"Be careful," Lance couldn't help but remind.
"Hmm."
There was no need for Lance to remind him. Upon entering the power plant, he had already sharpened his focus, being more cautious than he would be in the forest.
Fortunately, there was a map on the wall of the power plant, preventing the two from wandering blindly in the complex building structure.
After weaving through the halls for a while, Lance suddenly stopped, frowning deeply.
"Natsuhiko, aside from the eerie silence, why is it that when something goes wrong at such an important place as the power plant, Goldenrod City overall doesn't seem to react at all?"
Natsuhiko couldn't help but roll his eyes at him.
Big brother, are you really that slow to catch on?
From the moment they decided to come to the power plant, they should have considered this issue.
Seeing Natsuhiko's expression, Lance knew he was misunderstood and hastily explained, "I'm not saying the Alliance in Goldenrod City isn't responding correctly. What I meant is, what method was used to completely isolate all information from the power plant?"
With that, Natsuhiko understood what he meant.
After pondering for a moment, he asked, "As far as you know, there should be Trainers stationed at the power plant, right?"
"Yes."
A place as important as the power plant would definitely have Trainers stationed there, that goes without saying.
At the same time, Lance added, "Even if there aren't any Trainers, there are still so many Electric-type Pokémon in the power plant..."
Natsuhiko nodded and slowly thought it over, analyzing as he went, "Normally, as we approached, Pokémon should have come out to block us. The Magnemite that appeared earlier was likely responsible for this task, but its state..."
The two recalled the strange behavior of that Magnemite.
Since it hadn't affected them, they hadn't thought much of it, but now, looking back, it made more sense.
Suddenly, they met each other's gaze, almost simultaneously voicing their shared thought.
"Hypnosis!"
And on a large scale, a silent and unnoticed hypnosis might be the only way to isolate all communication from the power plant, leaving both the Pokémon and staff completely unguarded.
At the same time, creating some internal city line issues would make the Alliance personnel believe the problem lies within the city's lines instead of the power plant's source.
Buys enough time.
"Then... what does the other party want to obtain from the power plant?" Natsuhiko pondered aloud.
Lance thought for a moment, unable to figure it out, and shook his head, saying, "There are too few clues; it's impossible to guess. I think the most important thing now is to restore the power plant back to its full operation."
A blackout in a tech-reliant city like Goldenrod City has a massive impact.
Medical equipment won't function properly, transportation will face issues, and tech companies will experience losses.
In just one short hour, Goldenrod City could suffer enormous economic losses and endanger humans and Pokémon lives.
Natsuhiko also believed restoring the power plant was of utmost importance, so he stopped contemplating further.
After taking a few steps, a thought flashed through his mind, and he quickly asked, "Oh right, Lance, the Reserve Elite Four who defected from the Alliance that you mentioned before, he..."
If an Elite Trainer Level Psychic-type Pokémon were performing large-scale hypnosis, it might be possible.
But if it were only a few Psychic-type Pokémon performing hypnosis, that seemed unrealistic.
Natsuhiko had thought of the uniquely capable Drowzee in the slums; its ability was special but far from achieving this degree.
Lance kept walking, waving his hand confidently, "It's not him, his name is Tom Rokicki. You may have seen him on the news before... well, maybe not. He's not very famous, but I'm sure he's not a Trainer specializing in Psychic-type Pokémon. In fact, he doesn't even have any Psychic-type Pokémon."
As he spoke, he took out a slightly blurry photo.
It only showed a person wearing a neat, slim-fitting suit, slightly thin in stature, with perfectly arranged hair that seemed a bit long, but the image was too vague, and only a slight, stern smile could be vaguely seen on the lips.
Unrecognizable.
Since it wasn't him...
The only person Natsuhiko could think of was Goldenrod City's Gym Leader, Nancy, who was both a Superpower User specializing in Psychic-type Pokémon and a senior leader of the Rocket Team.
If it were Nancy, achieving all of this wouldn't be difficult.
The Rocket Team?
"Woo!"
"Muu!"
Just as the two approached the power plant's central control area, Weedle and Dratini simultaneously called out.
Facts prove Pokémon are indeed sharper than their Trainers.
But when Natsuhiko and Lance turned the corner and saw what the Pokémon were focusing on.
They were instantly shocked.
Yes, shocked on both a physical and slightly psychological level.
Before them was a swarm of Magnemite floating midair, densely packed, crammed together, blocking the passage they needed to take next, thoroughly.
No gap left.
The shock came from the fact that Magnemite rely on magnetic levitation, and this many gathered here could only mean magnetic forces were at play.
Natsuhiko and Lance's hair stood on end, despite their attempts otherwise.
The Magnemite haven't launched an attack. They might not even be aware of Natsuhiko and Lance.
But this situation was troublesome.
What to do?
When they checked the map earlier, they knew this was the only route to the control room. Faced with this many Magnemite, even Lance was a bit flustered.
Counting roughly, there were at least nearly a hundred of them?
If they collectively used Electric-type Techniques, the two wouldn't stand a chance.
"What now?" Lance was also at a loss.
Natsuhiko pondered deeply.
Forcefully breaking through was definitely not an option; aside from whether they could handle so many Magnemite, the damage caused might prevent them from proceeding.
Moreover, as Electric and Steel-type Pokémon, Magnemite held a significant Attribute Suppression advantage over Weedle, more than Golbat did.
Steel-type Pokémon are immune to Poison-type Techniques, and Insect-type Techniques would be halved in power.
Seeing Natsuhiko unable to come up with a solution, Lance gritted his teeth, grabbed a Pokeball from his waist, and said in a low voice:
"If that's the case, we have no choice but to use force..."
The Pokeball was Charizard, a Fire and Flying Type Pokémon. Fire types had an advantage over Steel types. If the angle of attack was right, there was a chance they could break through the barrier of Magnemite.
But if they couldn't succeed with a single strike, the collective Electric-type Techniques from so many Magnemite could put Charizard in a tough spot.
"Wait!" Natsuhiko stopped Lance, who was about to summon Charizard, his brows furrowed, as he stared at the Magnemite.
"What is it?" Lance was taken aback.
"Look at the state of these Magnemite; isn't it similar to the one we encountered outside?"
"It does look similar, but even though they're not attacking us, we must disperse them," Lance said, tightening his grip on the Pokeball, his heart racing.
"Perhaps... if we wake them up and give them a target, that could work..." Natsuhiko squinted thoughtfully.
"Hmm?"
"Does your Dratini know 100,000 Volts or Thunder?" Natsuhiko suddenly asked.
"Muu~~" Dratini shook its head, and Lance admitted, "It hasn't learned them yet."
"Then there's no choice. In a moment, I'll count down from three, and have Dratini release an Electromagnetic Wave to the fullest extent possible towards the end of the corridor. There should be enough stray electrons here..." Natsuhiko planned.
"You're going to... use the Magnemite's..."
"Magnemite's basic sustenance is electricity. I noticed there aren't any exposed power sources over there, which means they're not being drawn in by electricity. Someone must have arranged them under hypnosis. If we can attract away some Magnemite, enough for us to get through, that should do it."
Natsuhiko continued, "If it fails, then we'll resort to force. No rush."
"Okay!" Lance agreed with Natsuhiko's suggestion, glancing at Dratini, who quickly understood.
"Get ready, Weedle!"
"Woo!!" Weedle raised its head and nodded firmly.
Then Natsuhiko and Lance's expressions became extremely serious.
"Three, two... one! Power Grid!" Natsuhiko called out in a low voice.
"Dratini, Electromagnetic Wave!"
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The third update for today is presented~~Votes, please··