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Sato and Thomas boarded a special aircraft sent directly from Team Rocket Headquarters to pick up the promoted participants. By the time they got on, many other qualifiers had already arrived—among them was none other than Tomoki.
This aircraft had originally departed from the northern regions, with its first stop at Team Rocket's base along the northern coastline of the Mysterious Island. From there, it traveled clockwise, eventually reaching the eastern base where Sato was stationed.
Thomas had boarded the aircraft from the northern base. As soon as he disembarked, he immediately went to the entrance to wait for Sato, his ever-loyal superior. It was no surprise—if he hadn't clung to Sato's leg for dear life, he would've been eliminated long ago. He wouldn't still be standing here today.
Thomas understood this very well. The compliments and flattery from others after his survival hadn't gone to his head. On the contrary, they only made him more grateful to Sato.
Inside the aircraft, the environment resembled that of a luxury hotel suite—fine food, wine, and attentive service provided by handsome men and beautiful women, all dedicated to making the qualifiers feel pampered.
But clearly, these weren't just ordinary service staff. They were exceptionally persuasive individuals—in short, they were salespeople. Yet, what they were selling wasn't a product, but the influence and backing of the factions behind them.
Yes, every one of these "servers" had been deployed by the various powerful factions within Team Rocket. Their mission was simple: recruit promising rising stars like Sato, who had passed the brutal survival trial and were seen as having limitless potential.
To win over these qualifiers, the factions had offered exceptionally generous terms. For the cream of the crop, they even promised access to pseudo-legendary Pokémon in the future.
This spoke volumes about how much the higher-ups valued survivors like Sato from the Mysterious Island.
Naturally, among the qualifiers, those like Thomas—who had no background or prior affiliations—were the most sought-after by these recruiters. People like Vanna, Tomoki, and Rin, who already had powerful backing, were never realistic targets for recruitment.
Perhaps it was because Giovanni had kept Sato's background so well hidden. Combined with the dazzling performance he displayed during the island survival trial, Sato was now recognized as one of the "Four Rising Stars" among Team Rocket's new generation, standing shoulder to shoulder with Tomoki, Vanna, and Rin—future Elite Four level candidates in the making.
In particular, his recent feat of going toe-to-toe with Tomoki without being defeated, despite his Pokemon being at a lower level, had made his reputation explode even further. So the moment Sato boarded the plane, the recruiters swarmed in like sharks that had smelled blood in the water.
Unfortunately for them, Sato had already pledged allegiance to Giovanni. He was now part of the strongest and most promising faction within Team Rocket—why would he even look at any other group?
As such, Sato responded to the enticing offers from these so-called salespeople with nothing more than polite smiles. He gave no firm replies, no commitments.
Only after one recruiter—who clearly knew Sato's allegiance and had been watching from the sidelines—stepped in to shoo the others away, did Sato finally get a moment of peace. At that point, everyone had more or less figured out that he had already joined Giovanni's camp.
As a result, some other qualifiers who had also chosen to align with Boss Giovanni began approaching Sato, trying to strike up casual conversations and get their faces known.
However, perhaps because of Sato's earlier clash with Tomoki over saving Vanna, most of these qualifiers only made superficial contact with Sato. None sought to build deeper ties. Instead, they clustered around Tomoki—the nephew of Giovanni—like lapdogs.
"Hmph, a bunch of idiots. They're gonna suffer big time. That bastard's nothing but a smiling tiger—he eats people alive and doesn't even leave the bones," Thomas muttered quietly, sneering at the sycophants orbiting Tomoki.
Sato had told him everything that happened in the ruins after they left, so Thomas harbored deep hatred for Tomoki, who had nearly cost him his life. His gratitude toward Sato—who had once again saved him—ran even deeper now.
Watching these clueless qualifiers fawn over Tomoki while ignoring Sato made Thomas boil with anger. He couldn't help but grumble.
"Don't worry about it, Thomas," Sato replied via telepathy while instructing a server to bring more food for his Swampert, who had already devoured the entire table. "Everyone has their own path. This Rookie Competition isn't over yet. Stay sharp. If you place well in the next stage, you'll earn even greater rewards."
"Yes, Lord Sato. I'll give it my all—I won't embarrass you!" Thomas responded immediately with a firm nod.
Two hours later, all the qualifiers had boarded the aircraft bound for Team Rocket Headquarters. In the end, only 36 people survived the second phase of the Mysterious Island survival trial.
Yes—during the final days, nearly half the remaining participants were wiped out. Much of this was thanks to the expedition into the ruins organized by Tomoki.
That expedition started with 37 people. Only twelve returned alive: Sato, Thomas, Vanna, Janine, Rin, Tomoki, and six of his subordinates. The other 25 perished forever within the ruins.
Yes—Ailes and his entire group were annihilated, killed through the calculated ambushes of Tomoki and Maya, the two Psychics. Maya had finally exacted her revenge.
Although Rin survived, she suffered tremendous losses. Apart from her Salamence, all of her main Pokémon were lost in the ruins. Among the Four Rising Stars of Team Rocket's new generation, she was now the weakest.
According to the ranking system based on number tags, Tomoki came out on top with a staggering 32 tags. He secured the top spot on the leaderboard and earned a direct ticket to the final stage.
The second and third spots went to Rin and Sato respectively. As per the rules, both automatically entered the semifinals.
The remaining 33 qualifiers would now battle it out for the two remaining semifinal spots, and then face Sato and Rin to compete for places in the finals.
The specially modified aircraft flew swiftly, slicing through dense cloud cover and heading north.
After more than three hours, it finally landed at a private airstrip in Celadon City.