“Looks like I’ll have to carry you for a bit longer. By the way, is there a Pokémon Center nearby?”
Because his current location was still quite remote.
Moreover, he had only used a public phone to contact Dr. Okido, so Xiao Zhi couldn't get Aipom's pokeball immediately.
In his helplessness, he could only let it stay on his shoulder for now.
“OKI!”
Compared to Xiao Zhi’s troubles, Aipom was incredibly happy that it could openly stay outside.
Seeing Aipom so happy, Xiao Zhi could only shake his head.
Never mind, it's a rare opportunity, so let it stay here a bit longer.
If he had to talk about regrets, Xiao Zhi did have some regrets about Aipom.
He remembered that when they were in the Sinnoh Region, Aipom was so engrossed in a Pokémon Ping-Pong match that Xiao Zhi and Xiaoguang left it behind, but Xiao Zhi never went back to see it after that.
Meeting Aipom again in this way today also made up for a small regret in his heart.
“Pika~”
Seeing Xiao Zhi and Aipom in such a harmonious state, Pikachu, as the “big brother,” was also very happy.
However, it was natural for Pikachu to be happy, after all, Aipom wasn't standing on its shoulder, and without its effort, the more harmonious its companions were, the better.
Xiao Zhi put down the phone, then pushed the door open and walked out. Just as he was about to move towards the city, he suddenly heard a familiar sound of machinery operating.
“Get out of the way!”
Xiao Zhi instinctively shouted, then jumped forward.
Although Pikachu and Aipom didn't understand what was happening, they were forced to land on the ground on either side due to Xiao Zhi's sudden movement.
When Pikachu landed, it saw a mechanical arm, still clenched, appearing where it had originally stood. Suddenly startled, it then noticed the familiar large-headed Meowth hot air balloon in mid-air.
......
“Ah! What are you grabbing?! That’s terrible! I knew I should have done it!”
“What are you yelling about, Meow?! Didn’t you see the mechanical arm was accurate?! Wasn’t it because the Kid reacted and dodged?! How can you blame me for that, Meow?!”
“Sonansu~!”
“Get back in there!”
On the hot air balloon, due to Meowth’s misstep, two of the Team Rocket Trio seemed to be having a small dispute.
And Wobbuffet was just caught in the crossfire for merely interjecting to affirm Meowth’s words.
Looking at the hot air balloon above, Pikachu and Aipom both adopted a fighting stance, while Xiao Zhi looked at the trio above with a nostalgic gaze.
Although for a long time in the future, the Team Rocket Trio would still be after Pikachu, Xiao Zhi would meet them almost every few days, one could say they were more familiar than family.
However, during the time he was participating in the Pokémon Master Challenge, the Team Rocket Trio had disappeared for a long time. He heard from Brock that they seemed to be doing some business in Changpan City?
Xiao Zhi didn't press for details, but he felt both pity and relief for the three of them.
He was relieved that they could finally give up on Pikachu and pursue a proper career.
It was a pity that he would probably have few opportunities to meet the three of them again in the future. Although they had always been enemies, there were also many instances of cooperation between them, and it seemed a bit biased to simply describe them as bad guys.
In short, Xiao Zhi’s feelings towards the Team Rocket Trio were quite complex.
“Ah! Forget it, if I had known you couldn’t even do this small thing, I would have used the bazooka from the start! If we were fast enough, Pikachu would already be ours!”
“What, Meow!? In that situation just now, were you going to net the Kid too? It’s meaningless if you don’t catch Pikachu alone, Meow! If you’re so confident in your idea, then you try it yourself! See if you can catch it, Meow!”
“Ha?! I’ll try, I’ll try. Let me show you how useless you are!”
“What, Meow?!”
“What do you want?!”
“That… that… I’m sorry to interrupt you two in your excitement.” Just as Musashi and Meowth were arguing fiercely, Kojiro weakly walked to the middle and raised his hand to stop them.
“What’s wrong, Meow?”
“Are you even going to judge right from wrong?”
Musashi and Meowth at this moment aimed their fire at Kojiro, and their combined aura made Kojiro tremble instantly. He quickly shook his head and denied.
“No, I don’t mean that, it’s just that while you were arguing, the Kid… he already ran away…”
“What (Meow?!)?!”
Upon hearing Kojiro’s words, Musashi and Meowth quickly looked down.
They saw that Xiao Zhi’s figure, which had been there, had disappeared at some point.
When they cast their gaze further into the distance, they saw Xiao Zhi running frantically with Pikachu and Aipom.
“How despicable!”
“How can you run away when someone is talking, Meow?!”
Musashi and Meowth seemed completely unaware that the despicable ones should have been them, who launched a sneak attack in the first place. Now, after Xiao Zhi ran away, Musashi and Meowth started their cursing spree instead.
Although Xiao Zhi ran away immediately, it didn't matter.
No matter how fast he ran, he couldn’t be faster than them, and Xiao Zhi’s act of running away also gave them full confidence.
“Since the Kid ran away the moment he saw us, doesn’t that mean he’s afraid of us? It seems he doesn’t think he can defeat us without more help!”
Musashi confidently puffed out her chest, like a victorious general returning from battle. Xiao Zhi’s escape gave her the illusion of victory.
And Meowth, who was originally as aggressive as Musashi, now remained silent, instead looking at Kojiro and saying, “By the way, is the Kid the type of person who would run away in this situation?”
Meowth was a bit confused.
If it were in the past, Xiao Zhi, upon seeing them, would immediately shout, “It’s you guys again! Pikachu, Ten Thousand Volts!”
He should have made such a move.
As the saying goes, unusual actions signify something amiss. Meowth, who had originally thought they could win while Xiao Zhi had no other Pokémon with him, now couldn't quite stick to its opinion.
However, after calming down, Meowth’s position within the Team Rocket Trio gradually slipped to second place.
Without the rage buff, Meowth still couldn't compete with Musashi in terms of strength.
“Chase, chase! Don’t let the Kid get away!”
Watching Musashi’s command, Meowth, Kojiro, and Wobbuffet all felt a bit worried.
However, they still followed Musashi’s lead and began to attend to their respective tasks.
.......