After completing a series of tasks and establishing his presence, Aoki once again vanished without a trace.
Although his disappearance was sudden, no one paid much attention to it, assuming he was either hiding to train his Pokémon or pursuing a major criminal.
In reality, Aoki had directly left the Hoenn region and headed to the Kanto region, which was currently a mixed bag of people.
The Kanto region was truly a melting pot of individuals at that time.
The impending division of Kanto into the Kanto and Johto regions was no longer a secret, so many people had emerged, including numerous outsiders hoping to gain some benefits.
Aoki's arrival in the Kanto region was not to seek benefits, but due to a summons from Giovanni.
After half a year, Giovanni finally contacted Aoki again, reportedly for a crucial internal Rocket Team meeting that required Aoki's attendance.
He arrived at the Rocket Team base in Viridian City once more.
Dressed in a black robe and wearing the executive medal, Aoki moved freely within the Rocket Team base.
Perhaps because of the impending important meeting, the base's security was very tight; even ordinary squad leaders were unable to move around freely within the base.
Aoki went directly to Giovanni's office.
Knock, knock—
"Come in!" Giovanni's voice was still full of vigor, exuding a strong sense of confidence.
Pushing open the door, Aoki stepped inside.
The office's layout remained unchanged, but several people were seated on the sofas.
It seemed Giovanni hadn't called Aoki to his office alone.
Aoki quickly scanned the individuals seated in different positions on the sofas.
A person dressed in a purple ninja suit, with only their eyes visible, sat alone on a single sofa, toying with a unique four-pointed weapon, likely a shuriken used by ninjas, in their palm.
Directly opposite him, on another single sofa, sat a middle-aged man with a commanding posture, dressed in a military uniform, appearing very robust and flamboyant.
On the longest sofa in the middle, four people were seated—three men and one woman—all wearing white Rocket Team uniforms. They didn't converse, simply occupying themselves.
Not far from the sofas, a woman floated in mid-air, legs crossed, as if she didn't wish to associate with those seated on the sofas.
Although Aoki had only personally met Sabrina, who was floating in mid-air with her psychic abilities, the identities of these individuals were self-evident; Aoki could even name each of them.
They were the Rocket Team's three most mysterious executives, also high-ranking and special undercover agents within the Kanto League.
Sabrina, the Gym Leader of Saffron City and the Psychic Queen!
Lt. Surge, the Gym Leader of Vermilion City and the Commander!
Koga, the Gym Leader of Fuchsia City and the strongest assassin, the Ninja!
The four individuals in the middle were the most active members of the Rocket Team within the Johto region: the Four Generals of the Rocket Team—Apollo, Athena, Lance, and Lambda!
Everyone present in this room was a top-ranking Rocket Team executive, Giovanni's most capable subordinates.
As Aoki entered the office, everyone subtly glanced at him. Upon noticing his face was obscured by a psychic mist, they couldn't help but curl their lips.
To still conceal his identity in this office.
However, Sabrina, with her psychic abilities, although unable to completely penetrate Aoki's psychic mist, immediately recognized him as the original source of Aoki's psychic power.
She instantly teleported beside Aoki, her face filled with curiosity and bewilderment, "It's truly astonishing that your psychic talent has allowed you to achieve this!"
Although in Sabrina's eyes, Aoki's psychic abilities still couldn't compare to hers, he was no longer utterly defenseless.
Just as Sabrina appeared before Aoki, the two had a brief and subtle psychic confrontation. The victor was, of course, Sabrina, but she gained a message from Aoki during this encounter: he was no longer the helpless young man.
In fact, not just Sabrina, but anyone who had paid even slight attention to Aoki's information could probably guess his identity, and Koga was one of them.
Sabrina stared at Aoki for a very long time, but ultimately held back from testing his depths.
Firstly, because this was Giovanni's office; although she looked down on most of the people in the office, she dared not act presumptuously in front of Giovanni.
Secondly, because of the widely circulated battle video of the Sandstorm Elite Four member, which showed the destruction of an entire island and the vast crimson sand. Sabrina knew that Aoki might no longer be the Aoki she could easily manipulate; his strength made even her feel a great deal of pressure.
"Ms. Sabrina's psychic talent is truly astonishing," Aoki said calmly.
He still chose to cover his face with a psychic mist.
Since he had chosen to show his true face in the League, he still needed to conceal his face within the Rocket Team.
Having the same name wouldn't be an issue, but if there were more similarities under the same name, it wouldn't be so easy to explain.
Koga, seated on the sofa, also subtly glanced at Aoki a few times. He knew Aoki's identity and that, as a junior, becoming a regional Elite Four member before him was indeed quite remarkable.
Another new Elite Four member was appointed in the Kanto region, but it wasn't him, Koga, but a youngster like Lorelei. It was because those old fogeys in the League believed Lorelei had more potential and charisma than him.
As an Ice-type Elite Four member, coupled with her image, she could project a sunny image for the League.
It was because of these ridiculous reasons that his renewed application was rejected, which had left Koga fuming with suppressed anger, almost leading him to assassinate Lorelei.
Putting everything else aside, among the current four Elite Four members in the Kanto region, Koga felt he could silently assassinate three of them, with the cunning Agatha being the only exception he wasn't confident about.
As a ninja proficient in various assassination techniques, his abilities were beyond imagination.
But before he could act, he was stopped by Giovanni, who had detected it beforehand.
After Aoki entered the office, Giovanni merely nodded slightly at him, not speaking, as if waiting for something.
He didn't wait long before the office door was knocked again, and three more people entered, standing side by side like three signal bars on a phone.
They were the Three Beasts, one of Giovanni's secret weapons within the Rocket Team!
Upon seeing these three imposing individuals enter, the atmosphere in the room instantly grew heavy.
The top brass of the Rocket Team's combat division had gathered!