"A Master Ball?"
"Their target really is this!"
At this moment, Natsume twisted unnaturally a few times. It turned out that she had maintained a single posture for too long, and her body was inevitably a bit stiff.
However, with her movement, although it provided some relief, her contact with Xia You became even closer.
Noticing that he had touched a few soft spots, Xia You's heart rate quickened, and even Natsume's breathing became heavier.
Fortunately, those Team Rockets members really only rested for a while before leaving the activity room. As soon as they could no longer hear their voices, the two quickly crawled out of the locker.
Having been cooped up for a long time, Xia You took a deep breath of air. He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but it seemed that by being so close to Natsume, he had picked up some of a girl's scent?
To avoid mutual embarrassment, Xia You didn't look at Natsume's expression. Instead, he walked to the door and slowly poked his head out to observe.
A dark, round face was staring back at him…
Xia You was startled, then recognized it was his own Gastly.
"Why are you outside!?"
"It's all because you two were too slow." Gastly floated in from the side, its suspicious gaze sweeping back and forth between Xia You and Natsume. "Strange, what were you doing just now? Why is her face a little red?"
"Hey, hey, don't talk nonsense!" Xia You quickly tried to cover Gastly's mouth, but his hand passed through Gastly's body. "We were just hiding from Team Rockets' search!"
"Don't worry, Team Rockets has already left." Gastly chuckled mischievously, clearly taking Xia You's explanation as an excuse. "Since it's safe, let's hurry up and go."
Leaving the activity room, the two entered the stairwell and headed upstairs.
Unfortunately, there were too many Team Rockets members in this building. Not long after they started walking, they ran into several Team Rockets members head-on.
"Who are you!?"
Seeing Xia You and Natsume, whose clothing was clearly different from that of researchers, one of the members shouted. However, before he could act, in the next second, all of them were enveloped by Confusion and turned into small dolls by Natsume!
She had used this move against Brock and Xiao Xia when Ash challenged the Gym, and those who were hit had no ability to resist, only to be manipulated at will.
However, even though these few people were dealt with, their shouting still alerted others. Many Team Rockets members who heard the shouts rushed towards them.
"As expected, it's not going as smoothly as planned!"
The two ran up the stairs, and below them, more and more Team Rockets members were chasing them.
"Intruders!"
"What's going on? Didn't the monitoring room detect them!?"
"Damn it, how did they get in? Report to the Rocket Executive immediately!"
After running up a few more floors, their path was soon blocked by another group of Team Rockets members.
Now, with pursuers from behind and blockers in front, their path was completely sealed off.
Seeing this, Xia You decisively took out a Poké Ball and released Kirlia.
"Gastly, use Hypnosis! Kirlia, use Confusion!"
Both Pokémon launched their moves simultaneously, and those Team Rockets members, without even having time to summon their own Pokémon, fell to the ground like bowling pins.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Xia You and Natsume continued to run upwards.
…
Silph Co. Building rooftop, President's Office.
As the final Boss of Team Rockets, Sakamaki, dressed in a black suit, with his hair meticulously combed, and a dignified expression, stood in this office, looking down at an old man in front of him.
The old man sat on the sofa. Although he was over seventy, he was full of energy. Despite being in a difficult situation, his face remained unchanged, showing no signs of panic.
"Old man." Sakamaki's voice was low and slow, sounding extremely oppressive. "For the safety of your employees' lives, hurry up and tell me where you've hidden the Master Ball!"
"You'd better give up. How could such a dangerous Poké Ball be given to you!" the old man said calmly. "I just never expected that the notorious Team Rockets leader would personally lead a team to occupy my company today. It's truly surprising."
Sakamaki was completely unmoved by the old man's sarcasm.
In fact, after meticulously searching the building and not finding the Master Ball, this old man had become his last hope, and because of his age, he wouldn't resort to violence against him.
At this moment, a Team Rockets member walked up to Sakamaki and whispered a few words to him.
"Intruders?" Sakamaki coldly glanced at the member, his silent authority evident. "Why are they only being discovered now?"
Cold sweat instantly trickled down the member's forehead: "This… This is because they first broke into the control room, knocked out our people, and then destroyed the equipment, which is why…"
He hadn't expected such a thorough plan to still have variables.
"Who are the intruders?"
The member quickly said: "There are two intruders. The identity of one has been confirmed as Natsume, the Goldenrod Gym Leader! The other is male, around Natsume's age, but his specific identity has not yet been clarified!"
"Natsume!?"
A murderous glint flashed in Sakamaki's eyes.
Others might be fine, but as an official Gym Leader belonging to the Pokémon League, Sakamaki had naturally met Natsume several times.
His identity as the Vermillion Gym Leader was a very good cover for him. If Natsume were to discover his true identity, it would indeed be a great loss.
Thinking of this, he looked back at a Team Rockets Rocket Executive who had been leaning against the wall.
"Lance, I'll leave things here to you. Don't let them leave alive."
The Rocket Executive called Lance was a man wearing a standard Team Rockets black cap and with long, short blue hair.
He bowed gracefully upon hearing the command and respectfully said in a frivolous tone, "Please rest assured, sir, everything will be over soon."
…
When Xia You and Natsume finally arrived on the top floor, panting, they suddenly heard the loud whirring of helicopter blades outside the window. A helicopter, in an instant, left the Silph Co. Building and disappeared into the distant sky.
They entered the floor, locked the stairwell door, and just as they were about to breathe a sigh of relief, they heard applause from in front of them.
Lance clapped his hands as he walked towards the two, praising, "To be able to break through our Team Rockets' encirclement and reach here, I must say, you two are truly impressive."
Around Lance, many Team Rockets members surrounded them, and behind the two, with a violent crashing sound, the pursuing Team Rockets members also broke through the stairwell door and swarmed into the corridor.