Chapter 144. Boss Giovanni, We Caught Rotom!
"My, you're really lucky.
Another scrapped vacuum—no, a sludge truck just got hauled in."
The old man at the scrap yard rubbed his hands.
Another old man trailed behind him, both of them looking at Natsume like they'd found a savior.
Rumble—rumble—
The sound of an old engine came from the gate, making their teeth ache.
A rust-eaten truck with a huge tank on its back rolled in.
The window rolled down, and yet another old man stuck his head out.
"Yamamoto, I hear some fool here is buying untreated vacuum trucks?"
Old man Yamamoto glared at him, but his eyes kept drifting to Natsume.
"Sorry, so sorry.
My friend's a straight talker."
For untreated vacuum trucks and sludge trucks, disposal costs are higher than selling them second-hand.
And hardly anyone buys a used sludge truck.
It just sits there and becomes a sunk cost.
"It's fine.
I'll take as many as you have."
"But I can only pick them up one by one," Natsume added.
"No problem.
I got here first—take the one I drove over.
No charge, no charge."
"Okay, go bring it over."
Natsume grabbed a cardboard box for a cushion and sat down on the spot.
Seeing this, Ash and the others followed suit and took a break.
"Natsume, why are you buying those sludge trucks?" Brock couldn't help asking.
"If we're exasperated, make the other side exasperated too," Natsume said without hiding anything.
"Huh?"
Everyone was puzzled, not understanding what Natsume meant.
"Bad news, bad news!"
The old man ran back.
"My sludge truck is gone!"
He was panting, but the joy on his face couldn't be hidden.
"Huh?
Stolen?"
Ash had barely spoken when he felt that couldn't be right.
Who would steal that?
"Mr. Natsume's Rotom seems to be over there.
Did it possess it and drive off?" Honora guessed.
"I don't think so," Misty said blankly, staring at the sky.
Everyone looked up.
A giant Meowth balloon, now equipped with extra propulsion, was flying high with countless ropes slung beneath it, hoisting a big truck through the air.
Looking closely, the truck's nose bore a pair of golden inverted-triangle eyes, and a huge tank was strapped behind it.
It was Rotom possessing a sludge truck!
"It's Team Rocket!"
Ash sprang up, but Natsume, wearing a strange look, pressed him back down.
"Don't rush.
My Rotom can teleport.
Let's see what they want to do."
From afar, they could faintly hear Jessie and James laughing.
"Hahaha—those twerps are dumbfounded already!" Jessie felt an indescribable relief.
"A Rotom of immense research value—we're presenting it to Boss Giovanni.
We won't mess up this time!" James laughed.
Before, they had tried many times to snatch the twerps' Pokémon.
Getting them was easy, but getting the Pokémon into Boss Giovanni's hands was the real problem.
Every time, the twerps would snatch them back halfway.
But this time was different.
Boss Giovanni was in Viridian City!
"Boo-hoo—at last we've got a win!"
On the Meowth balloon dragging the sludge-truck Rotom, Jessie and James hugged, eyes brimming with tears.
"Uh, now that that sludge truck got snatched, can you buy mine?" the third old man shouted as he jumped down from the vacuum truck's driver seat, looking at Natsume with excitement.
Too good, too good—who steals second-hand sludge trucks these days?
Damn it, old Yamamoto's luck is way too good.
This guy's scrapped vacuum truck has been sitting here for almost two weeks.
No one wanted it; it just took up space.
He'd heard Natsume was buying trucks, so he even swapped on a good tire and drove all the way from Pewter City to Viridian City.
"Mm-hmm, I'll take yours.
That one's probably going to get used up," Natsume said, touching his nose, thinking that Boss Giovanni sure had good "fortune."
Viridian Gym.
"Weird… this really is Boss Giovanni's Gym?"
Jessie and James compared the map several times before hesitantly confirming.
"Look, it's Boss Giovanni!"
A private jet sat on the roof of the Roman-style building.
Several suited bodyguards were supporting Giovanni, trying to cover him as if to slip away.
"Quick, let's contact Boss Giovanni," Jessie said, thrilled.
Ring—ring—
"Boss, the trio is calling," a bodyguard said, leaning in.
"Don't answer!"
"They say they snagged a Rotom—that blasted researcher's Rotom!"
The bodyguard spoke through gritted teeth.
Even though it had been washed clean, an unrivaled stench still lingered.
The whole Gym would probably need two months of ventilation.
"Oh?"
Giovanni's eyes lit up.
"Well done!"
"Give me the phone."
The call connected, and Jessie and James spoke in high spirits.
"Boss Giovanni, we caught one of Natsume's Rotom!"
"Is it that Poké Ball Rotom?"
"Uh… it's the motorbike Rotom," James said after a beat.
"That works too.
Hurry and send it over with the ionization device.
I'm on the roof of Viridian Gym," Giovanni said.
"Ionization device?
No, no, Boss Giovanni—this Rotom is extremely large," James said proudly.
How large can a Rotom be?
Giovanni froze.
"Boss, we're here—look up, look up!" Jessie called out, eager to claim credit.
What?
Giovanni looked up.
In an instant, his face went ashen.
"You two—boom!!!"
A streak of golden light flashed out and returned into Natsume's Poké Ball.
"I gotta go, meow!"
On the street, a Meowth clutched its belly, looking everywhere for a public restroom.
It didn't know Viridian City very well, but from the balloon earlier it had spotted that luxury public restroom.
Relying on its memory, Meowth headed that way.
"So ugly, meow!"
Meowth stood at the entrance, a bit disgusted.
Cramps in its gut made its legs tremble.
"Whatever, meow."
Meowth strode inside, only to find many staffers sprawled on the floor.
The surrounding walls were plastered with indescribable, foul solid mixtures.
Thinking of the explosion from earlier, Meowth blinked.
The public restroom exploded?
"There has to be one that didn't blow up, meow."
Meowth clutched its rear and rushed upstairs.
Second floor—nope.
Third floor—nope.
At the top, Meowth was stunned.
"Meow!
No wonder it reeks.
The septic tank is on the roof, and it's open-air.
Which designer is this brain-dead, meow?"
Griping as it pulled out tissues, Meowth muttered, "Whatever, meow—this is a septic tank anyway."
Cough, cough, cough!
From not far away came a familiar cough.
Meowth turned and saw Giovanni, his whole body emitting a pale blue-green glow.
"Boss Giovanni, what an honor to relieve myself alongside you, meow!"
Giovanni: "…"
Jessie and James looked up—and got a face full of cat butt.
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