Pokémon, Ash's art style is off!

Even Pikachu perked up its ears in surprise.

The two people and the mouse reacted in a surprisingly consistent manner.

—The sky is falling!

Xiao Zhi has fallen!

There are Pokémon he can't even understand!

“I can’t tell at all,” Ash scratched his cheek, trying to find the right words. “Uh… I mean…”

"When I'm with Pokémon, I can sense their emotions or thoughts to some extent."

"But this Psyduck..."

He pointed to his head.

"It seemed empty inside, completely calm, with no particular thoughts coming through."

"So I don't understand why it's not moving. Maybe... it's not thinking about anything?"

Simply put, it's not that Xiao Zhi can't understand it.

Rather, this Psyduck itself doesn't know what it's thinking.

Miss Officer Jenny watched as the three of them talked but made no progress.

Although I don't quite understand what Xiaozhi means by "feeling," I do understand that this unconventional way of communicating is ineffective.

She stood up and looked at her watch.

A decision has been made.

"In that case, could you please take it to the Pokémon Center first?"

"Miss Joey might be able to do a basic check-up to see if there are any health problems or if it is carrying identification."

Officer Jenny spoke, her tone filled with apology and expectation.

"I really can't leave here. Yuhong City has been quite unsettled lately."

"No problem! We've got your back!"

Xiao Zhi immediately agreed, patting his chest.

"By the way, what's going on in Yuhong City lately?"

Xiaoxia keenly sensed the worry in Officer Jenny's words.

Officer Jenny lowered her voice.

"It's strange... For some reason, we've encountered several Pokémon behaving abnormally these past few days, not just this Psyduck."

"It seems like there are more cases of children going missing and residents reporting mental confusion."

She paused, her gaze sweeping over the still "standby" Psyduck, her tone becoming more serious.

"Hopefully it's just a series of accidents... let's hope it's not those Rockets guys up to something behind the scenes again."

After all, if a strange problem arises, there's a 90% chance that the investigation will be correct if it's traced back to the Rockets.

"The Rockets?!"

Xiaozhi, Xiaoxia, and Xiaogang exchanged a glance.

They were all too familiar with that name.

"At this point, it's just suspicion; there's no evidence yet."

Officer Jenny shook her head, seemingly unwilling to talk more, but the worry in her eyes did not disappear.

"At this point, it's just suspicion; there's no evidence yet."

Officer Jenny shook her head, seemingly unwilling to talk more, but the worry in her eyes did not disappear.

"Anyway, I'm leaving Psyduck in your care. Please make sure it's delivered safely to the Pokémon Center and handed over to Nurse Joy."

After giving her final instructions, she hurriedly turned and left to continue her patrol.

After the conversation, Ash and his two friends left with the still dazed Psyduck.

Head towards the Pokémon Center.

Psyduck was unusually compliant, not resisting being carried by Ash, but it remained silent and staring blankly into space.

"Pokémon exhibiting unusual behavior, missing children, mental instability..."

Xiaoxia walked along, counting on her fingers with a furrowed brow.

"It's disturbing to hear. I never imagined the Rockets would start doing things like child trafficking. They're really going to lose all sense of decency!"

"I don't think so."

Xiao Gang said thoughtfully.

"Although Team Rocket is ruthless, their goals are usually very clear—rare and powerful Pokémon, or lucrative ventures. Kidnapping ordinary children... doesn't quite fit their usual pursuits."

“What Xiaogang said makes some sense,” Xiaozhi said, holding Psyduck. “Besides, Officer Jenny is only suspicious.”

"Who else could it be but them?"

Xiaoxia's words hadn't even finished.

Behind the dense green shrubs along the roadside, one normal voice and two weak, exhausted voices followed, trailing off with long, drawn-out tones.

"Since you've asked so sincerely, oh—"

"We will mercifully tell you."

"For... ugh—"

"...to prevent the world from being destroyed."

"To safeguard world peace."

"To carry out... ugh—love and the evil of truth..."

"A cute and charming villain."

Ash and his two friends stopped abruptly, their expressions frozen, and all turned to look at the suspicious clump of bushes.

That opening line... those familiar lines...

The bushes rustled and shook, and then three people with pale faces appeared.

The figures, as if they had just survived a catastrophe, supported each other, staggering unsteadily...

It rolled out of there.

It was Musashi, Kojiro, and Meow Meow, whose face was almost scrunched up in a grimace.

"Musashi".

"Kojiro..."

"That's it...meow..."

After saying that, Meow Meow collapsed to the ground, sticking out her tongue and rolling her eyes back.

"I feel completely drained... Meow..."

Xiao Zhi subconsciously sniffed and looked down at his collar in confusion.

I feel like... the faint smell of stinky flowers on me seems to have gotten a little stronger?

"Rockets! It really is you guys!"

Xiaoxia immediately felt as if she were facing a formidable enemy.

"It's...it's us!"

Kojiro tried hard to strike a cocky pose, but all he managed was a weak lift of his chin.

"You were the ones who did this bad thing!"

Xiao Gang also frowned.

"Although I don't know which one you're referring to."

"—But that's right!"

Musashi, neck stiff, never forgot to uphold the integrity of a villain.

Hearing this, Xiaoxia became even angrier.

"You even steal children! You're despicable and have no bottom line!"

"What?!" Musashi's eyebrows shot up upon hearing this. "Nonsense!"

"Slander...! This is blatant... slander, meow!"

Meow Meow was so excited that it wanted to jump up, but it just thrashed around a couple of times like a Magikarp coming ashore.

"We, Team Rocket... are an organization with lofty ideals and strict codes of conduct!"

Kojiro also had an insulted expression on his face.

"We would never stoop to doing something as tasteless, unskilled, and utterly low as kidnapping a child!"

"This is an insult to our professionalism, meow!"

Kojiro also struggled to sit up.

With one hand clutching his still churning stomach, and the other trembling as he pointed at Xiaoxia, his face was filled with grief and indignation at his defiled innocence.

"You...you have seriously damaged the Rockets' reputation!"

"At most... at most we'll 'borrow' some Pokémon with potential or that are rare and valuable!"

"Human trafficking? What kind of heroes are they... no, what kind of villains have any aspirations!"

His logic was a bit muddled, but his denial was unusually firm.

Xiao Zhi was somewhat surprised to see them jumping up and down in anger and vehemently denying it.

"Huh? It really isn't you guys?"

"Of course not (meow)!"