"Pika." On the other side, Pikachu had already charred the red Rhydon into a blackened mass, leaving it completely unconscious.
"What should we do now? Are you going after Team Rocket?" Sabrina showed no reaction to the corpse in front of her. A body like this did not frighten her at all. What unsettled her was the strange aura surrounding it.
"Of course. Since I've already discovered a Team Rocket experimental base, there's no way I'm letting this go. And this time, one of Team Rocket's Four Executives is involved. I can definitely get valuable information."
As he spoke, Ash took out his phone and dialed a number. It was his cousin, Shiro. Even though killing had long become something Ash was accustomed to, this was still a modern world, and matters like this needed proper handling to avoid complications.
"Hey, Ash, you rarely contact me." Shiro's voice came through after the call connected. Within the Draconis family, aside from his grandparents and Serion Draconis, Shiro was the only one Ash could speak to freely.
"Cousin, come to me right now. I've found a Team Rocket experimental base. The one behind it is one of their Four Executives. I've already taken care of a few of them."
Hearing this, Shiro's tone immediately changed. Ash glanced at the charred Rhydon, wondering whether its condition was the result of natural mutation or some kind of experiment.
"Really? Damn it, right under our noses… wait there. I'll have Dragonite take me over, I'll be there soon."
Shiro hung up quickly. His hatred for Team Rocket ran deep. Without them, Delia would not have become an orphan, and Ash's identity would never have been cast into doubt. Everything traced back to those people.
Not to mention the major incident not long ago, when Team Rocket nearly plunged the entire Kanto region into disaster. Thinking of that, Shiro's anger surged. He immediately released Dragonite and rushed toward Ash's location.
"How is it?" Sabrina asked after Ash put away his phone, her gaze shifting toward the Pokémon lying like lifeless mud.
"My cousin will be here soon. For now, we need to figure out why these Pokémon ended up like this." Ash picked up an Oddish, examining it carefully. He even infused a trace of Aura into it, but it had no effect.
"I was right before. This isn't an illness at all. Pikachu is also a Pokémon, yet it's completely unaffected. Could it be related to the strange radio waves I sensed earlier?"
He set Oddish down and looked at Pikachu, who was calmly eating an apple. The failure of Aura to have any effect was something Ash had never encountered before.
More than an hour passed. Ash and Sabrina finally reached a conclusion. Unfortunately, just as they were making progress, the mysterious radio waves they had sensed suddenly disappeared. Once the waves vanished, the Pokémon that had been collapsed on the ground began to recover.
This confirmed Ash's suspicion. The root cause of everything was those waves.
"Ash!"
At that moment, Shiro arrived in a hurry. Dragonite truly lived up to its reputation as a pseudo-legendary Pokémon, covering such a vast distance in just about an hour.
"How's the situation?" Shiro asked immediately after landing. As for the people from the Johto League, none of them dared interfere. With two champions present, they had no right to speak.
"In short, that's the situation. But the emotional state of this red Rhydon seems extremely unstable," Ash explained, giving Shiro a general understanding before gesturing toward the charred Pokémon.
"No… Lord Lambda…"
At the temporary Team Rocket base, Lambda stood beside a large operating platform, watching as data continuously streamed across the monitors. Beside him, Dr. Namba was analyzing the experimental results of the red Rhydon, his expression focused and slightly impatient.
At that moment, a Team Rocket grunt suddenly rushed in.
"What are you panicking for? How many times have I told you not to barge in here without permission?" Lambda's expression turned cold. Without hesitation, he lashed out with a kick, sending the man crashing to the side.
Lambda, one of Team Rocket's Four Executives, specialized in Poison-type Pokémon. He was notorious for his ruthless and underhanded methods, easily the most unscrupulous among the four.
"I'm sorry, sir… but this is urgent," the grunt said, clutching his swollen cheek as he struggled to his feet. Someone of his rank had no ability to resist Lambda's violence. "The captain ran into that kid, the one who destroyed Dr. Namba's previous plan. He sent me to notify you immediately."
"Ash Ketchum…" Lambda's pupils shrank slightly at the name. He had seen Ash's strength firsthand. No matter how cunning his own methods were, he knew he couldn't withstand a direct confrontation with him. Still, things would be different if that device was completed.
Turning his head, Lambda looked at Dr. Namba. "How much longer until the device is ready?"
Dr. Namba shook his head. "Not yet. The current version only works on Pokémon below Champion level. If you want to deal with that boy, this level isn't enough. We need the red Rhydon back. Only then can we complete the final installation."
Lambda clicked his tongue in annoyance. The device was crucial to his plans, something he absolutely could not abandon. Even if facing Ash now was dangerous, he had no choice.
"It seems… we'll have to plan this carefully," Lambda muttered, his eyes flickering with calculation.