Night had already fallen. Though Myron had finished organizing the ambush against Team Rocket, Sato and Joseph still hadn't returned, leaving him unable to truly relax.
"Leader, they're back!"
The door of the Pokémon Center was suddenly pushed open, and Sato and Joseph walked in.
Seeing the two of them return safely, Myron and the others finally felt a heavy weight lift from their hearts.
"Did either of you get hurt?"
An old fox, indeed. He didn't ask what happened, didn't ask if they had encountered an enemy. He went straight to asking if they were injured.
Even though both Sato and Joseph knew that wasn't really what Myron cared about, hearing him say it still made Joseph feel good.
"We're fine!" Sato smiled and nodded, then walked toward Nurse Joy as he slowly began to explain.
"Joseph did discover signs of an enemy in the west. Although there was only one opponent, they were strong. The two of us had to work together to barely bring him down."
"Sorry for the trouble, Nurse Joy!"
"Leave it to me!"
"And… what happened after that?" Myron quickly asked. If it took the two of them to win, just how strong was that opponent?
"His Pokémon were mostly exhausted by the end, but he still had one good at escaping. We couldn't catch him."
"So that means…"
"Mhm. It shouldn't affect our ambush against Team Rocket. Based on the intel we gathered, there's a 90% chance they'll attack tonight."
"Good! Leader Sato, Mr. Joseph, on behalf of everyone in Olivine City, I want to sincerely thank you both!"
Myron didn't question them at all, he acted as if he fully trusted Sato's account. And he couldn't stop expressing his gratitude.
To be fair, the old man really was doing his best. At his age, having to flatter two young men like this… it left the onlookers feeling both ashamed and touched.
"Leader Sato, thank you so much!"
"Mr. Joseph, thank you for saving my partner…"
"Thank you both…"
"Grateful…"
In the blink of an eye, the atmosphere shifted from preparing for war to a full-blown gratitude rally. Sato and Joseph were speechless. It took a while before the crowd gradually calmed down.
"We've still got a tough fight ahead tonight. Everyone, get some rest," Sato said, waving them off to dismiss the crowd.
"Leader Sato, while you were away, Mark from Shadownight Town called…"
"Is Mark alright?!" Sato and Joseph immediately grew tense, they were supposed to be in Shadownight Town too.
"Didn't seem injured, from what I could tell over the phone."
"Understood, Myron. You're probably swamped right now, so we won't keep you."
"You two should go return the call. It's our fault for failing to protect Olivine Gym properly, which left you unable to-"
Sato and Joseph weren't in the mood to keep trading pleasantries with Myron. They turned and rushed straight to the phone, leaving Myron standing there, his sentence still unfinished.
Ring ring ring…
[Moshi moshi~ This is Mark from Shadownight Gym.]
On the screen, Mark appeared in pajamas, looking completely relaxed.
"…Mark, is Shadownight Town really that safe? You're already heading to bed?"
Hearing the familiar voices through the phone, Mark instinctively jolted. He looked up and saw two smiling faces.
[Ah! Boss, you finally called back! I thought you were already-]
"What do you mean we 'already' did?" Sato withdrew his sarcastic smile, furrowed his brow, and looked at Mark with eyes full of suspicion.
[You… already beat the enemy! You're about to return victorious!] Mark, ever quick-witted, answered with utmost confidence.
"Alright, knock it off," Joseph said with a helpless shake of his head, finally getting to the real question. "How's Shadownight Town? Is Amber or Akira hurt?"
Now that the serious one had spoken, Mark didn't dare mess around anymore. He recounted everything that had happened in Shadownight Town during the battle against Team Rocket; surprisingly without trying to take any credit for himself.
"Akira's grown so much without us even realizing…" Joseph said with sincere emotion, clearly proud.
[Yeah, yeah~ But he handled everything so well that by the time I got back, there wasn't much left for me to do.]
Mark quickly took the chance to defend himself, implying that it wasn't his fault for being so free.
"As long as Shadownight Town's fine, we can focus on wrapping things up here in Olivine City."
[Boss, boss, the fighting over there must've been intense, huh? Without me, I bet things didn't go so smoothly, right? Right~?]
Mark started digging his own grave, animatedly imagining how important he must be.
"Actually… yeah," Sato said seriously, nodding in full agreement.
[Hahahahaha, I knew it! I knew it! I'm super, super, super important to the trio!]
"Yep. Without our team mascot around, there's no one to shout 'I'm awesome!' during battle. Right, Joseph?"
"True!" Joseph agreed.
[I'm telling you, my "I'm awesome" shout is top-tier- wait… NO! I'M NOT A "I'M AWESOME" GUY!]
[I… I… I don't want to be the mascot…]
"…"
Mark, furious but powerless.
---
After hanging up, Sato and Joseph exchanged a look, and both couldn't help but laugh. The tension that had built up over multiple battles finally eased.
A mascot doesn't just bring luck, keeping team morale up was clearly one of their hidden talents.
And in that regard, Mark did a fantastic job.
Time passed quietly, and the night grew darker.
Sato and Joseph grabbed a quick bite to eat, then took their now fully recovered Pokémon and set off again for the ambush point where Team Rocket was expected.
"Leader Sato, why not rest a bit longer?" Myron asked politely.
"Better to get there early and be prepared. Once we take down this group, Team Rocket shouldn't have the strength to launch another attack," Joseph replied with a smile.
"Mr. Joseph is right!" Myron smiled too, though he could hear the underlying message clearly.
After tonight's battle, Sato and Joseph would be leaving.
With that thought in mind, a sharp glint flashed in Myron's eyes. He shouted into his walkie-talkie, "EVERYONE! DON'T HOLD BACK AT ALL! Wipe out the enemy in one strike!"
"YES, SIR!"
----
Olivine City was surrounded by mountains on three sides, with water on the fourth.
Just as everyone assumed Team Rocket would attack from the eastern side -the closest route-, Sato's Gengar returned with critical intel.
Team Rocket had changed direction. They were preparing to enter Olivine City from the north!
"Shift positions! Move to Plan B! Begin the ambush!" Myron ordered swiftly, clearly having prepared for every contingency.
Under the cover of night, Ariana and Voya led a ragtag group of about a hundred Team Rocket members, rapidly approaching Olivine City.
As Ariana looked at the battered city in the distance, an inexplicable sense of dread welled up inside her.