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The next morning, Eddie woke up early as he always did and logged into the game right after breakfast.
He had already taken care of his internet research the night before, searching for information before going to bed.
Although Eddie had been somewhat well-known before, he'd never been famous enough to trend across the internet.
But yesterday, after his victory against Moltres, his fame had exploded overnight.
"Wow, almost every website is talking about me. No matter which page I click on, it's all the same stuff. I should use this last bit of time to focus on training instead."
With that thought in mind, Eddie logged into the game early.
As usual, with Eevee perched on his head and Pikachu sitting on his shoulder, he stepped out of his room. That's when he spotted a suspicious-looking bald man who appeared to be sneaking out quietly in the early morning hours.
"...Um, good morning, Eddie. I didn't expect you'd be up this early too," Blaine said awkwardly.
Blaine had been planning to slip away and find somewhere to rest for a day or two while he dealt with the mysterious amber he'd obtained.
It wasn't that he didn't want to have a gym battle with Eddie—he was just exhausted from yesterday's match. Although he'd recovered somewhat today, the thought of another grueling battle two days in a row was too much. Give an old man a break, would you!?
His plan had been to leave early in the morning after leaving a note in his room explaining his absence. But he'd run straight into Eddie the moment he stepped out.
Well, so much for that plan.
"...I got up early to train, of course. We don't have much time left before the tournament. Actually, Blaine, I wasn't planning on challenging you today. I was going to train on my own since you looked pretty worn out from yesterday's battle," Eddie said.
"But now that I see you're up and about, looking so energetic and all, how about we start the gym battle right now? No point in delaying, right?"
Eddie raised an eyebrow and smiled—a smile that made Blaine's face go pale instantly.
"Oh no, Eddie was actually going to give me some time to rest, but I had to go and try sneaking away. Now he's seen through me and wants to battle immediately!"
When Blaine heard Eddie's words, he couldn't help but curse his own bad luck internally.
He'd originally wanted to buy himself another day or two of rest, but when he saw Eddie's knowing smile and the eager looks from both Eevee on his head and Pikachu on his shoulder, he immediately abandoned that idea.
It was clear that Eddie was worried he might run off again, so this time he wasn't going to give him any opportunity to escape.
"Well, I brought this on myself, didn't I?" Blaine sighed internally.
"Forget it. Let's head to the gym and get this over with. The sooner we battle, the sooner I can rest," Blaine finally said with resignation.
"Alright then, lead the way to your gym," Eddie replied.
Seeing that Blaine had accepted his fate, Eddie signaled for Eevee and Pikachu to ease up on the pressure they'd been putting on the gym leader.
Blaine rolled his eyes at this. He knew perfectly well that those two adorable Pokémon had been acting on Eddie's instructions all along.
But it didn't matter now. He gestured for Eddie to follow him and began walking toward the gym he'd prepared for their battle.
Meanwhile, at the same time Eddie and Blaine were preparing to start their gym battle, something else was happening elsewhere.
In the Kanto Region, at Pallet Town.
Lt. Surge had arrived there with a large contingent of Team Rocket members.
"Listen up, everyone! Arrest all the townspeople immediately!" Lt. Surge commanded.
"If anyone resists—if they're a Trainer, beat their Pokémon soundly but don't go overboard. If they're not a Trainer, knock them out gently without killing anyone, understand?"
"If anyone violates either of these rules, I will personally break both your arms and legs, tie you up, and leave you here to face the wrath of certain people!"
Lt. Surge had been a soldier before becoming a gym leader. He understood that for operations like this, clear warnings to subordinates were essential—otherwise things could spiral out of control quickly.
Having your arms and legs broken might not sound like the worst punishment—after all, with this world's advanced technology, even injuries of that severity could be healed.
However, they were about to capture the residents of Pallet Town. Such actions would inevitably provoke the fury of many people, especially the Trainers from Pallet Town who were currently training elsewhere. Those Trainers would undoubtedly fight against Team Rocket with everything they had.
After all, Team Rocket would have destroyed their hometown and taken their families hostage—that constituted a blood feud worthy of revenge.
If those vengeful Trainers found a Team Rocket member with broken limbs tied up and abandoned here... well...
The Team Rocket members only had to think about that scenario for a moment to realize this punishment was a fate worse than death.
"Yes, Lt. Surge! We'll follow your orders exactly!" they responded in unison.
Seeing these subordinates looking appropriately frightened, Lt. Surge nodded with satisfaction, then waved his hand to mobilize everyone.
They went door to door, waking up all the townspeople, tying them up, and arresting them one by one.
At this time, some players had already logged into the game, and a few players still remained in Pallet Town. These players naturally noticed Team Rocket's activities and attempted to stop the kidnapping operation.
However, the players who'd stayed in Pallet Town were relatively weak Trainers, or simply casual players who wanted to enjoy the game world's peaceful atmosphere. There were hardly any strong players among them.
Naturally, Team Rocket defeated them instantly, and they received the same treatment as Pallet Town's residents—tied up and captured.
Actually, the players who were awake or logged in at the time were relatively fortunate. Even though they were caught by Team Rocket, at least they understood what was happening.
But there were others who hadn't logged in yet. Their avatars were essentially asleep in the game world. Team Rocket members wondered why these people could sleep so deeply while simultaneously packing them up and hauling them away.
When these players finally logged in, they immediately discovered they'd been captured by Team Rocket. They were completely confused, having no idea why they'd been caught the moment they entered the game.
The instant they were captured, the system directly notified them that due to their capture, all communication functions and forum access had been disabled, leaving only the option to log out of the game.
The system also warned players that it was best to log out during real-world bedtime—otherwise, if Team Rocket noticed anything unusual about their sleeping bodies, there was no telling what might happen to them.
In other words, this group of captured players couldn't send messages to alert other players that Team Rocket was kidnapping people in Pallet Town, and they couldn't log out easily either, as doing so might result in unimaginable consequences.
These players were stunned by the situation. They suddenly realized just how realistic this game was. While they found it intriguing, they didn't dare log out carelessly. After all, they'd heard plenty of rumors about Team Rocket. For the sake of their own "accounts," they decided to cooperate obediently.
After Lt. Surge confirmed that most of the work was complete, he personally led a team toward Professor Oak's Laboratory.
"I hope those rumors about him are false. Otherwise, even with Zapdos, I'll be in serious trouble," Lt. Surge muttered under his breath.
No one noticed that Lt. Surge was sweating profusely, his hand gripping tightly the Poké Ball containing Zapdos.