"Alakazam, use Psychic!"
"Hypno, use Hypnosis!"
"Mr. Mime, set up Light Screen!"
The residents of Psychic Town all began commanding their Pokémon to counterattack Gengar.
Although Gengar held an absolute advantage in raw strength, the overwhelming difference in numbers meant that, even in its rage, it was gradually being suppressed in this unequal battle.
Offense, support, defense, coordination in every aspect was flawless.
Only Psychic-type Pokémon could achieve this level of precision purely through their mental power.
If it were Pokémon of other types, no matter how long they trained together, they could never function with such machine-like efficiency.
Gengar soon began to show signs of fatigue.
"Then, I'll have to trouble you, Wobbuffet."
A Psychic Town resident looked toward a Pokémon that had yet to join the fight.
"Sona~si!"
Wobbuffet opened its mouth wide and let out a cry.
Invisible psychic waves surged back and forth between it and the weakened Gengar.
It was Telepathy.
However, Wobbuffet's expression looked far from comfortable.
Telepathy required entering the opponent's mind.
That meant Wobbuffet would experience Gengar's thoughts and emotions directly.
Wild Ghost-type Pokémon, due to their feeding habits, often harbored minds filled with madness, darkness, and even brutality.
For Wobbuffet, these negative emotions were anything but pleasant, causing intense discomfort.
But when facing an enraged wild Ghost-type Pokémon, this was the only remaining method of communication.
"Sona…"
After a long while, Wobbuffet finally opened its small eyes in exhaustion.
On the devastated battlefield, Gengar let out an angry roar, then turned and retreated.
"A Drowzee raised in Psychic Town, along with a man and woman wearing gray outfits with red human lettering?"
After receiving Wobbuffet's feedback, its Trainer wasted no time relaying the results to the town chief.
"That's Team Rocket, isn't it? Their reach is getting longer and longer."
Madam Sanada, standing beside the chief, frowned.
In both the Johto and Kanto regions, that kind of attire left no room for doubt.
"But gray uniforms mean they're just standard operatives, right? Who gave them the nerve to come here?"
The townspeople began discussing among themselves.
"For now, don't worry about their intentions. Let's repair the damaged buildings first, and also report this to the Pokémon League."
The town chief tapped his cane against the ground. Once everyone quieted down, he continued.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"I'll inform Iyuki and have him teach Team Rocket a lesson."
A middle-aged man nearby made the suggestion.
"I think that's fine. How the League handles it is their business, but if our town doesn't respond at all, who knows what people will think?
We can't let others believe we're easy targets."
"Exactly."
"Yeah, any random nobody thinks they can come here now."
Several residents voiced their approval.
The old town chief nodded slightly.
"Alright. Go speak with Iyuki, but don't disturb him too much.
There have been rumors in recent years that the League plans to establish independent Elite Four members. Iyuki is striving toward that goal."
He reminded him seriously.
"Don't worry. I know what matters."
The man who proposed it smiled happily.
"Tch… once Iyuki becomes an Elite Four member, Psychic Town will be even more impressive."
A friend beside him teased his two young sons.
"Nishu, Sanshu, you two better learn well from your big brother."
"Big brother is the strongest!"
"Big brother will definitely become the strongest Psychic-type Trainer!"
The two children expressed their admiration without hesitation.
Everyone chatted happily, as if the incident earlier had already been forgotten.
Elsewhere—
Cassidy and Butch, now inside Psychic Town, spotted Silas.
"Hmm?"
Sensing someone sneaking up on him, Silas instinctively turned around.
Two fairly familiar figures were suddenly in full view.
"Cassidy and… Butch?"
Silas looked surprised.
As rivals and perennial failures of Team Rocket's trio in the anime, he remembered them quite clearly.
Besides, James had mentioned them occasionally in casual conversation.
For a moment, the three people, plus Ralts—stood awkwardly in the middle of the road.
Cassidy shot Butch a look.
Why isn't he asking who we are?
Butch.
How would I know? He's not saying anything.
"You two—"
Silas was the one who finally broke the silence.
"Since you asked so sincerely and since common sense says we wouldn't answer, We'll generously explain ourselves—"
The two hurriedly began their motto.
"I know already. Team Rocket's Cassidy and Butch, right? You've got guts, showing up here."
Silas cut them off bluntly.
Butch felt that their first official mission was truly cursed.
Not even getting to finish their full motto.
"We're famous already? Hahahahaha!"
Cassidy's thought process, however, went in a completely different direction.
Silas gave her a strange look.
Honestly, no wonder she could be on the same wavelength as Jessie.
In such a short time, Silas had already figured out their purpose.
At this point, it was obvious, Giovanni wanted to recruit him.
"I don't know if you—"
"No.
Also, for James's sake, I'll let you go this time. Leave now, and I won't turn you over to Officer Jenny."
Silas interrupted Butch again—rudely, at least from Butch's perspective.
"We're here to invite you to join Team Rocket."
Butch still forced himself to finish the sentence.
He couldn't let the mission fail without even saying a complete line.
Silas tilted his head slightly as he looked at him.
Cassidy's temper instantly flared.
"You bastard! Just a blond brat, acting so arrogant!"
She snarled.
Just as Silas thought she might foolishly challenge him to a fight, Cassidy instead grabbed Butch by the collar and turned to leave.
"Interesting."
Silas stroked his chin thoughtfully.
That decisiveness was… excessive.
"So we're just leaving like this?"
Butch asked weakly.
"He already rejected us. What's there to ask?"
Cassidy replied casually.
"No, this is our first official mission.
If it fails, it'll sound awful."
Butch was getting anxious.
Cassidy scoffed.
"So what? It's not like we're the only ones whose first mission failed."
Seeing that Butch still didn't understand, she sighed and finally explained.
"Didn't you hear it? That guy has a connection to James."
"And so?"
Butch still looked confused.
"So, let's assume the worst-case scenario.
If we keep pushing him, he'll either turn us over to Officer Jenny, or he'll join Team Rocket.
If he joins, do you think Jessie and James, those two idiots, won't benefit from his support and get noticed by the higher-ups?
There's no need for us to help them succeed just for the sake of completing one mission."
A strange light flickered in Cassidy's eyes.
That red-haired, short-tempered woman—
how could she ever deserve to be tied with Cassidy for first place in the academy evaluations?
Cassidy intended to suppress her forever.
"Secondly, the fact that this mission was assigned to us means the higher-ups don't know James has a relationship with the target.
That's a serious taboo within the organization.
We can easily file a report saying the target refused because of his personal connection to James."
Only then did Butch finally understand.
When she put it that way, turning around and leaving really was the best option.
"And lastly, who said our mission completely failed?"
Cassidy glanced at the people in the distance repairing the buildings destroyed by Gengar, an insidious smile curling at the corner of her mouth.
"Should we follow them and take a look?"
Watching Cassidy and Butch disappear from his line of sight, Silas felt a slight temptation to pursue.
But after thinking it over, he abandoned the idea.
There was no need.
According to James, Cassidy and Butch had just graduated from the Team Rocket Academy.
Their team was classified as the lowest tier among Team Rocket's official operatives.
In that situation, turning them over to Officer Jenny would accomplish nothing.
They had no criminal record worth pursuing.
At most, they'd be detained for two or three days before being released.
Silas also didn't believe he could extract any meaningful secrets about Team Rocket from them.
At this moment, Silas had no idea that the disturbance in Psychic Town had been caused by Cassidy and Butch.
All that could be said was that the two of them truly had talent when it came to being villains.
As for whether revealing his connection with James would cause them any trouble—
Silas only thought one thing.
You're seriously underestimating the power of the Sasaki family.
He didn't believe for a second that the Sasaki family was unaware of their eldest son joining Team Rocket.
Otherwise, why would Giovanni deliberately assign Jessie and Meowth as James's partners?
Jessie might look like a liability at times—
during training, she went through more than ten partners, but her abilities were unquestionably top-tier.
She abandoned partners only because they held her back.
Jessie was proficient in medical treatment, broadcasting, cooking, and even ninja techniques. Later, during her journey following Ash, she also became a capable Coordinator and Performer.
Even within the Pokémon League, such talent wasn't common, let alone within Team Rocket.
As for Meowth, he was even more extraordinary.
Possibly the only Pokémon in the world capable of speaking human language, his intelligence far exceeded normal limits.
Combined with his bizarre inventions, Silas honestly felt that Meowth might be more suitable as a protagonist than Ash.
Stealing and getting beaten up →
Going to Hollywood to chase dreams →
Being rejected by the Meowth he loved and reshaping himself to act like a human →
Being rejected again →
Joining Team Rocket with ambitions of becoming the strongest—
That was practically a novel protagonist's template.
Rather than worrying about Cassidy and Butch reporting James, Silas felt he should worry about himself instead.
Giovanni had finally taken notice of him.
Silas sighed helplessly.
"Ral."
Ralts, "holding" the yellowed book with Psychic power while reading, gently comforted its Trainer, sensing his frustration.
"It's fine. We'll deal with it when it comes. Besides, it doesn't seem like he's particularly interested in me yet."
Silas patted Ralts's head reassuringly.
If Giovanni truly wanted him to join Team Rocket, Cassidy and Butch wouldn't have been sent.
Ralts turned another page of the book floating in midair and nodded solemnly.
Whether it understood Silas's words or not was anyone's guess.
"Let's go. We've got the training method—we still need to reach the next city before nightfall."
Silas led Ralts out of Psychic Town through a different exit.
Viridian Gym, Far Away
Inside the familiar dark chamber—
"I see. So that's how it is."
Listening to the report from his secretary Matori, Giovanni slowly nodded.
"How is the research on rage-induced emotions progressing?"
"Everything is proceeding smoothly. Progress is around fifty percent, and the negative side effects are decreasing."
Matori, dressed in standard Team Rocket uniform, replied.
"Our Dragon-type Elite Four member seems unusually alert lately. Have someone draw his attention elsewhere."
"Then let Apollo handle it. He's good at that."
Their exchange was swift and efficient.
"Oh, right, have that team called… Butch or something go assist Dongbo."
Giovanni added just as Matori was about to leave.
"Yes."
A flicker of surprise passed through Matori's eyes before she acknowledged the order.
Being reassigned from standard operatives to directly assisting a Doctor was a major promotion.
Though she didn't understand Giovanni's reasoning, she executed the order without hesitation.
After all, this was Boss Giovanni.
In the darkness, Giovanni gazed at a photograph resting on the desk.
It depicted two women standing side by side.
"So… are you still alive?"
Goldenrod City
Prosperous. Radiant. Brilliant.
This was Goldenrod City.
At sunset, Silas stood atop the mountains, gazing down at the vast coastal metropolis, breathing deeply of the fresh air.
This was the "Shining Pearl," rivaling Saffron City in Kanto.
The largest city in the Johto Region, Goldenrod was its economic and technological center.
The Goldenrod Radio Tower, Goldenrod Department Store, Goldenrod Game Corner, and Goldenrod Gym all drew Trainers from far and wide.
In other cities, a building dozens of stories tall might be considered a landmark.
In Goldenrod City, such buildings were everywhere.
Even the Pokémon Center stood out—
because it was massive, sprawling, and incredibly tall.
To the west, a deep-water harbor operated continuously.
Passenger ships and cargo vessels moved in perfect order, mirroring the rhythm of the city's people.
Even before entering, Silas felt a long-lost sense of pressure and tension.
Something the wilderness could never provide.
And he loved it.
"I can smell it, the scent of money~"
...
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