Xiaoyun was utterly speechless as he listened to the trio's villainous laughter coming from the robot's cockpit.
With skills like these, why did they insist on catching Pikachu?
They really were just like Lord Gray of Green Green Grassland and Brother Qiang of Pine Tree Mountain: at the top of the world in everything except their actual jobs.
"Say, you three, there are so many Pokémon in this world. Why do you have to pick on Pikachu? You even chased him all the way to the Sinnoh Region. Aren't you tired?" Xiaoyun asked the trio curiously.
"What do you know, you brat? This Pikachu is the rare Pokémon Team Rocket has always been searching for!" (Jessie)
"The rarest of all the rare Pokémon we've collected! Giovanni is sure to love him!" (James)
"His incredible power is all the proof we need, meow~"
Uh... Looking at the trio, who seemed to have made catching Pikachu their lifelong dream, Xiaoyun really couldn't bring himself to interrupt.
Their last remark wasn't wrong, though. Pika God's power really was incredible: he could beat Legendary Pokémon at his best and lose to beginners at his worst. Xiaoyun couldn't deny that.
"Forget it. As long as you're happy. Turtwig, use Razor Leaf on the mechanical arms."
While the trio fantasized about presenting Pikachu to Giovanni, getting promoted to executives, and reaching the pinnacle of life, Xiaoyun called on Turtwig to start attacking this Whatever Mark One.
"Turt!"
Turtwig gathered grass-type energy, sending countless emerald-green leaves shooting toward the robot.
Clang, clang, clang, clang!
Following a series of rhythmic impacts, the machine suffered none of the damage it had last time. Instead, the trio scattered the attack effortlessly with a casual sweep of an arm.
"Huh? Did you upgrade your robot?"
Looking at the completely unmarked arm, Xiaoyun asked with some curiosity.
"Heh heh heh!"
"Brat, this is our latest weapon, developed with the money we spent ages earning from part-time jobs! Did you think it would be as easy as last time?"
"This time, we're not just catching Pikachu. We're taking your Pokémon too!"
Jessie and James burst into smug laughter, then operated the mechanical arms to attack them.
"Seriously? You blocked one attack and you're already this smug? You really got your chance to show off."
"Come out, Scep-"
Seeing that Xiaoyun's attack had failed, Jessie and James thought they had what it took again. Catching Pikachu wasn't enough; they wanted to bundle up Turtwig and Piplup and take them too.
Just as he was about to send out Sceptile to teach them a lesson, a voice came from behind him.
"Team Rocket, let Pikachu go!"
At that moment, the protagonist of the Pokémon world, the strongest rookie from Pallet Town, our very own Ash, along with Brock, arrived.
When Ash arrived and saw that Pikachu had been captured, he shouted at the trio, demanding that they do him the courtesy of releasing Pikachu.
"Pika pi!"
Seeing that his Trainer had finally arrived, Pikachu hurriedly called out.
"Oh? The big twerp and the little twerp are here too. Good. We can settle our old scores and our new ones all at once."
The trio were startled by Ash and Brock's sudden appearance, but they scoffed after hearing Ash's words.
Of course, perhaps they simply thought Ash's hair wasn't red, so they refused to do him that courtesy and attacked him instead.
Watching the two sides start fighting, Xiaoyun slowly lowered the Great Ball he had raised, wanting to see how Ash would rescue Pikachu.
"Damn it! Aipom, use Swift!"
"Starly, use Wing Attack! Hit the robot's arms!"
Seeing that the other side had refused him any courtesy and even attacked him, Ash likewise ordered his Pokémon to attack.
"Aipa!"
"Starly!"
Aipom and Starly sprang into action at his commands. Aipom swung its hand-shaped tail, immediately launching a mass of yellow stars at the robot.
Meanwhile, white light shone from the wings of Starly in the sky, and it flew forward at top speed to join the attack.
Boom!
The robot took the attacks head-on without dodging. After both attacks landed, it remained completely undamaged.
"What?! How could this happen?"
Ash looked shocked when he saw that his Pokémon's attacks had been completely ineffective.
"Hahahaha! Our robot really is invincible! This time, we can finally catch Pikachu!"
Team Rocket roared with laughter in the cockpit, gazing at their latest weapon in satisfaction.
"How could this be? Aipom, use Focus Punch!"
"Starly, use Wing Attack again!"
Ash was somewhat shocked, but he didn't give up and continued ordering his Pokémon to attack.
"Little twerp, we can't let you do all the attacking. It's time you got a taste of our power too."
Watching Aipom and Starly attack again, Team Rocket likewise operated the mechanical arms to strike at them.
"Starly!"
"Kiki~"
Several mechanical arms reached for the two Pokémon at once. After dodging several times in the air, Starly was still swept away by a mechanical arm.
Aipom raised its fully charged Focus Punch and squared off against one of the mechanical arms, only to be caught off guard by another arm's sneak attack and sent flying into a tree.
Looking at his two injured Pokémon, Ash shouted worriedly, "Starly, Aipom, are you okay?"
"No, I have to save Pikachu! Watch me!"
But even this couldn't stop Ash. Even if his Pokémon were all injured, he would still rescue Pikachu. Their bond was not to be underestimated!
And so, Ash, the strongest rookie from Pallet Town, prepared to take the field himself.
"Ash, wait a moment. Let me try!"
Xiaoyun's mouth twitched. Watching Ash roll up his sleeves, ready to join the fight himself, he decided to interrupt him after all.
He meant that Ash should let him try first. If it didn't work, Ash could have his turn.
"Who are you?"
Ash, who was in the middle of rolling up his sleeves, looked at Xiaoyun as he stepped in front of him and asked in confusion.
How did this person know his name?
"Don't worry. I'll explain later."
Looking at the confused Ash, Xiaoyun offered no further explanation. He immediately opened the Poké Ball at his waist and shouted, "Come out, Sceptile!"
"Scep!"
"A Sceptile..."
Watching the Pokémon that had appeared, one he was quite familiar with, Ash looked thoughtful.
He was probably thinking of his own Sceptile, which he had left at Professor Oak's Laboratory.
"This is bad, Jessie! It's that Sceptile! That Pokémon is really strong," James said fearfully to Jessie when he saw Xiaoyun release that terrifying Sceptile.
"What are you panicking for? It's just one measly Pokémon! We've upgraded our robot's outer shell this time. He probably can't even break through our defenses. We have the advantage!"
Jessie cut James off and spoke with considerable confidence, declaring that they were no longer what they had been before. This robot was ridiculously strong!
"Oh, right! Maybe this time we can present that Sceptile to Giovanni too. Then we can..."
"Get promoted and get rich! Become executives!" ×3
After an intense round of brainstorming, the trio no longer looked at Sceptile with fear. They were even a little excited, their eyes full of an intense desire for executive positions in Team Rocket.
"Then let's..." (James)
"Begin the attack!!" ×3