In the streets, Team Rocket grunts were slowly approaching the hotel in a circle. Each of them wore night vision goggles as they hid in the shadows, patiently waiting for the target to appear.
"Do you think that guy is coming out?" A man in a black Team Rocket uniform whispered.
"I heard from Butch that guy had found the bug in his room. There's a high possibility that he will flee tonight." Another Team Rocket grunt replied.
While they were talking with each other, they didn't realize that someone had appeared behind them silently.
Hisoka emerged from the shadow. Standing next to him were Gardevoir and Misdreavus.
He looked at the two oblivious Team Rocket members and motioned for Misdreavus to handle them. She nodded at him and slowly flew toward them with a playful smile.
"Hehe!"
One of the men suddenly heard a faint laugh in his ears, making his hair stand on end.
"Psst! Did you hear that?" He nudged his partner.
"What?"
"That laugh!"
"What laugh? Leave me alone. I'm trying to-"
But before he could finish his reply, something suddenly wrapped around their necks, strangling them.
Struggling to breathe, they tried their best to look behind, only to find a skeleton head staring at them with its hollow eyes. They wanted to scream for help, but to their horror, no sound came out of their mouths.
"Good job, Misdreavus." Hisoka and Gardevoir walked closer after the two men had fallen under her illusion.
"Mis!"
She gave a sigh of bliss as the red gems around her neck flashed. There was a reason why Misdreavus loved to frighten other people. Fear was the best nourishment for them.
But since Hisoka had the orb with him, he didn't need to suffer under her jump scare. Thank god.
The two grunts finally couldn't hold it any longer and fainted. Their body slumped against the hair that Misdreavus used to bind them.
"Let's take out the others first." He said to Gardevoir, to which she returned with a slight nod.
Her psychic power has grown by leaps and bounds since she evolved. Most of all, she could teleport twice the distance she used to. With her by his side, few people could stop them if he wanted to escape.
***
"Tell me, who sent you here?" Hisoka crouched in front of a man.
"Team Rocket's executives. Proton and Petrel." The man murmured with a blank look.
"Do you have any other goals besides me?"
Hisoka had a hunch that he wasn't their only target. Besides him, there was also Reggie and the others who reached the top sixteen. All of them possessed strong and rare Pokemon.
"Yes. You're one of our main targets." The man continued slowly.
"We're done. Let him go." Hisoka looked at Gardevoir.
Gardevoir lifted her hand from the man's head as he fell to the ground face down. Except for the two Team Rocket men from earlier, the remaining men were all hypnotized by her.
After seeing how Matthias's Gengar hypnotized someone back in S.S. Anne, he wanted to let Gardevoir learn that too. Sadly, he had to put it on hold since there was no suitable target to practice.
So after capturing these Team Rocket grunts, he decided to put them to good use. Team Rocket certainly wouldn't care about these guys anyway.
According to the information he obtained, Team Rocket had sent one of their Elite Squad, The Three Beasts, to steal his Pokemon. He didn't know much about them, only that they had one of the highest bounties in Team Rocket besides the four executives.
Among the four executives, Archer had the highest bounty, followed by Ariana, Proton, and Petrel. As for Team Rocket's leader, Giovanni, no information about him could be found.
Giovanni might be hiding his identity, or the League decided to keep it a secret. It would be shocking if word came out that one of the strongest gym leaders in Kanto was the leader of the infamous Team Rocket.
Giovanni had great ambition to take over the world. To achieve this, he created an extremely terrifying Pokemon called Mewtwo.
Due to its DNA make-up, Mewtwo was as strong as a legendary Pokemon. Fortunately, it escaped in the end. Otherwise, it would be trouble if Giovanni had a legendary Pokemon under his control.
***
"This is Celadon City Police Department. How may I help you?"
Hisoka was standing inside a telephone booth, holding the phone next to his ear.
"Hello? I want to make a report about Team Rocket. Just a few minutes ago, I saw more than a dozen Team Rocket members standing outside Celadon Hotel," Hisoka said, trying to sound panicked.
The operator paused for a moment before he continued, "Are you sure?"
"It's true! They are all wearing those red and black uniforms. There's no mistaking it. Hurry up, and send some people here." Hisoka quickly hung up after saying that.
The operator put the phone down in a daze. Then, he quickly ran out of his office. This matter must be reported to the higher-ups first.
Hisoka walked out of the phone booth as Gardevoir came to him. There was no one else in the street beside them this late at night.
"Let's leave." He held out his hand toward her.
She grasped it tightly, and they both disappeared from view.
***
After receiving the call, the police department immediately dispatched some men to Celadon Hotel.
Five police cars arrived right in front of the hotel. A score of policemen quickly got out of the car and released their Pokemon in case of an attack.
"I'm Officer Jenny. We've arrived at the hotel. We haven't found any sign of Team Rocket yet."
Officer Jenny spoke through her police radio as she walked toward the hotel confidently. An Arcanine stood guard beside her.
The police siren had attracted the hotel's attention. Then, a man in a black suit walked out of the hotel's front door, followed by two security guards.
"Officer Jenny, what's this all about? Is there any problem?"
The man, who was apparently the hotel manager, looked at her in surprise.
"I'm sorry to disturb you at this time, but we got a report that a group of Team Rocket had surrounded your hotel," Officer Jenny informed seriously.
"Are you sure? We haven't seen any single Team Rocket member around the hotel." He looked at her with a dumbfounded expression.
Just then, a policeman came running toward them.
"Officer Jenny! We have found the Team Rocket members at the park next to the hotel."
Officer Jenny whipped her head to the policeman.
"Good. Bring them all back to the station. If they resist, just attack them," she ordered before turning back toward the manager.
Then, she found that the policeman was still standing there, looking nervous.
"What's the matter?" she asked, frowning.
The policeman hesitated slightly before saying, "Err. I think you should check it out by yourself."
***
Twelve Team Rocket members were lying on the ground unconscious.
Earlier, the police had handcuffed them and took their Pokeballs away.
"Did you find out the person who made the call just now?" Officer Jenny asked a policeman.
"No, we haven't found him yet." The policemen replied.
"What happened to these guys?" She pointed to the unconscious Team Rocket grunts.
"Based on the forensic examination, it seems they had fallen under a Pokemon's hypnosis."
Officer Jenny then waved her hand and said, "Take all these guys back and interrogate them. I want to know their purpose for being here. And find the person who made the call just now. Are we clear?"
"Crystal."
***
Celadon City Police Department.
The Mayor of Celadon City, Miyamoto was pacing around the room in worry when suddenly there was a knock on the door.
"It's Officer Jenny."
There was a muffled voice outside the door.
"Come in!"
The door was pushed open, and Officer Jenny walked into the room, holding a file.
"Mayor Miyamoto, we just finished interrogating the Team Rocket members," she placed the folder on the table.
"Did you find out their purpose?" He pulled the folder close to him and opened it.
"Yeah." She nodded before continuing, "To prevent collusion, we have taken five Team Rocket members for questioning. The reason they stayed there was to keep an eye on a trainer."
"Who?" Mayor Miyamoto looked at her.
"Hisoka, the champion of the Double Battle tournament."
"Oh, that guy. Yeah, I remember him now."
Mayor Miyamoto thought for a moment before remembering where he had heard the name before.
"It's not just him alone. They are also keeping an eye on other people. They are Harrison and Morrison from Hoenn and Reggie and Paul from Sinnoh," she added.
"Where are they at right now?" he asked worriedly.
"Hisoka had disappeared from the hotel he was staying at. Harrison and Morrison are still at the Pokemon Center. While Reggie and Paul are staying at a friend's house."
"Notify them immediately. Oh, and one more thing, send all the men you have to conduct a search of the city."
"Yes, sir."
Officer Jenny stood at attention and quickly left the mayor's office.
***
At this time, Hisoka was heading toward Suzie's shop on his foot when he suddenly stopped. He looked around the surroundings carefully before throwing out his Pokeball.
Pop!
Gardevoir appeared in a flash of light as she stood before him.
"Come out! I know you're out there!" Hisoka shouted.
Clap! Clap!
A woman walked out of the dark while clapping her hands.
"A cautious one, aren't you?" She smiled widely.
Her red lips and pale skin made her look just like a vampire coming to get someone's blood.
Instead of cowering in fear, Hisoka kept his calm and said, "So do you have any business with me, Sird?"
Among the Three Beasts, Sird was the most mysterious and rarely appeared in the news.
Hisoka's reply elicited a bout of laughter from the woman.
"Haha! Aren't you afraid?" she asked curiously.
"No. Why should I," he shrugged his shoulders.
"By the way, I'm curious. Which idiot that thought attacking the contestants and robbing someone in the middle of Celadon City was a good idea?"
Saatchi was at a loss for words at that. But she had to agree with what he said just now. Proton was indeed an idiot.
***
"Proton, we have to stop now," Petrel said solemnly.
"I have recalled my men back. Our plan has failed."
Bang!
"Why did the boss stop us? There are only five of them." Proton slammed his hand on the table.
Petrel shook his head and said, "It's not that. The League has intervened. The special forces are already on their way. So unless you want to expose the Game Corner, let's stay under the radar for now."
Proton took a deep breath and slumped down on his chair.
"You are right. Call the men back."
Seeing him regaining his senses, Petrel finally breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid that Proton would ignore Giovanni's order.
Team Rockets were never short of rare Pokemon. If the Game Corner was exposed, it would be a great loss to them.
Petrel knew that Proton was merely trying to obstruct Ariana from recruiting those trainers into Team Rocket. An excellent trainer was no less valuable than a powerful and rare Pokemon.
***
"We want to invite you to join Team Rocket."
Huh?
"Ariana is very optimistic about you. You can go back and think about it first," Sird said to Hisoka.
Apparently, she wasn't here to steal his Pokemon. He never expected Team Rocket wanted to recruit him.
After saying a couple of words, Sird quickly left the area, leaving Hisoka and Gardevoir alone to stare at each other in silence.
***