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Green didn't exactly follow her promise to avoid making noise, and had returned to her old profession.
If Ash remembered correctly, in the Pokémon Adventures manga, stealing was her specialty—not just items, but Pokémon too.
The surrounding customers were also startled, obviously not expecting that someone would dare to steal from Silph Company.
After grabbing the items, Green deliberately ran toward the stairway. After hearing the commotion, the surrounding staff members rushed over quickly.
However, Green's movements were very agile, and she was obviously well-practiced from her travels. These staff members couldn't catch up to her at all, especially with customers and display cases everywhere.
Green weaved and hid skillfully, and the staff had no way to catch her. They were afraid of hurting innocent customers, so they were being very cautious.
In the confusion, many display cases were knocked over, and the situation became quite chaotic. Green also deliberately led the chase near the stairway.
The two people standing guard at the stairs looked at each other and finally stepped forward. Although they were responsible for guarding the entrance, other matters weren't really their concern, but if this disturbance continued like this, they wouldn't be able to control the situation.
If someone managed to slip upstairs during the chaos, that would be a problem.
So they also left their positions to help catch the thief. Seeing this, Green showed a triumphant smile on her face and winked in Ash's direction.
Perfect!
Ash watched this performance and couldn't help but give a thumbs up. Then he took Pikachu and Jigglypuff and carefully blended into the chaotic crowd.
While the two Team Rocket members were distracted and busy with the chase, Ash slipped past them. Green relaxed a little after seeing Ash make it through, then quickly vaulted over a counter and led everyone on a merry chase elsewhere.
On Ash's side, he climbed the stairs. When he reached the next floor, he saw that there were two more people guarding the stairway exit.
Here, there was almost no need for disguises. Everyone was wearing Team Rocket uniforms. It was obvious that everyone from this floor up belonged to their organization.
At that moment, the two Team Rocket members guarding the stairs heard footsteps. They turned around and saw someone who clearly wasn't one of them. Their expressions immediately changed.
"Who are you—"
"Pikachu, Iron Tail!" The two guards were startled. Just as they were about to speak, Ash decided not to waste any time. With no innocent bystanders around, why should he hold back?
"Pika pika... chuuu!"
Thwack!
Pikachu leaped forward without hesitation, swinging its tail with Iron Tail and striking one Team Rocket member directly in the stomach. The other person saw this and was about to grab his Poké Ball when he saw a pink figure rushing toward him.
Slap! Slap! Slap!
Before he could throw his Poké Ball, he felt sharp stinging pain on both cheeks as crisp slapping sounds rang out. He was hit so hard that he fainted immediately, and his Poké Ball clattered to the ground.
"Jiggly~~"
Jigglypuff landed gracefully and looked at Ash with a proud expression, as if seeking praise.
"I know, I know, great job!"
Ash smiled when he saw this, picked up Jigglypuff, and placed it back on his head before walking directly into the corridor.
After looking around, there was no one else in the hallway for the moment, but Ash wasn't complacent and continued walking down the corridor ahead. This floor was where Poké Balls and other supplies were manufactured.
So there weren't too many guards stationed here, but as Ash passed by each production room, he could still see staff members being held hostage by Team Rocket operatives.
Ash approached one workshop and peered inside. There were many people working under the watchful eyes of Team Rocket personnel.
On the assembly line, he could see black and yellow Poké Balls being assembled by the machinery and sent out along the conveyor belt.
The person in charge of collecting them wasn't a regular staff member, but a Team Rocket operative, who was packing the Poké Balls into boxes—twenty or thirty in each box.
Ash naturally recognized those Poké Balls. These weren't ordinary Poké Balls.
These were Ultra Balls, not the most commonly used red and white Poké Balls in the Pokémon world.
In fact, there were many types of Poké Balls—dozens of different varieties—but most specialized Poké Balls were relatively rare.
There were three most common types: one was the standard red and white Poké Ball, another was the blue and white Great Ball.
The Great Ball's performance was much better than a regular Poké Ball, with a higher success rate for capturing Pokémon.
The last type was the black and yellow Ultra Ball he was looking at now. This Ultra Ball was so effective that even strong Pokémon had almost no chance of breaking free once captured.
It was a very practical Poké Ball. This type was also the main ball used by players in the later stages of the games. In the games, almost every experienced player ended up using dozens or hundreds of them.
But regardless of how easily you could buy them in the games, in reality, Ultra Balls were something only wealthy Trainers could afford.
Otherwise, why would so many Trainers in the anime still be using ordinary Poké Balls?
Right now, Team Rocket obviously wanted to keep all these Ultra Balls for themselves. It wasn't surprising—even Team Rocket would need to spend significant resources to manufacture so many Ultra Balls.
Getting them for free like this was essentially getting them for nothing, so naturally they wouldn't let this opportunity pass. Ash suspected that if they needed other supplies, they would definitely take everything they could.
"Are you ready?" Ash looked at the Team Rocket members who were busy transporting the Ultra Balls and spoke to Pikachu and Jigglypuff.
"Pika!"
"Jiggly~~"
Pikachu and Jigglypuff nodded simultaneously, and Ash positioned himself at the workshop door.
"Go!"
Jigglypuff and Pikachu leaped out at the same time after hearing his command, launching their attacks simultaneously. The Team Rocket members who were moving the Poké Balls didn't have time to react, and several operatives near the entrance were knocked down instantly.
"Damn it! Who's this kid?"
"Get him!"
The others reacted quickly. Three Team Rocket members threw Poké Balls at the same time, and three Zubat appeared.
"Your worst nightmare! Scyther, use Fury Cutter!"
Seeing them release their Pokémon, Ash also threw his Poké Ball. Scyther immediately emerged, wielding its blade-like arms as green light flashed. It slashed at the three Zubat in rapid succession, knocking them all back at once.