Although the hope of ending the battle quickly was a nice thought, the dark clouds arrived far too fast. Before the two Pokémon could even determine a winner, a thick bolt of lightning had already struck the mountain forest not far from the Pokémon Center.
CRACK!
The sound startled Marina, causing her to let out an involuntary scream.
"Aah!"
After the lightning, thick black smoke began to rise from the forest.
"What happened? Did it hit something?"
Coming to their senses, Kenta and Marina looked in that direction, both with puzzled expressions.
Natsui also turned and exchanged a look with Erika.
"Should we go check it out?" Erika asked softly.
"Yeah, we'd better go take a look," Natsui nodded. "It'll be trouble if it starts a fire."
Their concern was not unfounded. Even if it was about to rain, once a fire started, even if it was quickly extinguished, it would still damage the local ecosystem. Moreover, the forest was dense, and a fire could spread quickly, easily reaching places the rain couldn't touch.
With this unexpected turn of events, everyone's attention was diverted, and the match could no longer continue. Along with their Pokémon, the group, no longer caring about the impending rain, all ran towards the direction of the black smoke.
Lightning flashed across the sky from time to time, keeping their nerves on edge.
Upon entering the forest, they passed through layers of trees and finally arrived at a gorge within the woods.
Before they even got close, they could hear the crackling sound of electricity coming from the gorge.
This was definitely not the sound of lightning!
The group slowed their pace and moved quietly. Pushing aside the branches of the bushes in front of them, they saw a crystal-like object in a clearing, continuously emitting electricity.
Before they could figure out what it was, they saw two men in uniforms with the letter "R" on them, fiddling with something next to the crystal!
And behind the two men was a giant machine that looked like a land shark!
"It's Team Rocket!" Erika frowned.
"Team Rocket?" Kenta and Marina were clueless. "What's that?"
Erika explained, "It's a very evil organization that, for their own selfish desires, specializes in stealing powerful Pokémon with the intention of ruling the world!"
As Natsui had said, a closer look revealed that the Pokémon attracted by the crystal were all Magnemite, Voltorb, Mareep, Pikachu, and their evolved forms!
"Don't tell me those Team Rocket guys are trying to use that crystal to trap these Electric-type Pokémon!?"
"That's probably it. I'm afraid even the lightning just now might have been caused by this crystal," Natsui mused for a moment. "But for something like capturing Pokémon, ordinary grunts would usually be enough. There's no need for executive-level members to be involved. It seems these two have a much bigger goal!"
Just as Natsui finished speaking, under the blonde man's operation, the giant shark-shaped robot extended two clawed arms and dragged several Mareep into its hatch.
Seeing its companions being attacked, a Raichu fired a bolt of electricity. But as the current flew towards the shark robot, it uncontrollably changed direction in mid-air and was absorbed by the crystal!
And that wasn't all. After the crystal absorbed the electricity, it rebounded it with even greater force, hitting Raichu and the surrounding Pokémon!
Struck by this electric shock, many Pokémon, including Raichu, cried out in pain and were instantly knocked out, collapsing to the ground!
What incredible power...
Natsui's eyes narrowed.
He could see clearly that this crystal didn't just absorb and reflect electricity. It must have some kind of strange energy that greatly amplified the electrical power!
"Hahahaha!" The blonde man's wild laughter echoed in the clearing. "This is just too satisfying! These Pokémon are no match at all! They're all like lambs to the slaughter, there are too many to catch!"
As the mechanical arms continued to move, more and more Pokémon were captured and pulled into the machine.
"Damn it, how dare those two capture Pokémon like this! No, I have to stop them!"
Kenta, clearly a hot-blooded young man, was about to rush out and stop them upon seeing this. But before he could move, another bolt of lightning struck not far in front of them.
At the same time, a vortex of clouds appeared in the sky.
And as everyone watched, another incredibly bright and massive bolt of lightning struck down. In the golden light, a Pokémon that looked like a cross between a leopard and a tiger, majestic yet proud, and full of power, appeared on a high cliff!
"This is..."
Kenta stared at the Pokémon for a long moment before he suddenly realized something and hurriedly took out his Pokédex, pointing it at the creature.
"No need for that," Natsui took a deep breath and said calmly, "It's Raikou."
Hearing that this was one of the three Legendary Beasts of the Johto region, Kenta and Marina were thrilled.
"Raikou!?"
"Is that really Raikou!?"
Natsui also looked at the Pokémon.
Remembering the Raikou he had almost caught in the green fields, he wasn't sure if it was the same one.
But since it had appeared here, one thing was clear: Team Rocket was after Raikou!