Chapter 379

Dragon Shrine.

The elder coughed softly, searching the Dragon Shrine for herbs capable of dispelling sleep.

Thanks to the unique properties of the Heir's Cloak, even after inhaling considerable amounts of sleep gas, she remained perfectly alert—but coughing was unavoidable; the tiny particles in her lungs would not vanish.

From her perspective, she could see the Ultra Seven-Star Pidgeot and Ultra Steelix locked in battle, but she could not leave the Dragon Shrine.

Because the Pokémon guarding the Dragon Shrine had all been forced into slumber, she believed that once they were awakened, the enemy would find it extremely difficult to break in—and only then could they spare strength to aid those outside.

"Found it."

The elder gripped the found Universal Remedy, preparing to rush toward the unconscious Dragon Pokémon, when a beam of light suddenly shot toward her and exploded before her.

Boom!

The shockwave of the energy explosion instantly flung the Dragon Elder backward; the Universal Remedy slipped from her hand and shattered under a strangely shaped claw.

The intruders were none other than a trio led by Puson.

The elder struggled to lift her head and saw the Pokémon that had attacked her—the Armaldo—and the one that had crushed the Universal Remedy—the Toxicroak.

Beside them, a Yveltal also watched her with predatory intent.

"Team Rocket…"

"That's right! It's Team Rocket!" Puson grinned at the Dragon Elder. "I don't like bullying the elderly. Hand over the Mega Stones and Key Stones, and we'll leave right away. Otherwise, I'll tear this shithole apart!"

As he spoke, a burst of flame suddenly surged from nearby.

The Armaldo dodged with sharp precision, but the Yveltal beside it was caught directly—its body blackened as it tumbled from the sky.

"Elder!"

A middle-aged man with streaks of gray in his hair burst from the grass, flanked by a Haxorus shaped like a serpent.

"Huh? So there are still some who can move!"

Puson saw the man crouching before the Dragon Elder, checking her condition—his face showed not a trace of worry. "Looks like you won't learn until you're faced with death. All of you—attack! Brave Bird!"

"Ice Punch!"

"Shh!"

The Armaldo let out a piercing screech, its body engulfed in sky-blue flames as it slammed into the Haxorus, while behind it, the Toxicroak swung its ice-blue fists.

The remaining Team Rocket member swiftly switched Pokémon and shouted, "Sludge Bomb!"

A pile of purple sludge—Sludgy—spewed forth several deep-purple mud balls toward the Haxorus!

The middle-aged man shouted in response, "Tornado!"

Facing the fierce assault of three Pokémon, the Haxorus whipped its tail rapidly; the sphere at its tip glowed blue, summoning a deep-blue hurricane that swept toward the incoming trio.

Under the ferocious gale, the trio led by Armaldo could not break through for a moment.

"Not bad. No wonder you're the most mysterious Star Folk. Too bad you feudal relics have nothing but brute strength!" Puson pulled out a rocket launcher from nowhere and fired at the Haxorus, which had just used its move.

Boom!

Flames erupted from the barrel; a black sphere shot toward the Haxorus and rapidly unfurled—the Haxorus tried to flee, but the black sphere clamped onto its body like mechanical claws.

Crimson electricity surged wildly; the Haxorus howled in agony, "Ruuu!"

Though not unconscious, the Haxorus lost all combat ability and could no longer resist the Armaldo and the others.

"Haxorus! Try to break free!"

The middle-aged man, supporting the Dragon Elder, wore a grim expression.

Had his main Pokémon been here, things would never have reached this point—he had been too worried about the Dragon Shrine and hadn't had time to awaken the other Dragons…

Now he could only hope the Dragon Pokémon guarding the shrine could shed their sleep like the Haxorus, or simply wake up on their own.

He knew he had to buy time.

"Huh? No other Pokémon?"

Puson, seeing no other Pokémon released by the middle-aged man, frowned in disappointment. "You came with only one? Old man, how bold—or foolish—are you?"

"Enough talk! Have you considered the consequences of what you're doing?" the middle-aged man snapped.

The Dragon Elder raised her hand to signal him to stop, then stood up, coughing.

"Leave the Dragon Shrine now, and I'll pretend nothing happened." She stared at Puson in midair, her voice grave.

Puson met her gaze through his sunglasses, then glanced at his two teammates. All three burst into laughter. "At this point, still spouting meaningless nonsense? That's why you feudal relics—"

Before he finished speaking,

The Armaldo suddenly flew before him and struck a bomb that had come from nowhere with its wings.

"Shh!"

Boom!

The bomb exploded violently, spreading golden powder in all directions; the three Pokémon' bodies sparked with tiny electric currents.

"Paralysis Powder!? There's another little rat nearby!"

Puson hurled away his launcher, covered his nose and mouth with one hand, and used his hover device to retreat rapidly. "You two—hurry—"

He was given no more time to speak.

Behind him, the sound of a Poké Ball opening suddenly rang out. Puson turned in shock—already, a small fist had struck his face, yanking him down from midair.

Thud!

Puson's head slammed into the ground; he nearly passed out.

The two other Team Rocket members, startled by this sudden attack, frantically pulled out their Poké Balls.

But the moment they raised their hands, an indescribable weight descended from above, forcing them to crash down just like Puson had—tumbling with their hover devices into a dazed heap.

The three paralyzed Pokémon tried to protect their trainers, but were forcibly restrained by another flash of blue light.

The situation reversed in the fastest possible time.

The Dragon Elder and the middle-aged man stared in shock, unable to recover their wits, then turned together to look at the Garganacl, who was dragging Puson by his collar like a toy.

They uttered the same words as Pusen, who had barely regained consciousness through his physique: "What the hell…"

"Congratulations, trendy Team Rocket agent—you've missed the opportunity the Elder granted you."

Baimu stepped out from the corner, wearing a mask, flanked by two Happiny whose eyes glowed blue—clearly, it was they who had firmly controlled the three Pokémon.

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He walked slowly toward the two Team Rocket agents, their heads reeling, seized their necks despite their struggles, and delivered a clean, crisp headbutt.

Crack! The two Team Rocket agents collapsed straight down.

"Hmm… I've got quite a bit of experience in hitting people."

Baimu spoke to the Dragon Elder and the middle-aged man, whose expressions were deeply strange, and with great familiarity, reached into their pockets to retrieve the Poké Balls, recalling the three Pokémon controlled by Happiny.

These three were pretty strong—Happiny nearly lost control.

He turned to look at the dazed Pusen, took his collar from the mouth of Gulpin, and dragged him sideways; an eight-foot-tall muscular golden-haired man struggled helplessly in his grip like a chicken headed for slaughter.

"Baimu!"

The Dragon Elder could no longer hold back: "... No bloodshed is permitted in the Ancestral Grounds."

He said this aloud, yet his hesitant, half-spoken expression clearly hinted at more beneath the surface.

Baimu exchanged a glance with Happiny, realizing his own aura of malevolence must have grown heavy enough to prompt the Dragon Elder's warning—such highly respected individuals always possessed extraordinarily sharp senses.

He felt nothing himself, so replied: "Rest assured, I know my limits."

He gave a slight nod to the two men, then pulled out numerous Muzi Fruit lozenges and handed them to Gulpin to pass along: "These will awaken the Dragon Pokémon. But please, keep it quiet—maintain silence around the Dragon Shrine; it will aid my next move."

"Of course!"

The middle-aged man took the Muzi Fruit lozenges himself.

"Thank you."

As Baimu spoke, he dragged Pusen away, soon reaching a spot beyond the Dragon Elder's view. He slapped Pusen's face. "Hey~ Wake up~"

After two slaps, Pusen's sunglasses flew off and he slowly came to, startled by the gas mask before him.

"You! Who are you!"

He shouted.

Normally, people would first target the Pokémon to force the trainer to back down—or at least use indirect intimidation. Who attacks the trainer outright from the start? This style reminded Pusen of a group of insane people.

"Who I am doesn't matter. What matters is how useful you are to me."

Baimu took the Team Rocket uniform from Happiny, who had walked over, and smiled warmly: "You should be able to contact the airship, right? Though I didn't see you do so just now. I need to slip aboard soon—you'll give me that chance."

"Why the hell—ugh!"

Pusen never finished his sentence; his entire head was shoved into a nearby pond, thoroughly submerged. To prevent him from suffocating, a kick landed squarely on his stomach.

When Baimu pulled him up, Pusen gasped and choked, as if reborn.

"Have you ever heard this saying: As long as the green mountains remain, there will always be firewood. I haven't taken a life in a long time—and I hope you won't force me to."

A demonic voice whispered beside his ear.

This confirmed for Pusen: this man was one of those lunatics.

But why would someone like this appear among the Starfall People?

"H-How can I help you?"

Pusen replied in a low voice.

Team Rocket loyalty is built on reverence for Giovanni and the pursuit of money and status—but when lives are at stake, loyalty becomes questionable.

The condition of other Team Rocket agents was unknown.

But Pusen, this muscular giant, was clearly not someone who could be easily sacrificed.

"You're cooperating so well—I'm truly delighted."

Beneath his gas mask, Baimu's smile grew more genuine: "Then…"

Not long after.

The airship's command center.

The Team Rocket agent in charge of temporarily commanding the airship's weapons received a communication from Pusen.

"Order: From now on, anyone coming aboard to replenish equipment must have their hatch opened immediately to speed up their movement! We're racing against time!"

"Understood!"

The Team Rocket agent replied crisply, then hesitated: "Commander Pusen… shouldn't we go assist Commander Bashu? He seems to be in a tough fight…"

"I said no! He's testing Super Evolution power! Don't disturb him!"

"Understood!"

The communication ended.

Three more minutes passed.

Baimu, wearing a hover device, lowered his hat brim and entered the interior of the massive Team Rocket airship.

The interior was nearly empty—everyone was busy "working": either recovering Dragon Pokémon, fighting the remaining elderly Dragon Tamer elders, or manning the command center, blasting everywhere with electric and sonic weapons.

In short, they were all too occupied to notice a sudden returnee claiming to be a Team Rocket agent.

"Perfect."

Baimu glanced around, then walked straight toward the command center.

Though his original goal had been to shoot down the airship, he now realized blowing it up was too dangerous—and cleaning up such a massive wreck wouldn't be easy.

Better to just take it outright.

After all, Team Rocket loved stealing others' things—what's wrong with having it stolen back once or twice? It's only fair.

Unfortunately, Pusen and Bashu's squad had only Bashu capable of Super Evolution—and only because his Steelix was perfectly suited; otherwise, neither a Key Stone nor a Super Stone would have been left.

They'd all have been handed over to those doctors for research.

When Baimu heard this news from Pusen, he was utterly disappointed, and only after helping the man drink water twice due to his thirst did he confirm he hadn't been fooled.

If there were extra Key Stones and Super Stones, it would be ideal.

Then I could easily keep them for myself.

Click.

Baimu opened the door to the main control room and saw a flurry of Rocket Team members bustling about.

"Huh!? Who allowed you to come in!"

The Rocket Team member nearest the door walked over with a dark expression, ready to rebuke—until he saw a stranger's face, instantly shifting his expression as he tried to shout.

But someone moved swiftly, clamping a hand over his mouth: "Shh! Everyone's working hard—how rude of you to interrupt them like this. Just go to sleep…"

He quietly slapped the man's occiput, and the Rocket Team member instantly fell into a silent slumber.

Yet not a single one of the busy Rocket Team members noticed this.

"So why? Did no one think someone might sneak up?"

Baimu never imagined things would go this smoothly—he'd fully prepared for a real, bloody fight.

He raised his hand and released his Pokémon.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The series of Poké Ball opening sounds finally drew their attention; they all turned around.

But by then, whether to flee or resist was already too late.

Happiny swiftly locked onto all the Rocket Team members, using Psychic to control everyone except the helmsman, forcing them to raise their hands as if surrendering.

The helmsman, meanwhile, had his head pinned down by Bisharp, who grinned at him with startling friendliness—nearly scaring the man into wetting himself.

The others were also threatened to varying degrees by the swarm of Pokémon.

Baimu sauntered over and sat down in the command chair. "From now on, I'm in charge of this airship. Anyone with objections, raise your hand."

Swish—

Under Happiny's control, every Rocket Team member lowered their raised hands, each wearing an expression of deep, stifled resentment.

"Good."

Baimu nodded in satisfaction. "Those who refuse to cooperate will be stripped naked and thrown out. I'm serious."

Outside the airship.

The battle between Mega Steelix and Mega Sceptile continued.

Theoretically, the former had the type advantage, but in practice, it was clearly falling behind—perhaps it wouldn't be long before it lost.

Bashu watched, his heart calm.

He knew that compared to Mega Steelix, the short old man across from him would collapse first; once the trainer fell, the Pokémon's condition couldn't possibly be maintained.

Of course, Bashu had to admit the man was an extremely powerful Dragon Tamer.

"What a pity."

He couldn't help but sigh, but then remembered he'd collected enough data on Mega Evolution—the few annoying doctors should be satisfied.

"Surrender! I won't take your life!" Bashu called out loudly.

Not far away, Old Qingliu gasped for breath, his entire body soaked in sweat, yet he sneered at Bashu's words: "Hah, dream on. You want me to surrender? You're ten thousand years too early!"

"Then I have no choice—"

"Hey hey hey, can you hear me? Hey hey hey? This is the Meteor Folk Strike Team—I'm officially announcing to all Rocket Team members that I've stolen your home. Please lay down your weapons and Pokémon and surrender peacefully. Understood? If you didn't hear that—"

Zzzt—

A bolt of lightning shot from a cannon beneath the airship, striking a Rocket Team member on the ground, who screamed and collapsed.

"Something like that. Oh, Bashu, you're a special target—please cooperate nicely, okay~"

A voice so infuriatingly insolent echoed out.

Yet the scattered Meteor Folk, upon hearing it, all broke into smiles.

The weary Old Qingliu burst into loud laughter.

"You've got guts, Baimu kid!"

Bashu stared up at the airship; his usual calm demeanor shattered, his face pale with disbelief.

The airship was stolen—mid-battle!?

How is that possible!