Joseph took a deep breath, calmed his emotions as best he could, and then softly replied, "It was overrun once, but Team Rocket has already retreated. We're currently focusing on rescue efforts."
After speaking, Joseph turned to look at the Elite Four Shaka, who had not appeared in Olivine City. The man was staring silently at the pond.
Shaka once again reeled in his fishing line, replaced the bait, and cast again.
Only then did he slowly speak. "The longer you live the more the wrongs you've done don't fade… they haunt you deeper, until you're trapped by them."
Joseph could tell this was a man with a story, but it didn't stir much emotion in him. These days, who didn't have a few secrets of their own?
"You're one of the Trainers sent by the League to investigate Team Rocket, aren't you?"
Seeing Joseph remain unmoved, Shaka seemed to lose the desire to share more. He even withdrew the initial friendliness from his expression, now speaking a bit coldly.
"Yes!" Joseph's reply was brief and direct.
"I'm the only one stationed in the west. You can go back and report."
"?" A flicker of surprise flashed through Joseph's eyes, but Shaka caught it immediately.
"Knew you were sharp. You've already guessed something. Go ahead… say it."
Joseph stayed silent. This old man was clearly no easy opponent. On top of that, with absolute power on his side, it was only natural he tolerated Joseph's presence so far.
"You don't have to say it, I know. You're suspecting I betrayed the League. That I stayed hidden here instead of going to support Olivine City, right?"
"…" Joseph remained silent. Anything he said at this point would be wrong.
"I did betray them. Spent my whole life being a good man for the League… and still ended up like this."
Sure enough, some people just wanted to talk, whether you played along or not.
So Joseph continued his silence. But Shaka couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Aren't you curious?"
"A little. But not really. Either way, no matter what I say, you're not letting me walk away."
Shaka froze, then burst into laughter. He looked at Gallade behind Joseph.
"Such strength at your age… Ace level already. That's top talent no matter where you go. So, I'll give you two choices.
Either come with me to Team Rocket, where you'll get no fewer resources, probably even more.
Or… disappear from this wor-"
Before he could finish, Joseph raised a hand and grabbed Gallade behind him.
Teleport!
Swoosh~
A flash of white light; Joseph and Gallade vanished just like that, right before Shaka's astonished eyes.
"…Heh~"
After staring for two seconds, Shaka let out a laugh, more amused than angry. It had been a long time since he'd met such an interesting young man. That swift and decisive reaction had completely caught him off guard.
"…But where do you think you can run to?" Shaka shook his head with a sigh, then his eyes turned sharp.
"Claydol, go after them!"
---
Elsewhere, Sato had followed the faint scent on the empty Potion bottles and soon found increasing traces of Team Rocket's movements.
Twenty minutes later, tracking the clues led Sato to a small hill, where he successfully located the hidden entrance to Team Rocket's base.
"Zoroark, it's your turn."
"Zoro!"
A flash of red light shimmered across Zoroark's body. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a tiny Joltik and scurried inside.
Sato hid behind a large tree and waited silently for Zoroark to return with intel.
About ten minutes later, a Diglett suddenly poked out from beneath the tree Sato was hiding under.
The Diglett flickered, transforming into an Arbok. The Arbok slithered quickly up the tree and approached Sato, then transformed back into Zoroark.
Sato opened his eyes, placed his right hand on Zoroark's forehead, and said softly, […Dark Energy: Soul Connection - Altered]
At this stage, Sato didn't even need to transmit his own memories to Zoroark. As long as the other party didn't resist, Sato could directly view Zoroark's memories.
Without any verbal communication, Sato quickly gained a general understanding of the inside of the Team Rocket base through Zoroark's perspective.
This base was clearly newly built, with extremely rudimentary facilities. At the center was a massive hall where most of the Team Rocket grunts were resting.
After infiltrating, Zoroark transformed into a Zubat -one of the most common Pokémon used by Team Rocket- and hung upside down from the ceiling, scanning the group below.
Based on the flow of people entering and leaving, Sato was able to estimate that there were roughly a hundred Rockets stationed inside this base.
Not too many, but certainly not few… and their overall strength remained unknown.
Soon, however, Zoroark spotted the most critical piece of intel.
Team Rocket Admin Ariana and the Star Hunter, Voya, appeared together in the central hall.
About five or six minutes later, the two of them appeared several more times, but no other individuals managed to catch Zoroark's attention.
Once the [Soul Connection] ended, Sato had already understood most of what he needed to know.
First, judging by how busy Team Rocket was, they were clearly preparing for a second City Raid.
Second, aside from the estimated hundred Team Rocket members, the strongest forces involved in the attack on Olivine City currently appeared to be only Ariana and Voya.
What puzzled Sato was that -after how badly he had dealt with Voya last time- how was this woman even back on her feet?
And third, Sato didn't believe that Team Rocket was unaware the League would send an Elite Four member to reinforce.
Yet despite that, if Ariana remained their top combat power, then the attitude of that Elite Four member could already be inferred.
They had defected!
After doing some calculations in his mind, a trace of gravity flashed through Sato's eyes.
Given the current strength remaining in Olivine City, things would be manageable. So long as that Elite Four didn't get involved.
But if they did appear...
Sato touched the Key Stone hanging around his neck, already preparing himself mentally.
Immediately after, Sato instructed Zoroark to sprinkle a bottle of the special powder Joseph had developed at the base's entrance, then made his way back toward Olivine City.
The special powder clung easily to clothing and was extremely long-lasting, but its scent was completely undetectable to humans.
Most Pokémon also wouldn't be stimulated by the smell and would instinctively ignore it.
But as long as the Pokémon had a relatively sensitive nose, it could pick up the scent quickly.
This base was still some distance from Olivine City, and with a forest in between, bringing people over to attack was completely unrealistic.
All they could do was set up an ambush ahead of time… and wait patiently for the enemy to attack.
And this powder would allow Sato to easily track their movements.
---
By the time Sato returned to Olivine City, night had already fallen.
Once Myron received intel about the Team Rocket base from Sato, he immediately issued a recall order for all recon units, focusing their forces to ambush Team Rocket.
But after the message was sent out via walkie-talkie…
There was still no word from Joseph.