Pokémon: Who told him to come out of Pallet Town!

Chapter 40: The Trio, Actually Mascots

Outside, on a large tree, the trio were wearing raincoats.

Meowth: "Meow, the Pokémon Center looks like there are a lot of injured Pokémon, meow."

Kojiro: "Yeah, meow... Wait a minute, those brats are here too!"

Musashi: "Where's Natsume? Is that researcher at the Pokémon Center?"

Natsume: "I think he's probably not here."

"It's good that you're not here, meow, then we can rest easy..."

Meow Meow's voice grew softer and softer until finally, the three of them turned their heads stiffly.

"Hi!" Natsume, holding an umbrella, squatted on the Rotom Poké Ball and floated in the air.

"Why are you always like a ghost!" The trio were so startled that they fell off the tree and onto the ground.

Natsume commanded the Rotom-Goblin to descend and arrive in front of the trio.

Team Rocket's trio were on high alert, about to grab a Poké Ball.

"Want to increase sales?" Natsume said, taking out a tray with dozens of red and white balls inside.

"I can give you all these Poké Balls."

"Empty?"

Kojiro looked at Natsume warily.

"Let me see." Meow Meow took out a device and scanned the tray in Natsume's hand.

"They all have Pokémon, meow!"

The cat looked very excited.

"Wait a minute, what is your purpose?"

Musashi and Kojiro became increasingly wary.

"Let me explain."

A voice came from behind the three of them.

Looking back, I saw a girl holding an umbrella, as delicate as a doll.

"Another brat..."

Kojiro took a half step back. For some reason, the aura of the top student felt somewhat familiar to him.

"Here's what happened." The prodigy cleared his throat, wanting to take this opportunity to demonstrate his summarizing skills to Natsume.

After listening to their explanation, the Rockets' trio nodded thoughtfully.

"That's outrageous, meow! I despise scum like that!"

"Hmm, if that's the case, we might as well give those Pokémon to that guy's Team Rocket for safekeeping!"

Kojiro carefully took the tray from Natsume's hands.

Immediately, a bright light flashed in the eyes of the trio.

"Finally... finally, meow!"

"We're finally open for business!"

"That was so difficult!"

The trio hugged each other and cried.

"Mr. Natsume..." The prodigy tugged at Natsume's sleeve, as if he had something to say.

"You say it," Natsume said, looking at her.

"Let's release the Pokémon back into the wild. Selling them to Team Rocket might not be a good idea... They have some shady dealings involved."

Jiaozi hesitated before speaking.

In the first book Natsume gave him, he emphasized that Pokémon researchers must adhere to their bottom line.

But she now finds that Natsume's bottom line seems a bit flexible.

"But if you release it, maybe a loyal Pokémon like Charmander will run back to find that scumbag."

"So, what would you do if you encountered this situation?"

Seeing the top student's reaction, Natsume nodded inwardly and then posed the question to her.

A look of hesitation crossed the young girl's face. After a moment's hesitation, she walked toward Team Rocket.

"I'll buy these Pokémon!"

The top student pulled out a black card with a Master Ball on it and handed it to the Rockets.

"Wait a minute, meow." Meow said, taking out a special accounting device.

"Our performance only counts after it goes through the Rockets' account, meow."

Swipe the card with one hand and pass the ball with the other.

"You seem to have given me too much, meow."

"Meow meow, why did you say that?!"

Musashi's fist landed on Meow Meow's head.

"But she gave too much; Boss Tsubaki will ask questions if it doesn't match up!"

Meow Meow raised the accounting machine in her hand.

"Wow, they gave us an extra million." Kojiro stroked his chin, a deliberately surprised expression on his face.

But in the darkness and rain, no one could see it.

"I want you to use the extra money to teach that guy I just mentioned a lesson." The prodigy raised his chin, looking at the Rockets:

"As the Rockets, I think you guys are pretty good at this kind of thing, right?"

"Okay, no problem!"

"Meow Meow was furious when she heard that; she'd wanted to beat him up for a long time."

"Hahaha, money's coming! Money's coming!"

The Rockets trio, as if injected with adrenaline, chased after the direction the prodigy pointed.

"Mr. Natsume, how was my handling of the situation?"

The top student turned around and looked at Natsume with hopeful eyes.

Natsume didn't speak, but instead started talking about the Team Rocket trio.

"Do you know why I dared to sell Pokémon to those three?"

"Why?" The top student looked at Natsume curiously.

"Because the Rockets also have a lot of white-label businesses, like pet shops and such."

The top student nodded. Being sold to a pet shop or something like that would indeed be a good thing.

Compared to stray Pokémon, people who buy Pokémon from pet stores are usually prepared and won't abandon them casually.

Anyway, it's better than falling into the hands of that scumbag.

"But how could Mr. Natsume know that the Pokémon in the hands of these three people would definitely end up in Team Rocket's white goods business?"

"That guy with blue hair just now, his name is Kojiro, the son of a major shareholder of the Rockets."

Natsume continued speaking:

"That one with red hair is Musashi, the daughter of Itagi's mother's best friend."

Not only that, Musashi's mother also co-founded Team Rocket with Giovanni's mother, making Musashi the daughter of the founder of Team Rocket.

However, she disappeared while chasing after the dream, and Itagaki's mother died of depression as a result.

Although the two men's initial motivation for founding Team Rocket was simply to make money.

But now that they've encountered Giovanni, a man with connections to both the legitimate and criminal worlds, the Rockets have been thoroughly developed and have become a veritable cross-regional powerhouse.

Upon hearing this, the pupils of the top student trembled.

She knew very well what kind of place the two people Natsume mentioned held in Itagi's heart.

"I won't let these two people get involved in the Rockets' real dark side."

Natsume gazed thoughtfully in the direction the Rockets had gone.

Well, it's because of Musashi and Kojiro's special identities.

This made it impossible for Giovanni to treat them the same way he treated the other Team Rocket members.

So they created a "dark villain dream" for the two of them.

The dark side of Team Rocket that they could access at most involved stealing other people's Pokémon and then selling them.

In a sense, the trio can be considered the mascots of the Rockets, so much so that their direct superior is Giovanni himself.

"So, the Pokémon sold to those three will definitely end up in Team Rocket's white goods business, understand?"

As soon as Natsume finished speaking, a resentful gaze came from the side.

"Why didn't you say so sooner, Mr. Natsume?" The top student raised the tray in his hand, the meaning of which was self-evident.

"I will teleport them back to Professor Oak's lab."

Natsume patted the latter's head.

So far, through observing the behavior and conduct of the privileged individual, Natsume's impression of him has improved considerably.

But it's still so troublesome—

"You contact Professor Oak, I'll go find Ash and the others."

With that, Natsume handed his phone to the top student.

"good!"

The top student's eyes lit up. Was she being asked to meet the clerk?

Natsume has accepted her again!

"Rotom, let's go!"

As Natsume spoke, he urged his Poké Ball Rotom to fly towards Charmander on Route 24.