"Special… materials?!"
James, Jessie, and Meowth looked at one another, then seemed to reach some kind of consensus.
This sounded way too easy to accomplish!
"Leave it to us. Compared to you saving our lives, helping with this is really nothing at all!" Jessie slapped the table, sprang to her feet, and said solemnly.
"Yeah, yeah!" James and Meowth echoed.
"Is that really okay?" Terrance's eyes widened in surprise.
Next, after repeated requests from Team Rocket, Terrance finally, "reluctantly," "embarrassingly," and "unable to refuse their kindness," wrote out the materials list for them.
Terrance had been worrying about how to collect other rare minerals, but now that he thought about it, wouldn't it be much easier to obtain them directly from within Team Rocket?
During Mismagius's infiltration of Team Rocket, Lan Jenny and Jade Joy had gathered intelligence for him, including detailed explanations of Team Rocket's mission-ranking system.
Agents directly under the supreme BOSS, like James and his team, even have the authority to mobilize Team Rocket members at the captain level to assist in mission completion, as well as apply for mission funds.
This was exactly what Terrance had in mind when he asked them to help collect minerals. Team Rocket, which possessed several underground bases on Mt. Moon, practically monopolized a large portion of Pewter City's mineral trade. Since the trio was acting under Giovanni's orders, drawing some resources from within the organization shouldn't be difficult.
Thinking this through, Terrance found it amusing. Since Giovanni wanted the trio to build goodwill with him, he might as well go along with it and conveniently solve one of his own problems in the process.
However, to keep Team Rocket busy for a longer time, Terrance even made up a mineral name himself and added a description. In reality, this mineral didn't exist at all, so naturally it couldn't be found. If they actually managed to find it, it would be nothing short of a miracle.
"With the Float Stone secured and the supplementary minerals ready, the birth of the Desert Tyrant is just around the corner," Terrance thought eagerly.
In fact, Meowth and the others were also calculating the mission funds. This time, they were carrying out a task personally assigned by Boss Giovanni, bearing a heavy responsibility. Along with that came a vague sense of superiority, and naturally, they wanted to do something befitting their status.
"If it's just collecting items, Team Rocket's massive resources should make it easy," James thought to himself.
At the same time, Terrance reminded them, "Some of these minerals are easier to obtain, while others are quite rare. Since I need them urgently, you don't have to bring everything at once. Don't worry, I'll purchase them at market price."
"How could we accept that? This is our repayment, not a transaction. Don't worry, Terrance, we'll definitely collect all of these minerals for you!" James said confidently, going all out to maintain their "good people" image.
Hearing this, Terrance felt rather odd inside.
Just then, the lavish meal they had ordered was served. The Team Rocket trio hadn't eaten anything so luxurious in a long time. Once the dishes arrived and Terrance picked up his utensils, they immediately began devouring the food.
But after finishing, the three suddenly realized they didn't have a single coin on them. If Terrance paid for the meal… then before they had even repaid him, they would owe him yet another favor. Something about that felt off.
Seeing their predicament, Terrance wasn't surprised at all. This had been part of his plan from the start. Once they were full and burdened with guilt, they'd have plenty of energy and motivation to help him gather minerals.
After the feast, James, Jessie, and Meowth exchanged embarrassed glances. Terrance chuckled inwardly and walked over to settle the bill.
…
…
After the meal.
James, Jessie, and Meowth immediately said goodbye to Terrance. They wanted to complete their mission as soon as possible, so they didn't dare waste any time and went straight off to investigate the list Terrance had given them.
They didn't recognize any of the minerals on the list, but that didn't stop them from collecting them.
After all… it was all for a mission from Boss Giovanni.
After thinking it over, James and the others called headquarters directly. Giovanni's secretary, Matori, answered.
This woman, wearing glasses and looking stern, immediately showed a look of disdain when she saw James, Jessie, and Meowth: "Why is it you three again?"
"Hmph, Matori, we're about to complete the mission Boss Giovanni gave us. Soon you won't have much time left to boss people around," Jessie sneered.
"Oh? You're going to finish the mission?" Matori looked doubtful. These three could actually get something done?
"We're just one step away. We need to apply for mission funds and certain permissions." Jessie waved her hand helplessly, wearing an expression that said, "we're about to surpass you," and said, "Hurry up and approve it. If you delay a direct order from Boss Giovanni, you won't be able to afford the losses."
Hearing Jessie's words, Matori shot a look of cold contempt at James and the others through the screen. Losses? When it comes to causing losses to Team Rocket, who could beat the three of you?
"What mission funds? Wasn't your task to gain Terrance's trust?" Matori frowned, clearly sensing something was off. Were these three up to their tricks again?
"It's all to complete the mission better. If it were an ordinary task, we could handle it ourselves, but that would take too long. This mission was given directly by Boss Giovanni and is very important. If we could get exchange permissions and some mission funds, completing the task would be a breeze. We've already made contact with Terrance and are just one step away from winning his favor, so stop dragging your feet."
"If you really can't, let us talk directly to Boss Giovanni. We'll tell him ourselves."
"No need." Matori still frowned. For missions directly assigned like this, they indeed had the right to request mission funds. Personnel directly under the boss had a very high status. But the trio's situation was special. At the start, neither Giovanni nor Matori had paid attention to this. It was only when the three brought it up themselves that Matori realized it.
Even so, she really didn't want to help these three… because she always felt they'd mess things up.
For things like applying for mission funds and permissions, there is no need to disturb Giovanni. Matori thought for a moment, then took a deep breath and looked unkindly at James, Jessie, and Meowth, saying, "Since you're confident, I'll give you enough permissions. Remember, this is a mission Boss Giovanni personally gave you. Don't mess it up, or you know what the consequences will be."
Although she really couldn't stand the trio, Matori didn't want to see them fail again and make Boss Giovanni angry.
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