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Ash stood behind a counter and looked toward the stairway. Two people in staff uniforms stood on both sides of the stairs, keeping careful watch.
Obviously, most of the employees here were Team Rocket members in disguise.
He was thinking about how to deal with the two guards so he could get upstairs. Although the upper floors were certainly full of Team Rocket operatives, at least there wouldn't be any innocent customers up there.
There were so many customers on this floor that it wasn't easy to handle the situation. He couldn't just start fighting in front of so many people, right? That would be embarrassing! Though honestly, it might come to that anyway.
Tap!
Just as Ash was about to make his move, he suddenly felt his shoulder being tapped. Ash, who had been completely focused on watching Team Rocket, was startled.
Instinctively thinking he'd been discovered, Ash spun around and was about to react defensively, but he saw a familiar figure standing behind him, looking at him with a smile while raising a finger to her lips in a "quiet" gesture.
"Green?" Ash was stunned when he saw who it was.
The person in front of him was none other than Green, and Ash hadn't expected to run into her in this place.
"What are you doing here?" After recovering from his surprise, Ash moved behind a display case, and Green followed.
"I heard that there are lots of items for Pokémon sold here. I came to see if there were any Moon Stones available, but the evolution stones here are pretty expensive!"
Green didn't hide her reasons. She really was here to shop and hadn't noticed anything unusual about Silph Company. She had just spotted Ash when she arrived.
With Pikachu and Jigglypuff accompanying him, it was hard not to catch her attention. She recognized them immediately, but Ash was acting strangely, so she came over to investigate.
"Moon Stone?"
"Yeah! I need it for my Clefairy!"
Green nodded slightly. Clefairy was a Pokémon she had caught and trained for a while. She felt it was ready to evolve, so she'd been planning to find a Moon Stone.
"Is that so? Well then!"
Ash was quiet for a moment, then suddenly remembered something. He took off his backpack, opened it, and pulled out a stone that looked like a crystallized meteor fragment.
"Here, take this!"
"This is... a Moon Stone? Ash, how did you get this?"
Green looked at the Moon Stone in Ash's hand but didn't take it immediately. She was curious because from Ash's behavior, it was obvious he wasn't here to shop, so he probably hadn't just bought it.
"When I passed through Mt. Moon before, the Clefairy there gave it to me as a thank-you gift."
At Mt. Moon, the Clefairy had given him the Moon Stone out of gratitude, but he'd never had a use for it.
"But this is so valuable!"
Although Green really wanted it, evolution stones were very expensive items after all. Even the ones sold here, while cheaper than some private stores, were still costly.
"It's fine, really! I don't have any Pokémon that can use it right now, so you should take it!"
Ash didn't currently have any Pokémon that could evolve with a Moon Stone, and even if he did get one later, he could always buy another stone. He was financially capable of purchasing evolution stones now.
Rather than keeping it unused in his bag, he might as well give it to someone who needed it, especially since they'd become such good friends.
"Okay, thank you!"
Hearing Ash's words, Green didn't act falsely modest and readily accepted Ash's Moon Stone.
"You're welcome!"
"By the way, what are you doing here? Is there something strange going on over there?" Green carefully put away the Moon Stone, then glanced in the direction Ash had been looking.
Green looked around, then moved to a more secluded spot. There was nothing to hide from Green—they were good friends who had been through many adventures together and could be trusted.
"Those two people by the stairs are Team Rocket members!" Ash whispered. Green's expression changed slightly after hearing this, and she took another careful look.
"How do you know?"
"Actually, all of Silph Company is now controlled by Team Rocket. This morning..."
Ash told Green everything that had happened since meeting Kyoko. After hearing Ash's explanation, Green's expression gradually grew more serious.
When she first entered the building, she hadn't realized at all that the people at the entrance were Team Rocket members.
She never would have expected that this world-famous company was now under Team Rocket's control.
Now she also understood Ash's purpose here. She'd known Ash's character for a long time, so she wasn't surprised. She actually seemed a bit excited when she heard that Ash was planning to infiltrate the building.
"Are you planning to break in right now?"
"It's best not to make too much commotion on this floor." Ash replied after considering the situation.
"I see! Let me help you create a distraction!"
Green heard Ash's concern and smiled with a mischievous glint in her eyes. She would help even under normal circumstances, not to mention that Ash had just given her such a valuable Moon Stone.
"What are you planning to do?"
Ash hesitated slightly. With Green's abilities, there wasn't much to worry about, but for some reason, he suddenly had a very bad feeling about this.
"Don't worry about it! When you see your chance, move quickly, and I'll catch up with you after I shake them off!"
Green walked forward confidently, making an "OK" gesture to show she had everything under control, indicating that Ash should wait for the right opportunity.
Before Ash could say anything else, Green walked over to a counter not far from the stairway, looked toward the stairs, and showed a devious smile.
Then she looked at the counter in front of her and seemed to notice something interesting. She pointed to something inside the display case. Seeing this, the clerk bent down and took out a product from the counter while enthusiastically introducing the item to Green.
"This is a precious item that can help Pokémon evolve!" the clerk enthusiastically explained the product, and Green suddenly smiled sweetly.
"It looks wonderful! I'm so sorry!"
Green looked at the enthusiastic saleswoman in front of her with an apologetic smile, then grabbed the evolution items from the counter and ran directly toward the stairs.
"Ahh!"
"Someone's stealing! Stop her!"
The saleswoman never expected that such a sweet and innocent-looking girl would snatch their merchandise, so it took her a moment to react before she started yelling.
Suddenly, the entire floor erupted in chaos, and Ash, who was hiding in the distance, could hardly believe his eyes.
Good grief! Green was back to her old tricks!