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"Why is Brock here? That was just now..." Stella's face turned pale with panic the moment she spotted Brock.
Ash stepped forward and peered inside, then smiled with satisfaction. It seemed Brock had finally learned his lesson.
CLANG CLANG!!!
Seeing the resentful expression on Brock's face, Ash stopped his teasing and reached out to knock on the invisible barrier in front of him.
"Is this Light Screen?"
It was clear that Brock was trapped inside a five-sided Light Screen with no way to escape. Combined with the Mr. Mime that had appeared earlier, it was obvious who was responsible for this predicament.
"Scizor, use Metal Claw!"
After taking a few steps back, Ash threw his Poké Ball. Scizor materialized in front of them and immediately prepared to use Metal Claw.
While Light Screen could resist special moves, it was less effective against physical attacks. Although it would still be difficult for a human to break through, it was relatively simple for a Pokémon.
SLASH!!!
CRASH!!
Scizor charged forward and struck with Metal Claw. The Light Screen shattered instantly, and Brock was finally freed from his prison.
"Phew! Thank goodness! I thought I was done for!" The moment he escaped, Brock gulped in the fresh air and collapsed on the ground like someone who had just survived a disaster.
"You had it coming!" Misty couldn't resist rubbing salt in the wound. Brock looked embarrassed—he had no one to blame but himself for this suffering.
"Brock, what happened? Why were you trapped in there?" Stella hurried over to ask. Brock's face flushed with embarrassment before he explained.
"I needed to use the restroom, and when I came back from the hospital, I ran into the Mr. Mime. It locked me up without any warning or explanation."
Brock's explanation confirmed what Stella had suspected. The Mr. Mime had indeed been upset by Brock's imitation of it earlier.
The Pokémon must have felt that Stella might abandon it, so it secretly trapped Brock and took his place. However, Stella hadn't realized that the "Brock" beside her was actually a replacement.
In fact, something strange had happened in her heart. When Brock returned from the bathroom, his behavior seemed even more like an imitation than before.
That's just how people are sometimes. She had been so critical of her Mr. Mime, constantly feeling it wasn't good enough. But after experiencing Brock's imitation, she realized through comparison just how wonderful her real Mr. Mime actually was.
"How could this be... So the Pokémon that was kidnapped really is my Mr. Mime?" Stella's voice trembled with panic as the realization hit her.
"Kidnapped? What are you talking about?" Brock looked confused. Misty quickly filled him in on everything that had transpired.
"Team Rocket again?! Those terrible people!"
After hearing the full story, Brock clenched his fists in anger. If it hadn't been for the Mr. Mime, he would have been the one captured. Now that he thought about being locked up, he actually felt somewhat fortunate.
"Wait a minute—didn't Team Rocket disband? Why are those people still causing trouble?"
Misty seemed puzzled. The announcement had been made in Viridian City that Team Rocket had disbanded, so why were those two still committing crimes?
Ash thought to himself that based on Jessie and James's early behavior, they were basically operating independently. They probably didn't have much standing within Team Rocket and likely hadn't heard the news about the disbandment.
To be honest, given their intelligence, even if they knew Team Rocket had disbanded, they would probably continue doing the same things anyway.
Just like in the later parts of the anime, even when Giovanni had given them important missions, they still obsessed over capturing Pikachu.
"Who knows? They probably haven't gotten far yet. Pidgeotto, go find Team Rocket!" Ash pulled out a Poké Ball and released his Pokémon. Pidgeotto soared into the air.
SCREECH!!
After Pidgeotto acknowledged the command, it immediately flew off and disappeared from everyone's sight. Meanwhile, Brock and Misty tried to comfort Stella.
After what had just happened, she finally understood her Mr. Mime's behavior. She realized she had been too harsh on it before, when in reality, it had been performing excellently all along.
Although her Mr. Mime had been captured, it wasn't too late to understand this now.
About twenty minutes later, Pidgeotto returned and gestured with its wings to Ash, clearly having discovered Team Rocket's location.
With Pidgeotto leading the way, everyone entered the forest and made their way to the mountain range behind it.
"Meowth, haha! This is perfect! We caught the Mr. Mime! Now we can finally report our success to the boss, meowth!"
At that moment, the three Team Rocket members were hiding near a wooden cabin on the mountain, standing next to the captured Mr. Mime. The trapped Pokémon had a terrified expression on its face.
It had only wanted to prove itself, but instead encountered this nightmare. The Mr. Mime was feeling the same regret Brock had felt earlier—it would have been so much better if none of this had happened.
"Now all we have to do is present it to the boss, and we'll definitely receive a generous reward!" James responded with equal excitement.
"Don't count on it!"
A voice suddenly rang out, interrupting Team Rocket's celebration. Ash and his group emerged from the bushes. Pidgeotto circled overhead while Brock was the one who had just spoken.
"We found you, Team Rocket! Return Ms. Stella's Mr. Mime!" Misty added her voice to the demand.
"Not a chance, little girl! This is our ticket to a promotion and fortune!"
Team Rocket obviously had no intention of surrendering the Mr. Mime easily. From their words, it was clear they still hadn't grasped the situation.
"What promotion and fortune? Your Team Rocket has been disbanded! You're still out here causing trouble!"
"Huh? Little girl, are you joking? We're the great Team Rocket! We're going to conquer the world! How could we possibly disband? If you're going to lie to us, at least come up with something more believable!"
Hearing Misty's declaration, Jessie and the others clearly didn't believe her. Ash understood that while these people might be somewhat foolish, they loved Team Rocket more deeply and were more loyal to it than most other members.
"Enough talk! Pidgeotto, use Steel Wing!" Ash ignored their protests and gave the command directly.
SCREECH!!!
Pidgeotto dove down from the sky, its wings gleaming with metallic energy as it rushed straight toward the cage holding the Mr. Mime.
"Not so fast! Arbok, use Wrap!"
"Weezing, use Sludge Bomb!" The two immediately counterattacked.