Chapter 52 Are Team Rocket Still Hiring?

Corridor 3, at the very end.

There were no other rooms around, and the solitary door looked quite independent.

This was the room belonging to Apollo, the head of the large charitable enterprise, Rainbow Corporation.

"What should we do? Should we knock?"

Brock asked, though he already had a brilliant plan in mind.

Ash nodded, signaling that the stage belonged to this dark-faced brawny man.

"Knock, knock, knock."

With that, Brock knocked on the door, then slightly altered his voice, putting on a coy, flirtatious smile as he giggled:

"Tee-hee-hee~ Sir~ Do you need any special services~~?"

Ash: "???"

Surprisingly, however, no one answered from inside the room for a long time, plunging Brock—who was hoping to pull off a classic honey-trap scenario—into awkwardness.

He grasped the doorknob, and it actually turned.

The door wasn't locked?

Did he go out to go clubbing too?

The two exchanged glances and slowly pushed the door open to step inside.

The room was very spacious, not even feeling like a regular room, but rather more like a training ground, except for a square table positioned near the back.

Just as Ash wanted to approach the square table, a stream of flames suddenly shot out from the shadows on the side. Ash's heart skipped a beat, and relying on muscle memory, he executed Pallet Town's signature devilish footwork to dodge to the side.

"What the heck?"

As the flames dissipated, a pair of glowing red eyes lit up in the dimness.

A puppy-like Pokémon slowly walked out from the shadows.

Its entire body was pitch black, with several white bone-like hard shells embedded around its ankles and back, and even its forehead seemed covered by a white skull-like plate.

"Awoo-roar!"

It let out a low growl at the two, looking fierce and menacing.

"Beep-beep. Houndour, the Dark Pokémon. Fierce in temperament, not edible, but Houndour blood can ward off evil."

The Pokédex automatically announced.

"Ash, this seems to be a Pokémon from the Johto region, Fire-type. Do you want me to handle it?" Brock inquired.

Seeing this, Ash's eyes lit up brightly. He reached up to adjust the brim of his cap and smiled:

"No need, no need. It wouldn't do to steal someone else's thunder, and besides, this little guy's paws are itching for a fight."

Brock: "???"

As he spoke, Ash tossed out his Poké Ball.

凪—!

"I choose you, Charmander!!"

A red flash crossed the room as Charmander stepped onto the floor with its hind legs, waved its arm, and opened its jaws wide while the flame on its tail blazed up with a sudden whoosh.

"Roar, roar!!"

The echoing dragon roar resonated close by. Although still somewhat immature, Ash could faintly sense the aura of that Charizard from atop the sea of fog the other day.

The soundproofing of this room was excellent, so it wouldn't disturb anyone outside.

Fire-type Pokémon are inherently bellicose. The moment the dragon and the hound crossed paths, the fiery sharpness flashing in their eyes gave no ground, both eager to thoroughly defeat the other.

Ash waved his thumb forward: "Charmander, strike first! Use Flamethrower!"

"Roar!"

Charmander whipped its head forward, unleashing a pillar of searing flames with scorching heat.

Unexpectedly, even in the face of the oncoming, fierce Flamethrower, this Houndour showed not the slightest bit of fear. It didn't even bother to dodge, staying right where it was and taking the Flamethrower head-on with its bare body.

Puff, puff, puff...!

The moment the Flamethrower touched the hound's body, it weirdly transformed into fiery, scorching energy, and the next second, it was entirely absorbed by the creature.

Ash: "?"

That was impossible. Even though Fire-type Pokémon have resistance to fire, how could it completely ignore the attack and even absorb it?

"Ash, that's the Flash Fire ability. It can absorb fire-type moves and boost the power of its own flames."

Brock quickly reminded him.

A Pokémon with the Flash Fire ability undoubtedly held an absolute advantage in a Fire-type mirror match.

At that moment, Houndour's pitch-black skin was suffused with a hot, glowing red light, its imposing posture radiating overwhelming dominance.

"Awoo-roar!"

It let out a disdainful bark, as if mocking Charmander's overestimation of its own abilities.

This arrogant expression infuriated both Ash and Charmander simultaneously. The flame on Charmander's tail blazed up fiercely once more with a "whoosh," towering even half a head higher than its own body, sending surging heat waves rolling outward.

In an instant, the entire room grew sweltering hot.

"Woof, woof!!"

Seeing this, Houndour merely offered a disdainful smirk. Watching Charmander begin gathering red energy in its mouth once again, it shook its body, purposely leaving its defenses completely open.

Come on!

Hit me with your best shot!

Now that the energy had accumulated to its peak, Ash waved his thumb forward and shouted:

"Great opportunity! Charmander, use Dragon Rage!"

The next second, crimson-red energy burst from its mouth, transforming into a large, orange fireball of formidable momentum that roared through the air.

Houndour: "???"

As the move closed in, although it was crimson in color, its type had not a single thing to do with Fire.

Houndour, which had just posed to take the hit head-on, didn't even have time to react. It only realized the type mismatch when the Dragon Rage was right in its face, and just as it tried to dodge, the massive fireball slammed directly into its body.

Boom, boom, rumble...!

Dragon Rage erupted against its lower back, and the scattering dragon-type energy along with fierce force impacted Houndour's fragile body completely.

"Rumble, rumble, rumble!!"

The floor was even smashed open into a massive crater, and flames shot up into the sky...

...

"Awoo-woof..."

When the smoke and dust finally cleared, accompanied by a mournful whimper, Houndour had completely lost its ability to battle, collapsing dizzily onto the ground.

Dragon Rage was a rookie-tier divine skill; as long as a first-stage Pokémon didn't have a thick health bar, regardless of type matchups, it could basically be taken out in a single hit.

"Good job!"

Ash rubbed Charmander's bald head. The latter was panting slightly, clearly having expended a great deal of energy on Dragon Rage.

However, winning a mirror match against a Fire-type opponent was a massive boost to their morale.

Ash then turned his head to look at Brock:

"Teacher Brock, this Pokémon's skin color matches yours quite well. Do you want to catch it?"

"It's probably someone else's Pokémon. Never mind that, let's hurry and check what's on that table. With that commotion, I'm afraid someone's going to come knocking to check our meters." Brock urged urgently.

The noise generated by Dragon Rage was definitely not something that could be compared to a couple of simple barks.

...

Soon, the two bypassed the knocked-out Houndour and arrived at the square table.

There was nothing else on the table except for a thick stack of documents.

"Project Proposal on Robbing the Rich to Achieve Common Prosperity—Strategic Blueprint for the S.S. Anne Operation."

The two scratched their heads, feeling bewildered.

Robbing was robbing, but nowadays did robbery require writing a project proposal of tens of thousands of words?

Did they still need to find a few angel investors?

They opened the document, which detailed the class contradictions in the current Pokémon world.

The wealthy landlords were unmerciful, and the poor farmers suffered beyond description.

Therefore, Rainbow Corporation, as the largest charitable organization in the Kanto region, felt compelled to step in and planned to orchestrate the luxury cruise event on the S.S. Anne, inviting countless wealthy individuals on board to carry out a grand heist.

All the obtained wealth would then be donated to Team Rocket, the Kanto region's foremost conscientious enterprise.

To act as a hero of justice for the country and the people—nothing could surpass this!

Turning to the last page, Ash couldn't help but draw a sharp breath. Infected by this intense sense of patriotism and duty, he said:

"Hey, Teacher Brock, I think this Apollo guy actually has some good ideas. How about we just pretend we walked past and saw nothing?"

"..."

My boy, your mindset seems to have gone astray.

...

...

The next day, Apollo returned to the room.

Seeing Houndour in an injured state, he didn't panic in the slightest. Instead, he gently recalled it into its ball, a proud smile of absolute control curving the corners of his mouth.

"Heh~"

As Team Rocket's premier tactician, he had long guessed that Ash would take action last night, and he had never expected a newly caught Houndour to stop him.

Or rather, perhaps even he himself wouldn't be able to stop that peerless powerhouse named Ash.

So he simply chose not to block him.

He went to the adjacent hall to party all night long last year—er, last night—avoiding any direct confrontation with Ash, and even left the strategic blueprint openly displayed right there.

The so-called "governing by non-interference"—this was the principle.

Communication between wise men was often just that unpretentious and filled with philosophy.

He walked over to the square table and noticed that a few extra words seemed to have been added to the cover of the proposal. Apollo's curiosity was piqued.

A message left behind? Was this the tacit understanding between wise men?

Or was he issuing a challenge to me?

Hmph, this battle was bound to be unavoidable after all.

Then let us fight! As the most outstanding member of Team Rocket's younger generation, he had never feared any challenge!

Apollo let out a proud, cold snort and looked closely, only to see two scrawled, ugly lines of bold characters written across the page.

"Too long, didn't read, but the plan is good."

"So, is Team Rocket still hiring?"

The handwriting was terribly ugly, adding an even greater layer of mockery.

Apollo: "!?!"

Such wild ambition!!

Such wild ambition!!

To think he still harbored delusions of seizing my position as Team Rocket's heir?!

This brat's scheming is vicious; he simply cannot be left alive!!

His expression twisted into an unprecedented look of distortion and fury!!