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"Ring! Ring! Ring!"
"The target is being pursued! All units, converge on Sector 16!"
"I repeat! All personnel, report to Sector 16 immediately!"
By pure coincidence, Eddie had just finished concealing himself when the facility's alarm system began blaring throughout the underground laboratory.
As the piercing alarm echoed through the corridors, every Team Rocket member who had been stationed in the underground research facility, including the squad captain, rushed toward the exit in obvious urgency.
Within moments, only the research staff remained in the subterranean laboratory.
At this critical moment, only Eddie and the bald researcher possessed any real combat capabilities among those present.
"Beep! Beep! Beep!"
Just as Eddie was preparing to make his move, his Pokedex suddenly emitted a series of quiet electronic sounds, which startled him enough to retreat deeper into the shadows of his corner hiding spot.
Fortunately, Team Rocket's blaring alarm system was loud enough to completely mask the subtle beeping sounds coming from Eddie's communication device.
Eddie quickly retrieved his Pokedex, opened it carefully, and discovered that he had received a text message—specifically, a message from the person to whom he had made a promise earlier.
"Handsome guy, I need your help!"
Just five simple words, accompanied by a detailed location address.
"Ding! You have received a distress message from Green, triggering a hidden mission: Green's Crisis!"
"Mission objective: Rescue Green, who has been surrounded by Team Rocket operatives. This situation must be completely resolved to successfully complete the mission!"
Looking at the remarkably close address and the unexpected additional hidden mission that had just appeared, Eddie displayed a satisfied smile across his face.
He now had two active missions, but their content was essentially identical—both involved dealing with Team Rocket, which was exactly what he had been planning to do anyway.
However, if Eddie hadn't made that promise to Green previously, she wouldn't have contacted him directly at this crucial moment, and he naturally wouldn't have received this particular hidden mission.
The promise he had made to Green had directly transformed into the hidden mission he desired, which was essentially equivalent to exchanging 100,000 Pokedollars for a valuable hidden mission. This development was definitely not a loss—in fact, it could be considered a significant profit, since mission rewards were typically much more valuable than mere Pokedollars.
After all, Pokedollars were simply currency, but mission rewards were things that could genuinely improve his overall strength and capabilities.
"But there's no need to rush right now. Green can hold her own for a while longer. I'll clean up this place first," Eddie thought to himself.
Eddie put away his Pokedex and prepared to deal with this underground laboratory facility first, then proceed to rescue Green from her predicament.
Green's abilities were quite formidable. She had asked Eddie for assistance because there were too many Team Rocket members for her to handle alone, and in her moment of need, she had suddenly remembered Eddie's promise, prompting her to urgently send him a message.
Additionally, she had no way of knowing that Eddie was currently in Celadon City at this time. She must have been prepared to resist Team Rocket's initial offensive and then establish a defensive position until Eddie could arrive to rescue her, so Eddie didn't need to worry about Green being overwhelmed immediately.
"But this is reality, after all. Many things have deviated from what I previously imagined. I'd better resolve this situation quickly," Eddie reminded himself.
Eddie didn't dare delay too much longer, and under Haunter's protective concealment, he began moving slowly toward the bald researcher's position.
He felt confident that he could neutralize all the other researchers within a few seconds, but he wasn't entirely confident about his ability to subdue this particular bald researcher successfully.
Although he possessed the Power of Viridian, this bald researcher was clearly an Elite-level trainer. While Eddie could potentially achieve victory by directly using his ultimate techniques, doing so would probably cause this entire facility to collapse, and perhaps even destroy a significant portion of Celadon City in the process.
Therefore, when choosing between a direct confrontation and employing underhanded tactics, Eddie decisively selected the latter option.
"What?! Who are you?!" the bald researcher suddenly exclaimed.
Just as Eddie was approaching the bald researcher and preparing to initiate his attack, the man suddenly turned his attention toward Eddie's position, which should have been completely hidden by Haunter's abilities, and shouted with obvious alarm.
"Is this the intuition that comes with being truly powerful? Unfortunately, Blaine, Gym Leader of Cinnabar Island, I don't intend to kill you, so your survival instincts aren't quite as sharp as they could be!" Eddie thought to himself.
The bald researcher was indeed Blaine, the Gym Leader of Cinnabar Island whom Brock had asked Eddie to locate previously. Eddie was certain that Brock would never believe that Blaine was actually a member of Team Rocket.
But now that Blaine had encountered Eddie, Eddie wouldn't hold back just for the sake of reviving the ancient amber specimen in Blaine's possession.
Eddie hadn't forgotten about the Elite-level Arcanine he had observed at Mr. Fuji's location. Blaine was an Elite trainer capable of facing ten trainers simultaneously without showing restraint. Eddie understood that Blaine's capabilities were far beyond ordinary levels.
Eddie had also been a powerful trainer before his reincarnation, so he naturally understood that strong trainers possessed their own form of intuition, especially when their lives were in genuine danger. This intuition was often more accurate than logical reasoning and could seem completely unreasonable to outside observers.
However, conversely, if someone's life wasn't actually in danger, or if their opponent harbored no killing intent, this survival intuition would be significantly weaker.
So when the bald researcher reacted and discovered Eddie's presence through his intuitive senses, the situation developed beyond Eddie's initial expectations.
Haunter immediately bound Blaine with its ethereal, misty body, not only restricting his physical movements but also removing all the Poke Balls from his belt and transferring them to Eddie's possession.
Simultaneously, Eddie released Greninja, Pupitar, Lucario, and Charizard from their Poke Balls.
As soon as Greninja and Charizard materialized, they immediately used Smokescreen, completely filling the entire underground laboratory with thick, obscuring smoke.
At that moment, all the researchers working in the underground laboratory were instantly alarmed by this obvious intrusion, and they began running around frantically in their attempts to escape the facility.
Unfortunately for them, Pupitar had moved directly to the staircase leading upward and had positioned itself like an immovable mountain, effectively blocking the researchers' only route of retreat.
Lucario, meanwhile, relied on its Aura abilities to target the researchers who were already confused and running blindly through the Smokescreen, systematically knocking them unconscious one by one.
After Greninja had finished deploying its Smokescreen technique, it followed Eddie's instructions and fired an Ice Beam directly at Blaine, instantly freezing his hands and feet in place.
After completing these actions, both Greninja and Haunter joined in the effort to incapacitate the remaining researchers throughout the facility.
As for Charizard, it naturally remained at Eddie's side, standing guard to prevent any unexpected complications.
Blaine observed Eddie's entire operation unfold, and he didn't show any particular concern for the anguished cries of the researchers who were being systematically defeated.
In fact, Blaine understood that even researchers who weren't directly affiliated with Team Rocket would display expressions of horror and disgust when witnessing the conditions in this underground laboratory. It was completely normal for a person with even the most basic moral conscience to feel murderous rage when confronted with the scene in this research facility.
Besides, Eddie wasn't actually killing anyone at the moment—he was simply breaking their bones or inflicting similar injuries. At least no one was being murdered. As for what would happen to these researchers later, Blaine couldn't bring himself to care about their fate.
Since this situation had developed as it had, there would inevitably be consequences to face. Even Blaine himself had been prepared to accept responsibility for coming to this place to conduct such experiments.
"Charizard... I never expected you to help that Charmander evolve into a Charizard in such a remarkably short period of time. I made the right decision when I entrusted that Charmander to your care," Blaine said, deliberately avoiding looking at the miserable condition of the other people in the laboratory. Instead, he focused his attention directly on Charizard and spoke words that completely shocked Eddie.