Rood couldn't understand Ghetsis's decision.
They had only just managed to bring Colress into the fold, and now Ghetsis wanted to send him off to Kanto right away. Wasn't he worried Colress would take the money and run?
"No, no, no. Colress has only just joined Team Plasma, and what we can offer him is the best deal among any organizations he could possibly access."
Ghetsis stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows of Plasma Castle, tapping his scepter against his palm in a steady rhythm.
Rood's confusion—and the look on his face—drew a faint, amused smile to Ghetsis's lips.
It was the kind of pity a chess player showed when a pawn tried to guess the general's intentions.
Ghetsis stared at his own reflection in the glass. In his eyes, images flickered one after another: the Shadow Triad kneeling in submission, N's gaze as clean and blank as untouched paper.
Colress's existence, for now, was nothing more than one more page added to his collection.
Tap.
Ghetsis's scepter lightly touched a wanted poster on the floor, the bounty printed on it so enormous it felt unreal.
Yes—Colress's bounty.
In Ghetsis's mind, giving a hunted beast a gilded cage and a limitless black card was a sweeter trap than any chain.
Even if Colress realized the truth later, so what?
By then, his research data and experimental samples would already be fused into Team Plasma's technology like flesh and blood—like altered genes that could never be separated again.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The scepter suddenly struck the ground with heavy thuds as Ghetsis softly hummed the melody of Team Plasma's hymn.
All pieces would return to their proper squares in the end. The only difference was that some were led onto the board with their eyes covered.
"Lord Ghetsis, I still think—"
Rood tried to continue, but he saw Ghetsis turn as if to leave.
"Fine. There's no harm in telling you the truth."
As Ghetsis passed Rood, his scepter knocked against the floor with a dull sound like a funeral bell, and his steps slowed.
He leaned down and whispered into Rood's ear.
"In the ruins of Team Rocket's base in Celadon City, there's something those Kanto League idiots still haven't discovered. Team Rocket's data on artificially created Pokémon."
"What?"
Rood's pupils shrank.
The importance of that was enormous.
"Surprised? But it's the truth. The Kanto League morons actually left that kind of data sitting there, unattended. If I were Team Rocket's boss, I'd laugh myself to death."
Ghetsis straightened with a soft chuckle and walked away.
"Here's a little fun fact: Team Rocket's artificial Pokémon is already complete—and its strength has reached… Champion level."
Rood was left standing there, turning Ghetsis's words over in his mind.
It was terrifying to even imagine.
Team Rocket had been running artificial Pokémon experiments in secret?
And from what Ghetsis said, it sounded like they'd already succeeded.
Champion-level strength.
What they were going to retrieve now was likely the finished experimental data.
After all, Ghetsis didn't make moves without certainty.
Whether it was the Shadow Triad, N, or Colress, Rood had to admit one thing:
When it came to manipulation, Ghetsis was truly skilled.
If Colress could bring back that artificial Pokémon data—and if they could reproduce the results—
Then Team Plasma would effectively gain another Champion-level asset.
As things stood in Unova, Champion Alder was old and worn down. Sure, he could still leap off a cliff like it was nothing, but his Pokémon's strength wasn't what it used to be.
His ace was only a Bouffalant that could barely keep pace with the main Pokémon of other regions' Champions.
It was laughable.
Rood felt Team Plasma was truly on the rise.
...
...
Kanto, Fighting Dojo.
A wonderful day vanished in the blink of an eye.
Night fell.
Grey received a message from Lance.
[Dragon Master Lance: Gym Leader Grey, are you free tomorrow? Or do you have plans to go anywhere?]
[Dojo Annihilape: Yeah, yeah. I'm heading to Celadon City tomorrow. Elite Four Lance, what's up?]
[Dragon Master Lance: Perfect. I wanted to ask you to go to Team Rocket's base in Celadon City. I have a feeling there's something the League's investigation missed. You have Aura power, so I think it's worth trying. If you find anything, you'll be generously rewarded.]
[Dojo Annihilape: No problem. But why are you bringing this up all of a sudden? Didn't the League send specialists in there before?]
[Dragon Master Lance: Team Plasma sent someone over. One of the Seven Sages. I can't spare myself right now, and I'm worried Gym Leader Erika can't handle it alone, so I thought of you.]
Lance felt that since Grey had been there once, he was basically familiar enough.
Erika hadn't been there, and her overall strength wasn't anything special—sending her would just be feeding her to the enemy.
For something dangerous like this, it was better to have someone like Grey, a trainer who could protect himself, go take a look.
[Dragon Master Lance: Oh, right. I also called Gym Leader Giovanni. You two meet up and go together.]
[Dojo Annihilape: Got it.]
After sending that, Grey fell silent.
What the hell?!
Giovanni was going too?!
Grey couldn't even imagine Lance calling Giovanni over for this.
Eight Gyms, pick one at random—and somehow you hit Giovanni? One-in-eight odds?
Ding-dong...
Speak of the devil.
Grey saw a message from Giovanni.
[Giovanni of the Earth: Gym Leader Grey, are we going to Celadon City together tomorrow? (handshake)]
[Dojo Annihilape: Fly with me on my bird.]
[Dojo Annihilape: Which bird do you want to ride, Gym Leader Giovanni?]
[Giovanni of the Earth: Articuno. Thanks for having me, Gym Leader Grey. Next time you go live, I'll toss in another Governor badge. (smile)]
[Dojo Annihilape: Big spender, Gym Leader Giovanni! No worries.]
[Giovanni of the Earth: See you tomorrow.]
[Dojo Annihilape: See you tomorrow. (wave)]
The chat was short.
Grey stroked his chin, unable to figure out what tomorrow was going to look like.
But if Mew was around, even if Giovanni tried to ambush him, it might not work.
Yeah. That was the confidence Mew gave him.
"Mew~" (Grey, you're starting to look like you can't live without me anymore. If this keeps up, my monthly friend fee is going up.)
The little Riolu walked over. Seeing Grey like this, it obviously knew what he was thinking.
"Ahem. Little Riolu, I'm really going to be relying on you tomorrow too."
Grey rubbed the little Riolu's head, then pulled out a sausage and waved it in front of its face.
"Mew." (No pork belly?)
The little Riolu had gotten picky. Food like this didn't satisfy it anymore.
"Next time for sure."
"Mew?" (So you're trying to freeload?)
"Come on. When have I ever lied to you? If I say 'next time,' then it definitely means next time for sure."
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