Betrayal

"The celebration is about to begin. All units, pay attention!" The mayor of Celadon City stood backstage at the stage and addressed all the staff.

Lance sat expressionless in front of the mirror, allowing the makeup artist to apply some strange liquid to his face.

To be honest, he wasn't very comfortable with this kind of occasion.

Officer Jenny, responsible for maintaining order at the venue, walked in from outside and crossed her arms, smiling as she admired the makeup being applied to Lance's face.

Lance glanced at her and asked, "How's the perimeter check going?"

Miss Jenny replied, "Don't worry, we won't let any suspicious individuals into the venue!"

Lance was somewhat skeptical. The audience seats at the venue could accommodate up to five thousand spectators, and with so many people, it would be impossible for Miss Jenny alone to thoroughly check everyone.

Moreover, he had a vague feeling that something was amiss.

Outside the venue, the audience seats were packed with people, and some who couldn't get tickets even flew into the sky on their Flying-type Pokemon to watch.

Chen Yue seamlessly blended into the crowd. Strangely, the Team Rocket personnel responsible for monitoring him didn't follow him.

Chen Yue turned back and glanced, feeling somewhat suspicious.

He didn't entirely believe that the other person had been so easily shaken off by him.

In a large building across from the venue,

Ariana was holding binoculars, watching the crowded crowd below, and expressing her concern, "Boss, is it really a good idea not to let anyone follow them?"

Giovanni showed a confident smile. He opened the computer on the table, and on the screen, four moving green dots appeared prominently.

Ariana quickly grasped the situation – they had secretly installed trackers and remote-controlled bombs on the four of them!

"The show is about to begin," Giovanni supported his chin and watched the screen with great interest.

At the festival venue.

As an enthusiastic and passionate background music started playing, Lance, dressed in extravagant attire, slowly walked to the center of the stage.

The audience erupted in a frenzy of cheers.

Lance nodded slightly to them, then crossed his hands and produced four Poke Balls from somewhere, tossing them into the air.

Streaks of white light flashed, and four powerful Dragon-type Pokemon floated on either side of Lance.

Dragonite, with its round and orange body,

Gyarados, fierce-looking with its blood-red color and wide-open mouth,

Aerodactyl, with skin like fossilized rock, originating from ancient times,

And an Altaria with dual wings as soft as cotton.

Almost as soon as the first Dragonite appeared, the audience began to scream wildly and didn't stop until the last Altaria appeared.

It was like those frenzied fangirls that Chen Yue had seen in a past life.

They were going crazy.

Chen Yue stood at the edge of the crowd, feeling a headache from the noise. He thought it wouldn't be fair to suffer alone, so he promptly summoned Mimikyu from its Poke Ball.

"Isn't it lively? Do you like it here?" Chen Yue asked Mimikyu loudly.

Mimikyu: ... Its Trainer doesn't seem very smart.

Chen Yue held Mimikyu in one hand and tried to put the Poke Ball back into his pocket with the other hand. However, he was bumped by someone nearby, causing the Poke Ball in his hand to slip and roll on the ground with a clattering sound.

A group of fervent fans were excitedly hopping around, and one of them accidentally stepped on the Poke Ball, causing it to pop open. The entire crowd reacted like a chain reaction, with screams and growls echoing.

Chen Yue couldn't bear to watch any longer, so he closed his eyes and inadvertently covered Mimikyu's eyes as well.

But he covered the wrong part; he covered the eyes on the disguise, while Mimikyu's real eyes were on its belly.

Mimikyu: ... As expected, its Trainer isn't very smart.

It let out a soft sigh, used its small paw to scratch Chen Yue's hand, and pulled it down to cover its own eyes.

On the stage, Lance quickly noticed something unusual in this area, and his eyelids twitched twice.

He knew it!

Today was definitely going to be eventful!

Meanwhile, taking advantage of the distraction in the crowd, two figures rushed up to the stage from below simultaneously and handed the information they had gathered from Team Rocket to Lance.

It was Gu Jia and Liu Hu!

They didn't follow Giovanni's instructions but directly submitted their own mission.

Giovanni quickly noticed the actions of the two individuals. His face darkened, and without hesitation, he activated the switch for the remote bombs.

Lance, still holding the USB drive and the image with text, hadn't reacted yet when he saw the two figures in front of him explode, turning into two blood-red blossoms.

Hot blood splattered on Lance's face. He stared blankly at the text on the image, instantly realizing what it was.

It was evidence of Team Rocket's crimes!

It was the last thing left in this world by those two Brave investigators!

An unprecedented anger surged from within Lance's body.

Chen Yue, witnessing this scene, was also stunned.

Cold sweat broke out on his forehead. No wonder those four individuals didn't continue to follow him.

It turned out they had mini remote-controlled bombs installed on them!

No! Wait! Then why wasn't he blown up?!

At that moment, a commotion arose from the crowd that had fallen nearby.

A red and white Poke Ball, kicked around and ending up in a corner, exploded with a loud bang, creating a large crater in the ground.

No wonder!

Those damn Team Rocket!

Chen Yue looked at the crater, feeling a shiver down his spine.

If that Poke Ball hadn't been bumped and rolled away...

If he hadn't released Mimikyu just now...

The consequences would have been unimaginable.

With such an incident, the celebration naturally couldn't continue.

Officer Jenny was responsible for evacuating the crowd from the scene, while Lance stood on the stage in a daze.

Chen Yue and Mimikyu stood in a corner, unsure of where to go.

Should he return to the Kanto League? His Main Quest was still with Team Rocket.

But over at Team Rocket, he was now considered a dead man, and they clearly wanted to kill him. So he definitely couldn't go back, at least not for now.

Just then, Gu Jia, Bai Yunfei, and Liu Hu appeared in their ghostly forms.

"You guys turned into ghosts?" Chen Yue asked in shock.

Bai Yunfei shook his head. "Of course not."

Liu Hu patted his chest and let out a long breath. "It was too close. Luckily, we completed the main quest one second before the bomb exploded, or we would have died here."

Chen Yue felt relieved when he heard that the three of them could leave. Before he could say anything, Bai Yunfei spoke.

"Our Main Quest is already complete, and we won't be staying in this instance for long. We don't know what your Main Quest is, but we hope you can leave this instance alive."

"Good luck!"

"Stay strong!"

As soon as the three of them finished speaking, their figures turned into bubbles and disappeared in front of Chen Yue.

Just as he was about to turn and leave, he heard the delighted voice of Officer Jenny.

"You're not dead?!"

Chen Yue turned to look at Officer Jenny and pointed to the large crater created by the bomb not far away. "I came very close."