"I'm not listening! I'm not listening!"
"Keeping my face as pretty as a flower depends entirely on this! Think how many high-end cosmetics this could replace. We can keep catching Pikachu and working to earn money."
Jessie, who had already fallen for the magazine's empty promises, did not care about any of that. All she knew was that eating a little Combee honey every day would make her more and more beautiful.
If she entered a Pokémon Contest, wouldn't she charm all the audience members and judges to death?
Just imagining herself standing in the spotlight, countless spectators gazing at her stunning face and calling her name, was more than Jessie could take. She simply couldn't handle it!
Pikachu and all that could wait!
"Jessie, listen to me..."
"Grrr..."
Just as James and Meowth were about to keep trying to persuade Jessie, heavy panting suddenly came from behind them. A chill swept over all three, and they stiffly turned their heads.
Behind them stood a brown bear about two meters tall, with a yellow ring on its belly and shoulder fur hanging down on either side like epaulets. Its scarlet eyes were looking at them "kindly."
"Ur... Ursaring!!"
The three were almost scared out of their wits in an instant. The Pokémon before them was an old acquaintance-Ursaring, one of the forest's bullies.
Alongside Beedrill swarms and lakeside Gyarados, they were known as the three great bullies of the road. The trio had lost count of how many times Ursaring had chased them, and this one looked even bigger than an ordinary Ursaring.
"Wh-what do we do?"
Jessie was so frightened that her grip on the jar loosened. It fell to the ground, spilling the honey inside.
"ROAR!!"
The Ursaring behind them saw these humans spill the honey it normally couldn't even bear to eat onto the ground.
At that instant, Ursaring's heart bled. Do you know how many Combee nests I raided to save all that up?
I normally only let myself eat a tiny bit! How dare these humans!! ☄(◣д◢)☄ฺ
Its already red eyes grew even redder, and it let out an angry roar at the three.
"What else can we do? Run!" (ﾟДﾟ)
Seeing that Ursaring was already enraged, James knew they would surely be torn alive if they didn't run now. He immediately unleashed his hidden potential and took off.
"Scram, meow!"
"You two, wait for me!"
Seeing the two run faster than Growlithe, Jessie still felt a little heartache over the honey on the ground, but she could no longer worry about that. She could only join the fleeing crowd.
"ROAR!"
Ursaring was still grieving over its honey. When it looked up and saw the three already at the tree hollow's entrance, it gathered a yellow beam in its mouth-a Hyper Beam-and blasted it straight at them.
Boom!
As the smoke cleared, Ursaring saw that its blast hadn't sent the three flying and that they were still sprinting ahead. It was so furious it nearly blew its top. Even Hyper Beam's aftereffects eased, and it lifted its legs to chase them.
As a jungle chase began, the forest immediately erupted into chaos.
"Xiaoyun, are we almost out?"
On the way to where Team Rocket's hot-air balloon had fallen, Dawn noticed that the surrounding trees were no longer so dense and the mist had thinned considerably. She spoke to Xiaoyun with a smile.
"We should be. According to the Pokédex, the Forest of Confusion isn't particularly large. The main thing is to watch out for Stantler's antlers. As long as we're careful to avoid them, we can still get out."
Xiaoyun could also see sunlight through the woods ahead, and his expression was rather happy.
After all, who wanted to stay in this lousy place? Could anyone sleep here at night? What if it really was haunted?
Boom, boom, boom!
Rumbling suddenly came from ahead, mixed with the sound of falling trees. The Starly in the trees began flying away in flocks, while several Stantler in the woods seemed to sense something too and hurried away, looking panicked.
"Wh-what's going on?"
Seeing this, Xiaoyun was a little curious too. Was there something frightening up ahead?
It's like Japanese invaders entering a village. Wait... I seem to count as one now too...
"Xiaoyun, don't those figures up ahead look a little familiar?"
Dawn peered at the figures running ahead.
"Yeah, now that you mention it, they do look pretty familiar."
Xiaoyun looked up and could make out two tall figures and one short one. They really were familiar.
"Oh, if it isn't Team Rocket."
"Hey! Team Rocket, what are you doing?"
As they drew closer, Xiaoyun saw that it was indeed the Rocket Trio. They really were fast, racing along as if trailing sparks and lightning.
Xiaoyun couldn't resist teasing the three idiots. He called loudly to them, "Are you three planning to hold a thrilling marathon in the forest?"
"Who... who's calling us?"
In the middle of his mad dash, James heard someone calling them and asked curiously.
"Look, it's that really strong brat and the little girl with him, meow."
"Are they making fun of us?"
Still running, Meowth saw Xiaoyun and Dawn up ahead, mocking them. If Meowth hadn't been busy right now, it would definitely have traded a few moves with that brat.
"Forget it. Don't worry about him now. That bear's still chasing us."
James felt that personal grudges should be put aside for now. They needed to shake off that blasted bear first.
"I can't do this anymore. I'm almost at my limit. We only ate a little of its honey, and it's chased us for so long."
Jessie was already panting from exhaustion as she spoke, but her feet still didn't stop. Her main thought was why she hadn't remembered to take the stuff with her when they ran.
"Hey, you..."
Xiaoyun watched Team Rocket run right past them as though ignoring them, without even leaving a threat.
That made him look behind them curiously. Puzzled, he asked Dawn, "Why are these guys running so fast? Is a ghost chasing them or something?"
"ROAR!"
"Whoa, Ursaring."
Just then, a brown bear with a ring on its belly appeared in Xiaoyun's sight.
Damn! Isn't that Ursaring? No wonder Team Rocket looked like they'd seen a ghost.
"What do we do, Xiaoyun?"
Watching Ursaring get closer and closer, Dawn asked Xiaoyun a little fearfully. An enraged Ursaring was quite intimidating.
"Whatever. I don't want to run with them either. Let's just battle it."
Without another word, Xiaoyun opened a Poké Ball and released Turtwig. "Come out, Turtwig."
"Come out, Piplup."
Dawn opened Piplup's Poké Ball too.
"Grrr."
Seeing the two humans blocking its path, Ursaring mistakenly assumed they were with those three and attacked them without another word.
Yellow light gathered in Ursaring's mouth, and it fired a Hyper Beam at the two.
"Razor Leaf."
"Bubble Beam."
Xiaoyun and Dawn immediately commanded their Pokémon to use their moves to block the attack.
Boom, boom!
Hyper Beam collided violently with Razor Leaf and Bubble Beam. The resulting shock waves whipped up winds so strong that the two couldn't keep their eyes open and had to shield them with their hands.