Chapter 294: Secrets
This scene – her companion stripped, bound, and unconscious – made the captured woman frown deeply. Facing a person with psychic powers, she could find no hope of escape.
Xiu produced a rope and, with Abra's assistance, efficiently tied up the woman, then hung her from a sturdy tree branch opposite her male counterpart.
Only then did he allow himself a sigh of relief.
He was tired, truly exhausted from running all over the mountains and the constant mental exertion.
Fortunately, he had managed his psychic energy reserves somewhat judiciously beforehand; otherwise, these two would have likely forced a much harder fight.
Feeling the influx of information from Abra, who had just finished sifting through the male agent's memories, Xiu processed the shared data.
The woman, meanwhile, only saw Xiu close his eyes as if in a daze— a desperate thought of escape immediately occurred to her.
However, with no tools and her hands bound, she could only try to use brute force to break free from the ropes. She didn't expect that the harder she struggled, the tighter the knots, cinched by Abra's psychic power, would become.
Xiu seemed to notice her efforts and opened his eyes, looking directly at her.
"Don't waste your energy. Just wait for me to finish my work. Maybe then you can still keep your body intact."
He had taken a quick look at the young man's memories. He was an orphan, selected and rigorously trained by Team Rocket from a young age.
Unlike the peripheral cannon fodder, he was a real member of Team Rocket.
As for his purpose here, it was indeed to contribute to the destruction of Pallet Town.
Simultaneously, Team Rocket had dispatched similar operatives to many surrounding towns. They wanted to spread the conflict and delay the Kanto League's response as much as possible.
It was only because Pallet Town was the home of a prominent figure like Professor Oak that they had bothered to send away the initial, less capable grunts while also arranging for an elite team like this one to be on standby.
If those "small fry" had succeeded in causing significant chaos, there would have been no need for these two to take direct action.
As for how those grunts would have fared against any subsequent League response, it was of no concern to the higher-ups; they were just expendables.
But unfortunately for Team Rocket, Xiu had intercepted and neutralized two waves of agitated Pokémon outside Pallet Town and had simultaneously eliminated all the small fry operatives, which had forced these two elites to prepare for direct action.
It was just that the leaked scent of their drug stash had attracted the Rattata, leading Xiu to their hidden camp.
From the male agent's memories, Xiu also learned that Team Rocket's plundering and Pokémon capture operations in Viridian Forest had been very effective.
Almost all of their elite members' teams now included powerful new Pokémon, many of which had been stolen from several of the League's own breeding houses located within Viridian Forest.
This information reinforced Xiu's earlier caution. He had chosen the safest, albeit slower, way to deal with them, maintaining his cover rather than launching an immediate, overt assault.
Otherwise, if a full-blown fight had broken out, even with Abra and Scizor, they might not have been able to easily handle several strong, well-trained Pokémon simultaneously.
After finishing his mental review, Xiu stood up and walked over to the bound woman.
He raised his hand and pressed his palm against her forehead. Direct physical contact for a psychic probe consumed less energy than a ranged one, so he could conserve some of his dwindling psychic power.
After all, it was better not to waste it at this critical juncture. The woman did not show any outward intention of struggling further. She closed her eyes as if she had accepted her fate.
But in the next second, she felt a sharp, piercing pain in her brain. Her consciousness began to blur, and disjointed memories started to flash through her mind like a rapidly spinning revolving lantern…
After a moment, Xiu opened his eyes and looked at the woman with a strange, appraising look.
Unexpectedly, she was a middle-level manager within Team Rocket, in charge of several operational teams.
She had been assigned here specifically because of the sensitive nature of Pallet Town as a target. She, too, was an orphan, but she hadn't been selected by Team Rocket in the usual way.
Instead, she had killed someone significant and offended some powerful figures, forcing her to join Team Rocket as a means of survival.
However, it had to be said that her abilities were indeed outstanding.
After joining Team Rocket, she had distinguished herself by achieving first place in their rigorous training program.
Later, she rose to become a middle-level manager in just two years. She had even met Giovanni himself.
It could be said that there was a world of difference between her and ordinary Team Rocket members.
And this woman had obviously investigated him – Xiu – before coming here. No wonder her initial glance at him had seemed a little strange.
Xiu found the file Team Rocket kept on him within her memories. The specific data read as follows:
Name: Xiu (Alias: Ka Xiu)
Position: Assistant to Professor Oak, Trainer
Known Pokémon: Scizor (Variant Coloration)
Summary: Subject is cruel, cunning, and highly dangerous. His primary Pokémon is a Scizor of unusual coloration, possessing significant combat power. It has high market value. Agents with insufficient strength are advised to avoid direct confrontation.
Being described as "cruel and cunning" by Team Rocket almost made Xiu want to laugh.
Most of the information they had was based on his openly displayed strength. The only Pokémon they had concrete intelligence on was Scizor.
It seemed his decision to keep Abra's true capabilities (and Happiny's existence) a closely guarded secret was a very wise one.
According to the information the woman had access to, someone in the black market had already offered a million Poké Dollar reward for his Scizor.
What was outrageous, and somewhat insulting, was that the Team Rocket bounty offered for him was only 300,000 Poké Dollars.
Xiu didn't care much about this. If he was easily frightened by bounties, he wouldn't have survived this long.
What made him a little unhappy, in a detached, ironic way, was that he apparently couldn't even compare in value to his own Scizor.
Of course, these were just minor details. The woman's mind contained far more important information.
According to her memories, Xiu realized he had been lucky to subdue her so quickly at the outset. Otherwise, things could have become quite troublesome.
Team Rocket had indeed come up with some special, insidious tricks to destroy Pallet Town.
This woman had brought with her 300 Zubat. When the time was right, she was to infect them with the aggression-inducing drug and then release all 300 of them over Pallet Town…
Xiu got a headache just thinking about the chaos that scene would unleash.
The woman was in very good physical condition and, despite the psychic intrusion, began to stir, regaining consciousness while Xiu was still processing this new, alarming information.
Noticing her movement, Xiu chuckled softly. He looked at her and asked, his voice deceptively mild, "Should I call you Lan? Or perhaps… should I call you Yumi?"
The woman's eyes snapped open, and she seemed to realize something profound and terrifying. Genuine panic appeared in her eyes as she stared at Xiu.
After noticing this distinct flaw in her composure, Xiu temporarily put aside his original thoughts on how to deal with her and instead came up with a new idea.
"It seems Team Rocket doesn't know about your… experiences… before you changed your name and joined them. If Team Rocket knew your true background, Yumi, do you think they would risk offending those powerful people you angered, all for your sake?"
Xiu continued to test her, probing for a reaction. She still tried to maintain her disguise, keeping a stern, unyielding face.
However, when she looked into Xiu's eyes, her expression began to visibly fluctuate.
The iron control she maintained over her emotions started to crack, revealing the turmoil underneath her mask.
"What do you want to do?" the woman, Lan, finally gritted out, unable to hold back her apprehension any longer.
"Guess," Xiu replied, grinning. But this smile, to Lan, seemed extremely evil, predatory. She couldn't help but frown and look away.
Seeing that the woman was ignoring him, Xiu didn't care, but continued to talk, as if to himself. "Guess how much money I can get for sending you to them. Perhaps I can even gain a precious friend or two in the process."
He didn't know why, but Xiu suddenly laughed while speaking, a strange, almost manic edge to his tone. "Hahaha! Although I won't be able to see their joy when they get the news of your capture, I think they must be very, very happy."
"I will kill you!!!" Lan howled at Xiu, her composure completely shattered. Her hard, desperate struggle caused her whole body to sway violently from the tree branch— but her futile resistance only made Xiu laugh even more heartily.
Suddenly, Lan's face turned cold again. The desperate expression from just now vanished in an instant, replaced by pure, unadulterated hatred that filled her eyes.
Using the swinging motion of her struggles to conceal her intent and build momentum, she suddenly arched her hands upwards, leveraging her entire body.
Then, exerting force from her core, her bound legs shot out, chopping towards Xiu's head like a straight, vicious sword. The force was so great that it seemed to cut through the air, creating an audible gust of wind!