Old Acquaintances

When Yuga and Chatot reappeared, they were already on top of the car.

It was a large truck, and the cargo compartment was massive and appeared very well sealed. Yuga couldn't tell what was being transported inside.

"Gengar, let's take a look inside," Yuga said while lying on the roof, addressing the Gengar behind him.

"Gengar!" Gengar nodded in response and proceeded to pass through the cargo compartment and into the truck.

After about four or five minutes, Gengar emerged from the cargo compartment and whispered a few words in Yuga's ear.

According to Gengar's description, there were two groups of people inside the cargo compartment. One group consisted of children in a state of unconsciousness, while the other group seemed to be guarding them.

It appeared that the people inside the truck were not likely to be good individuals, Yuga thought.

The large truck was moving at a very fast speed, with the wind rushing against them, combined with the rough terrain, making Yuga feel quite nauseous.

"Gengar, do you have a way to deal with the people guarding the cargo compartment?" Yuga asked while gripping the cargo compartment tightly to avoid falling off.

Gengar grinned and nodded at Yuga, then once again passed through the cargo compartment, entering it.

After more than ten minutes, the cargo compartment's door "click" sound indicated that it had been opened. Immediately afterward, Gengar floated out from inside.

To prevent the cargo compartment's door from making any noise due to the bumps in the road, careful Gengar also used its psychic power to keep the door in place.

After Gengar emerged from the cargo compartment, it led Yuga and Chatot into the interior.

Seeing people lying haphazardly inside the cargo compartment, Yuga was very surprised because without exception, all these people were wearing Team Rocket uniforms.

Yuga hadn't expected to stumble upon Team Rocket while searching for someone. This was already his second encounter with Team Rocket.

There were about ten people in Team Rocket uniforms, and all of them had been put to sleep by Gengar's hypnosis, snoring away in the cargo compartment.

In addition to these Team Rocket members, there were more than twenty children in blue uniforms, all around the age of ten.

Why were there children in Team Rocket's cargo compartment? Yuga wondered.

He believed that the person he was looking for must be among these children.

Yuga took out the Rainbow Feather from his pocket and walked to the group of unconscious children. He began to test each of them one by one by holding the Rainbow Feather close to them.

Finally, Yuga's gaze settled on a child who appeared to be about eight or nine years old.

As the Rainbow Feather approached, its seven-colored light radiated brightly; when the Rainbow Feather was removed, the seven-colored light dimmed.

It seemed undoubtedly to be this child!

However, this child was too young! How could he be the one they were looking for? It felt more like he was a babysitter than someone Yuga was supposed to find.

The child had messy black short hair that seemed to have not been washed for a long time, making it dirty.

The small face, about the size of a palm, was dark and, like the hair, had probably not been cleaned in a long time, making it impossible to discern any facial features.

He had a very slender and small figure. The blue single shirt draped on him looked more like a bedsheet and was quite ill-fitting.

Looking at the child's appearance, Yuga couldn't even determine whether the child was a boy or a girl.

"Is this really him?" Chatot flew to Yuga and whispered softly.

Yuga replied, "There should be no mistake; the Rainbow Feather only reacted to him."

After saying this, Yuga put the Rainbow Feather back into the system's backpack to prevent its radiance from attracting attention.

He hadn't considered confronting the people driving the truck just yet because they had recently left the base beneath the cliff. Taking action now might draw their attention. It would be wiser to wait until the truck had traveled further.

Yuga took a rope from his backpack and proceeded to tie up the Team Rocket members on the truck, confiscating their Poké Balls in the process.

After completing these tasks, Yuga approached the child who had reacted to the Rainbow Feather. He gently shook him, attempting to wake him up, but the child showed no response.

"They must have been drugged to induce unconsciousness," Chatot remarked.

"Seems likely," Yuga nodded gently.

After approximately three to four hours of driving, the truck suddenly came to a halt, and Yuga heard voices.

"Let's take a break; there's still a long way to go to our destination."

"All right, I'll get the guys down for a rest and some food."

"They're coming!" Chatot whispered softly.

Yuga nodded with a serious expression.

Outside the cargo compartment, the door at the front of the truck had been opened, and two middle-aged men were conversing. One of them walked toward the cargo compartment.

The middle-aged man walked up to the cargo compartment and shouted inside, "Everyone, come out and take a break before we continue."

After shouting several times without any response from inside the cargo compartment, the middle-aged man began to sense that something was amiss.

He gestured to another man not far away and whispered a few words in his ear. The second middle-aged man's face showed surprise.

Both of them cautiously approached the cargo compartment from both sides and quietly opened the door.

The cargo compartment's door, which should have been locked from the inside, opened all of a sudden, confirming their suspicions that something had gone wrong.

As they cautiously peered into the cargo compartment, they were met with a Shadow Ball heading straight for them.

The Shadow Ball was incredibly fast and reached them in the blink of an eye. If it hit them, it would undoubtedly cause severe injuries.

At a critical moment, one of the men's Crobat suddenly shielded them, taking the hit and sacrificing itself to protect its trainer.

What surprise both of the men is a single Shadow Ball had caused the strong Crobat incapable of fighting. Struck by the Shadow Ball, the Crobat was sent flying backward, eventually colliding with a nearby tree and falling to the ground.

"Hello there!" a voice came from inside the cargo compartment.

Both men turned their attention to the interior of the cargo compartment and saw a smiling young boy. By his side, a Gengar also wore a mischievous grin.

"It's you!" the trainer of the fallen Crobat exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes, it's me. We meet again, Tyson," the young boy replied.

One of the two middle-aged men was none other than Tyson, a Team Rocket member whom Yuga had encountered before. Their previous encounter had been when Yuga visited Grandpa Milton, and Tyson had been involved in an attack on Whitney at that time.

Tyson had never expected to encounter the young boy again, especially not in these circumstances. Judging by the mischievous Gengar by the boy's side, Tyson realized that the odds were not in his favor.