Chương 29: Chapter 29: How Could It Be Her
Upon hearing Mia ask about this, Gary recounted what happened after meeting Aiko.
After listening to Gary's story, Mia waved her hand indignantly. "It's Team Rocket again. They just won't give up. When do we leave? I can't wait to teach them a lesson."
"Come on, don't be so hasty. We have an appointment with Aiko tomorrow morning. Go to bed quickly so we can be fully refreshed," Gary advised, relieved by Mia's enthusiasm.
After seeing Mia off, Gary lay down on the bed and quickly fell into a deep sleep.
Early the next morning, the two of them headed to the lobby of the Pokémon Center.
Aiko was already waiting for them there. As for Mia, Aiko only gave her a glance and didn't say much.
With that, the three of them left the Pokémon Center and headed toward Mt. Moon.
Nothing happened along the way, and they arrived near Mt. Moon without incident.
However, they did not enter Mt. Moon immediately because Aiko stopped Gary and pointed in a particular direction.
In the direction she pointed, several figures were moving. Among these figures, two were familiar to Gary—they were Butch and Cassidy. At that moment, they were wrapped in bandages and looked rather embarrassed.
"Do you know them?" Aiko asked curiously, noticing Gary's different expression as he looked at the figures.
Gary explained what had happened in Viridian Forest, but he omitted the fact that he had blown up the secret base. After all, that was a major incident, and he worried that Aiko might report him to Officer Jenny in Pewter City because of it.
"I see," Aiko nodded after listening to Gary's explanation. "Since you're familiar with these two, how strong are they? I was worried about their strength, so I didn't act rashly."
"Their strength is not worth mentioning, but I'm concerned that there might be stronger members of Team Rocket in Mt. Moon. It's better to be cautious before we enter," Gary replied.
"That makes sense. Do you have any ideas?" Aiko agreed with Gary's caution and asked if he had a plan.
"We could stage a feint attack to throw them off balance, then sneak in. What do you think?"
"That's a good idea, but how do we pull it off?"
Aiko liked Gary's idea but wasn't sure how he planned to execute it. After all, Team Rocket wasn't a bunch of pushovers, and such a simple trick might not work.
"Don't worry about that. Charmander, use Flamethrower," Gary ordered.
Gary's Charmander launched a Flamethrower attack on Team Rocket, catching them off guard as they hadn't noticed Gary's approach. They didn't have time to release their Pokémon and were hit by the Flamethrower, throwing them into chaos.
Seeing the confusion, Gary quickly signaled the others to follow him, and he recalled Charmander into its Poké Ball. The three of them took advantage of the chaos to slip into Mt. Moon.
Once inside, everything around them went dark.
Fortunately, both Gary and Mia had Charmander. After releasing their Charmanders, they finally had some light to guide their way.
Aiko, seeing Gary and Mia using Charmander as a light source, was momentarily speechless, simply staring at the two in a daze.
The two didn't pay much attention to Aiko's reaction and just urged her to keep up.
After being called by Gary, Aiko snapped out of it and hurriedly followed.
"Could it be that Team Rocket has disappeared?" Mia complained after walking for a long time without finding any trace of Team Rocket.
"Stop complaining and get up quickly. We must find them as soon as possible," Aiko said, helping Mia to her feet.
Mia wanted to say something but was stopped by Gary, who knew her well enough to guess what she was thinking but didn't want her to voice it.
"Miss Aiko, please go ahead and scout. She might be a little tired. We'll catch up with you in a bit," Gary suggested, knowing that if Mia followed immediately, she would likely continue complaining. To avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings, he sent Aiko ahead to scout, leaving Mia's Charmander behind while his own Charmander accompanied Aiko.
"Why wouldn't you let me speak? That woman really doesn't know how to slow down," Mia grumbled after Aiko left, just as Gary had anticipated.
"Just calm down. The Moonstone is an extremely rare item. If Team Rocket gets their hands on it, it would be bad news. Aiko is probably worried too. We need to consider things from her perspective," Gary reasoned.
Mia didn't know much about the Moonstone since she had never read any literature on it. Hearing Gary's explanation, she asked, "Is this Moonstone really that important?"
Gary nodded. "It is. The Moonstone can make certain Pokémon evolve, just like the Thunder Stone can make Pikachu evolve into Raichu. You know how valuable the Thunder Stone is. The Moonstone is just as important. Do you understand now?"
Mia, whose father had a Pikachu, knew all about the Thunder Stone's importance. Her father had searched for it for ages but never found it. Now, knowing there was a stone with a similar effect, she understood its value.
"Then let's go!" Mia said, now motivated by the Moonstone's significance.
"Right. We can't let Team Rocket get their hands on the Moonstone," Gary agreed, watching as Mia, now fully energized, started walking deeper into the cave. She was a completely different person from before. Gary smiled helplessly, but he was glad Mia's energy had returned.
Not long after, they caught up with Aiko, who was hiding behind a rock, apparently having discovered something.
"Miss Aiko, what did you find?" Mia asked, patting Aiko on the shoulder.
Aiko nearly jumped out of her skin, almost screaming. If Gary hadn't quickly covered her mouth, she probably would have.
"What...what are you doing? You scared me half to death. I thought it was Team Rocket sneaking up on us," Aiko stammered.
"Never mind that for now. What were you looking at just now?" Gary asked, more concerned about what Aiko had seen.
"I've made a big discovery. Look over there," Aiko said, pointing to an open area behind the rock.
Looking in the direction Aiko pointed, Gary's pupils instantly dilated.
In the spot Aiko pointed to, several Clefairy were gathered around a small stone.
"That must be the Moonstone," Gary whispered, staring at the stone surrounded by Clefairy.
"Yes, it seems Team Rocket's purpose here is just as you said—to get the Moonstone," Aiko agreed. She had seen the Moonstone before, but she doubted Gary had, so she asked, "But how do you know about the Moonstone? I've only seen it once by chance."
"My grandfather is Professor Oak, so I learned about it from him. Stop looking at me like that," Gary said, using his grandfather as a shield. After all, Professor Oak was a recognized authority in the academic community.
When Gary mentioned that his grandfather was Professor Oak, Aiko's eyes widened, and she just stared at him.
"My grandfather is Professor Oak. Why are you staring at me like that? It's creepy," Gary said, feeling goosebumps under Aiko's intense gaze.
Realizing she had been staring, Aiko looked at Gary apologetically.
Gary knew Aiko hadn't meant anything by it, so he let it go.
"Stop bickering; Team Rocket seems to have arrived. From the looks of it, they're about to attack the Clefairy. Are we going to stop them or not?" Mia interrupted, noticing that Team Rocket had shown up.
Gary and Aiko quickly moved closer.
Near the altar, they indeed saw several Team Rocket members. The leader was a woman, not very old, with a decent appearance but a vicious expression that made people uncomfortable.
Gary recognized her immediately—she was Matori, Giovanni's secretary.
Aiko gasped, "Damn, how could it be her!"
"Do you know this woman?" Gary asked, surprised by Aiko's reaction.
Although he was asking, his instincts told him that Aiko definitely knew Matori.
"Yes, she's Matori. She's the secretary to Giovanni, the boss behind Team Rocket. She's ruthless and very powerful. If she targets you, you won't have a good ending," Aiko said through gritted teeth, revealing the depth of her hatred.
Gary didn't know the history between Aiko and J, but he was surprised by how much Aiko seemed to despise her.
Aiko, however, clearly didn't want to dwell on the topic, so Gary didn't press further.
"You two have talked enough. Are we going to stop them or not?" Mia urged, anxious as an ant on a hot stove.
Gary motioned for her to stay calm and wait.
"Wait? Team Rocket is right there, and you want to wait?" Mia said, unable to hide her impatience.
Gary, knowing Mia's tendency to be impulsive, sighed. He had hoped their journey would temper her impatience, but she remained as rash as ever.
"Didn't you just hear Aiko say that Matori is powerful? We can't act rashly," Gary said, trying to calm her down.
Mia, while calming down on the outside, was still restless inside, her eyes fixed on Team Rocket.
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