"Meow~ I found the Kid! Pikachu is here too, and there's also... Aipom, meow?"
On the hot air balloon, a talking Meowth was leaning on the railing, observing Xiao Zhi's situation with a telescope.
"Although an extra guy is a bit troublesome, according to custom, the Kid shouldn't have his main members from the Hoenn Region with him now, right? If we want to catch Pikachu, now's the best chance!"
Musashi tossed her signature, strangely long hair and said with a determined tone.
"Hmm... but..."
On the other side, Kojiro seemed a bit hesitant, as if unsure whether to speak his mind.
But after only a moment's hesitation, he still spoke his thoughts.
"We say that every time, but we keep failing and making mistakes every time, don't we? I think this time we really need to plan our capture carefully! We can't have so many surprises every time!"
"So~nansu~~!"
Kojiro, the weaker party in the classic trio, received strong affirmation from Wobbuffet for his opinion this time.
However, neither Kojiro's statement nor Wobbuffet's echoing received Musashi's attention.
"What are you meddling for!"
"So~nan..."
Wobbuffet was cut off before he could finish by Musashi extending her hand and pushing him down.
"I'm not saying this, but what are you afraid of, Kojiro? The Kid doesn't have his main team members now! As long as we can catch Pikachu first, are we still afraid of not being able to defeat that weak Aipom?"
Musashi still looked fearless.
"But..."
Kojiro still looked very hesitant.
"We haven't exactly never been defeated by that Aipom before."
Musashi: "......"
On the hot air balloon, the few of them fell silent for a moment, then.
"Meowth, go!"
"Watch my furious scratches, meow!"
Kojiro: "Eh?! What are you doing?! Ah—"
......
A minute later, Kojiro lay on the hot air balloon with a face full of scratches.
And Wobbuffet just stood trembling next to Kojiro, as if afraid that if he said another word, he would be the next target.
"You're boosting others' morale and diminishing our own prestige!"
Musashi shook her hand, saying with disdain.
"Exactly, meow! If we don't dare to act decisively even in this situation, then we'll have even less chance in the future! We are Team Rocket, meow, and since we're Team Rocket, we must have Team Rocket's dignity!"
"Bu-but..."
"No buts!" *2
"Yes!"
Kojiro, startled by Musashi and Meowth's aura, quickly stood up and saluted, responding promptly.
"Now that the trouble has been eliminated, let's quickly formulate a plan."
Seeing that Kojiro had no objections to her suggestion, Musashi leaned back against the railing behind her, casually waving her hand and acting like a hands-off boss.
Upon hearing Musashi's words, Meowth just smiled mysteriously and said, "Heh heh! Meowth, I'm already prepared, this plan is foolproof!"
"What is it?" Kojiro's eyes still held suspicion.
Sure enough, in the next second, as Kojiro had guessed, Meowth pulled out a rocket launcher from who knows where.
"This contains an anti-electric capture net! As long as we use this to catch Pikachu, and then escape directly in the hot air balloon."
"The Kid won't be able to catch us!"
Musashi, upon hearing this "flawless" plan, quickly stood up and applauded, as if victory was already before them.
Looking at the two confident individuals before them, Kojiro and Wobbuffet then slipped to the other side, whispering to each other without being noticed:
"Can things really go so smoothly?"
Wobbuffet: "So~nansu......"
Wobbuffet's tone sounded a bit low, it seemed that in Wobbuffet's eyes, Meowth's plan was indeed a bit too simplistic.
"Right, right! Before, we failed even with more advanced machines and more complete plans, but now they want to catch Pikachu with just a net, that's simply wishful thinking!"
Wobbuffet: "Sonansu!"
Wobbuffet saluted, strongly agreeing with Kojiro's statement.
"Sigh, I think this time, nine out of ten, we still can't escape that awful feeling~ I wonder where we'll fly to on our first visit to the Sinnoh Region."
Wobbuffet: "So↑nan↓su↓"
Wobbuffet's tone became low again.
On the hot air balloon, Musashi and Meowth were drinking juice, celebrating their impending successful plan, while Kojiro and Wobbuffet were squatting in a corner, lamenting the unchanging future.
Musashi & Meowth: "What a great feeling!"
Kojiro & Wobbuffet: "What an awful feeling... (Sonansu~) " (whispering)
.......
Team Rocket Trio was plotting against Pikachu.
And at this moment, Xiao Zhi was in a phone booth near the airport with Pikachu and Aipom, calling Dr. Okido.
"Yes, that's right... Aipom is with me now, I don't know when it followed along."
Xiao Zhi was reporting Aipom's situation to Dr. Okido, and Dr. Okido on the other end of the phone, along with Kenji who was listening in, both breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this news.
"Whew, that's good, I was wondering how Aipom disappeared in just a blink of an eye, so it followed you to Sinnoh... How about it? Xiao Zhi, do you want to send Aipom back?"
"OKIII!"
Aipom, who had been pressing his ear to the phone, upon hearing Dr. Okido's words, tearfully tugged at Xiao Zhi's collar and began shaking him wildly, as if to say, if you send me back, I'll stay here and not leave.
"Ah! I know! I know! Stop shaking! I know what you mean! I won't go back! I won't send you back! Let go quickly!!"
"OKI!"
After receiving Xiao Zhi's promise, the tear marks on Aipom's face instantly disappeared.
Seeing Aipom's quick change of expression, Xiao Zhi also helplessly straightened his disheveled collar.
If this guy were exposed to Pokémon movies, he would definitely be interested in becoming an actor...
Watching Aipom happily jumping around, Xiao Zhi couldn't help but think.
.......