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"Meowth, your hot air balloon is expertly crafted. We'll use it for all our future travels. It provides excellent visibility and moves at impressive speed."
Jessie expressed her satisfaction with the hot air balloon's performance.
Neither she nor James wanted to endure another experience of walking for an entire day and night on empty stomachs.
With this hot air balloon at their disposal, they would never have to travel on foot again.
Moreover, although this contraption appeared to move slowly, its actual speed surpassed that of people riding Ground-type Pokémon, which would prove invaluable for their future operations.
"Meowth, are you certain that Squirtle is really located in this area?"
However, despite praising the hot air balloon, Jessie harbored doubts about the existence of this particular Squirtle.
After all, this location was situated directly between Cerulean City and Saffron City.
There were very few small towns and sparse human populations in this region.
The landscape resembled a desolate wasteland.
Could rare Pokémon truly exist in such an inhospitable environment? Did this Squirtle actually exist?
"Don't worry, meow! I remember this place clearly. Back when I wasn't part of Team Rocket, I wandered through this area and encountered a very delinquent Squirtle here. I couldn't possibly remember it incorrectly, meow."
Meowth rarely discussed his past experiences, as they weren't particularly pleasant memories to revisit.
However, he recalled his previous adventures with crystal clarity, since such encounters tend to leave unforgettable impressions.
"A very delinquent Squirtle? What kind of unusual description is that?"
James didn't express disbelief in Meowth's account, but he felt extremely curious at this moment. Actually, he wanted to question Meowth's choice of adjective for describing the Squirtle.
"Hmm, how should I explain it? You'll understand exactly what I mean once you see it for yourself, meow."
Meowth held a telescope and continuously searched for their target, but it couldn't figure out how to properly explain the Squirtle situation at this time. It simply stated that everyone would comprehend the reason once they witnessed it firsthand.
"That's right, meow! It's probably in this town. Let's descend now. If my memory serves me correctly, that troublemaker will soon make an appearance in the town, meow."
Meowth suddenly spotted a town with distinctive western cowboy architecture and immediately began lowering the hot air balloon.
In a small forest located less than one hundred meters from the town, they brought the hot air balloon down to ground level, and then all three members jumped off the aircraft.
"This town? Then let's proceed immediately and prepare to capture that Squirtle at any moment!"
Jessie displayed impatience at this point and began walking toward the town.
"Wait! It's almost lunchtime right now! We should eat our lunch first. Only after we're properly nourished will we have sufficient energy to capture the Squirtle!"
James immediately stopped Jessie and provided a reason that made the latter nearly collapse in frustration.
"Yeah, meow! It's lunchtime, and I'm getting hungry too, meow."
Meowth agreed enthusiastically and retrieved a picnic basket along with a picnic blanket, which he began setting up methodically.
"Thwack! Thwack!"
After two distinct impacts, James and Meowth fell straight backward, displaying obvious bruises on their heads—the unmistakable kind caused by being struck forcefully.
"Are you both insane? Didn't we enjoy a substantial meal after returning to Saffron City? Why are you claiming to be hungry now?"
Jessie produced a baseball bat from seemingly nowhere, struck Meowth and James firmly, and demanded an explanation.
"We ate breakfast in Saffron City this morning, and now it's noon. After everything we've experienced recently, I refuse to miss any of the three daily meals ever again."
"Exactly, meow! Jessie, do you really want to experience that terrible hunger again?"
James and Meowth seemed to have developed a trauma from their previous starvation experiences, and they were determined never to miss mealtime again under any circumstances.
"You two—do you have any ambition whatsoever? We are Team Rocket, and we're destined to rule the entire world..."
"Grrowwwl~~~"
Jessie glared at James and Meowth with obvious anger, but halfway through her passionate speech, her stomach produced an audible growling sound.
James and Meowth observed Jessie with expressions that clearly communicated "your stomach is growling too," while Jessie appeared completely bewildered, creating an extremely awkward moment for everyone involved.
"...Ahem, let's eat our meal then."
Finally, Jessie was the first to recover from the embarrassment, coughed to clear her throat, and picked up the picnic tablecloth as if nothing had happened while preparing to set up their dining area.
James and Meowth refrained from laughing at Jessie's expense—not because they didn't want to laugh, but because Jessie still hadn't put down the baseball bat in her hand, and they simply didn't want to endure another beating.
However, just as the three had finished laying out the tablecloth and removed their lunch items in preparation for their meal...
The Team Rocket trio suddenly found themselves surrounded by a group of Water-type Pokémon.
The one speaking was the very Squirtle they had been searching for. It wore an incredibly cool pair of sunglasses and was followed by four other squirtles.
The four Pokémon behind it also sported sunglasses.
The Water-type Pokémon had completely encircled the Team Rocket trio, with one of the Squirtle clearly appearing to be their leader.
"Meowth, this is the Squirtle you mentioned..."
"A very delinquent Squirtle—you can tell immediately..."
"I told you so, meow! This Squirtle is extremely delinquent, meow!"
Jessie and James felt utterly speechless at this moment. They had encountered Pokémon that displayed human-like characteristics before, but this was their first time seeing a Pokémon that appeared so thoroughly delinquent.
Squirtle was a Water-type Pokémon, wasn't it? Yet it looked like it would make even Dark-type Pokémon feel intimidated by comparison.
The Team Rocket trio only focused on their own conversation, which made Squirtle grow increasingly impatient. It then displayed a menacing expression and snorted dismissively at them.
As it snorted, the four Squirtles behind it gradually approached the Team Rocket trio, appearing as though they intended to apply psychological pressure in a completely normal fashion.
Honestly, being approached by five Pokémon wearing sunglasses and displaying obvious delinquent attitudes, the three humans who found themselves surrounded genuinely felt a considerable amount of intimidation.
"Meowth, what exactly is it demanding?"
"And why do they all look like they're preparing to attack us?"
"Uh, it's saying 'hand over your food, or you'll have to pay the consequences,' meow."
Jessie and James were initially stunned, then burst into uncontrollable laughter.
This was their first encounter with Pokémon attempting to extort humans, and they were trying to extort members of Team Rocket, no less.
"Do you think we're ordinary civilians? You've chosen the wrong targets to rob..."
"Allow us to demonstrate the true power of Team Rocket..."
"That's absolutely right, meow..."
After the trio finished laughing, Jessie and James retrieved their Poké Balls and began walking toward Squirtle step by step, acting as though their opponents were nothing more than insignificant weaklings.
Then...
"CRASH!"
As the explosive sound echoed through the area, the Team Rocket trio hadn't even managed to release their Pokémon before they plummeted directly into a pit.
More specifically, they had fallen into a trap pit that had been strategically prepared in advance.
"Blast it! When did you dig this pit? This is a trap..."
"You're finished! When we climb out of here, I'll... what do you think you're doing?!"
"Wait, wait... Boss Squirtle, don't do it, meow!!!"
Team Rocket was halfway through delivering their threatening words when they discovered that Squirtle and its crew were aiming Ice Beam attacks directly at Team Rocket's position.
While Team Rocket remained trapped in the pit and couldn't react properly, the Pokémon froze them solid.
Subsequently, under Squirtle's leadership, they secured the frozen Team Rocket trio with ropes and suspended them from a tree branch to thaw naturally.
In this manner, they would defrost after some time passed. Of course, although there would be no danger to their lives, catching a cold was absolutely inevitable.
Meanwhile, the leader Squirtle, accompanied by its gang members, settled comfortably on the tablecloth that Team Rocket had just spread out, thoroughly enjoying the lunch that the Team Rocket trio had prepared.
At the same time, Eddie, who had observed the entire sequence of events while soaring through the sky above, gave an enthusiastic thumbs up to Squirtle and its delinquent crew.
"Impressive! This Squirtle is definitely quite the delinquent."