"Well done!" Aizen smiled brightly and approached Machop. "That was perfect." He patted its head. 

"Machop!" 

The humanoid Pokemon was pleased at the praise and smiled confidently. 

"Woof!" The orange puppy complimented its friend before circling around Aizen's, brushing its coat against his legs. 

"Aren't you the jealous one." He chuckled and crouched down before giving the puppy love it asked for. "You two are ready for the Gym Battle. Let's win it together, okay?" He ran his fingers through its coat and smiled. 

"Machop!"

"Woof!" 

Their conversation ended when they heard something plop on the ground behind them. And it turned out to be a certain hazel-eyed girl.

Leaf was spent, panting madly for breath. Her her skin was glistening with sweat that nearly sparkled under the rays of sun.

"You are cruel!" She complained before sprawling on the ground. 

"You will get used to it." He smiled at her and turned to look at her Pokemon, who were preparing for their Gym Battle in the afternoon.

Aizen had dragged Leaf with him outside the town early in the morning. They found a quiet place where they decided to train their Pokemon and come up with plans for the Gym Battle. But to the horror of Leaf, he put her to training as well and increased its intensity. It was about time, since she had gotten used to the old regime. 

"Here..." He handed her a bottle of water after her breathing calmed down. She readily took a few sips from it and then wiped the sweat off with a towel. "You need a shower." He smirked at her. 

"And whose fault is that?" She severely looked at him, but lowered her eyes after her cheeks started reddening. His smile was intoxicating. Usually she would be able to bear with it since Misty and Anira were always around, but now that they were alone here, her heart started skipping in anxiety and anticipation. 

Aizen inwardly smiled at her behaviour and decided not to tease her about it. 

"Your Team seems ready for the battle." He diverted her attention to the Gym Battle.

"Yes!" She smiled brightly and turned to look at Pidgeotto, Exeggutor, and Flabebe. "I going to exploit the Type Advantage to the fullest!" She giggled. 

"Fiona only knows Fairy Wind. She needs a stronger Fairy attack to be a force against Fighting Pokemon." He reminded her. 

"She will learn with time. And Anira is confident that Fiona will be able to learn one or two Fairy Moves upon evolution." She nodded her head and turned to look at him. "You are going to use Growlithe, Machop, and Golbat?" 

"Yes." He glanced at the orange puppy that was playing around with its Fighting-Type friend. "They are more than ready. And I need to boost their confidence a little. Chopper should have evolved months ago, and all he needs is a push." 

"I hope it happens." She sweetly smiled at him. "Best of luck..." 

"Brother!!" 

Whatever Leaf was about to say was cut off by the sudden shout of Anira who came running inside the clearing with Misty right behind her. 

"Aizen!" Misty panted for breath.

"What happened?" He frowned when he saw the worried look on Anira's face. 

The little Orayen Princess handed Leaf the Incubator that held Staryu's egg before looking in her brother's eyes. 

"Two goons and their Meowth from Team Rocket targeted the Training Field of Pokemon Center. They used some smoke that caused everyone to faint. All the Pokemon that were Training were captured as well as the Pokeballs on the Trainers. Ash's Pikachu was taken too and so were his Bulbasaur's and Charmeleon's Pokeballs." She paused as she caught some breath and calmed down a little. "I was helping out Nurse Joy along with Brock, and we were informed about it when Trainers came rushing inside the Lounge in worry. We had to check the cameras to understand what happened." 

"Any idea where they ran off to?" He asked. 

"They boarded a Meowth-stylized Air Balloon and headed South-East. I am afraid we can't catch up to them on foot since it has been over half an hour." She calmly said. "Can you send out Pidgeot to scout for us?" 

"Sure." Leaf nodded and was about to give the command when Aizen placed his hand on her shoulder and shook his head. 

"You need Pidgeotto ready for the Gym Battle. Let your team rest." He said before taking out a Pokeball and throwing it in the air. 

"Meta..." The Psychic-Tank greeted its Trainer in its deep voice. 

"Dexter, I need you to search for a Meowth-stylized Air Baloon." He told his Pokemon before looking at the holographic map Anira had generated from her PokeNav. "Check out the hills over the Rock Tunnels first, and if you find no leads, search the forest south of Aero Town." He gave the command.

"The Balloon belongs to Team Rocket and both the members are wearing white uniform with a red 'R' on their chest. They have a Meowth with them as well." Anira gave some more information. 

"Meta..." The Psychic-Tank teleported right away after Anira gave it the information. 

"Will Dexter be able to find them?" Misty, who had stayed silent, anxiously asked. 

"He will. He can use his Telepathy to ask other Pokemon and use his Psychic Powers to scan the areas. They will be found." Aizen assured her. "Let's head to the Town and see if anyone has any leads or not." 

The group arrived outside the Pokemon Center where a crowd of Trainers were gathered. Officer Jenny was talking with Brock and Nurse Joy, and the two constables were registering complaints from the agitated victims who lost their Pokemon.

Ash was pacing left and right and his body was lightly shivering in rage and worry. 

"Officer," Aizen approached the three and asked. "Do you have any leads?" He asked. 

Officer Jenny looked at him in surprise, but she quickly masked it. It seemed that Nurse Joy had informed her of his presence in the Town. 

"So far, none. All the Trainers have sent out their Flying-Type Pokemon in all directions. We are hopeful that we will get some news soon." 

"Thank you." He nodded. "Can I see the footage?" 

"Sure. Come with me." Nurse Joy readily nodded and lead him and the girls inside the Pokemon Center. 

She showed them the footage and Aizen patiently looked at it for every detail. He heaved a sigh of relief at what he discovered.

"What is it?" Anira curiously asked she caught on her brother's change in expression. 

"The Air-Ballon that they are using can not go higher than a thousand meters in the sky. It is a Hot-Air Balloon. Which means that they can only steer it to a limited extent as it relies heavily on Wind Patterns. And since it is not windy today, it is not fast enough, and can only cover little distance before it would need to be refuelled. My guess is that they should be within a fifteen-mile radius. That's as far as they can go with its speed in an hour." He informed them. "Dexter should be able to find them soon." 

"Really?!" Misty excitedly asked. 

"Yes." He chuckled and nodded to her. 

"Who's Dexter?" Officer Jenny inquired. 

"My Pokemon." Aizen told her. "I will be in my room. If anything happens, do tell me." He turned to Misty and said before waking out.

"Okay." She nodded. 

Aizen quickly got to work as soon as he arrived in the room. He had copied the recording and obtained perfect images of the culprits to run a check on them. He sent the pictures of the Magenta-Haired Girl and the Blue-Haired boy to his grandmother, asking her to gather Intel on them.

Their uniforms made it clear that they were not core members of team Rocket. They would not be privy to any secret information on the Team Rocket, but that was not what he was after. He wanted to see if the three could prove useful to their Action Team in what was happening in the Region.

He waited several minutes for the information, but Metagross arrived first.