Green, having lost the intention to worship, pretended to leave the Pokémon Tower.
"It seems restless upstairs," he said casually before quickly disappearing into the thick fog.
There was no need for him to mention it. Red didn't take it to heart—nothing in this world could stop them from moving forward. Even if it were Giovanni himself at the top, Red was confident he'd knock him down.
Ash regained control of his body and started searching for the stairs leading to the fourth floor through the thick fog. Seeing Cubone's increasingly excited expression, Ash figured their target must be on the fourth floor, with the reward Mr. Fuji promised on the fifth. Twisting Cubone in his grip, Ash hurried forward.
**Pokémon Tower, fourth floor.**
In the mist, a slick young man with dyed purple hair wandered. He was lean, with upturned bangs above his forehead, and a scraggly purple goatee. Despite being called young, he was around 25 or 26, looking mature but greasy. He wore a flashy black uniform with a big "R" emblazoned on his chest.
Behind him stood a lackey dressed in the standard black uniform of a low-ranking Team Rocket member, with a black cap pulled low over his face, standing respectfully behind him.
Lambda's voice was soft as he asked, "Xiao Hei, do you think we should turn this Pokémon Tower into a radio station or just knock it down and build from scratch?"
"Either works," Xiao Hei responded, bowing without daring to express an opinion.
As representatives of the Rainbow Group, they were inspecting the Pokémon Tower.
Who cared about burying the dead? They could scatter the ashes into the sea and use the space for a radio station instead. It would be wonderful to have both the Rainbow Group, known for its charity, and Team Rocket, the most environmentally-conscious organization, broadcast across the Kanto region.
"Tch, Apollo's still robbing people in 2020—no sense of corporate culture," Lambda sneered.
What good was cash nowadays?
Fame, traffic, and image—those were the true prizes!
"Xiao Hei, once we pull this off, I'll probably be the boss of Team Rocket next year. What do you think?"
Xiao Hei shuddered. The emperor wasn't even gone yet, and this general was already thinking about his promotion?
"As a mere bystander, I'd say it's true," Xiao Hei replied weakly.
"Tch, but I heard the Pokémon Tower's been restless lately. What kind of monsters dare to hinder my grand plans?" Lambda's eyes scanned the fog around them, brimming with arrogance.
They had planned to bulldoze the Pokémon Tower, but something was blocking their progress. The Rainbow Group had specially dispatched Lambda to deal with it.
Team Rocket had four core members, their status only beneath Giovanni's, and their strength surpassed even regional champions.
In Kanto, the top powers were Team Rocket and the Pokémon League, and the gap between them wasn't huge.
"This fog is disgusting," Lambda muttered, casually tossing a Poké Ball. A flash of red light revealed a bat-shaped Pokémon with wide wings and gleaming fangs.
"Golbat, use Defog!"
Golbat flapped its wings, sending out a strange force that quickly cleared the thick fog. The fourth floor of the tower became visible, revealing tombs and an upward staircase in the corner.
Lambda smirked and began walking toward the stairs with Xiao Hei following behind.
But before they could get close, a cold wind blew, and the thick fog returned, this time concentrated around the stairs.
Suddenly, the fog condensed into a shadowy black figure about half a person's height. Its edges were trembling, and it was unstable, but the cold air and faint scarlet energy emanating from it hinted that it was no ordinary entity.
"Is it a ghost!?" Xiao Hei exclaimed in shock.
It wasn't a Ghost-type Pokémon, but a real ghost, sustained by powerful resentment after death.
"Is this the issue?" Lambda sneered, eyes glowing with a greedy desire to claim it for himself.
He threw a Poké Ball, but it passed right through the ghost, having no effect. The Poké Ball's technology wasn't enough to capture a ghost.
"Let's try Team Rocket's black tech!" Lambda snapped his fingers, and Xiao Hei pulled out mechanical glasses from his backpack, resembling night-vision goggles.
This was one of Team Rocket's top technologies: special detectors, capable of seeing ghosts and other special entities.
Lambda, wearing the detector, could now see the ghost clearly. It was a brown Pokémon with a skull perfectly fitting its head and a bone club in hand, but a large crack ran along the right side of its skull.
"Marowak?"
Lambda's interest faded instantly. Marowak wasn't particularly valuable, but its skull was. Like Slowpoke tails, Marowak skulls were expensive items, and Team Rocket dealt in such merchandise.
It seemed that while poaching near Lavender Town last week, Team Rocket had encountered a Marowak mother and her Cubone child. The mother had been injured and escaped with her child.
"Is this the one?" Lambda sneered as Golbat flapped its wings, sending out several sharp whirlwinds.
Marowak waved its bone club in defense, but it was clearly struggling, and much of its ghostly energy was slashed away.
"This is our black tech," Lambda laughed. The detector didn't just reveal the ghost; it also weakened it.
"Golbat, finish it! Wing Attack!"
Golbat's wings glowed as it swooped down. Marowak tried to defend but was clearly outmatched, retreating under the onslaught.
Suddenly, a small bone club flew through the air, striking Golbat and stopping its attack.
"Who!?" Lambda shouted angrily, turning to see a Cubone behind them, catching its bone club. The small Pokémon looked ready for battle.
Ash stepped forward, not backing down. "Who dares hurt others? Don't fear this spirit uncle—I'm a professional ghostbuster!"
He waved a paper fan taken from his two-dimensional Gengar and pointed at the black energy swirling around Marowak.
Lambda: "?"
Ghost Marowak: "?"
Cubone: "?"
Even both allies and enemies were baffled by Ash's antics.
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(End of Chapter)