~Soutarou POV~
The group arrived at Mt.Moon in a flash of purple.
Yellow eyes' widened and she stared upwards at the tall jutting tree covered sharp mountain. Soutarou then explained, "Mt. Moon is that mountain over there… But this region is actually known more so for its cave systems, rare stones, and interestingly Clefairy. The mountain is called Mt. Moon because of the abundance of Moon Stones that can be found here."
Yellow nodded and glanced around in curiosity before frowning and saying, "Soutarou… Is it usually this silent? Why aren't there any Pokemon here?"
Soutarou frowned and furrowed his brows before Ralts helped Soutarou send his psychic energy off in waves scanning the surrounding area, all while he surveyed it with his actual eyes as well.
The air at Mt.Moon immediately seemed off… There weren't many, no rather any visible flying type pokemon roaming around, nor were there the occasional mankey, nor the sporadic bug type like weedle or caterpie. Nothing, it was like the very air itself was stilled. Soutarou's brows furrowed further and he immediately said, "Something's wrong…"
Kaede agreed and kept her hand over her Pokeball as if it were a holstered gun. Misty grit her teeth and went ahead and released her Staryu with her eyes narrowed to an extreme.
At that moment the ground seemed to tremble, not from a pokemon move, but some mechanical drilling.
Soutarou's eyes narrowed and he said, "What's the likelihood that the Pokemon League would evacuate Pokemon and do a drilling operation on Mt.Moon Kaede?"
Kaede frowned and said, "Unlikely, extremely unlikely… Mt.Moon is a protected region, forget drilling here, evacuating Pokemon is out of the question. This is where Pokemon are reintroduced to the wild, where else could we even evacuate them?"
Soutarou glanced at her and said, "You thinking what I'm thinking?"
Kaede nodded and Misty finished for them, spitting out a name, "Team Rocket!"
Yellow looked confused and said, "What's a Team Rocket?"
Ralts was the one who answered in an enraged mental voice, {Team Rocket are scum! Worthless scum who harmed my Master!}
Kaede nodded and said, "That… and they're the kings of the underworld. The largest criminal organization in the entire world and worse they're surviving in one of the strongest regions, no scratch that not even surviving, thriving here. That should tell you about the scale of their power. Team Rocket is without a doubt one of if not the most dangerous organizations in the entire world. Everything from petty theft, to stealing pokemon, to illegal pokemon experimentation, and even killing. There isn't anything Team Rocket won't stoop low enough to do."
Soutarou's eyes narrowed, but he didn't particularly care to fight the Team Rocket members, in fact if anything that'd just put him on a radar quicker. Unfortunately, he could tell Kaede, Misty, and Yellow wouldn't let this go, worse Kaede and Misty were obligated to investigate and help as League Members.
Seeing that there wasn't any choice left, Soutarou made his mind up to deal with Team Rocket.
'Since I don't have a choice… it's better to earn some brownie points by being decisive.'
As on queue Misty asked, "What's our plan, Soutarou?"
Kaede and Yellow turned their heads towards Soutarou and Soutarou nodded and said, "Isn't it obvious? We move as a group and attack. Yellow stay by Kaede's side and make sure to stay in the middle. Misty take the right, I'll take the left. We move in a triangle formation. Kaede please bring up the rear."
The group all agreed, with Soutarou and Ralts quickly finding a large cave opening, where dozens of Team Rocket attired operatives were and both Misty and Kaede glanced at Soutarou who nodded and the Trio instantly released their Pokemon. Kaede released her Incineroar, Gliscor, Toxapex, and Corviknight making Soutarou raise an eyebrow.
'Latios, Incineroar, Toxapex, Gliscor, Corviknight, and she has a Blissey too… Don't tell me her Blissey is a combat Blissey… Because that team actually makes a whole lot of sense too…But isn't this just a pure wall team…? Focus Soutarou…'
Thanks to having a Nurse Joy on the team like Kaede, passed out pokemon meant just handing them over to her and getting them back shortly after. Which was why Misty had released her new Gyarados and her Starmie, even though she knew her rapport with Gyarados was low especially after just beating it and healing, a battle was still a great point to start at.
Soutarou's eyes narrowed and all three nodded as they remained out of sight before he ordered his Servine to use Leaf Storm while Corviknight now suddenly had Toxapex on its back. Misty ordered Gyarados to use Hurricane which they had verified was one of the few moves that Gyarados already knew, via a pokedex. While Kaede ordered her Corviknight to use Hurricane, and for her Toxapex to use Blizzard in conjunction.
The Rocket Grunts who were moving around and supposedly guard the entrance were immediately bombarded with moves that were purposefully non-lethal, sending them flying backwards, before Soutarou had his Ralts use psychic to lock down their pokeballs and take them away.
Soutarou on the other hand was standing still and twitching a bit, 'I get that Gyarados is new… But it should at least be level 20… So then… Why the hell was Kaede's Corviknight's Hurricane an actual fucking Tornado. That Blizzard was actually like an actual blizzard… Ok… She wasn't joking when she said she wasn't taking me seriously.'
As the Rocket Grunts were downed, Soutarou had Ralts use Psychic to drag one of them over and he looked over at Kaede questioningly and she shook her head.
Soutarou then smiled at the supposed leading grunt and said, "You want to tell me what's going on here and who's the boss, or am I going to have to use Hypnosis to get it out of you?"
Misty glanced over when he said Hypnosis and Kaede smiled while continuing to tie up the grunts, before she called the local police about the situation.
Soutarou continued his questioning with Ralts riling her psychic energy up on purpose making it seem as if she really would use Hypnosis, before the man faltered and said, "Alright. Alright! I'll talk!"
Soutarou's eyes narrowed and he said, "Really? I don't believe you. Kaede, it's not just me who thinks it's safer to use Hypnosis right?"
Kaede laid it on thick with her acting and said, "Make it quick. Police are on their way, don't want to get charged with mind breaking someone."
Soutarou shrugged and the man literally began shaking and he immediately let out, "W-we're looking for rare stones… The Executive said to pack it all up… the Clefairy too…"
Soutarou's eyes narrowed and he grabbed the man by his collar and said, "And who's the leader here and what stones exactly are you lot looking for?"
The man whimpered out, "P-Proton. It's executive Proton. I don't know what stones-"
Soutarou's gaze turned dismissive and he said, "Ralts he's lying get the truth out of him."
The man immediately begged and said, "S-sir! The executive said they're looking for marble like Stones! And a rare crystal that's selling like crazy! There's a buyer from who's been buying them up en masse for high prices so the executive thought we could dig both types up and sell them for a pretty penny… and we were… We."
Soutarou's grasp tightened and he said, "We?"
The man flinched and said, "We're searching for the Legendary Pokemon Mew!"
Soutarou smiled and said, "See that wasn't so hard."
He tossed the man towards Kaede who promptly tied him up all while Soutarou's own thoughts churned, 'I'm buying stones from Team Rocket? Huh. Not that I really care, Team Rocket, Team Flare, Team Skull, Team Plasma, Team Galactic whoever sells the stones to me I'll buy it, but now I definitely can't say anything about me being the buyer… Still… That doesn't mean I can't just steal the ones they already harvested.'
Soutarou motioned to the group all while Misty recalled Gyarados, as Soutarou recalled Milotic and they immediately began moving towards the cave after knocking out the Rocket Grunts. As they worked their way through tunnels of the cave system, they ran into nearly a dozen Rocket grunt teams. The group quickly dispatched them, and thanks to Kaede's Incineroar and Soutarou's Ralts working in tandem to lock down pokeballs and safely flinching the enemy pokemon before Incineroar hit them with a simple smack and knocked one after another out silently.
A loud voice rang out, "Hurry up you worthless runts! The buyer is paying a fine dollar for those damned stones. I want every single one of them. Find them no matter the cost…"
The voice tuned out as it became quieter and began shooting off commands, Kaede and Misty both glanced at Soutarou, before Soutarou looked at them puzzled and said, "What are you waiting for? We have Kaede, why should one Rocket Executive matter?"
Kaede made the "oh" expression and Misty slapped her forehead in realization. Kaede then glanced at Soutarou motioning for him to seal the pokeballs which he sighed and did, with screams of panic ringing out. The group stepped out of the tunnel with a light green haired man freezing upon seeing Kaede and he said, "Shit! It's fucking Kaede Joy! You idiots buy me time-"
Kaede's cold washed over them as she said, "Proton was it? Where did you get the gall to think you could run when I didn't permit it?"
Proton's gaze darkened and he roared, "Crobat-"
Before his Crobat could even do much, Incineroar knocked it out of the sky and burned it with a self used Fire Blast, before Incineroar used a Throat Chop and KOed the poor pokemon.
Soutarou and Ralts just stayed back making sure no Pokeballs opened, not that it really mattered. In Soutarou's mind it was a simple equation… Elite Four + n number of rookie trainers Rookie Trainers < Peak Champion Tier Trainer with Legendary Pokemon.
'Honestly if the three commanders Sabrina, Surge, Koga, on top of Petrel and Archer were here I still doubt they could deal with Kaede. She's still holding back, why else is Icineroar running commands by himself, with Kaede just watching… Though… does she seriously only use six pokemon?'
Soutarou watched Proton try to run before Incineroar just stared him down and he just gave up. As for the rest the group didn't have to bother with them as an Officer Jenny, a Ranger Jenny, and several normal police officers rolled in pokemon released, expecting a fight, before they saw the scene of the grunts on the ground and a tied up executive. Along with Soutarou who was sorting through stones.
While Soutarou didn't particularly care about the moon stones or any of the evolution stones that Proton and his group had found… But he made sure to store away one of each quietly, before his eyes turned to the other stones that they'd found.
'No terra crystals as expected… But… There are Mega Stones. Thankfully this idiot Proton kept them all on hand, after each one was gathered… And no one needs to know I've taken them. Though as far as I know Mega Stones should only naturally be found in Hoenn and Kalos. From the Meteorites in Hoenn and from the Ultimate Weapon in Kalos… Then again I suppose its unrealistic to say there haven't been meteors in other regions outside of those two… And considering that Clefairy are from outer space, Mt.Moon makes a pretty damn good spot to mine for this…'
'I thank you in advance, Proton…. Still to think these guys found nearly forty mega stones and twelve key stones… Talk about money saved! Good thing I had Ralts check for more Mega Stones on these guys.'
Kaede talked with the Jennys and the Police Officers before handing over Proton and motioning to the group to follow her outside, once outside they began walking around Mt.Moon where League Operatives were trying to ease the pokemon back into their habitats as well as releasing forcefully captured Pokemon.
As they walked away from the main area, Kaede finally said, "Soutarou. Why'd you take all of those stones?"
Soutarou looked at her and said, "You know why. Those were Mega Stones, letting them end up in the wrong hands could lead to disastrous effects, not to mention the general public can't know about Mega Evolution. Not yet."
Kaede nodded before saying, "Alright…"
Soutarou then took out a Mega Stone and a Key Stone and handed it to Misty and said, "This is a Mega Stone for Gyarados… and this is Key Stone… Remember how Latios evolved? Same concept. Once Ralts becomes a Gardevoir we'll be able to do it too… But first work on your bond, then make this into a bracelet or something and it'll turn into a great trump card for you."
Misty looked at the stone and nodded, before putting it into her own bag, not before Soutarou said, "You'd better not lose that like your bike, or this time I won't help you out… This is wayyy too expensive, Mega Stones are rare as heck and the places you can find them… Not exactly ideal for mining operations."
Yellow still looked lost and she finally said, "Soutarou… I think traveling with you is going to be a real joyride… Just h-how did we run into a criminal group so fast?"
Misty coughed and said, "Technically speaking it's our second time running into them… Within about… Five days…"
Soutarou corrected and said, "Actually it's our third time. You guys weren't paying attention when we were in the Pewter Gym. Remember that Red haired girl and those two blondes? Yeah that was Jessie, Domino, and Cassidy."
Yellow looked a bit blown away while Kaede's eyes widened and she said, "Why didn't you say anything?"
Soutarou responded calmly with a sigh, "Because I knew a fight would break out and poor Brock uses that extra bit of Gym money on repairs and on his family… And plus even if you fought them there you'd be at a disadvantage because you'd have to protect me, Brock, the referee, and Misty. Not to mention they'd easily get away, since they're also champion level trainers."
Kaede tried to argue but realized that Soutarou was actually right, and let it go with a pout before grumpily saying, "Teleport us to Cerulean. I want emotional compensation for hiding the fact you stole stones and that you didn't tell me about the rocket trio!"
Soutarou sighed and motioned for the group to get close and then Ralts teleported them across Route 4 rapidly and soon they were in Cerulean City.