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It was already deep into the night. After collecting the free Pokémon and the items he had exchanged for with a hefty amount of contribution points, Sato hurried back to Baku's quarters.
Instead of going straight to bed, he immediately released the three Pokémon he had just obtained. With his Swampert's "persuasion," the Lapras, Pikachu, and Staryu quickly adjusted their attitudes and became obedient.
Sato then used a Thunderbolt TM to teach Staryu the move.
Of course, no matter how talented Staryu was, its first attempts didn't even meet the basic standard of Thunderbolt — at best, it was only as strong as Thunder Shock.
That was fine, though. With Pikachu — already a master of Thunderbolt and Electric Terrain — guiding it, Staryu progressed rapidly. By using Camouflage within the Electric Terrain Pikachu created, it shifted its own typing to Electric, and its learning speed soared.
The reason Staryu could use Thunderbolt at all was thanks to its unique core — a ruby-like crystal. This gem was not only its life source, but also contained mysterious powers.
That miraculous core allowed this Water-type Pokémon to convert its bio-energy into electricity.
And no matter how often the rest of its body was damaged, as long as the core remained intact, Staryu could regenerate — which was why it could master the powerful recovery move Recover.
Meanwhile, Pikachu followed Sato's orders and removed the mutated Thunder Orb it normally carried, replacing it with the standard Light Ball Sato had recently exchanged for.
The standard Light Ball didn't boost power as much as the mutated orb, but its side effects were minimal. With it, Pikachu could freely control its power and achieve perfect precision.
Once Staryu and Pikachu were taken care of, Sato turned his attention to locating Prof. Todd. His method was simple: he pulled out a photo of the doctor and sent his composed Duskull to search for the man within the base.
As a Ghost-type, Duskull had the ability to turn invisible and phase through walls. To him, the heavily fortified Team Aqua base was practically defenseless. Unless he revealed himself, he was nearly impossible to detect.
This made him the perfect choice for the mission.
Misdreavus, on the other hand, was left out. Sato figured that if he sent her, she'd stir up chaos in the base, and might even end up as a prisoner alongside Prof. Todd.
After making all the arrangements, Sato didn't sleep. Instead, he chose to replace rest with meditation.
Meanwhile, Duskull began his great adventure, phasing through the base, carefully searching for the man in the photo.
...…
The night passed without incident. At 7 AM, Sato awoke from his deep meditation to the sound of his alarm. After washing up, he stepped out of the Team Aqua base.
"Sure enough, plans can't keep up with changes. This is tough… The League won't launch its attack until the day after tomorrow. Right now, my chances of rescuing Prof. Todd are slim. Even if I get him out of the base, escaping pursuit across the open sea will be nearly impossible."
In the officers' section of the Team Aqua cafeteria, Sato mused irritably as he ate a free, hearty breakfast.
Duskull's overnight search had succeeded.
Through telepathy, Sato learned Prof. Todd's situation. The doctor was imprisoned in a submarine docked at the base's fifth underwater level.
The news wasn't good. Evidently, his refusal to cooperate had led to brutal torture. His body was covered in wounds.
If not for his strong build and the physical training of his youth, he might already be dead. As it was, he was unconscious, suffering from a high fever, and in critical condition.
Upon hearing this, Sato knew he had no time to waste. If he delayed, the man he brought back to Captain Reggie could very well be a corpse.
But rescuing him required two conditions.
The first was to infiltrate the submarine on the fifth level. According to Duskull's scouting, the vessel was heavily guarded both inside and out.
The place where Prof. Todd was held was the submarine's most secure core area, under maximum surveillance. Neither a frontal assault nor a surprise teleportation was viable.
For a smooth infiltration, Sato needed a proper identity.
Fortunately, that wasn't too big a problem. Duskull had reported that many of the submarine's crew wore white lab coats — clearly Team Aqua researchers.
If Sato disguised himself as one of them, he could get inside without trouble.
Finding one would be easy enough. After all, researchers were people too — they needed to eat, drink, sleep, and relieve stress.
Most of them were men, and their research lives were no doubt boring and stressful. Naturally, they'd need healthy outlets.
That meant Sato would likely find them in the entertainment sector on the base's third floor.
The second condition was what to do after rescuing Prof. Todd. Since the League hadn't attacked yet, Team Aqua had plenty of resources and manpower to chase intruders.
Sato didn't believe that his teleportation ability made him invincible. In the middle of the vast ocean, even he had to bow to the might of Team Aqua.
Escaping alone wasn't the issue — he was confident he could evade pursuit. But carrying a gravely ill man would make things much harder.
If he wanted to succeed, he needed powerful outside help.
"It's your time to shine again, old captain."
After thinking it through, Sato pulled out a communicator and sent a brief message to one of its numbers.