Chapter 49: Cooperate with Team Rocket?

In the gloomy, dense forest,

A gentle breeze blew, Ash and his friends, having finished their meal, lay relaxed on the grass, taking a brief rest,

Serena leaned against Ash, her head resting on his arm, smiling.

Suddenly,

Shush—

A rustle of leaves startled the lying Serena, Clemont, and Yurie, who all sat up and called their Pokémon to alert,

Fearful that a fierce Pokémon might burst out.

Only Ash, who had already sensed the comer's identity through his aura, remained unmoved.

Jessie and James,

All that puzzled Ash was, where had Meowth gone?

Soon,

James and Jessie emerged from the bushes, their spirits low,

"Team Rocket!"

"What are you doing here?"

Upon seeing the two, Serena, Clemont, and Yurie all wore expressions as if facing a great enemy.

Even Pikachu and the others showed quite hostile looks.

Ash, likewise sitting up, seeing their low spirits, showed a thoughtful look on his face.

"Please, you brat!"

Jessie and James, as soon as they appeared, performed a perfectly synchronized dogeza, leaving the three girls dumbfounded.

"What kind of tactic is this?"

For a moment, the three couldn't help but look curiously at Ash.

"Where's Meowth?"

"This is exactly what we wanted to say—Meowth and the others have been captured, and we came to…"

Serena: "Huh?"

Clemont: "And there's still this kind of good thing?"

Ash raised his eyebrows slightly, shrugged, and spoke for the hesitant Jessie, saying what she wanted to say: "You came to ask for my help?"

Jessie gritted her teeth, clenched her fists tightly,

Damn brat, acting so high and mighty—it's all because of that despicable black-market merchant who lacks any martial virtue; otherwise she wouldn't have to lower herself,

"Hold it, Jessie, we're currently in need of help…"

James, likewise with his head down, whispered quietly into Jessie's ear,

"Endure, endure, I can't endure it anymore!"

Jessie's inner anger suddenly exploded: "You brat! That's a black-market merchant—just say whether you'll help or not; if not, we'll figure it out ourselves."

Serena and her two companions were all startled by Jessie's sudden outburst,

while Ash wasn't frightened at all; instead, a relieved expression appeared on his face.

"That's more like it—just now you looked useless, with that useless gaze, which isn't the Team Rocket I know."

Hearing that, Jessie and James felt much better in their hearts,

However,

those words still sounded a bit odd, but the tone had softened considerably,

"You still haven't said whether you'll help or not."

"No help!"

Ash's answer was firm and decisive,

"I believe even without me, you could defeat that black-market merchant, right?"

"You… very well, we'll see; next time we meet, we won't hold back, you brat!"

Jessie threw down those harsh words, grabbed James who still wanted to say more, and turned and walked away.

As they walked, they plotted a strategy to defeat the enemy in their minds.

"James, take out our financial reserves; we'll make stronger weapons to blast that dead fat pig to pieces!"

"I refuse to believe that we, the elite of Team Rocket, can't beat that damn black-market merchant."

After the two had walked far away,

Serena, who had remained silent until then, suddenly asked anxiously,

"Ash, are we really not going to help? That's a black-market merchant; who knows how many Pokémon are being oppressed."

Ash gently hugged the kind Serena, lightly patted her back, and slowly spoke his true intention,

"Of course we'll help, after all black-market merchants and poachers are exactly my targets; I just can't stand seeing Team Rocket act so useless."

Thinking this, Ash suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu, as if he were Shinji.

Upon hearing Ash would go rescue the imprisoned Pokémon, Serena's inner conflict instantly vanished, replaced by relief.

"So that's how it is…"

Clemont clicked his tongue in wonder: "Doing good deeds without seeking fame—Ash, you're really kind to Team Rocket."

"After all, though they're annoying, they can sometimes be cute, and they still have the most basic conscience."

He shook his head: "Let's not talk about them, Mewtwo!"

Ash took out a Master Ball and released Mewtwo.

"Please, Mewtwo, help search for nearby poachers."

Mewtwo nodded,

This isn't difficult; a psychic field suddenly radiated from its body.

The reason it's not difficult is that the Poké Balls approved for distribution by the League all have positioning devices and real-name registration.

Once a person's Poké Ball appears in more than two different locations — that is, the person themselves and the external storage location —

it will immediately be noticed by the authorities, leading to the capture of the criminal suspect.

Therefore, black-market traders and poachers can only capture Pokémon using cages, drugs, etc.; they dare not use Poké Balls.

Thus,

a black-market trader surrounded by many cages and Pokémon naturally has nowhere to hide under Mewtwo's psychic screening.

Found it!

At that moment,

Clemont also nearly finished tidying up his eating utensils and put them into his spatial backpack.

Let's go, we'll head over now.

Mewtwo enveloped everyone in its psychic power; with a thought,

Whoosh!

Everyone vanished directly from the forest.

When they reappeared, they had already arrived at an abandoned hut on a cliff.

Although called an abandoned hut, the interior was actually quite normal, showing no signs of decay.

Inside the hut,

the black-market trader was on the phone with someone unknown,

Yes, I've captured a domineering panda; boss, you didn't say you had business to come to Kalos? Come over and take a look; if the price is right, you can directly take it.

Someone is coming?

After thinking, Ash immediately restrained Clemont, who was about to act,

signaling everyone to stay silent,

Without acting rashly, Ash intended to see if he could still fish out more information via the black-market trader in front of him.

He gave a glance toward the higher slope,

Mewtwo instantly understood, bringing everyone to appear on a slope over fifty meters away.

Here, even if we speak normally, we won't be heard.

On the contrary, the black-market trader's words will be directly projected before everyone by Mewtwo's psychic power.

This is similar to the effect of establishing a psychic connection with the guardian deities of water, Latias and Latios, sharing what they see.

Soon after,

the black-market trader placed another call,

Hey, boss, I've captured the larvae of the powder butterfly; this shipment is plentiful, remember to drive over this afternoon to pick it up.

Finally, the black-market trader didn't make any more calls,

but instead pulled out his phone and checked the calendar,

In seven days, the biannual auction will be held; that talking meow will surely fetch a very good price.

Before then, I must do everything possible to take good care of it.

Thinking,

the black-market trader's face gradually showed a greedy, frenzied expression,

seeing the meow trapped in the cage break out in a cold sweat.

What do you want to do to meow, meow!

Of course I'll treat you well; you're hungry too, come eat!

Saying that, the black-market trader took out a bag of cheap rations,

on the way halfway,

After thinking, he stopped his action and simply gave the luxurious lunch he himself hadn't eaten to the meow.

Come, eat more; don't let hunger cause problems.

So good, meow?!

As the meow dubiously took the food and began to eat, the black-market trader's greed became ever harder to conceal.

Afternoon,

A person in a black suit stood on the back of a Brutal Flying Dragon and came to the dilapidated house.

Mewtwo had earlier used psychic power to distort light,

so that the person didn't notice that, about 50 meters above the house, a group of people were there with cameras filming him.

The black-market trader's face was full of a fawning smile,

after the other party gave the black-market trader a large sum of funds, they then subdued the domineering panda and two mischievous pandas.

After the other party left and could no longer be seen,

the black-market trader returned to the room, waiting for the next customer to arrive.

And he didn't know that the customer who had flown far away had already been knocked out like a dead dog.

Ash thus also saw an acquaintance,

this is an acquaintance who could show Ash the possibility of enhancing Mewtwo's traits,

namely, Abundant Source Champion Daigo, who had tracked all the way from Abundant Source, followed the Brutal Flying Dragon customer, and arrived at the scene.

This one is also a captive of Diancie, diamond boiling sheep.