Chapter Sixty-One: The Rockets of Team Rocket

After leaving Twinleaf Town, everyone continued on toward Waterlily Town.

“How long is this valley, exactly?”

At the moment, Cheng Cheng and his companions were passing through a valley that seemed endless. They had already been walking for several hours, yet the narrow path ahead stretched on without end.

“How much farther do we have to go?” Ash complained.

“Hang in there, Ash. Maybe there’s a house up ahead where we can rest,” Dawn consoled him.

“According to the map, there’s still about an hour left,” Brock said after consulting his map.

They pressed on, and soon discovered a strangely shaped house.

“Look, there’s a house over there!” Dawn exclaimed with surprise, delighted that her earlier hope had been realized so quickly.

“But this house looks really odd.”

Indeed, the house was quite small in terms of area but exceptionally tall, wider at the base and narrower at the top, forming a conical shape.

“Why would there be a house here?” Brock wondered aloud.

“Why don’t we go in and take a look?” Dawn suggested.

At that moment, the front door creaked open and two people stepped out.

“Welcome to our Corridor Cabin. Please, come inside and rest for a while.”

“Should we go in?” Dawn asked the group.

“Let’s check it out,” Ash agreed.

Everyone decided to enter. Although Cheng Cheng had already identified the real identities of these two through his psychic powers, he was curious to see what they were up to and followed the others inside.

They had barely stepped through the door when the floor suddenly gave way, and they all fell. Fortunately, instead of a straight drop, it was a winding slide, and they soon landed with a thud.

When they got up, they found themselves surrounded by sturdy iron bars—they were trapped.

“What’s going on?”

“I heard your ‘What’s going on?’ and came at the speed of light,
Wind,
Earth,
Sky,
Send danger to the whole world,
Spread crisis throughout the universe,
Whether angel or demon,
Call that name,
And all who hear it will tremble at our captivating voices—
Jessie,
James,
And I’m Meowth, that’s right!
We are the protagonists of this age,
We are invincible… Team Rocket!”

“Team Rocket, it’s you again.”

“Ohohoho, brats, this time we’re fully prepared. We’re definitely catching Pikachu!”

“That’s right. Thanks to the huge bonus we earned at the Twinleaf Festival, we spent it all to set up this plan.”

“That’s right, that’s right, meow! As long as we catch Pikachu and deliver it to the Boss, we’ll get promoted! That’s the plan, meow!”

“Darn it, Team Rocket, let us out!”

“Brats, letting you out is impossible. We spent a lot of money on this Pikachu-catching plan.”

“Pikachu, use Iron Tail!”

“Pika!”

Pikachu’s tail struck the iron bars, but nothing happened.

“Hahaha, don’t waste your energy. With our generous budget, even your cage was custom-designed. There’s no way you can break out.”

“Who says we can’t get out?”

“Come out, Kirlia.”

Cheng Cheng released Kirlia.

“Impossible, meow! Not even Gardevoir could break those bars, meow!”

“Who said I’m going to break them?”

“Everyone, grab onto me.”

The group reached out and grabbed Cheng Cheng’s arm.

“Kirlia, Teleport.”

In an instant, they were outside the cage. Kirlia’s power wasn’t strong enough for long-range travel with several people, but short distances were no problem.

“You actually got out?!” Team Rocket cried.

“Oh no, meow! We completely forgot about Teleport, meow!”

“Hmph, brats, breaking out won’t help you. Soon, we’ll deliver you all to the Boss!”

“Go, Yanmega!”

“Go! Cacnea!”

Team Rocket summoned their Pokémon.

“Go, Pikachu!”

“Go, Piplup!”

“It’s up to you now, Croagunk!”

Just as the battle lines were drawn, a Pokémon ran out from the side.

“Togepi~!”

Togepi’s appearance disrupted the standoff, and everyone turned to look at the little Pokémon.

“Wow, Togepi is so cute!” Dawn was immediately taken with it.

Indeed, Togepi’s adorable appearance could melt most trainers’ hearts, especially female trainers. Cheng Cheng, however, was wary, especially after checking Togepi’s data:

Pokémon: Togepi
Type: Fairy
Level: 51
Nature: Calm
Rarity: Rare
Ability: Vital Spirit
Hidden Ability: Super Luck
…
Moves: Growl, Charm, Sweet Kiss, Metronome, Yawn, Encore, Follow Me, Present, Wish, Ancient Power, Substitute, Safeguard, Baton Pass, Double-Edge, Last Resort.

This Togepi is strong.

“Wow, a Togepi! That’s a rare Pokémon, isn’t it?”

“Let’s catch it and present it to the Boss, meow!”

“Take this—Fury Swipes!”

Meowth lunged at Togepi, but Togepi dodged and used a move.

Meowth was struck and froze in place.

“That’s not good, it’s Attract!” Brock realized.

“Togepi~”

“Everyone, be careful!”

Togepi unleashed a widespread Attract, and all the Pokémon fell under its spell.

“Togepi~”

With a wave of its hand, Togepi led the Pokémon away.

“Return, Kirlia!” Cheng Cheng tried to recall Kirlia to break the effect, but failed—Kirlia wouldn’t return to the Poké Ball.

“What’s going on?” Cheng Cheng was puzzled.

“It’s Togepi’s Follow Me. Once affected, the Pokémon can’t be recalled,” Brock explained.

In the blink of an eye, the Pokémon entered the elevator. It was too late to stop them.

“Hey, why are you still here?” Jessie noticed her Yanmega hadn’t left.

“Attract only works on Pokémon of the opposite gender. That Togepi must be female.”

“So, you’re female,” Jessie eyed her Pokémon.

“This isn’t the time for that. We need to rescue Pikachu and the others!” Jessie hurried over to press the elevator button, but it seemed to be stuck.

“Darn it.”

She punched the button, smashing it completely. Such strength—no wonder she was called a human-shaped Pokémon.

“There should be an emergency stairwell. Follow me!” James led everyone upstairs. As they hurried up, the house began to shake.

“What’s happening?”

“This is bad. They’re activating the Hyperdimensional Final System,” James said, realization dawning.

“What’s that?”

“We’re Team Rocket, after all. Of course we had to try riding a rocket,” Jessie’s eyes sparkled.

“You mean, this is a rocket?”

“That’s right. With our big budget, we added a rocket booster.”

“That’s totally unnecessary!”

“What are you saying? Rockets are romantic and magnificent.”

“A rocket represents hope and dreams.”

“Boom, boom, boom!”

“What’s happening?”

The rocket began to shake violently.

“They’ve really started it.”

The rocket slowly began to ascend.

“Can this thing even fly?” Cheng Cheng was skeptical. He doubted Team Rocket could build a real rocket with their festival earnings.

“Of course it can! How dare you question Team Rocket’s abilities?” Jessie shouted so loudly Cheng Cheng’s ears rang.

“But it seems like it can only go up. There’s no way back down,” James added.

“What?!”

“Quick, stop them!”

Everyone rushed ahead at full speed.

“Lunatone, use Psychic!”

Cheng Cheng released Lunatone, who floated them upward.

They reached the control room, where several Pokémon were piloting the rocket. Cheng Cheng was amazed—these Pokémon could actually fly a rocket.

“Pikachu, stop this!”

Just then, a Pokémon blocked their path.

[Kirlia]

Cheng Cheng used his psychic power to snap Kirlia out of it.

The other Pokémon launched attacks, forcing Cheng Cheng to dodge and leaving no chance to use his powers further.

“Go, Blissey, wake everyone up!”

Brock sent out Blissey, who slapped the other Pokémon awake.

“Toge~pi!”

Togepi tried to use Attract again, but Blissey blocked it and the two began to fight.

“This is bad, meow! Something huge is coming straight at us!”

“What?”

On the monitor, they saw a Pokémon approaching.

“Rayquaza!”

Cheng Cheng had forgotten that the high sky was Rayquaza’s domain, but he didn’t forget to check its stats:

Pokémon: Rayquaza
Type: Dragon
Level: 95
Grade: Purple
Rarity: Legendary
Ability: Air Lock
HP: 101/105
Attack: 144/150
Defense: 86/90
Sp. Atk: 145/150
Sp. Def: 88/90
Speed: 92/95
Total: 656/680
Moves: Twister, Scary Face, Dragon Claw, Crunch, Air Slash, Fly, Ancient Power, Rest, Dragon Dance, Outrage, Dragon Ascent, Extreme Speed, Boomburst, Draco Meteor, Hyper Beam, Dragon Pulse.

So strong!

“Oh no, it’s Hyper Beam!”

Rayquaza fired a Hyper Beam, grazing the rocket. Though not directly destroyed, the rocket could no longer fly and began plummeting.

“This is bad! Brace yourselves!”

James found the chance to deploy the parachute, slowing their descent, but even so, at this speed, they’d be dead for sure—especially Cheng Cheng.

“Everyone, come out!”

Cheng Cheng released all his Pokémon.

“Everyone, use Psychic together to slow the rocket!”

The rocket gradually slowed, finally coming to a steady halt on the ground. Everyone sighed with relief.

“Toge…Togepi!”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“Togepi says it wants a rematch next time. For now, it’s leaving, meow.”

“Leaving? Not so fast.”

Cheng Cheng was not Ash—he’d nearly lost his life this time. There was no way he’d let Togepi go so easily.

“Mr. Mime, use Psychic. Lunatone, Hypnosis.”

Mr. Mime immobilized Togepi, and Lunatone’s hypnosis rendered it unable to fight.

“Go, Poké Ball!”

Cheng Cheng successfully captured Togepi, then sent it to the system. He wondered where the system transferred Pokémon to—he’d have to find a chance to ask.

“All right, Team Rocket, let’s leave it at that for now.”

“Agreed,” Team Rocket replied in unison.

“Everyone, let’s be on our way.”

“Finally, everything’s fine now. Cheng Cheng, you must take good care of Togepi.”

“I will.”

And so, the group set off on their journey once again.

[Meowth, you must be out of money by now. Remember to keep in touch with me.]

Cheng Cheng’s voice echoed in Meowth’s mind.