Pokémon, Ash's art style is off!

"Musashi, help me (meow)!"

With their eyes tightly shut, Kojiro and Meowth howled in unison.

Upon hearing this, Musashi leaped out, casually pulling a Poké Ball from his waist with clean and swift movements.

"What two useless things!"

She glanced disdainfully at the two unfortunate men on the ground, then tossed the ball high into the air.

"Arbok—!"

A ball is thrown, and a red light flashes.

"hiss!"

The mighty purple serpent raised its head and flicked its tongue.

Pikachu immediately jumped off Ash's shoulder.

His cheeks crackled with electricity, poised to strike.

The Dream Eater and the Hypnotic Baku looked at the menacing Jessie, as well as the three of them—Pikachu, Ash, and the others—who were watching them intently from the side.

His eyes sharpened.

They then quickly exchanged a glance.

The next second, they very skillfully crouched down with their heads in their hands.

The movements were incredibly fluid.

"Suri!" "Puri!"

They surrender! Don't hit them in the face! Hit my big brother instead!

"Suli?"

The dream-inducing tapir stared in disbelief at the hypnotic tapir that had sold it directly.

As for resistance... neither of the two Pokémon had even considered it.

Are you kidding me? If a real fight breaks out, aside from those two useless guys, can't you see how many people are on the other side?

Four! There were four people in total!

Even if one person brings six Pokémon, that's still twenty-four!

Twenty-four against two!

Not to mention that yellow-skinned rat looked like a menacing creature!

How are we supposed to fight this?

The battle was over before it even began.

Seeing that they had the upper hand, Kojiro and Meowth immediately helped each other to their feet.

After dusting themselves off, the human and cat swaggered up to the two super-powered Pokémon whose eyes were frantically communicating.

"Speak!" Meow Meow put her hands on her hips. "Who's behind all of you, Meow Meow?"

"And where are the children you kidnapped hidden?"

Kojiro added sternly.

The Dream-Inducing Tapir and the Hypnotic Tapir stopped exchanging glances, looked up blankly, and looked at each other again.

...Instigated by? A child?

What is all this?

"Puri?"

Did you do it?

"Suli?"

No, you did it?

"Are you still pretending to be stupid even now, meow!"

"What?! You dare to deny it!"

Kojiro, mimicking the detectives on TV, pushed up his non-existent glasses.

He pointed to the still somewhat dazed little boy behind them and said.

"We have both witnesses and physical evidence! And such skillful hypnosis techniques definitely indicate a group operation! Tell us honestly, where are your accomplices hiding!"

“Otherwise…” he drawled, his tone dripping with threat, “then don’t blame us for being impolite!”

The two Pokémon shook their heads frantically.

They really don't have any mastermind behind them!

"Hmph! Still being stubborn, meow! Kojiro, let Musashi out, meow!"

Ash and his friends: "..."

Is this how the Rockets usually operate?

How exactly have they managed to stay active right under the league's nose until now?

It was all down to luck?

"Tell me! Which organization are you from? Where did you take those children?!"

Musashi stepped on the still struggling Baku, while holding onto the Dream-Inducing Baku tightly with one hand.

He interrogated me in a fierce tone.

The dream-inducing tapir and the hypnotic tapir were clearly flustered.

"Puri!" "Suri!"

It's true! It's really true!

They are just refugees, refugees who fled from Golden City!

"A fleeing cat?"

Meow Meow caught the keyword and moved closer.

"What's wrong with Golden City, meow?"

The three members of Team Rocket have been busy with the Yuhong Dojo lately and haven't been paying much attention to major events outside.

Upon hearing the mention of Golden City, both the Dream Eater and the Hypnotic Baku's expressions immediately turned fearful.

The dream-inducing tapir gestured with his hands, while the hypnotic tapir added explanations with "plop plop" sounds.

Just two days ago.

Terrifying mental fluctuations erupted in the heart of Golden City...

Such a powerful fluctuation, according to their speculation, must be the work of that gym leader whose name cannot even be mentioned!

The fact that they were forced to that point suggests the other side is no pushover either.

After all, the aftershocks of that mental energy... even just sensing them from afar made them tremble!

In addition, the two brothers were timid from a young age.

After considering it all, they immediately started packing up overnight... well, there wasn't much to pack, just a few tree fruits they had collected.

In short, I ran here without looking back.

"The Gym Leader of Goldenrod City, whose name can't even be mentioned... is it Sabrina?"

Kojiro asked tentatively.

"Puri!" "Suri!"

Both the dream-inducing tapir and the hypnotic tapir shushed violently at the same time, and hurriedly extended their paws to make a "shh" gesture.

With a terrified expression, she stopped Kojiro from mentioning that name again, and even nervously looked around.

After all, as a Psychic-type Pokémon, it knows that Psychic-type methods are always the most mysterious.

No one knows whether mentioning this name in Yuhong City will attract the attention of some unseen gaze.

"Looks like something really big has happened in Golden City, meow!"

Meow Meow looked serious.

Putting everything else aside, even their leader is quite wary of Natsumi.

Someone who could fight Sabrina to that extent must be a top-tier fighter.

Ash and his friends: "..."

Looking at it this way, it seems like they might also be partly to blame?

“Even if you say that,” Xiao Gang pointed to the little boy, “then what about this child?”

"Plop..."

The hypnotic tapir's voice lowered, and it fiddled with its fingers with a hint of shame.

As you know, we Psychic-type Pokémon are prone to overworking our brains.

To replenish our sugar levels, we just... wanted to "borrow" a few lollipops from him to try.

The Dream-Guiding Tapir stood to the side, nodding vigorously with its head in its hands.

"Su Li Su Li!"

That's it!

We simply hypnotized him, making him believe that he had finished eating the candy.

I was planning to take him home in a little while...

With Meowth providing simultaneous interpretation, Brock, who knows the habits of these two Pokémon best, expressed strong doubts.

“Wait, as far as I know from H… as far as I know,” he coughed lightly, concealing a suspicious abbreviation, “the Dream Eaters and Hypnotic Eaters primarily feed on dreams! What are you doing stealing the candy?”

The two Pokémon looked at each other and revealed expressions that could only be described as tragic.