairwell, coming onto their very floor!
Xia You and Sabrina exchanged a glance. Both knew they were still far from the top floor and absolutely could not reveal their whereabouts, so they turned together to look for somewhere to hide.
The room seemed to be one of Silph Co.'s recreation rooms. It contained several pool tables and sofas, with potted plants in the corners. At the far end stood a row of tall lockers.
They hurried over to the lockers and pulled at the doors, but every one they tried was locked!
Just as Sabrina was about to use Confusion to open a lock, Xia You happened to pull open a locker door. Seeing that it was just large enough to hide them both, and hearing the footsteps draw closer, Sabrina had no time to think and climbed in first.
Xia You took out a Poké Ball, recalled Kirlia, and climbed into the locker as well.
However spacious the locker was, fitting two people inside still made it cramped. Xia You and Sabrina pressed against each other, making physical contact unavoidable. Even their breath brushed each other's faces.
Neither had time to dwell on that now. The recreation room door opened, and several Team Rocket members slowly walked in.
One of them said, "Everyone, search carefully again. We can't overlook anyone!"
"Come on, Captain," someone replied. "Haven't we already searched the whole building? Why do we have to search it again?"
"Idiot," the captain snapped. "This company is huge, and those researchers are crafty. Someone might have slipped through the net and be hiding somewhere. We can't afford any mistakes in our plan. Keep your eyes open and search carefully!"
The footsteps gradually approached. One Team Rocket member came up to the lockers and tugged at a door, but it would not open. He gave it a hard shake, confirmed that it was locked, then moved on to the next locker.
Several in a row were locked. When he reached the one Xia You was hiding in, Xia You's heart sank, and he braced himself to burst out and attack. But when the Team Rocket member pulled on the door, it remained just as firmly shut as the others.
"Why are they all locked?" the Team Rocket member muttered.
Surprised, Xia You turned toward Sabrina. She had used Confusion.
From the other side of the room, the captain asked, "You really can't open them? Huh? They're all locked? Then forget it. Let's hurry to the next room."
"What?" someone complained. "Captain, let us rest for a bit. We've searched several floors straight. I really can't walk anymore."
"Yeah, let us take a short break." The other Team Rocket members chimed in.
After a moment's thought, the captain nodded. "All right, then. We'll rest here for five minutes. After that, we get moving again."
The team members cheered and settled onto the sofas.
Inside the dim locker, Xia You and Sabrina remained silent. The air barely circulated, and as time passed, it grew stale while the temperature slowly rose.
In the recreation room, the Team Rocket members took advantage of their rare break to switch off their brains and start chatting casually.
"Captain, what exactly are we after with such a huge operation?"
As low-ranking members, they knew little about the details of the operation. But their curiosity got the better of them, and they wanted to use the break to find something out from their captain.
At first, the captain was reluctant to divulge anything. But unable to withstand their barrage of questions, he considered for a moment and finally spoke.
"All right, all right. I can't say much, but I can tell you a little." He cleared his throat softly and continued, "Aside from this company's assets, our real target is a kind of Poké Ball they're secretly developing-the Master Ball!"
"The Master Ball?!" one team member asked blankly. "What's that?"
"It's the most valuable Poké Ball there is." As he talked about the Master Ball, a hint of longing appeared on the captain's face. "They say that no matter what kind of Pokémon you use it on, it has a one hundred percent catch rate. You don't even need to battle it or wear it down first!"
"It's that powerful?!" The Team Rocket members clicked their tongues in amazement.
"Of course." The captain laughed. "Why else would Team Rocket go to all this trouble to occupy this place? If we really get our hands on these Master Balls, catching powerful, rare Pokémon won't just be a dream anymore!"
Before you continue