Ding! Side Quest (Class B) Unlocked — Talking Meowth.
Natsume ignored the system's notification. After all, he'd be encountering Team Rocket plenty more in the future.
He raised his arms in a lazy, innocent-looking shrug and said to the trio hovering above him in their balloon, "Oh, I just climbed up. That's all."
"Whoever you are, don't mess up our mission! Get down from here right now!" Jessie snapped.
"Go, Arbok!"
Wasting no time, Jessie hurled a Poké Ball. In a flash of red light, a long purple snake materialized inside the already-cramped hot air balloon, making it even more crowded.
"Arbok!"
Arbok hissed and glared warily at the figure cloaked in shadow before it.
"Arbok, use Wrap!"
At Jessie's command, Arbok lunged, fangs bared and coils ready to strike—
—Only for Natsume to casually toss a Poké Ball.
"Hey! Don't battle up here, Meowth's warning ya! The balloon's gonna blow if you fight in here, meow!" Meowth yelped in panic.
But instead of releasing a Pokémon, Natsume's Poké Ball smacked Arbok right on the head and—
Whoosh!
A red light flashed. Arbok got sucked into the ball.
"Wha—???" Jessie's eyes nearly popped from her skull. "Hey! Are you outta your mind?! You can't catch someone else's Pokémon!"
Sure enough, just a few seconds later, Arbok broke free with a pop, reappearing in front of Natsume with a venomous glare.
Before it could strike—
Clack!
Natsume hit it with another Poké Ball. Clean follow-up. Another forced five-second stall.
Of course Natsume knew you couldn't actually catch a Pokémon that already had a Trainer. But that didn't mean Poké Balls were useless.
Five seconds of hard crowd control. That's huge!
Jessie: "??????????"
Meowth: "Is this some kind of shameless battle tactic?! I'm takin' notes, meow!"
"What are you praising him for?! He's our enemy, Meowth!"
Jessie was nearly losing it. Arbok was the only Pokémon she had with her right now. If Natsume kept pulling this nonsense, she'd be out of options.
"James! What are you standing there for? Help me out already!"
"Huh? Oh! R-right!"
James fumbled to reach for his Poké Ball belt—only to find that Natsume had already swiped his Poké Ball.
"Wait—my Poké Ball!"
Clack!
Without hesitation, Natsume threw another empty ball at Arbok as it broke free again.
At that moment, Natsume stepped out from the shadows. Under the moonlight, the trio finally got a good look at him. His blue-and-white striped pajamas made them freeze on the spot.
"Is that… is that a mental ward uniform?" Jessie whispered.
"I think it is, meow," Meowth added, nodding solemnly.
Their words reached Natsume's ears, but he acted like he didn't hear a thing.
It was indeed a custom-made mental hospital pajama set.
In a world where evil organizations run wild, Natsume figured it couldn't hurt to carry a few things that gave people pause—like this outfit… or the brick he gave to Ash earlier.
Psych ward uniforms had real intimidation power. The instant the Rocket trio saw it, their body language grew noticeably stiff.
They were in mid-air, after all. What if this guy suddenly went berserk?
Unbothered by their reactions, Natsume tossed yet another Poké Ball at Arbok, then opened James's own Poké Ball.
"Come out, Koffing!"
"Koffing! Ko—?!"
Koffing hovered uncertainly, staring at the "Trainer" before it.
"That's right," Natsume said seriously. "Your Trainer abandoned you."
"Koffing?!"
Just as Koffing began to look disheartened, a voice came from behind.
"Don't push it, brat!"
James spoke in a low, strained voice, doing his best to keep calm.
Hearing James, Koffing turned with visible relief in its eyes.
It tried to float toward him—but suddenly felt someone grab it.
Natsume, of course.
He sealed off one of Koffing's gas vents with a container. In seconds, the jar began filling with dark gray gas.
Koffing tried to struggle, but James met its gaze with a pained, pleading look.
Moments later, Natsume capped the jar.
Perfect. Mission accomplished.
He reached into the shadows and grabbed something—his Rotom Phone, currently in flight mode.
Before Team Rocket could react, Natsume was floating away from the balloon, vanishing into the night.
"Arbok—!"
The snake hissed one final time, but there was no Poké Ball smacking it in the face this time.
"Return, Arbok."
Jessie scowled and recalled Arbok.
"Was that guy… a ghost?" Meowth asked, shivering slightly.
In the dark, they couldn't see the Rotom Phone carrying him. They only saw him raise his arm and float off.
"How despicable," Jessie muttered through gritted teeth, staring at the pile of empty Poké Balls he left behind. "That's the most underhanded ghost I've ever seen."
"No… I don't think so."
James's eyes narrowed.
"He knew Koffing was in my Poké Ball."
That stopped Jessie and Meowth cold.
"No way…"
"Meow… no way…"
"He must be an agent sent by Giovanni-sama to evaluate us!" the three exclaimed at once.
"He did mention Giovanni-sama earlier, meow!" Meowth added, paws together like he'd made a divine revelation.
"Yeah! Maybe he's watching us from the shadows!"
"Or livestreaming our performance directly to the Boss!"
"If that's the case," Meowth declared, "then tonight, we'd better give it our all, meow!"
"…Why are they celebrating?" Natsume muttered from the ground, hearing muffled cheering from above.
He looked up at the Meowth-shaped balloon, shrugged, and moved on.
He didn't know why Team Rocket was so happy. But he knew what came next:
It was finally time to take a shower, burn some incense, and enjoy a tenfold pull in peace.
With excitement bubbling inside him, Natsume returned to Viridian City's Pokémon Center.
As he stepped inside, he immediately spotted Ash and Misty hovering nervously near a stretcher. On it lay Pikachu, sprawled out like a starfish.
Natsume raised an eyebrow.
Looks like Ash and Misty had already explained what happened… and Pikachu had finally been discharged.
"No need to worry," Nurse Joy said gently. "Your Pikachu's out of danger now. It's just still recovering consciousness."
Ash turned and saw Natsume arrive.
"Natsume! What were you even doing just now?!"
Natsume leaned over and opened Pikachu's mouth, pulling its tongue out slightly.
Perfect. Now it really looked like a neutered kitten.
Click!
Snapshot taken. Natsume turned and headed upstairs.
Back to his room.