[Mimikyu has fallen into a near-faint state!]
[Mimikyu defeated Vileplume! Massive experience gained!]
[Mimikyu leveled up!]
Three notifications flashed in rapid succession.
The instant surge of HP from leveling up forcibly dragged Mimikyu's health bar back from zero.
Its Pikachu disguise tilted sideways, the crudely drawn face slanting at an awkward angle—but it had not lost the ability to battle.
It had exploited a level-up mechanic.
Instead, Vileplume collapsed under the backlash of Destiny Bond, its massive body hitting the floor with a dull thud.
Silence fell over the room.
"This… that's impossible, right?"
Floyd stared in disbelief.
A Level 1 Mimikyu had crossed a twenty-four-level gap against a Level 25 Vileplume—and not only survived, but executed a perfect counterkill.
Ariana glanced at her unconscious Vileplume, then slowly licked her red lips. Her eyes narrowed with growing interest as she turned toward Armin.
Without warning, she asked, "What's your name?"
Armin was still trying to straighten Mimikyu's crooked disguise and answered without looking up.
"Armin."
"Armin…" Ariana murmured softly, as if tasting the name.
Then, suddenly—
"Do you know Lance?"
Armin's hands paused.
Only then did he lift his head and meet her probing gaze.
"Lance the Dragon Master? I doubt there's anyone in Kanto who doesn't know him."
Ariana held his stare for a long moment.
Then she shifted her attention to the others.
"Team Rocket has only one requirement for its members."
"Absolute loyalty."
"I don't care what you were before you joined. From this day forward, your past is irrelevant. If you live, you live as Team Rocket. If you die, you die as Team Rocket."
She paused, her tone turning cold—almost chilling.
"As for the consequences of betrayal… trust me. You don't want to find out."
"Of course!" Floyd was the first to step forward. "I swear, I would never betray Team Rocket!"
Ariana's expression returned to its previous lazy indifference, as if the icy warning moments ago had never existed.
She shrugged lightly and looked at Armin.
"Good. From today on, you'll report directly to me."
The way she said it carried an unmistakable undertone.
I've chosen you. You're mine now.
Armin blinked. "Me?"
Ariana raised an eyebrow. "Problem?"
He shook his head immediately, posture straight.
"Of course not. I'm honored."
Ariana smiled faintly and recalled Vileplume.
Truthfully, she had already lost interest in training recruits.
In fact, that had never been her real purpose.
With her position as a Team Rocket Executive, she would never personally oversee beginner training under normal circumstances.
The real reason she came was simple.
Giovanni had received intelligence that the League had begun moving. Several investigators had infiltrated Team Rocket as undercover agents.
Ariana—Team Rocket's master of observation, deception, and performance—had once served as a spy herself. If anyone could identify infiltrators, it was her.
And the results?
Interesting.
Among the four newcomers, at least three were suspicious.
-----
After leaving the conference room, Ariana took an elevator down to the deepest level of the base.
The doors opened into a dimly lit chamber.
A man in a tailored black suit sat casually on a leather sofa.
His hair was cropped short. In his right hand, he held a glass of red wine. With his left, he idly stroked the sleek fur along Persian's back.
On the massive screen before him, footage of the battle in the conference room played silently.
"Boss, what do you think?" Ariana reported her observations in full.
Giovanni's dark eyes were unfathomable.
A confident smile rested at the corner of his lips.
"Good," he said calmly. "Deal with the two at the Mt. Moon base first."
"As for these four… let them be. I have my own plans."
-----
Back in the conference room, the four players exchanged looks.
Floyd studied the two newcomers suspiciously.
"Your missions aren't infiltration-related, are they?"
Before Armin or Hannah could respond, Rento's expression stiffened slightly.
He snapped irritably, "What mission they have is none of your damn business! Damn it, my stomach hurts—go find me some toilet paper!"
The deflection was obvious.
Armin suspected Rento's mission might be the same as his own.
But Floyd seemed accustomed to Rento's domineering attitude. Without thinking much of it, he grumbled about Rento's "toxic gas attacks" and left the room.
The underground base was enormous.
Employees moved freely and could even leave for the city if they wished.
With Ariana's departure, the tutorial phase of the instance had officially ended.
From here on out, everything depended on the players themselves.
Armin wasn't in a hurry.
He still had thirty days to complete his mission.
But as he sat in the cafeteria, sharing a meal with Mimikyu, two global notifications suddenly appeared on his personal panel.
…
[Player Warren has died.]
[Player Simone has died.]
[Instance difficulty has changed!]
[All players will receive significantly increased rewards upon mission completion!]
…
Mimikyu had survived alone for a long time before meeting Armin.
It had learned to read emotions.
The instant its Trainer's expression changed, it noticed.
Its disguise tilted slightly. One Pikachu-like ear drooped to the side.
Confusion filled its small frame.
"I'm fine," Armin said softly. "Don't worry."
He steadied himself and ignored the notifications.
Instead, he continued eating Team Rocket cafeteria specialties—
Sticky rice balls and creamy mushroom soup.
Mimikyu didn't doubt its instincts.
But it didn't understand what troubled its Trainer.
So it could only sit there quietly, wrestling with silent worry.
Armin, meanwhile, was reviewing Mimikyu's status panel.
After defeating Vileplume, the little Pokémon had skyrocketed to Level 11.
As a responsible Trainer, he felt he absolutely had to shower his partner with praise.
But when he finally looked up—
He noticed Mimikyu had been sitting there, frozen in thought for quite some time.
Mimikyu didn't eat like ordinary Pokémon.
It had to slip food under its disguise to consume it.
Armin was curious about its true form.
But he felt it would be rude to ask before they were properly acquainted.
He wondered if his earlier distracted response had hurt Mimikyu's feelings.
Meanwhile—
Mimikyu worried that its newly obtained Trainer might not like it after all.
And so—
A first-time Trainer, and a Pokémon who had just gained its first Trainer—
Both fell into quiet self-doubt at the same moment.