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Jacob lay on his bed that night, his mind racing with thoughts and possibilities for hours. The idea of establishing Team Rocket and integrating the entire Pokémon poaching industry chain would require extensive preparations, and both talented individuals and considerable strength would be absolutely essential for success.
However, Jacob currently lacked both critical elements. His only real source of power was Iron Valiant. Besides Iron Valiant and the Alakazam that had been lent to him by the Pokémon Association, Jacob's own personal strength as a trainer was quite mediocre at best.
As for recruiting talent, forming Team Rocket certainly wouldn't work with just himself alone - he would need dedicated subordinates and trusted allies. Therefore, this ambitious plan was somewhat premature for him at this point in his career and could only be temporarily shelved until he was better prepared.
Nevertheless, Jacob believed in planning ahead and preparing in advance for future opportunities. As the old saying goes, "If you are prepared, you will not be perplexed." While this goal might seem completely impossible for Jacob in his current situation, it might not remain impossible in the future as his power and influence grew.
Jacob found himself wondering: if he were to truly form Team Rocket someday, who could he realistically recruit to join his cause?
Caleb, who owned a powerful Infernape, Jonah, the commoner who had earned the title of Bug King, Amelia, and his best friend Kyle - among these potential candidates, probably only Caleb and Amelia would be willing to follow him into such a dangerous venture.
Jonah was already a popular internet celebrity with substantial income and no financial worries, and Kyle came from a very wealthy family, so there would be no need for either of them to work with him purely for monetary gain.
Amelia had signed a binding contract with the Xia family, essentially tying her fate to theirs for the foreseeable future, and Caleb had recently joined the Xia family's company as well. These two individuals were the most likely candidates to be brought into his organization.
Besides them, who else could he consider? Any team would always need experienced masters to provide leadership and guidance.
Jacob suddenly thought of someone unexpected - Dante - but quickly dismissed the idea entirely. He and Dante were enemies, and there was no possibility of cooperation between them.
He decided he would find an appropriate opportunity to carefully sound out both Caleb and Amelia about their thoughts and ambitions.
Meanwhile, in another room, Amelia and Maya were also lying in their beds, conversing in hushed voices through the thin walls. Maya was originally from Mindara City, and after graduating from Central University, she had returned to Mindara City to work for the local government. She had been assigned to this remote patrol station for a mandatory two-year support period, and in another six months, her term would finally expire and she could return to her comfortable city life.
While other members of the Patrol Team might not recognize Jacob or understand his significance, Maya certainly did. She had heard Jacob's name mentioned frequently when she returned to Mindara City for the New Year celebration earlier this year. She never expected to actually meet Jacob himself in person here in this remote wilderness, and even become his teammate, which made her feel genuinely excited about the unexpected opportunity.
Maya chatted with Amelia for a very long time that night. Women's conversation topics were always varied and sometimes strange to outsiders. They talked about everything from their backgrounds to their dreams, continuing their discussion until dawn finally broke, before they both finally fell asleep from exhaustion.
Life in the Patrol Team was monotonous and quite dull by most standards. Because the three patrol teams operated on rotating shifts, after completing their assigned patrol duties, one team could rest for a full two days before their next rotation.
During these two rest days, as long as there wasn't a major emergency requiring all hands, the members of the first team could move around freely and pursue their own activities, provided they didn't venture too far from the Patrol Team's base camp.
Most of the first team members preferred to stay in their rooms playing card games and drinking to pass the time. The weather in the Wilderness Area was particularly peculiar and uncomfortable - it was scorching hot during the day, making people sweat profusely, and freezing cold at night, making people shiver uncontrollably. Unless there was an important mission or a specific need to return to Green Mountain Town to purchase supplies, most team members didn't want to venture outside at all.
After Roger learned that Jacob had a King-level Alakazam protecting him at all times, he didn't place any restrictions on Jacob's movements, allowing him to act independently according to his own judgment.
Rare Pokémon were known to appear everywhere throughout the Wilderness Area, and Jacob had developed other plans beyond his patrol duties. He wanted to take full advantage of these two days off to explore the deeper parts of the Wilderness Area and see if he could encounter any particularly powerful or rare Pokémon.
It was well-known among trainers that even exceptionally rare Pokémon such as Larvesta, Zorua, Ditto, and Riolu occasionally appeared in the Wilderness Area. Jacob naturally wouldn't miss this golden opportunity, and even if he couldn't use these Pokémon for his own team, they would make excellent additions for his elder brother or father.
However, there were also strict restrictions on capturing Pokémon within the Wilderness Area boundaries. Each person could only capture one Pokémon in the Wilderness Area every two years. This limitation was also a conservation method used by the Wilderness Area administration to protect the local ecosystem.
Although Jacob currently didn't possess the official qualification to capture Pokémon in the Wilderness Area, if he really did manage to capture one, he could pay the substantial fee of one million Pokédollars to purchase a capture slot retroactively.
This arrangement was also an unspoken rule among the internal staff of the Wilderness Area. For example, Zhao Mirou, although her work assignment hadn't been for two full years yet and according to the official rules, she shouldn't be able to capture Pokémon from the Wilderness Area, had actually already captured and was raising a Pokémon of her own.
Although this was technically a violation of the regulations, once her two-year service period was completed, this 'illegal' Pokémon would automatically become completely legal under the system.
After sleeping for most of the day to recover from his exhaustion, Jacob woke up early on the second day of his rest period. He had made plans to take advantage of today's break to bring his Pokémon team and venture deeper into the Wilderness Area than he had been before. The Pokémon native to the Sundawn Plateau Wilderness Area were predominantly Ice-type species.
Jacob had currently caught Pokémon representing ten different types, but he hadn't managed to catch any Ice-type or Water-type Pokémon yet. If he had the opportunity, he definitely wanted to capture at least one representative from these missing types.
Speaking of opportunities, Jacob remembered his special item - the Panacea. He had spent considerable time carefully studying the Panacea's detailed description regarding its ability to change Pokémon abilities.
What Jacob remained uncertain about was whether this ability transformation could only change a Pokémon's ability into one that it could naturally possess according to known biological laws, or if it could change the Pokémon's ability into any ability that didn't violate fundamental natural laws.
If it was the former case, Jacob's first choice for a Pokémon to catch would naturally be Greninja, because Greninja possessed a completely unique ability among all known Pokémon species: Battle Bond, which allowed for a special transformation during battle.
Additionally, its dual Water and Dark typing represented two types of Pokémon that Jacob currently didn't have on his team, making it an extremely good fit for his long-term strategy.
Secondly, if it was the latter case, then Jacob would have many more exciting choices available to him, such as a Slaking with the Huge Power ability, a Charizard with Water Absorb... although that combination might be somewhat outlandish and unnatural.
Furthermore, there were other interesting options like a Swampert with Sap Sipper, an Electric-type Pokémon with the Safeguard ability, a Hydreigon with Contrary, a Ferrothorn with Flash Fire, and a Volcarona with Simple combined with Quiver Dance.
The unfortunate reality was that Jacob only possessed one dose of this precious potion, so he couldn't afford to experiment with different possibilities. To be completely safe and avoid wasting this rare opportunity, his best choice would be to capture a Froakie and evolve it into Greninja.
Waking up early in the morning, just as dawn was beginning to break across the mountain landscape, the weather felt slightly chilly against his skin. Jacob had already changed into a thick cotton coat, preparing himself for the day's expedition. As soon as he stepped outside his room, he happened to encounter Amelia in the hallway.
"Are you going out somewhere?" Amelia asked, observing Jacob fully equipped and geared up, as if he was about to embark on a significant journey.
"Yes, I'm planning to take a walk through the mountains," Jacob replied honestly, not attempting to hide his intentions from her.
"I want to come along too," Amelia said to Jacob, her expression remaining calm and composed. "Let's go together."
Faced with Amelia's straightforward invitation, Jacob nodded in agreement and said, "Alright, let's go."
Jacob had his own strategic considerations for bringing Amelia along on this expedition.
On one hand, due to the strict capture limit enforced in the Wilderness Area, Jacob could only capture one Pokémon during his time there. If he happened to encounter two different Pokémon with exceptional potential, he could allow Amelia to capture one of them, and he would pay to use her capture slot allocation.
On the other hand, Jacob also wanted to carefully sound out Amelia's thoughts and ambitions. He wanted to eventually integrate the entire Pokémon poaching industry chain under his control, and relying solely on one person's efforts would certainly not be sufficient for such an ambitious undertaking. He needed to find some truly "like-minded" individuals who shared his vision.
The two companions walked through the mountainous terrain together, chatting casually as they made their way deeper into the wilderness.
"Amelia, weren't you originally planning to become a Pokémon Nurse and Breeder?" Jacob asked as they walked through the dense forest. He removed his cotton coat as the morning progressed, since the rising sun made the weather grow warmer and the temperature more comfortable. "Why did you suddenly decide to change your path and become a Trainer instead?"
Upon hearing Jacob's question, Amelia's eyelashes fluttered slightly, and she continued walking at a steady pace, speaking softly as she replied, "There's no particular dramatic reason for the change. I used to want to be a Pokémon Breeder, but after working in a Gym for some time and meeting many different types of people, my perspective and thoughts gradually changed. I still have the desire to become a strong Trainer."