Click.
Blaise hung up the call without another word.
He was already living on borrowed time, did anyone really expect him to issue orders politely?
Do it or don't.
Worst case, everyone dies together.
From the moment he took office, he never planned on living very long anyway.
"It's fine. Proceed according to the original plan."
Facing the looks from his subordinates, Blaise spoke calmly.
The surrounding members of Team Magma all lowered their heads.
Damn it… can't they ever let a normal person be Blaise?
The same thought flashed through everyone's mind.
There were veterans of Team Magma present, and it was practically tradition that Blaise, one of Team Magma's Three Admins was skilled in combat but poor at planning.
But among all past Blaise, this one was without question the most reckless and the most suicidal.
And yet, the bastard had survived for over a year since taking office.
That made it even more frustrating.
Even though every member of Team Magma was prepared to sacrifice themselves for their ideals, that didn't mean they were eager to die.
"Move it. Don't place Device No. 2 incorrectly.
Device No. 3, keep it stable. Don't let the central energy channel tilt too much."
Blaise continued issuing orders on his own.
Did he know what his subordinates were thinking? Of course he did.
But what did it matter?
Within Team Magma, Boss Maxie ranked highest, followed by the Three Admins.
These positions were earned through strength.
Especially the title of Blaise.
Anyone dissatisfied could settle it with a fight, the winner got the final say.
In dark organizations, hierarchy was no joke.
"Understood!"
The Team Magma members responsible for transporting, fixing, and operating the devices responded loudly.
A satisfied smile curved across Blaise's lips.
Yes, this feeling.
His burning gaze then shifted toward the pitch-black, unfathomably deep volcanic crater.
"When the volcano erupts, we will welcome new power once more!"
His fanatical voice echoed outward.
"Everything for humanity!"
Atop the volcano, the voices of all Team Magma members merged into a single, chilling roar.
Inside the forest
"What is it?"
Seeing Gigalith suddenly raise its head and look into the distance, Silas asked alertly.
"Giga!"
Gigalith nodded, then shook its head.
"Human voices outside the forest? Probably from Azalea Town."
After interpreting Gigalith's meaning, Silas quickly relaxed.
After all, Bugsy was currently leading Officer Jenny straight into battle against Team Rocket, if there weren't any sounds, that would be strange.
Gigalith hesitated.
The direction seemed right, but the distance felt off.
The sound didn't seem like it should be coming from that far away.
Still, it couldn't be certain.
Silas and Gigalith were currently positioned at the northernmost edge of the back mountain, far from both the volcano crater and Azalea Town.
Move a bit farther northwest and they'd be nearing Route 34.
Gigalith's sensitivity to sound relied heavily on vibrations through rock and soil, at this distance, errors were possible.
"It's fine. Just keep an eye out for strange human voices inside the forest. Others will handle the rest."
Silas reassured it.
He felt that Gigalith was excellent in every way, except that it sometimes overthought things and lacked flexibility.
Probably related to its Rock-type nature.
Stable, but not very nimble.
"Giga."
Gigalith nodded silently.
Since its Trainer said so, there was no need to dwell on it.
The remote depths of the forest returned to silence.
Only the occasional distant sounds of battle proved that Officer Jenny and the action squad were still searching on the front lines.
"This is kind of boring."
Sitting cross-legged in a small clearing, Silas had even started counting blades of grass.
Whoosh.
A sudden flash of fiery red streaked through the dark forest.
Feeling the temperature around him rise, Silas lazily asked, "Well? Confirmed? Is it there?"
"Blaziken."
Blaziken returned and gave a short reply.
"Good."
A satisfied smile appeared on Silas's face.
Sending Blaziken out had been to confirm whether Zones 32 and 33 truly housed Abra or Ralts, as reported by the action squad.
The results proved they hadn't been lying.
According to Blaziken's reconnaissance, those areas were indeed the territory of those two Pokémon species.
Only a Blaziken proficient in Aura sensing could accomplish this without being detected.
Any other Pokémon would've been noticed instantly.
"But we'll wait until the mission is over before doing anything."
Silas was very clear on his priorities.
As a veteran bounty hunter, putting the mission first was basic professional ethics.
Things like capturing Pokémon could wait—just mark the location and return later.
"Pidge!"
"Toge!"
Pidgeot and Togekiss returned at that moment.
They brought different information.
"A patch where Bug-type Pokémon have inexplicably disappeared?"
Silas narrowed his eyes and immediately made a decision.
"Lead the way."
Of course, he didn't forget to give Officer Jenny a brief report.
"Acknowledged. Proceed carefully, we can provide support within three minutes."
Her reply gave him an extra layer of reassurance.
Moving swiftly through Ilex Forest, Silas felt as if he'd returned to his old days roaming Viridian Forest.
The difference was that this time, he wasn't alone.
Following Pidgeot's aerial guidance, Silas soon arrived at the so-called "abnormal" area with Togekiss and Blaziken.
"Something's definitely off."
After stopping and observing, Silas quickly noticed the issue.
The Bug-type Pokémon here hadn't vanished completely, but their population density was far lower than elsewhere.
That completely violated Pokémon ecological norms.
After ruling out the presence of a powerful wild Pokémon nearby, only one explanation remained, humans had stayed here for an extended period.
Scanning the area, Silas quickly found his target.
Pushing aside an unremarkable bush and crouching down, faint human footprints came into view.
Unlike naturally faded traces, these were clearly artificial.
What normal Trainer would bother hiding their tracks like this?
Unless they had ill intentions.
"Looks like my luck isn't bad."
Silas stood up and brushed off his hands.
"Next step, find their hideout."
Using the footprints as a center point, he began expanding his search outward.
Ten minutes later.
After updating Officer Jenny again, Silas frowned.
"This doesn't make sense…" he muttered.
The principle of 'where there is movement, there are traces' applied just as much in the Pokémon world.
Numerous concealed human footprints remained nearby, far from enough to escape Silas's sharp eyes.
But the problem was that all of them vanished abruptly and without any pattern.
Some disappeared into bushes.
Some ended at trees.
Others vanished right in front of rocks.
In such cases, the Pokémon-world-specific rule applied.
If no traces remain, then Pokémon must be involved.
"So… which Pokémon is it?"
Silas fell into deep thought.
Azalea Town — Slowpoke Well, B2F
"Weezing, use Smokescreen!"
"Arbok, Poison Sting!"
"Forretress, Rapid Spin!"
"Golbat, Supersonic!"
A group of Team Rocket grunts in standard uniforms were commanding their Pokémon in stubborn resistance.
They had only one opponent.
And that was
"Scyther, Fury Cutter!"
At Bugsy's command, a dark green afterimage streaked rapidly through the Pokémon ranks of Team Rocket.
A faint white glow brushed past the bodies of each Pokémon.
"Scyther!"
In the next instant, the Bug-type pokemon crossed its arms, then casually flicked its razor-sharp scythe-like blades.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Behind it, the Pokémon of Team Rocket collapsed one after another.
"Now talk. What exactly is your purpose for coming to Azalea Town?"
Bugsy slung his bug-catching net over his shoulder, tilted his head, and interrogated them like a villain straight out of a story.
The Team Rocket members trembled, but not a single one spoke.
"Tch. What a pain."
Bugsy frowned.
No wonder Team Rocket was the group he hated dealing with the most.
Who knew whether their newly appointed boss had drugged them or something—each one was more loyal than the last.
They hadn't been like this before.
"Scyther," Bugsy called out again.
"Scyther—!"
Understanding its Trainer's intent, Scyther vibrated its wings sharply.
Whoosh—whoosh!
The sound of air being torn apart rang out.
The few Pokémon that Team Rocket had just secretly released were instantly knocked down again.
The light in several Team Rocket members' eyes vanished at once.
"Still won't talk? Fine." Bugsy laughed in anger. "Cuff them. Take them back for interrogation."
"Yes!"
Officer Jenny, who had been acting as an observer until now, finally had something to do.
Well… not entirely true.
At the very least, the fact that the underground cavern was so brightly lit was thanks to the Pokémon she had dispatched to use Flash.
Otherwise, Bugsy would've knocked these Team Rocket grunts unconscious with a few sneak attacks already.
The Officer Jennys moved in, handcuffing each Team Rocket member who no longer had the strength to resist.
While the elevator shaft was operating, the Team Rocket squad leader, who was last in line, turned toward Bugsy and asked unwillingly, "We only arrived here two days ago. How did you find us?"
Bugsy glanced at him, offering no reply.
The squad leader clenched his fists in frustration.
Damn it.
But soon, he loosened his grip.
"One day, Team Rocket will rule the world. You'll all regret this."
"Ha."
Bugsy snapped.
"Based on what? On trash like you?"
His words were dripping with sarcasm.
To be honest, unless you were from Azalea Town, it was hard to understand just how deeply the locals revered Slowpoke.
In Bugsy's eyes, if he weren't the Gym Leader of Azalea Town, these Team Rocket intruders in Slowpoke Well would have only one fate, they'd never see tomorrow's sun.
If Team Rocket had already laid a hand on the Slowpoke, then even if it meant breaking the rules, Bugsy would've shown them exactly what bug and poison go hand in hand really meant.
"You should be grateful the League won't treat you the way you treat the League. Otherwise, hmph."
Bugsy let out a cold, disdainful laugh.
Someone who had grown up alongside Bug-type Pokémon since childhood was never a soft target.
Among weak groups, the cruelty of survival was laid bare.
When starving to the extreme, even Caterpie and Weedle could end up preying on their own kind.
Thankfully, wild resources in the Pokémon world were abundant—otherwise, who knew how twisted this world would look.
"Once we're back, inform the townspeople. Tell them the Slowpoke were not harmed, and remind every resident to stay alert for suspicious outsiders."
Seeing the squad leader finally shut his mouth, Bugsy turned away and began discussing work with Officer Jenny.
"Understood."
Officer Jenny nodded solemnly.
Of course, both of them knew it wouldn't solve everything.
After all, the first floor of Slowpoke Well was open to the public as a tourist attraction.
As long as Azalea Town continued to rely on it for revenue, the risk of intrusion could never be reduced to zero.
All they could do was their best.
"Sigh…"
Bugsy looked at the gradually darkening center of the second underground floor and sighed quietly.
There, embedded in the rock wall, was a crown-like object resting silently.
It was a King's Rock, a special item Team Rocket had discovered immediately, yet failed to extract no matter what methods they tried.
"When will the King of the Slowpoke appear again…?"
Bugsy thought to himself.
"Not to protect the town, just to ensure this place can truly remain a paradise for the Slowpoke."
Legend said that the Slowpoke who once saved Azalea Town was exceptionally intelligent, immensely powerful, capable of understanding human speech, and wore a crown upon its head.
The people of the time believed it to be the king of the Slowpoke tribe, a truly extraordinary being.
The King's Rock it left behind symbolized its leadership within the clan.
Sadly, after all these years, no second king had ever appeared among the Slowpoke.
Later leaders were only slightly smarter than average, not nearly capable of understanding human speech, nor able to wear the crown and undergo a coronation.
"Sigh…"
As the elevator shaft began to move, Bugsy's sigh faded into the darkness.
"Sigh…"
In another patch of darkness, an almost identical sigh echoed.
Silas was getting a headache.
Just what kind of Pokémon could make human footprints disappear completely?
Flying-types were impossible.
Psychic-types were unrealistic.
What, were these people sent back through time by Celebi?
That was even more ridiculous.
Silas was at his wits' end.
"Pidge!" "Blaz!" "Toge!" "Giga!"
Including Gigalith, who had been released again to help search, the four Pokémon exchanged helpless looks.
They had no answers either.
....
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