Chapter 335: Jirachi the Wish Maker (3)
After Butler learned that Jirachi had truly been awakened by Ash, he did not rush to see Ash and his friends. Instead, he went to the performance stage alone to check the machine he was using to steal Jirachi's power.
Dian watched Butler, who was becoming increasingly manic, and felt a wave of worry in her heart.
"Butler, maybe we should just let it go! Jirachi's ability is only a legend after all..."
"That is not a legend. Although Jirachi cannot directly grant people's wishes, it can manipulate the power of the Millennium Comet. As long as I have this power, my plan will soon be realized. I want to make those guys from Team Magma regret this!"
Butler just wanted to use the comet's energy to resurrect Groudon and then slap Team Magma in the face.
Although Butler really wanted to execute his plan now, he held back. The timing was not yet mature; he needed to wait for the comet to get a little closer.
Therefore, Butler put on an innocent appearance and hovered around Jirachi. Afterward, to facilitate his subsequent plans, he even invited Ash and his friends to stay and act as their assistants.
...
The Team Rocket Trio, who were also working at the festival to earn money, discovered Jirachi at this moment.
"Jirachi? That Ash actually captured another legendary Pokémon, Meowth."
"Legendary... Jirachi seems to have the ability to grant wishes."
"Grant wishes?" Jessie paused and asked, "Really?"
"That's what the legend says, but I'm not sure if it can actually do it. However, that newly appeared Jirachi seems very innocent..."
"Innocent Pokémon are the best. If we could get our hands on it and present it to the Boss..."
"We'd get promoted to Executives and become branch managers!"
"That sounds amazing!"
"This time, the Millennium Comet specifically brought hope to us, Meowth!"
The Team Rocket Trio immediately started plotting, planning to lure the wild Jirachi.
...
As the sun set, night fell once again.
Ash also felt a special Aura rapidly approaching.
The next second, two wind blades tore through the tent fabric, and a blue-skinned, white-furred dog Pokémon with a crescent-shaped horn on its head appeared before Ash and the others.
[Pokémon: Absol] [Type: Dark] [Gender: Male] [Level: 55 (Elite Intermediate)] [Ability: Justified (When hit by a Dark-type move, its attack increases due to a sense of justice)] [Potential: Champion] [Moves: Scratch, Glare, Quick Attack, Whirlwind Cut, Bite, Swords Dance, Future Sight, Perish Song...]
"That is... Absol?!" Brock said.
Absol saw Jirachi and, without any communication, launched an attack at Ash.
Butler explained, "Legend has it that Absol is a Pokémon that only appears when a disaster is about to happen."
"Absol, calm down. We aren't bad people."
Ash knew that this Absol was actually aiming to take Jirachi back to Faunce.
However, Absol did not stop. It launched another Whirlwind Cut attack at Ash.
Seeing this, Ash had no choice but to say helplessly, "Pikachu, block it!"
Pikachu jumped up and used Iron Tail to disperse the Whirlwind Cut.
Absol wanted to attack again, and Butler couldn't sit still either. He released his Kirlia and Dusclops.
"Dusclops, use Mean Look! Kirlia, use Hypnosis!"
Butler's sudden sneak attack caught Absol off guard, and it collapsed to the ground.
Ash put on a confused expression and asked, "Mr. Butler, what are you doing? That Absol didn't have any malicious intent; it just wanted to take Jirachi back to Faunce."
Butler replied calmly, "Ash, legend says Absol brings disaster, so..."
"Is that so? Well, thank you, Mr. Butler. However, I would like to take Jirachi back to Faunce. I don't know if Mr. Butler would agree?"
Hearing this, Butler's expression changed slightly. "Jirachi only wakes up for seven days every thousand years. Faunce is far away from here, wouldn't that be inconvenient?"
"But Faunce is Jirachi's home, and also its place of slumber. It has to go back eventually. By the way, Mr. Butler, I forgot to ask, how did Jirachi end up in your hands?"
Ash asked, feigning confusion.
"This... to tell you the truth, we saved Jirachi from a group of poachers. We weren't sure if those poachers were still in Faunce, so we took the liberty of keeping Jirachi with us..."
Butler acted extremely calm; clearly, this was an excuse he had long since fabricated.
Brock and May also discovered clues from Butler's calm response, and they confirmed that what Ash had told them earlier was true.
"Poachers? That's perfect. We're actually quite good at dealing with poachers. Mr. Butler, Jirachi has to return to Faunce to sleep eventually, so please, give us a ride."
Butler was a madman. Ash didn't dare to launch an operation against Butler at the crowded festival site. If this guy had some backup plan and wanted to drag people down with him, it wouldn't be worth it.
Therefore, a sparsely populated forest like Faunce was the best time to capture Butler.
Seeing that Ash was insistent, Butler, in order not to expose himself, had to reply, "Alright then. But there's still a performance tomorrow, so we can only leave the day after tomorrow."
Ash smiled, "That's no problem."
"Then you should get some rest early. I'll take care of this Absol for now," Butler said.
Ash took a meaningful look at the fallen Absol and slowly nodded in agreement.
After Ash and the others left, Butler locked Absol directly into an iron cage.
Back in Dian's camper, Ash said to the wild Jirachi, "Jirachi, the game of hide-and-seek starts tonight. Don't let that guy Butler find you!"
"Okay, Ash!"
The wild Jirachi nodded, then hid inside Ash's backpack.
Seeing the hidden Jirachi, Ash zipped up the backpack, then released his own Jirachi.
"Ash, will that guy Butler really make a move tonight?" Brock asked.
"Yeah, Butler went to such lengths to bring Jirachi out of Faunce; he definitely won't be content with just letting us take Jirachi back."
Ash had long seen through Butler's delaying tactics. He estimated that the guy didn't even know if his own machine would malfunction, so he couldn't afford to spend days on the road.
And this was actually part of Ash's plan. He had already prepared the swap, and now he was just waiting for Butler to take the bait.
Sure enough, in the early hours of the morning.
Butler snuck into the camper where Ash and the others were staying.
He saw Jirachi lying next to Ash, reached out, and picked it up.
After confirming he hadn't made a mistake, Butler quickly returned to his magic stage, preparing for his 'Groudon Resurrection' plan.
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