Somewhere on the seabed outside the Whirl Islands, a secret Team Rocket base was hidden.
It was a massive, arched structure made of steel, built on a flat rock formation. The entire secret base stood dozens of meters tall. Even in the pitch-black depths of the sea, the light emanating from within still illuminated a large area nearby.
Countless Water-type Pokémon swam far outside the base's perimeter, seemingly not daring to approach.
Through the glass windows, personnel could be seen moving about inside from time to time. Clearly, many Team Rocket members were hidden here.
As one of Team Rocket's most secret research bases in the Johto region, the person in charge here was Dr. Namba, an energetic old man in his sixties.
The old man had a fiery red beard and hair, which matched his explosive personality. However, due to baldness, he had a receding hairline. At the same time, despite his high achievements in the academic world, for some reason, no matter how many times he corrected them, everyone would subconsciously get his name wrong.
At this moment, Dr. Namba was sitting in the control room, flanked by several Team Rocket members dressed in black. On the large screen in front of him, the live feed from the search team was playing.
Although the search team was still constantly requesting his next instructions, Dr. Namba had no energy to deal with them. Instead, his gaze was fixed on the people around Lugia.
More precisely, his eyes were locked on Natsui!
He stared at Natsui, his brow furrowed so tightly it almost formed a knot, and muttered to himself, "Honestly, isn't that the Natsui who's called our Team Rocket's number one enemy? What is he doing here? This is going to be troublesome..."
After pondering for a moment, he waved over a Team Rocket member.
The member walked up to him and said respectfully, "Dr. Sānbo, what are your orders?"
The order he was about to give got stuck in his throat. Dr. Namba could only glare at him fiercely. "It's not Sānbo, it's Namba!"
"I'm sorry, Doctor..."
Sighing helplessly, Dr. Namba said, "Have the nearby action teams move towards that location. Let's start by attempting to capture Lugia with Plan A."
Also glancing at Natsui on the screen, the Team Rocket member nodded solemnly. "Yes, I understand!"
...
After helping Brock clean up the dishes, Natsui patted his full belly and stretched comfortably.
Well-fed and basking in the sun, he couldn't help but feel sleepy.
Misty also yawned at the same time, then looked at Natsui and tilted her head. "Natsui, what should we do now? We can't just do nothing and wait for Team Rocket, can we?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Ash suddenly did a carp flip and jumped up from the ground. He looked at Ritchie, his eyes burning with a fiery passion. "While we still have time, Ritchie, how about a battle with me?"
Looking at his former rival, Ritchie shook his head. "Sorry, I'm not in the mood. After seeing Lugia, all my thoughts are on how to protect it. I really can't get myself worked up for a battle with you."
"Is that so..." Ash scratched his head awkwardly and sat back down disappointedly. "It's okay. Then let's wait until the Silver Conference, and we can have a proper match then!"
"Sorry again," Ritchie said with a very apologetic tone. "I'm not planning to participate in the Silver Conference..."
"What!?"
This time, it wasn't just Ash who was shocked; Natsui, Misty, and Brock all turned to look at Ritchie.
Misty asked, puzzled, "Why aren't you participating all of a sudden?"
Brock also tried to persuade him, "That's right, after the experience of the Indigo Conference, you'll definitely be able to get a better result at the Silver Conference!?"
Faced with their confusion, Ritchie shrugged. "Actually, after my defeat at the Indigo Conference, I fully realized my own shortcomings. So now I'm traveling around to catch powerful Pokémon and continuously train myself. Maybe I'll consider participating in a Pokémon conference again when my strength has greatly improved."
"How could that be..." Ash stared blankly at Ritchie and sighed in disappointment.
This was both a regret for not being able to battle Ritchie and a lament for losing a well-matched rival in the future.
After a long silence, seeing the atmosphere was a bit down, Natsui clapped his hands to draw everyone's attention to himself.
"Alright, everyone, cheer up. Let's discuss the important stuff now."
Seeing everyone looking at him, Natsui continued, "To protect Silver and thwart Team Rocket's plot this time, we must first hit them hard. Right now, we are in the open, and they are in the dark. We have no idea when these people will make a move. This is very passive and puts us at a great disadvantage. So, I plan to take the initiative and seize control!"
Misty was always Natsui's most loyal supporter. She had no objection to his proposal at all; she just had to support him blindly.
"That's right, what Natsui said makes sense!"
"But..." Ritchie frowned and offered a different opinion. "Since we know Silver is being targeted by bad guys, shouldn't we avoid putting it in danger? Isn't running away with it a better option? Maybe calling the police is a good choice too."
As soon as Ritchie finished speaking, before Natsui could say anything, Misty had already retorted, "You're still too naive! What's the use of calling the police? Wouldn't that be like telling the whole world about Silver's existence!? And even if we were to run, where would we go? Judging by Team Rocket's style, they won't give up until they've captured Silver!"
After saying that, Misty turned to look at Natsui again, her face full of expectation. "Natsui, go on. What should we do then?"
Glancing at the embarrassed Ritchie, Natsui nodded. "Misty is right. We have to rely on ourselves for this. My idea is to lure the snake out of its hole, draw Team Rocket into a battlefield that is advantageous for us, bring them into the open, and then defeat them and send them to prison so they won't dare to have any ideas about Silver again!"
"I agree," Erika was the first to concur. "It's better to take the initiative than to defend passively. I agree with Natsui's idea."
Brock also stroked his chin. "Natsui's method is indeed feasible. Just like Misty said, I also think calling the police is not a good choice."
Seeing that everyone seemed to approve of Natsui's idea, Ritchie finally looked at Shuichi and saw that he was also nodding in agreement.
It seemed that in this boy's heart, there was no objection to the Sea Hero's idea.
Honestly, Ritchie sighed helplessly. As a newcomer, he just wanted to ask: What kind of magic does this 'Sea Hero' title hold...
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