Chapter 143: Boss Giovanni, We’ve Caught the Rotom!

“Oh my, you’re really lucky. Another scrapped sludge… I mean, another sludge truck just came in,”

The old man at the junkyard rubbed his hands, followed by another elder. Both looked at Natsume as if he were their savior.

Rumble—rumble

The sound of an old engine grumbled at the gate, ear-piercing and harsh.

A rusted vehicle with a large tank on its back drove in.

The window rolled down, and another old man leaned out.

“Hammond, I heard you have an idiot who didn’t process a sludge truck properly?”

Hammond glared at the man but couldn’t stop his gaze from flicking to Natsume.

“Sorry, sorry, my friend speaks without thinking,” Hammond apologized repeatedly toward Natsume.

Unprocessed sludge trucks cost more to dispose of than to sell second-hand.

Even second-hand sludge trucks had few buyers; holding onto one was a liability.

Finally, they’d encountered a savior, and Hammond couldn’t let Natsume leave.

“No problem. I’ll take as many as you have,” Natsume said, pausing.

“But I can only carry them one by one.”

“No problem, I came first. You take the one I brought. No charge, no charge,” said the eager old man behind him.

“Alright, go bring it over,” Natsume said, placing a cardboard box to sit on.

Seeing this, Ash and the others followed suit, taking a break themselves.

“Natsume, why are you collecting those sludge trucks?” Brock couldn’t help asking.

“When someone’s on the verge of exploding, help them explode,” Natsume replied without hiding anything.

“Ah?” The group looked confused, not understanding.

“Not good, not good!”

The old man ran back.

“My sludge truck is gone!”

He panted heavily, but joy spread across his face.

“Was it stolen?” Ash asked, immediately sensing something was off.

Who would steal a sludge truck?

“Maybe Mr. Natsume’s Rotom over there possessed it and drove it off?” Giselle guessed.

“I don’t think so,” Misty said, staring blankly at the sky.

Everyone looked up to see a huge Meowth-headed balloon, equipped with propulsion and numerous ropes pulling a massive truck into the air.

Looking closely, the truck had a pair of golden inverted triangle eyes on its front, carrying an enormous tank behind it.

It was the Rotom that had possessed the sludge truck!

“It’s Team Rocket!”

Ash leapt forward but was pressed back by Natsume’s strange expression.

“Don’t rush. My Rotom can teleport. Let’s see what they’re planning.”

From afar, they could faintly hear the laughter of James and Jessie.

“Hahaha—those kids are stunned!” Jessie laughed with glee.

“This highly valuable Rotom is for Boss Giovanni. This time, we won’t fail!” James laughed triumphantly.

In the past, they had tried many times to steal the kids’ Pokémon.

Getting the Pokémon was easy, but delivering them to Boss Giovanni was always the challenge.

Every time, the kids managed to intercept them.

But this time was different. Boss Giovanni was in Viridian City!

“Waaah—we finally win for once!”

On the Meowth-headed balloon dragging the sludge truck Rotom, Jessie and Giselle embraced, tears in their eyes.

“Uh, now that the sludge truck is taken, can you take mine?”

A third old man jumped down from the driver’s seat of a sludge truck, looking at Natsume excitedly.

So thrilling, so thrilling—these days, people even steal second-hand sludge trucks.

Damn it, Hammond’s luck is unbelievable. The scrapped sludge truck he had was just sitting there for nearly two weeks.

No one wanted it; it was just taking up space.

When he heard Natsume was collecting vehicles, he even swapped in good tires and drove all the way from Pewter City to Viridian City.

“Alright, I’ll take this one. It’s probably going to be used up anyway.”

Natsume touched his nose, thinking how lucky Giovanni really was.

Viridian Gym.

“Strange… this really seems to be Boss Giovanni’s Gym,”

Jessie and James compared the map several times before confirming their suspicion.

“Look! It’s Boss Giovanni!”

On the rooftop of the Roman-style building, a private jet was parked.

Several bodyguards in suits were helping Giovanni, trying to leave discreetly.

“Hurry, let’s contact Boss Giovanni,” Jessie said excitedly.

Ring, ring

“Boss, the trio is calling,” a bodyguard said.

“Don’t answer!”

“They say they caught a Rotom—the damn researcher’s Rotom!”

The bodyguard ground his teeth.

Although it had been cleaned, an unbearable stench lingered around, probably requiring two months of ventilation for the entire Gym.

“Oh?” Giovanni’s eyes lit up.

“Well done!”

His gaze darkened, and he felt a surge of satisfaction.

“Hand me the phone.”

The call connected, and Jessie and James’s cheerful voices came through:

“Boss Giovanni, we caught one of Natsume’s Rotom!”

“The one in a Pokéball?” Giovanni asked, his primary concern.

“Uh, it’s the Rotom that merged into a vehicle,” James replied, momentarily stunned.

“Fine. Quickly send that Rotom to me using the Teleportation Device. I’m on the rooftop of Viridian Gym,” Giovanni ordered.

“Teleportation Device? No, no, Boss Giovanni, that Rotom is huge,” James said proudly.

How big could a Rotom really be?

Giovanni paused.

“Boss, we’re here! Look up, look up!” Jessie’s voice rang out, eager to take credit.

What?

Giovanni looked up.

In an instant, his face went pale.

“You two—”

Boom!

A golden light flashed, and the Rotom returned to Natsume’s Pokéball.

“Meowth, meowth, gotta go quickly!”

On the street, a Meowth clutched its stomach, searching for a restroom.

Though unfamiliar with Viridian City, it remembered seeing the luxurious restroom from the hot air balloon earlier.

Guided by memory, Meowth headed toward the restroom.

“So ugly!”

Meowth stood at the entrance, displeased.

Its stomach cramps made its legs tremble.

“Doesn’t matter!”

Meowth strode inside, only to find numerous staff lying around.

The walls were coated with indescribably foul solid matter.

Recalling the earlier explosion, Meowth froze.

The restroom… exploded?

“There must be one that didn’t blow up, Meowth,” it muttered, clutching its rear as it dashed upstairs.

The second floor—no. The third floor—no.

At the top floor, Meowth was shocked.

“Meow! No wonder it stinks so much—the septic tank is on the roof, and it’s open-air! What kind of idiot designed this, Meowth?”

Meowth complained while pulling out some tissues.

Doesn’t matter, Meowth thought—it’s a septic tank, after all.

Cough, cough, cough!

Nearby, a familiar coughing sound echoed.

Meowth turned and saw Giovanni, his body glowing faintly blue.

“Boss Giovanni, it’s an honor to share a restroom with you, Meowth!” it said, clutching the tissue in delight.

Giovanni: “...”

Jessie and James looked up—and saw a cat’s rear end.