In a pitch-black room, lit only by four screens, Giovanni skillfully stroked his Persian.
A closer look revealed that the screens displayed scenes from the St. Anne.
"Excellent, excellent, the time is almost right."
As Giovanni's voice faded, Persian, who had been docilely enjoying Giovanni's petting, turned its head and let out a fierce cry.
This cry seemed to be a signal; the waiters, who had been serving everyone, instantly tore open their outer garments, revealing black uniforms underneath.
"What's going on?"
"What happened?"
"What are you doing!"
The sudden turn of events threw the ship's occupants into chaos, leaving them no time to pay attention to the Team Rockets members carrying strange devices on their backs.
Suddenly, the lights in the cabin went out, causing a wave of confusion.
But then a beam of light cut through the darkness, illuminating two figures on the raised platform that Ash found familiar.
"To prevent the world from being destroyed!"
"To protect the peace of the world!"
Unlike Jessie, who was still enthusiastically spirited, James felt very disheartened at this moment.
Even his usual opening lines now sounded listless.
"All the Pokémon here, Team Rockets will take them all."
Although Jessie wanted to scold James, given the current situation, it was better to let him be down; the mission was more important.
It was unclear why villains always announced their mission objectives.
Facing these unresponsive people, Team Rockets showed no mercy, activating the powerful... vacuum cleaners? that they carried on their backs.
They sucked up the Poké Balls of the spectators in the front rows into their machines.
"Quick, hand over your Poké Ball."
"You too."
For some reason, two Team Rockets grunts gave up using the machines on their backs to snatch the Poké Balls and instead ran over to demand them directly.
This scene made Yu Feng almost burst out laughing. 'You dare to just walk up like that? How do you know there isn't a martial artist among these people who would just slap you down if you got too close?'
"Besides, how do you know no one would have their Pokémon out? For example... a certain hothead, Ash."
"Pikachu!"
Ash glanced at the Team Rockets grunt beside him and called out to Pikachu.
Pikachu instantly understood Ash's meaning, emitting a Thunder Shock that immediately knocked out the grunt nearby. This stunned everyone around.
"Rather than letting you take our Pokémon, we'd rather fight to the end."
As Ash's words left his mouth, an inspiring piece of music suddenly blared throughout the entire ship.
The four people in the group immediately turned their gaze to Yu Feng, who was leaning back with his arms crossed, watching the commotion, wondering if he had inappropriately started playing music again.
"What are you looking at me for? After I put away the tape recorder last time, I don't know where it went."
Yu Feng spread his hands, indicating that he really didn't do it this time. Moreover, the entire ship could hear it, which clearly wasn't something his small tape recorder could produce.
And in a place unseen by everyone, Mew was holding Yu Feng's tape recorder, playing music, while also eating snacks it had somehow 'acquired'.
On the tape recorder's screen, the words 'Battle BGM' were clearly displayed.
"Mew! Mew! Mew!"
Mew ate and made cheering gestures, seemingly also disliking Team Rockets. It even casually threw an unfinished snack at a grunt.
"That's right!"
"I agree!"
As Ash's words fell, everyone whose Poké Balls hadn't been snatched agreed with Ash. Rather than being robbed so submissively, it was better to fight.
Saying this, everyone threw out their Pokémon, and Jessie and James were enjoying the sucking, eager for them to continue throwing out their Poké Balls.
"Are you really going to throw them out?"
Yu Feng's eye twitched. 'They're sucking up your Poké Balls, and you still have to throw them out? Wouldn't it be better to just release them directly?'
However, although they were constantly sucking, the sheer number of Trainers present meant that many still managed to release their Pokémon, and the situation instantly turned.
Team Rockets was beaten back, fighting on par with the Trainers present.
"Ash, let's go together!"
Brock's mind returned to him at this moment, and he immediately thought of a solution. Although the opponents also had many people, their goal was to snatch Poké Balls, so they wouldn't bring too many things.
Correspondingly, their side had a numerical advantage. They just needed to overwhelm them with numbers. Team Rockets probably hadn't dispatched any executives.
Hearing Brock's words, Ash instantly understood what Brock wanted to convey and quickly commanded Pikachu to rally its fellow Pokémon to attack together.
Of course, what they didn't notice was that Yu Feng had already disappeared into the crowd... "I think peeking is a very bad thing, don't you agree, madam?"
Yu Feng, wearing an ornate blue butterfly mask and a custom-made blue and white trench coat, stood behind a red-haired woman and spoke in a somewhat flippant tone.
"I don't think so. Rather, you are quite arrogant. Why don't you state your name?"
The red-haired woman's voice instantly released her Poké Ball, and a purple Arbok immediately shielded her, preventing Yu Feng from approaching.
Arbok hissed, warning Yu Feng not to come closer.
"Oh dear, I was so careless, I didn't introduce myself, did I?"
"Then allow me to formally introduce myself. I am Gardevoir Butterfly Mask. And you, madam?"
When Yu Feng saw the other party ask, he introduced himself with an exaggerated tone, although it was a false name.
"Gardevoir Butterfly Mask? What a terrible name. You sneaky coward."
"Listen well, I am Athena, one of Team Rockets' Four Generals. If you leave now, I can pretend I didn't see you."
There's a good saying: despise the enemy strategically, but respect them tactically.
Although Athena wanted to lash out, Gardevoir Butterfly Mask had approached her so silently and closely.
And if he hadn't spoken, she wouldn't have noticed anyone near her. If he had wanted to attack, she would have been finished long ago. But since he hadn't attacked, he wasn't an enemy yet.
As it stood, this person was very dangerous. Rather than offending an enemy of unknown depth, it was better to let him leave on his own.
"Oh dear, unfortunately, my friends are also on this ship, so I'm afraid I can't grant your wish."
Yu Feng, wearing the butterfly mask, looked a bit troubled. After all, Ash had already started dealing with Team Rockets, so it might be a bit too late to take him away now.
"So, may I trouble you to go to sleep for a while?"
"Oh, by the way, please remember not to stare at me next time. Men can be very mysterious, you know."
The last thing the unconscious Athena saw was Gardevoir Butterfly Mask placing the equally sleeping Arbok aside, making a shushing gesture at her, and closing her eyes.
