Pokemon: With Title System

Chapter 19: Sorry, I'm the Police

Never in his life did Asahi think he'd find himself walking among the ranks of Team Rocket.

As the group made its way into Mt. Moon, passersby and trainers noticed them but wisely kept their distance.

Once inside the mountain, the captain quickly dispersed the 30 or so Rockets, sending them in all directions to search.

Asahi and Daisuke, however, were left behind.

"You two, stay here and block any trainers from entering. Don't let anyone through!"

"Yes, sir!" Daisuke immediately straightened up, answering loudly.

Noticing Asahi's delayed response, Daisuke nudged him sharply.

Asahi snapped to attention and muttered a quiet, "Yes, sir."

By this point, Asahi was prepared for the possibility of his cover being blown. His hand gripped the Poké Ball in his sleeve tightly.

[Note to self: get a voice modulator next time.]

Luckily, the captain seemed uninterested in Asahi's muffled response. After briefly frowning, he released a Crobat and disappeared deeper into the cave.

As soon as the captain was out of sight, Daisuke visibly relaxed, slumping against a wall.

"Man, that was close!"

"Hayato, you're really lucky. Faking sick leave and then blanking out just now—you could've been in serious trouble!"

Daisuke rambled on, not noticing Asahi's darkened expression.

"Hayato, come on, release your Pokémon already. We need to guard this spot properly!"

Asahi lowered his head, hiding his expression in the shadows. "Are you sure?"

"Of course! The captain—"

Before Daisuke could finish, Asahi released Gardevoir.

"Wait, an alternate-colored Gardevoir?! Hayato, what are you—"

Boom!

Gardevoir's Psychic attack slammed into Daisuke's Magneton, disabling it instantly.

"Hayato, what the hell are you doing?! Let me go! I'm your buddy, Daisuke!"

Pinned by Gardevoir's psychic energy, Daisuke struggled in vain as Asahi approached with a cold smile.

"Buddy? Sorry, I'm the police."

Asahi confiscated all the Poké Balls from Daisuke. Ignoring the furious glare from his "buddy," he knocked him unconscious and handcuffed him.

Afterward, he sent a message to Lance:

[Are you here yet?]

About a minute later, Lance replied:

[I'm tied up at the moment, but I've already contacted Officer Jenny in Pewter City to assist you. What's going on?]

Asahi felt a little disappointed that Lance couldn't come himself, but he was confident he could handle the situation.

[Based on the intel so far, Team Rocket has sent two squads of fewer than 100 people to Mt. Moon to track Mew's whereabouts.]

[Tracking Mew? Are they planning to capture it?!]

[It's unclear for now, but if they were planning to capture Mew, there's no way they'd only send these grunts. Not a single executive has shown up.]

It wasn't that Asahi underestimated these Team Rocket members.

It was just that, from what he could see, these grunts didn't stand a chance of capturing Mew.

That said, Team Rocket was known for coming up with strange and unexpected technology, so there was always a possibility.

To prevent such a scenario, Asahi decided to follow and investigate further.

[I'll pursue Team Rocket for now. There's a prisoner at the entrance; let Officer Jenny pick him up.]

Since he had struck hard enough to knock Daisuke out for at least half a day, Asahi wasn't worried about him escaping.

[Be careful. If it gets too dangerous, wait for reinforcements.]

[Understood.]

After pocketing his phone, Asahi glanced at Gardevoir, who was playing with Daisuke's fainted Magneton like a cat with a mouse.

"Stop fooling around!" he called out.

Hearing Asahi's command, Gardevoir casually tossed the barely conscious Magneton onto the ground and floated to his side.

Returning the fainted Magneton to its Poké Ball and stuffing it into his bag, Asahi proceeded deeper into the tunnel.

---

The tunnels in Mt. Moon were complex.

Aside from the main passages equipped with lighting for trainers, there were numerous mining shafts created during ore extraction, branching out in all directions.

According to League statistics, trainers unfamiliar with the layout of Mt. Moon had an overwhelming chance of getting lost without a guide.

For Asahi, however, this was no issue.

Gardevoir spread her psychic senses, scanning the surrounding environment and constructing a three-dimensional map in Asahi's mind.

Through telepathy, she shared this mental map with him.

Thanks to this ability, Asahi navigated the pitch-black tunnels with ease, without even needing a light source.

[Thirty meters ahead, take the right fork. Three Team Rocket members are stationed there.]

Gardevoir's telepathic voice resonated in Asahi's mind.

Nodding, Asahi stealthily approached the location.

Seeing the three grunts with their backs to him, he gave his command: "Psychic!"

Bang!

Before the three could react, a powerful force slammed into the back of their heads. They collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Walking over to inspect them, Asahi grinned.

"Too easy…"

Team Rocket's decision to split up had given him an opportunity to pick them off one by one.

Adding these three to the tally, Asahi had now taken out 13 Rocket grunts—nearly a third of the squad.

As usual, he confiscated their Poké Balls and marked their location, sending the information to Lance for Officer Jenny to retrieve them.

Just as he was about to move on, a faint static noise came from a walkie-talkie on one of the grunts.

Picking it up, Asahi tuned it to the public channel.

The captain's, voice crackled through the device:

"Attention, everyone…"