277. Cassidy And Butch

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"It's not clear yet!" Ash shook his head slightly. Logically, this should be impossible unless it's a Legendary Pokémon capable of such feats.

"No matter what, let's focus on helping Misty and Pikachu recover first."

"But how?" Brock nodded at Ash's words but was unsure of the next step.

"I never thought something like this would happen! Let Hypno help! Hypno can reverse its own Hypnosis!" The gentleman, now realizing the gravity of the situation, spoke with a hint of guilt, knowing the child's hypnosis was indirectly linked to them.

Although Hypno could hypnotize, it also had the ability to release Hypnosis. The children seemed to be stuck in a dream-like state. Hypno would enter their dreams and consume them, allowing the children to wake naturally.

"Please hurry!" Officer Jenny urged, her voice filled with concern.

"Right away! Hypno, help wake them up!" the gentleman responded promptly, not daring to delay.

The connection to the missing children made this situation even more dire. Should anything go wrong, the blame might fall squarely on them.

"Hypno!" 

At the command, Hypno raised its hands and waved its claws in front of Misty and Pikachu. A circular ripple formed, emanating from its hands and entering their bodies.

"Woo..."

"Pika?"

Slowly, Misty and Pikachu began to stir. Seeing them awaken, everyone around breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"I... What happened to me?" Misty asked, glancing at the concerned faces surrounding her. A sense of unease gripped her as she tried to remember.

"You were hypnotized," Brock explained gently.

Misty's memory of the events resurfaced, and she eyed Hypno nervously. Its appearance, which seemed a bit menacing, left a lasting impression on her.

"Is Pikachu okay?" Ash asked, cradling his Pokémon. Pikachu looked up at Ash with a cheerful nod, its spark back in its eyes.

"Pikapi!"

"Since Hypno can release Hypnosis, we should locate the missing children and have Hypno help them too," Officer Jenny suggested.

"In theory, yes," Ash agreed, though he knew finding the missing children would be a daunting task.

"But where do we start looking?" Misty asked, visibly distressed.

Bang!!!

A sudden noise interrupted them, and two canisters fell to the ground, releasing thick smoke. The room quickly filled with it.

"What's going on?" Misty exclaimed, covering her nose.

Cassidy: Prepare for trouble...

Butch: ...and make it double!

Cassidy: To infect the world with devastation!

Butch: To blight all people in every nation!

Cassidy: To denounce the goodness of truth and love!

Butch: To extend our wrath to the stars above.

Cassidy: Cassidy!

Butch: Butch!

Cassidy: We're Team Rocket, circling Earth day and night.

Butch: Surrender to us now or you'll surely lose the fight.

Raticate: Raticate!

A familiar yet slightly unfamiliar duo's voices rang out as two figures appeared on the massive table in the center of the room, drawing everyone's attention.

As the smoke cleared, Hypno and Drowzee were seen trapped within two glowing rings, their movements clearly restrained. Standing between the restrained Pokémon were a man and a woman, both dressed in sleek black uniforms bearing the unmistakable Team Rocket insignia.

The man had green hair parted in the middle, and the woman sported golden twin ponytails. The man held a strange device resembling a cluster of wires in his hand.

"Team Rocket?!" Misty exclaimed, her voice full of surprise and disbelief.

"That's right!" Cassidy responded smugly. "Though clearly, we're not the ones you were expecting."

"Huh? I didn't expect they'd recognize us so easily. Our reputation must truly precede us!" Cassidy added, flipping her hair with pride.

"Reputation? Don't flatter yourselves," Misty shot back. "It's just that I've encountered a pair like you before who used the same kind of corny introduction."

"Huh? You dare to compare us to them?" Butch's expression darkened.

"That's right!" Cassidy said indignantly. "Unlike those two clowns, we're sharper in both our strength and our style!"

The group collectively sweatdropped. To them, Team Rocket's intros—regardless of the duo—were all equally cringe-worthy.

Ash, however, recognized them. "Cassidy and Butch..." he muttered. "I didn't expect to run into them so soon." Unlike Jessie and James, these two were less common but more competent Team Rocket agents, with a far more competitive edge.

The tension between the two duos of Team Rocket was well-known. While Jessie and James often failed hilariously, Cassidy and Butch had a more polished track record—at least early on. But their successes were mostly due to their lack of personal entanglements with Ash and his friends.

"What are you up to?" Officer Jenny demanded, her eyes narrowing as she focused on the restrained Solip and Solib.

Butch sneered, holding up his strange device. "What else? Team Rocket is here to capture Pokémon! Originally, Hypno and Drowzee were our targets."

"But," Cassidy interjected with a sly smile, "when we discovered Hypno's Hypnosis could affect the entire city, we came up with a much grander plan!"

"What's that thing?" Brock asked, eyeing the strange device.

"This," Butch explained with a wicked grin, "is a magnetic field diffuser. Our plan was to amplify Solibo's Hypnosis, spreading it across the entire city. Once everyone—humans and Pokémon alike—succumbed, we'd clean out all the Pokémon in the city!"

"That's horrible!" Misty exclaimed.

Butch's grin faltered slightly as he examined the device. "Of course, we ran into a slight hiccup. Looks like we didn't manage to finish the job."

Cassidy crossed her arms. "Still, we're not giving up! We're taking these two Pokémon back with us as compensation!"

It was clear that even among criminal organizations, Cassidy and Butch held their own twisted sense of pride. However, Ash and his friends weren't about to let them walk away with their plans intact.