Soon, Natsui found a staircase leading to the lower level.
He followed the stairs down, passed through a gate, and walked into a research lab filled with pipes and equipment.
To his surprise, the members of the Team Rocket trio, who had disappeared in the storm, were here, furtively fiddling with something.
"So you guys are okay? I thought you'd sunk into the sea!"
Hearing Natsui's voice, they quickly turned around, and when they saw it was him, they were greatly startled!
"Wh-what are you doing here!?"
"The same as you, of course. Just looking around."
Unlike their on-guard reaction, Natsui casually walked past them as if nothing was wrong, seemingly unafraid of them attacking. Instead, he started touching and examining the machines, looking very curious.
Seeing that Natsui wasn't looking for trouble, the Team Rocket trio couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Although they had interacted with Natsui very few times, many stories about him had circulated within Team Rocket!
Whether it was defeating the Matori Matrix, helping the International Police destroy a secret base, or fending off the combined attack of four executives, they all made it clear that the man before them was not like Ash and those other kids, but an extremely tough opponent!
Faced with such a person, James and the others knew they were no match and naturally did not want too much contact with Natsui.
When Haunter revealed itself in the shadows and made a face at them, and they felt Gardevoir's hostile gaze, Meowth, being cowardly but also wise, hid behind James and Jessie.
On a nearby computer screen, a video was playing on a loop. Jessie had accidentally touched it just moments before, causing it to play.
Natsui stopped to watch for a moment and realized that this castle was, in fact, the very research institute where Mewtwo was created!
And after Mewtwo had destroyed this place, it had actually returned to this island and rebuilt this castle on the ruins of the institute, making it its own base!
It seemed that although it spoke with disdain, it still considered this place its home.
At that moment, a strong tremor came from upstairs. It appeared that Ash and the others had begun their battle with Mewtwo.
"Haunter, Gardevoir, destroy everything in here!"
Hearing Natsui's command, not only was Haunter surprised, but even the members of the Team Rocket trio, who had been about to sneak away, couldn't help but stop and prick up their ears.
"Huh? We're going to destroy this place?" Haunter looked around. "Didn't we come here to accept the strongest trainer's challenge? Even though that Mewtwo guy is a bit much, this is still someone's home. Is it really okay to wreck it?"
Natsui, while randomly fiddling with the equipment, explained, "This is called being proactive! If we don't dismantle these things now, we'll be the ones in trouble later! Look at all the culture fluid and containers around. If we let this continue, who knows how many poor clones will be created!"
Hearing this, James suddenly said, "The Mewtwo you mentioned, is that the strongest Pokémon that was created?"
Natsui looked at him with some surprise. "You know about it too?"
"Hey, hey!" Jessie covered her mouth and whispered in James's ear, "James, what nonsense are you talking about? Let's just get out of here!"
Unexpectedly, James paid her no mind. Instead, he looked at Natsui and continued, "I once heard some rumors at the base and learned a little about Mewtwo. Pokémon that are created with a purpose by people are truly pitiful. I never thought this place was that experimental base. If you can dismantle it, you'd really be doing a good deed!"
James's words were both unexpected and, in a way, understandable to Natsui.
Just like their motto, the members of this Team Rocket trio, each in their own way, were charming and captivating. Although they called themselves villains, they often did righteous things!
After speaking, James was about to leave. However, just before walking out of the room, he seemed to remember something and said to Natsui, "Oh, right! Just now, when those three cloned Pokémon were leaving on the lift platform, I think I saw a small Pokémon following them. It looked like a little pink cat, I think it was the legendary..."
Natsui ventured a guess, "Mew?"
James was startled for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, it must have been Mew!"
So Mew has come here too?
It must have sensed Mewtwo's similar aura and came to see what was going on.
"Thanks." Natsui waved at them. "Thanks for the tip. But you should leave this island quickly. Honestly, this is not a place you should be."
Just then, the vibrations from above grew more intense, as if the very ground was shaking. When Natsui looked away from the ceiling and back at James and the others, he found that they had vanished.
"Alright, everyone's gone. Time for us to get to work!"
Haunter and Gardevoir nodded in unison and began their rampage. With Shadow Ball and Psychic, every single piece of equipment was utterly destroyed!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Explosions and thick smoke filled the entire room.
In just a short while, the place had been reduced to a pile of wreckage. But just then, hundreds of strange, black Poké Balls floated out from somewhere and flew up through a connecting passage to the upper level!
These black Poké Balls, aside from being a different color than normal ones, had a major change: a red eye on them!
Has Mewtwo already started its move!?
Natsui's heart skipped a beat!
He guessed that things upstairs must be in chaos. Sure enough, just a few seconds later, those Poké Balls returned through the connecting passage. Judging by the red light glowing from their "eyes," it was clear they had already snatched a large number of Pokémon from Ash and the others.
However, with the facility completely destroyed, the black Poké Balls were at a loss. They stopped there, seemingly having no idea what to do next!
"Quick, destroy them and rescue the Pokémon inside!"
With Natsui's shout, Haunter and Gardevoir quickly aimed at the Poké Balls. Under their attacks, the balls were destroyed one after another, releasing the captured Pokémon inside!
Venusaur, Gyarados, Rhyhorn...
The Pokémon belonging to Corey's group were all trapped inside. Even Ash's Charizard and Squirtle, Brock's Ninetales, and Misty's Psyduck had been snatched by these strange Poké Balls!
What amazing Poké Balls...
Before he could even marvel at them, a boy's shout suddenly came from the connecting passage, and right after, Ash came tumbling out, chasing after one of the black Poké Balls!
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