Chapter 931: Team Rocket

Pusen looked like a tough guy, but his mouth wasn't very tight.

"We, we came here to…"

To make money.

The idea of conquering the world comes after making big money—Team Rocket's insatiable hunger for cash surpassed that of any other villainous organization.

Team Rocket had once assessed Oure's "commercial value" and concluded that illegal methods wouldn't yield much profit here, while legal methods required massive investment and extremely slow returns.

In recent years, Team Rocket's overseas market expansion had failed; Sakaki could not afford to pour that much money into Oure's bottomless pit.

Thus, the Oure branch base plan was shelved.

Then.

Why had Team Rocket suddenly changed its mind?

First, the recent change in land characteristics.

Black soil, even in the Pokémon world, remained a scarce soil resource.

Team Rocket planned to mine large quantities of black soil for sale—they'd already found buyers and were only waiting for the branch base to be completed before starting.

Second.

Rare endangered plants.

Currently, botanists in Oure's forests had discovered numerous plant species on the brink of extinction—or already extinct.

Team Rocket intended to steal these plants and sell them.

Also, rumors claimed Oure contained extremely rare rare-earth mineral deposits; if Team Rocket could mine them, it would be another massive sum.

They also coveted Reiguanwang, the cause of this prosperity.

Baixiu and Pusen, the two brothers, had previously failed their raid on Liuxing Village, been captured, and since then faced cold treatment within Team Rocket; to atone, they took on this critical mission.

Who could have imagined that before anything was even set in motion, All All Baimu showed up alone and overturned their entire base?

Even if All All Baimu forgave them, Team Rocket would never let them off.

Unlike the Team Rocket trio who paid their own way and took missions voluntarily.

Baixiu and Pusen's base construction and personnel arrangements were fully funded by the organization—Bansmu, desperate to cut costs and increase revenue, had reluctantly allocated funds.

Now…

Sigh.

Gone.

At best, they'd sit on the bench until they died.

After finishing his story, Pusen stared blankly at the sky, his expression one of utter despair.

"Hah, served right!"

All All Baimu kicked him unconscious, feeling no pity.

Instead, his desire for revenge deepened.

You show up when you want, vanish when you don't—how convenient!

Vrrrr—

The sound of rotors came from the sky.

He looked up and saw many aircraft approaching, their exteriors marked with the Rescue Organization's insignia.

"Here they come."

All All Baimu waved toward the horizon, already planning the details of his revenge.

In the anime, Team Rocket was a festering wound in Kanto, entangled with countless factions—even former Interpol agent Modan was willing to give them some leeway.

Taking them down by normal means would cost immense manpower and resources.

No problem!

He never expected to wipe out Team Rocket, like a stubborn patch of glue; just making Bansmu suffer would be enough.

They're short on money?

Let them be even shorter!

All All Baimu recalled the data collected by the Multibridge phone—he already had a plan.

As the saying goes: revenge shouldn't wait until tomorrow.

Once these bastards are handed over, I'll start!

At the same moment.

Team Rocket headquarters, Kanto.

The head of the Management Department suddenly received word that the Oure branch had gone silent.

"Was it time for the scheduled check-in?"

"Umm… no."

"Then why are you panicking? Idiot! Don't overreact! Don't you understand time zones? Besides, Oure's a backwater—anything can happen there!"

"... You're right."

The subordinate, scolded, reluctantly withdrew.

Recently, Bansmu's secretary had been preparing to form a special unit called "Zhen Zhen Niao Matrix," selecting only elites for an operation in the Alola region.

The department head, who came from an action unit, had volunteered his son—only to be rejected—and had been in a foul mood these past two days.

But what did that have to do with them?

Forget it.

The subordinate abandoned the fleeting thought of bypassing his superior to report directly.

After all, a subordinate's achievements belong to the superior; a superior's failures belong to the subordinate!

Do too much, and you're wrong; do nothing, and you're safe.

—

Johto.

Outside Mankou City.

In the pitch-black night, under the bright moonlight.

A black horse moved silently through the forest, carrying two figures.

Only when distant houses and hills emerged in silhouette did it halt.

It stopped.

"From here on. The city has too many civilians—I don't plan to become a terrorist."

All All Baimu dismounted and patted the horse's smooth back.

After handing over the Team Rocket members, he'd made some preparations.

According to the Multibridge phone's intelligence, Team Rocket's operations spanned every industry.

Among them, he was familiar with the game cities of Mankou and Yuhong, the giant mechanical Pokémon theme park from the original series, and the sunken luxury cruise ship Saint Anne.

To truly cripple Team Rocket, physical destruction of these assets would suffice.

But undoubtedly—

All All Baimu couldn't do that.

They were too closely tied to ordinary civilians; physical destruction would almost certainly harm them.

So he asked Zero Machine for help.

He planned to strike Team Rocket's bases first; once internal chaos erupted, Zero Machine would siphon funds from their linked accounts.

Correct.

Stealing from a villainous organization—is that stealing?

That's retrieval!

Zero Machine had done this before—it was second nature.

The money would ultimately be transferred to Modan's account; he'd surely hand it over to the International Police.

There's no way he'd return it to Bansmu!

All All Baimu didn't believe Modan was that foolish.

'One move is enough?'

Reiguanwang asked.

He nodded: "One move is enough—hit them hard!"

'As you wish!'

Reiguanwang tugged the reins; the Lingyou horse neighed, its hooves striking empty air, both figures appearing beneath the full moon.

Thick black mist enveloped their forms, like a dark cloud.

Instantly—

The earth was flooded with dark light, transforming into a surging, wave-like current that swallowed forests, mountains, and roads.

Countless black-purple, ghost-like streams emerged.

They soared into the sky, swirling around the dense black mist like eerie will-o'-the-wisps.

"Whoa—!!"

A piercing horse cry rang out.

Countless streams fell like a meteor shower, plunging downward the instant lights flickered on in the villas near the cliffside!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!

A series of devastating black spheres expanded like black holes, swallowing both the mountain and the villa!

The earth shook violently; birds took flight in panic, and herds of beasts fled.

Then came a thunderous boom—the ground split open with several grotesque, terrifying fissures, half rising, half collapsing, like a subterranean dragon rolling over, spreading all the way into the forest.

Creak—

Several giant trees collapsed, emitting piercing, unnatural sounds.

Faint, almost imperceptible screams echoed from within the fissures, and faint glows could be seen deep inside.

Smoke surged skyward like a dark, sky-obscuring cloud; flames erupted, illuminating half the night sky.

Undoubtedly.

Beneath a villa on the outskirts of Goldenrod City, Team Rocket had built a secret base.

The multiball phone said the base primarily managed operations within Goldenrod City, including the Goldenrod Game Corner, while maintaining a front office in the city to appease market regulators.

Now it was reduced to ashes.

Team Rocket's Celadon Branch Chief must be delighted.

"Sss~"

Spirit Dark Horse landed from the sky; the proud king said: "Head straight to the deepest point—no one killed."

"Perfect!"

All All Baimu gave a thumbs-up, mounted his horse, and said: "Let's go—to the next location."

One shot only. No deaths.

Simply causing property damage to a villainous organization—he could justify himself even if Interpol came knocking.

Back at the Goldenrod Game Corner, he picked up Hu Pa and Shiny Gengar, who were playing pachinko; they openly transferred to their next destination under the watchful eyes of many passersby—

Celadon Falls.

The location of another Team Rocket secret base.

"Whitey, Hu Pa wants to play that arcade game again~"

"Geng-geng!"

"How about I buy you one in a few days?"

"Really?"

"Of course. I'm not short on money."

Amid laughter and chatter.

At the top of the waterfall.

Snowy Horse walked across the water; atop its back, Reiguan King gazed coldly down at the massive structure below, raised his left hand, and a spear of ice—cold enough to freeze the air—formed swiftly.

The escaping frost gradually froze the entire waterfall into an icefall.

The next instant.

The ice spear shrieked through the air!

CRACK!!

"Chief!!"

The startled phone call jolted the Management Department Chief from sleep.

The caller's voice trembled: "Chief! Something's wrong! All four branch bases in the Celadon region have lost contact!"

"I told you about the time difference—what did you say?!"

Before he could finish his impatient retort, the Chief leapt to his feet, clutching his forehead: "Which branch bases lost contact?!"

"Celadon! The four bases under Apollo's command! All of them—no word at all!"

The caller shouted.

The Celadon branch bases are in trouble!

The Chief's body turned icy with fear; he erupted in rage: "Why didn't you tell me sooner?! Damn it!"

He hastily pulled on his clothes and barked: "Immediately notify Secretary Zhen Zhen Niao!"

"I'm already here."

Secretary Zhen Zhen Niao's calm voice suddenly came from the phone, adding: "Boss Sakaki is already aware and en route. He ordered me to summon all department heads for a meeting."

The Chief hurriedly replied: "I'm on my way! Right away!"

Several minutes later.

Team Rocket headquarters helipad.

All department heads stood solemn or trembling, staring at the middle-aged man stepping out of the helicopter, dressed in a black suit.

At his side walked a cream-colored giant cat, resembling a cheetah; the crimson R on its chest and its eyes emitted a chilling, faint glow.

"Boss Sakaki!"

All department heads bowed deeply, shouting greetings.

The middle-aged man didn't even spare them a glance, striding straight into the headquarters.

Secretary Zhen Zhen Niao followed behind, quietly reporting the current situation.

In fact, though communications from each base had been severed, preventing the Management Department from detecting the anomaly immediately,

Team Rocket members at the branch bases had successfully contacted headquarters through other means.

That was how Zhen Zhen Niao obtained the information.

Inside the conference room.

Sakaki sat at the head, his gaze cold and piercing as it swept over them; all department heads sat up straight, eyes forward.

"Current confirmed intelligence: the enemy destroyed four branch bases—including the Celadon branch—in fifteen minutes."

Zhen Zhen Niao pressed a button.

A holographic 3D image rose from the center of the table.

Clearly visible: a large-headed Pokémon riding a massive horse, either hurling a stream of icy blue light or unleashing endless torrents of black energy.

In an instant,

the bases below were either instantly frozen or engulfed in terrifying smoke and fire.

Even the Pokémon sent out to confront the attacker could not halt the assault.

All department heads drew sharp breaths.

"This is…"

"Just one strike!"

They couldn't help but recall Sakaki's "white moonlight"—Mewtwo, which had destroyed the headquarters during its escape.

The image on the table changed.

A 3D model of Reiguan King appeared.

"The enemy's true identity: the legendary Pokémon Reiguan King. No further data yet, but it is confirmed that the changes across the Oure Continent are its doing."

Zhen Zhen Niao pressed another button on the remote; beside Reiguan King appeared a cold-featured young man.

"The other individual present at the scene is named All All Baimu, winner of the last Caiyou Tournament, who previously clashed with us in Meteor Village, causing our Mega Evolution acquisition plan to fail…"

She paused. "Combining all this, we can preliminarily judge this as a unilateral, targeted attack against us. How the enemy obtained the base locations remains unknown."

Just one person?

One person is fine.

All department heads exhaled in relief.

They had feared this was a coordinated official crackdown, meant to eliminate Team Rocket while they remained unaware.

But soon—

The soft, rhythmic tapping of Sakaki's index finger on the table made their hearts tighten again.

"How are Apollo and the others?"

"Branch Chief Apollo and several other executives have been hospitalized, but no immediate life-threatening injuries."

The Celadon branch bases did not resist without effort.

Even though All All Baimu and Reiguan King moved so swiftly—striking one location then vanishing—Apollo and several other executives still found opportunities to block them.

Unfortunately…

Zhen Zhen Niao dared not show footage of Apollo and the others futilely standing their ground—it was too horrific, and releasing it would do more harm than good.

"This won't end here. Summon all field agents. Launch an invasion of the Oure Region!"

Sakaki barked.

He was a money-obsessed merchant, yes—but he was also Team Rocket's boss.

If this matter was swept under the rug without explanation,

where would his authority stand?

A single person? Team Rocket was not afraid of him!

No sooner had he spoken—

Red lights flashed above, a shrill alarm blared, and a frantic voice came over the intercom:

"An unidentified entity is approaching headquarters!"

"Moving fast!"

"He's already above the base!"

Sakaki and the others all paled—they never expected All All Baimu to stop after destroying the four Celadon branch bases.

They've run to headquarters!

The cat on his knee seemed to sense some terrible pressure, startled and glancing wildly around, hissing.

Activate the defense system!

Everyone, get to the safe room immediately!

Follow me, boss!

Everyone knew the conference room wasn't safe—the defense system might not withstand the enemy's attack.

Indeed.

The next moment.

Beneath Sakaki's feet, the ground violently trembled; everything around began to shake wildly, as if a super earthquake had descended!

Rumble—rumble—rumble—rumble—!!