At that time, the pillar of light had suddenly appeared and then suddenly disappeared again. It had been too far from Phoebe and the others, making it completely impossible to determine its exact location, so now it wasn't easy for Yuga and the others to search for it.
Relying on Phoebe and Acerola's memories, the group began to search aimlessly.
At the same time, something else was happening in Verdanturf Town, far from the Alola region.
Late at night, when everything was silent, the residents near the YoYo Day Care had already fallen into sleep, but suddenly a large number of strangers dressed in black appeared in the surrounding area.
They acted sneakily and quickly surrounded the YoYo Day Care at an extremely fast speed.
On the fourth floor where Yuga and the others lived, Nana was sleeping in its room. Suddenly, it seemed to have sensed something, and its eyes snapped open. A vast mental force slowly spread out, and before long, it disappeared from its bed.
When it reappeared, it had already arrived in Dou Dou's room.
"Dou Dou, wake up."
"A... Audino~"
Dou Dou opened her eyes in a daze, then was startled by Nana standing beside her bed. She nearly screamed, but was stopped by Nana in time.
"Shh~ Don't make a sound, something's happened outside."
Moonlight streamed in through the window, and Dou Dou finally saw clearly that it was Nana who had come.
At this moment, the Gothita sleeping beside Dou Dou and the Cubchoo lying at the bedside also slowly woke up. The two little ones looked at Nana and Dou Dou with confused eyes, not understanding what was going on.
Because Yuga wasn't home, the two little ones had clung to Dou Dou late into the night yesterday, and simply decided to sleep here.
Nana picked up the Gothita from the bed, gently whispered something in its ear for a while, then placed it on the floor.
"Did you remember? I'm leaving this to you."
"Gothita~"
By now, Gothita was fully awake. It patted its chest with full confidence, guaranteeing it would complete the mission, and then clambered onto Cubchoo's back. Riding Cubchoo, it quickly rushed out of the room.
After Gothita and Cubchoo left, Nana and Dou Dou came to the window and looked down. Under the bright moonlight, they could vaguely see figures moving rapidly.
Outside...
"Ms. Sird, everything is ready!" A person in black reported to their leader — a woman dressed in strange clothes.
"Split into two teams. One team follows me to the Ecopark in the back. The other team goes here." As she spoke, Sird pointed to the YoYo Day Care in front of her.
It was Team Rocket that had surrounded the YoYo Day Care, and their leader Sird was one of the Rocket Team's Three Beasts.
Carr and Orm, two of the Three Beasts, had already been defeated by Yuga, and now Sird was the only one remaining. However, Sird was the strongest among the three.
Upon learning that Yuga was leaving Verdanturf Town, Giovanni had immediately sent Sird to the town, planning to teach Yuga a lesson while he was away.
Sird had brought her subordinates to Verdanturf several days ago and had waited until tonight to finally take action.
"Yes!" The reporting Rocket Team member responded, then turned to the team behind him and said, "You all, come with me!"
This Rocket Team member was named Jubee, one of Sird's most trusted subordinates.
After Jubee left, Sird led the other team toward the Ecopark behind the Day Care.
What they didn't notice was that just after they left, pairs of glowing eyes lit up in the corners of the YoYo Day Care's outer walls.
When the YoYo Day Care storefront had been rebuilt, Yuga had specially designed some round holes in hidden corners. These holes were partly decorative and partly served as hiding spots for Pokémon like Crobat, Haunter, and Litwick.
These were all Pokémon that became very energetic at night, so as long as the Rocket Team members made even a little noise, they would alert them.
Once those people had left, the Pokémon hidden in the round holes quietly flew out one by one without making a sound.
At the same time, Gothita had found its parents in the Main Ecopark and relayed everything Nana had asked it to say.
After listening to Gothita's words, Gothitelle and Alakazam's expressions became serious. In the next second, Alakazam disappeared from the main Ecopark.
After it passed the message along, it wasn't long before Mewtwo, Mama Dragonite, Greninja, Archeops, Arcanine, Volcarona, and others were all aware of what was happening outside.
Meanwhile, on the roof of the YoYo Day Care, the great Flygon was sleeping when a Crobat came to wake it up. It slowly walked to the edge of the roof and looked down, just in time to see groups of people in black clothing climbing into the building through the windows, each followed by their Pokémon.
Inside the house, as soon as Jubee entered, he whispered to the subordinates behind him, "Keep quiet, we'll wait and see before making any moves."
However, just as he finished speaking and looked up, he saw—bathed in moonlight—a Gardevoir standing gracefully, silently observing him.
"We've been discovered..."
Jubee was just about to speak, but then he realized he couldn't move at all. In front of him, Gardevoir's eyes shimmered faintly with a purple glow.
In the next moment, all the windows on the floor opened automatically, and every Team R.ocket member and their Pokémon who had infiltrated the house were forcefully ejected through the windows.
"Ah~"
"Ah~"
"Ah~"
...
They all crashed into the street below, screaming in pain as they fell.
At some point, Mewtwo had appeared in the sky above the YoYo Day Care. It coldly observed the scene below, and its psychic power gradually spread out.
In an instant, the nearby residents—who had been startled awake by the screams—fell back into a deep sleep. This time, it seemed even an earthquake wouldn't wake them.
Mewtwo hadn't even used Hypnosis. It only needed to exert a small amount of its psychic power to create an effect even more powerful than Hypnosis.
Having done all this, Mewtwo didn't take any further action. It remained hovering silently above the Day Care. It knew that, with the strength housed in the Day Care, there was no need for it to intervene directly. Its role was simply to work behind the scenes.
Below, after Nana had ejected all the infiltrating Team Rocket members, Dou Dou slowly opened the front door of the Day Care and walked out side-by-side with Nana, striding boldly.
Under the moonlight, the two Pokémon radiated an aura of sacred inviolability.
"Attack!"
Jubee, having climbed to his feet, shouted to his subordinates.
But at that moment, a green breath descended from the sky and exploded in the midst of the Team Rocket members, blasting most of them away.
Strangely, although the Dragon Breath exploded upon hitting the ground, it caused no damage to the surface. Only strange circular ripples slowly spread out where the breath had made contact.
It turned out that Mewtwo had already coated the ground and buildings around the Day Care with its psychic energy, forming a protective membrane. Unless an attack could break through Mewtwo's psychic power, the ground and buildings would remain completely undamaged.
Startled by the sudden Dragon Breath, Jubee looked up and saw—above the moon—a giant dragon slowly flapping its wings and looking down upon them.
It was the Flygon!
Atop the roof of YoYo Day Care lay athe great Flygon fast asleep. This wasn't a secret—customers and neighbors of the day care all knew, and of course, Jubee and his crew had no trouble finding this out and had made their preparations accordingly.
Jubee slowly pulled out a Poké Ball and released a Champion level Nidoking.
This Nidoking had been handed to Sird by Giovanni as a precautionary measure. In turn, Sird had entrusted it to Jubee.
"Nidoking~!"
As soon as Nidoking emerged, it let out a thunderous roar toward the great Flygon in the sky, its tone brimming with provocation.
"Flygon~!"
The Flygon let out a loud cry in return and dived from the sky using Dragon Rush, crashing fiercely into Nidoking.
Boom!
Nidoking spread its arms wide and astonishingly caught the Dragon Rush head-on, holding the Flygon's head with brute strength.
"Nidoking~!"
Nidoking gripped the Flygon's head tightly and used a Seismic Toss to hurl it fiercely through the air.
Boom!
The Flygon slammed into the wall of the day care, sending out rippling waves from Mewtwo's psychic barrier that shimmered in strange patterns.
Seeing this, Jubee was baffled, unable to comprehend what had just happened. He could only put that thought aside. When he saw that the Flygon was no match for Nidoking, he grinned widely.
"Flygon, go deal with the others. Leave this Nidoking to me!" At this moment, Nana's voice rang out in the Flygon's mind.
The Flygon knew it was no match for Nidoking and didn't insist. It took off into the air and charged toward the Rocket Grunts behind Jubee.
"Nidoking, stop it!"
Seeing this, Jubee immediately ordered Nidoking to block the Flygon, but just as the words left his mouth, Nana appeared directly in front of Nidoking. She pressed her hand downward, and Nidoking was immediately forced to the ground.
"Nidoking~!"
Nidoking struggled desperately, its thick tail thrashing hard against the ground, striking Mewtwo's psychic barrier again and creating another series of rippling waves.
Jubee's mouth fell open in shock upon seeing Nidoking so easily subdued. This was Mr. Giovanni's Pokémon!
Meanwhile, the Flygon was wreaking havoc among the Rocket Grunts. Aside from Nidoking, no one could stop it.
Dou Dou had also joined the fray, diving into the crowd and using Dazzling Gleam—each slap knocking out large groups of enemies.
For every Rocket Grunt or their Pokémon knocked out by Dou Dou or the Flygon, a Ghost-type Pokémon or Crobat would appear beside them. If they dared try to flee, they would be instantly pinned down by these Pokémon.
As more and more of his subordinates fell, Jubee was completely dumbfounded. This was completely different from what they had expected! Wasn't Shimizu Yuga supposed to be away? Why were there still so many powerful Pokémon present?
Meanwhile, Sird had led her team toward the Ecopark. After some fumbling around, a subordinate reported to her: "Ms Sird, we can't find a way in."
Sird slapped him across the face. "Useless! You can't even open a door?"
Just as she was about to act personally, she suddenly felt the surrounding temperature drop. She couldn't help but shiver.
"What's going on?"
As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized her feet were now encased in a thick layer of ice, completely fused with the ground.
Not only her, but her subordinates were similarly frozen.
"Raargh~"
A low roar echoed as Sird turned her head toward the sound. She saw a Dragonite and a Druddigon had appeared opposite her without her even noticing.
The moment she looked over, the Druddigon lunged at her with brutal force.
Because her feet were frozen, she had no way to dodge. In a panic, she shouted, "Persian!"
A Persian sprang out, quickly shielding her, but was immediately knocked flying by the Druddigon.
The Druddigon slammed into Persian, and Persian, in turn, crashed into Sird behind it. The two of them tumbled away together.
At the same time, a barrage of attacks erupted from the shadows—Water Shuriken, Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, Flamethrower, Heat Wave, Dark Pulse, Air Slash...
Each wave of attacks knocked Rocket members one by one to the ground.
Greninja, Blastoise, Gyarados, Milotic, Arcanine, Ninetales, Houndoom, Volcarona, Honchkrow, Swellow... all appeared on the battlefield.
In an instant, all kinds of attacks filled the air, and Rocket members screamed out in pain as they fell.
"Starmie, Banette, Houndoom, Alakazam, Vileplume."
Sird struggled to her feet, gritting her teeth as she threw several Poké Balls. That earlier charge from the Druddigon had shattered the ice around her feet.
But as soon as her Pokémon appeared, several Ice Beams rained down from above—courtesy of Mama Dragonite—freezing them into blocks of ice.
"Impossible!"
Sird stared in shock at the Dragonite before her, unable to believe her eyes. She was a top-level Trainer!
Mama Dragonite glanced at Sird disdainfully, then waved her claw, and a Water Pulse exploded beneath Sird's feet, blasting her away.
Shimizu Yuga actually hid so many powerful Pokémon… This must be reported to Mr. Giovanni immediately… Sird thought as she flew through the air.
However, the moment she hit the ground, her head lolled to the side, and she lost consciousness.
"Dragonite~"
Mama Dragonite beckoned with her claw, and several Ghost-type Pokémon slowly emerged, dragging Sird away.
Soon, the sun began to rise over the horizon, and Verdanturf Town welcomed a brand-new day.
Some of the day care's neighbors were already up and about early in the morning, completely unaware of what had transpired the night before.
Today was Ayaka's turn on duty, so she arrived at the day care bright and early.
"Ah! It's Ayaka on duty today! You're here so early!"
The neighbors greeted Ayaka warmly, and she returned their greetings with a cheerful smile.
As she passed Uncle Kate's front door, she saw him busying about in his yard.
"Good morning, Uncle Kate!" she called out.
"Good morning!" Uncle Kate replied with a smile, also completely unaware of what had happened next door last night.
When she entered the store, Ayaka found that Dou Dou and Gothitelle were already cleaning. She quickly ran over to help. "You're up early too today!"
"Audino~"
"Gothitelle~"
Dou Dou and Gothitelle exchanged a smile but said nothing.
At that moment, Ayaka noticed Beid outside the door talking to someone. Her heart filled with curiosity: "Isn't that Chief Masato from the police station? What's he doing here so early? Could there be a case nearby?"