Everyone rested in the hall, waiting for their Pokémon to be treated.
After a while, the doors opened one by one. A Blissey pushed out several carts, followed by Teacher Joylin.
Teacher Joylin was also a member of the Joy family, so she had stepped in to help as soon as they arrived at the Pokémon Center.
The Blissey pushed the carts in front of Yoshino Eichi and the others. "Everyone's Pokémon have returned to health," Teacher Joylin said with a smile.
"They are all in the first row."
Eichi found his three Poké Balls on the top tier.
"Thank you, Teacher Joylin," Eichi said.
"You're welcome, it's just what I should do," Teacher Joylin replied with a smile.
She had now returned to her usual demeanor, looking completely different from how she appeared during the battle.
Then, Teacher Joylin turned to Tetsu. "Tetsu, your Houndoom's injuries were quite severe, so it might take a little longer for it to recover."
"I understand. Thank you, Teacher Joylin," Tetsu replied gratefully.
The Blissey then pushed the cart toward the other teachers.
At that moment, Teacher Rondo, who was sitting next to Eichi, spoke up. "Eichi, you did well this time! You truly are a student I taught."
Eichi looked at Teacher Rondo. The battle with Team Rocket had truly been an eye-opener for him.
It had allowed him to truly feel the strength of the Johto region's strongest academy.
Among the twenty-eight teachers, even the weakest had the strength of a Gym Leader. Teacher Rondo, in particular, possessed three Elite Four-ranked Pokémon among his six.
His Machamp was especially powerful, fighting two Team Rocket Captains simultaneously.
He had eventually captured them both, which was truly impressive.
"It was alright," Eichi replied with a humble smile in the face of Teacher Rondo's praise.
"You kid, acting humble with me again," Teacher Rondo said, laughing loudly.
After a while, the doors of the Pokémon Center pushed open, and Director Yanagi returned with two other directors.
After entering, Director Yanagi walked to a central position to make an announcement. "Everyone, listen to me for a moment."
Director Yanagi's expression was serious.
"The clash with Team Rocket has come to a temporary close. We have also successfully rescued the captured students and staff."
"Everyone captured many Team Rocket members, which is a great achievement. I will apply for rewards from the Principal once we return."
"In a moment, the police will escort everyone back to the academy. Everyone should go back and get some rest."
After speaking, Director Yanagi walked over to Eichi. "Eichi, you performed well this time. Officer Jenny would like to meet with you."
"Meet me?" Eichi asked, pointing at himself.
"Yes," Director Yanagi nodded.
Thus, a confused Eichi followed Director Yanagi to the police station.
The police station in Quiet Town was quite small compared to those in Blackthorn City or Cherrygrove City. Dozens of police cars were parked outside.
As they walked, Director Yanagi explained the situation to him. "When I reported the incident, Quiet Town did not have enough police officers, so they asked the surrounding towns for assistance."
"That is why police from several different towns are gathered here."
It was very crowded inside, with people rushing about. Director Yanagi led Eichi to the door of an office.
Knock, knock.
A voice from inside said, "Come in." Director Yanagi opened the door and walked in.
The layout inside was quite normal with nothing special about it; it was just a standard office.
There was only one person inside, Officer Jenny, who was writing something on a piece of paper at her desk.
Officer Jenny looked up and saw Eichi. "You've arrived."
"Hello, Officer Jenny. I am Eichi," Eichi said.
"No need for introductions. I know you, and I know all about your affairs," Officer Jenny said with a smile.
"Is that so?" Eichi replied.
Director Yanagi found a seat and sat down, and Eichi sat beside him.
"Officer Jenny, is there something you needed to see me for?" Eichi asked, somewhat puzzled.
Officer Jenny put down her pen and looked at Eichi seriously. "To thank you for rescuing all those staff members, of course."
"It was nothing. Saving them was also saving myself," Eichi said.
"Student Eichi, you are truly excellent and very talented," Officer Jenny remarked.
"Officer Jenny, what are you talking about? I don't quite understand," Eichi replied.
"Student Eichi, I know all about your past deeds," Officer Jenny said with a smile.
She picked up a piece of paper. "It is recorded here that you defeated the Rattata Poaching Group in Viridian Forest, stopped out-of-control Pokémon in Cherrygrove City and Blackthorn City, and defeated a trio of thieves in Goldenrod City."
"So it was those things," Eichi said, suddenly realizing.
Director Yanagi also spoke up. "Eichi, not bad. If Officer Jenny hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known you had done so many things."
"These things aren't really worth mentioning," Eichi said, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"By the way, Jenny, you didn't call me here just to tell me this, did you?"
"No, I just wanted to meet you," Officer Jenny laughed.
Eichi: "..."
On the way back, Director Yanagi explained the current situation to Eichi. Most of the Team Rocket members had escaped into the forest and could no longer be found.
Of those remaining, a portion had been captured, including over fifty ordinary members, twenty Squad Leaders, ten Captains, and one Executive.
It was truly a massive haul. The Executive named Yakusho had already been taken away by a helicopter sent by the League.
Now, there was one more important matter: tracking the whereabouts of the White iron ore.
They had learned through the interrogation of a Team Rocket Captain that the White iron ore had been transported to a warehouse in the mountains.
Team Rocket members had then disguised themselves as ordinary workers and disguised the White iron ore as common ore to ship it away.
However, Officer Jenny had already contacted other Jennys to search for that warehouse, and it was believed there would be news soon.
Elsewhere, inside a Team Rocket aircraft, Hiraoka and Sanzhi sat in a lounge with gloomy expressions. Sanzhi felt a deep heartache.
Five Elite Four-ranked Pokémon were gone just like that. How much time would it take to recover? He might even be replaced by then.
"What happened to you two? By the way, where is Yakusho?" Ogura asked curiously.
"It's all because of those people from Silver Academy," Hiraoka said crossly.
"I don't know why the students from their school ended up here."
"To keep them from ruining our plans, we captured them."
"But I didn't expect a few of those brats to be so hard to catch. They actually managed to notify that guy Yanagawa."
"We originally intended to withdraw before they arrived, but I didn't expect them to come so fast."
"We were caught off guard and could only notify you."
"Yakusho probably won't be coming back."