The base was still rising. Natsui didn't know what kind of plot Team Rocket was brewing, but time was short. He knew he couldn't let these people succeed and quickly commanded Gengar and Gardevoir to attack.
Ash and the others followed suit, all giving attack commands to their Pokémon.
Ash's Pikachu and Heracross, plus Ritchie's Pikachu and Charmander, Misty's Poliwhirl, Erika's Leafeon, and Brock's Forretress, which he had caught in Johto—all these Pokémon swarmed forward. In an instant, a variety of moves were launched, flying straight at Team Rocket.
Faced with such an onslaught, Cassidy and Butch couldn't hold them back and could only retreat step by step.
Pokémon were hit and fell one after another, but the two didn't panic. After all, their main mission was to stall for time. As long as they could delay until all the data and researchers were transferred, it would be their victory.
At this moment, the base was still rising rapidly. In just one or two short minutes, the surrounding environment had become much brighter. Through the windows, they could even see the faint light of the sun penetrating the sea surface. Clearly, at this rate, it wouldn't be long before the base surfaced!
Meanwhile, on the sea surface, Shuichi was waiting eagerly in the speedboat.
He stuck his head out of the boat. Out of nervousness and worry, his gaze was fixed on the sea. Although he knew he couldn't see anything, this was the only way he could calm his anxious heart.
Just then, the seawater suddenly began to churn and boil, as if something was about to emerge from within!
Seeing this, Shuichi was greatly surprised and quickly steered the speedboat away to avoid being capsized by the currents.
WHOOSH!!
The seawater shot up high as if it had exploded, and from beneath the splash, a base like a steel fortress actually floated up!!
The turbulent seawater constantly battered Shuichi's speedboat.
Looking at this base, although Shuichi immediately realized it was Team Rocket's secret base, he couldn't figure out how it had floated up!
Inside the base, Natsui's group had pushed forward another ten meters or so when they suddenly felt the glow of the setting sun on their faces. They looked up in surprise and only then realized they had reached the sea surface!
The orange sunset looked so beautiful that their movements couldn't help but pause for a moment.
But before they could come to their senses, an even more piercing alarm suddenly blared!
Unlike the regular alarm from before, this one was clearly much more urgent, and a cold female voice was constantly repeating the same sentence: "Warning! The base has initiated its self-destruct sequence. It will explode in five minutes. All personnel, please evacuate immediately! Warning! The base has initiated..."
Self-destruct!?
Not only did Natsui's group frown upon hearing this, but even Cassidy and Butch were clearly extremely shocked when they heard the alarm!!
Cassidy was stunned for a moment, then flew into a rage. "Damn it! We've been tricked by that old man! He's going to destroy this place!"
"No way?" Butch said in disbelief. "Didn't he tell us to buy time? Why would he destroy this place?"
"Idiot!" Cassidy gritted her teeth. "Are you an idiot? How can you still not understand? That old geezer never told us about the self-destruct! He had us hold off these intruders just so he could trap us here to die with them!!"
"What!?" Hearing Cassidy say that, Butch also realized the gravity of the situation and said urgently, "Then what do we do now?"
"Is that even a question!?" Cassidy grabbed Butch. "Of course we run!!"
The two of them huddled together, muttering, and then, abandoning Natsui's group, they turned and fled in a panic.
Seeing the two of them run, the already demoralized Team Rocket grunts followed right behind them, clearing out in an instant!
Watching Team Rocket vanish without a trace and hearing the urgent, cold alarm in his ears, Ritchie finally came to his senses and said quickly, "Did you hear that? This place is going to explode! Shouldn't we get out of here too?"
Natsui's brow furrowed.
He really hadn't expected Team Rocket to be so ruthless as to abandon their own base!
But on second thought, it made sense. Since the base was about to be overrun, it was better to blow it up themselves than to leave the spoils for others.
How ruthless...
The group didn't delay any longer and also ran in the direction Butch and the others had fled.
Along the way, they could see Team Rocket members scattering and fleeing everywhere. The entire base was in chaos, and no one was in the mood to bother with them.
However...
While escaping, Natsui couldn't help but glance out the window.
Actually, thinking about it carefully, this whole move by Team Rocket was quite puzzling.
The sea surface was right outside. They could have escaped safely just by leaving through an exit or even by blasting a hole in the wall. Knowing this, why did Team Rocket specifically raise the base to the surface, giving them an escape route?
If they really wanted him and his friends to go down with the base, they could have easily done it while underwater, where the surrounding seawater would have effectively limited their escape options. So why rise to the surface?
Was it just to let their own members escape safely?
The more he thought about it, the more he felt something was off, yet everything also seemed logical, leaving him completely baffled.
They passed through several rooms in a row and could see scattered documents everywhere, a testament to how hastily Team Rocket had left.
But strangely, despite the evacuation, for a research base, all they saw were combat personnel. There wasn't a single researcher in sight!
This couldn't help but raise more doubts in Natsui's mind.
When they reached the exit, it had already been opened. A large crowd of Team Rocket members was scrambling to escape from there. When they looked for Butch and Cassidy, there was no sign of them.
It could only be said that when it came to the art of escaping, those two were top-notch!
The countdown continued. Soon, the Team Rocket members crowded at the door had all jumped into the sea and were swimming away with all their might. Just as Ash and the others were also about to go through the exit, Natsui suddenly stopped.
Misty, who was behind him, saw this and asked in confusion, "Natsui, why did you stop? It's about to explode! Let's go!"
Natsui pondered for a moment, glanced at the group, and shook his head.
"You guys go ahead. I have a feeling this isn't so simple. I want to stay and see what's going on before I decide what to do!"
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