Jacob and Sylvia walked along the mountain trail, with Sceptile, Charizard, and several other Pokémon following close behind.
"Where could they be?" Jacob and Sylvia searched all over Back Mountain, but there was no sign of Lucia, Karl, or Eve anywhere.
"I have no idea." Sylvia frowned. "They should be around here somewhere."
"Is there anywhere else nearby they could have gone?" Jacob asked.
"There's the Underground World beneath Back Mountain… but only part of it has been developed so far, and that's where your Gigantamax Cinderace and Gigantamax Centiskorch are being kept." Sylvia's voice dropped to a whisper. "They wouldn't have gone down there, would they? I told her not to…"
"Let's go take a look." A bad feeling was creeping over Jacob.
… … … …
Back Mountain Cave
This place was strictly off-limits — no one from the Giant Laboratory was permitted to enter.
The moment Jacob and Sylvia stepped into the winding tunnel, a wave of heat rolled over them. They walked on for several minutes.
Little by little, the passage widened, the terrain opening up around them, and faint, cheerful voices drifted in from somewhere ahead.
"Go, Centiskorch! Use G-Max Centiburst!"
At the sound of that all-too-familiar voice, Jacob and Sylvia's expressions darkened at exactly the same moment.
"Let me go see what they're up to?" Sylvia looked a little embarrassed and made to hurry ahead to check.
Jacob reached out and held her back. "Let's go together — quietly."
The two of them crept forward on light footsteps, and soon they could hear Lucia's bright, excited voice coming from just around the bend.
"I am the boss of Team Rocket — Giovanni! Centiskorch, go!"
They rounded the corner, and the scene before them came into full view.
The Gigantamax Centiskorch raised its head high, and standing atop it was a small, familiar figure.
Lucia stood there with her hands on her hips, wearing a cheap imitation of a Team Rocket mask, playing the part of Giovanni and barking orders down at the enormous Pokémon beneath her.
What was more surprising still was how obediently the Gigantamax Centiskorch was following along, swaying its long body in time with her commands and puffing out little bursts of Ember.
Off to the side, the siblings Karl and Eve sat cross-legged on the ground, books open in their laps, reading with great concentration.
Meanwhile, the Gigantamax Cinderace paid no attention to any of it — not to Centiskorch, not to Lucia — and lay stretched out on the ground, resting.
"Ahem."
Jacob cleared his throat loudly, and every head turned toward him at once.
Karl and Eve shot to their feet, books forgotten, looking at Jacob with nervous, wide eyes. Their hands hovered anxiously at their sides, fidgeting with the hems of their clothes, clearly unsure what to do with themselves.
Lucia, for her part, was so startled that her foot slipped right off Centiskorch's head. Luckily, the Gigantamax Centiskorch reacted in an instant, dipping its head to catch her before she could fall, then setting her gently down on the ground.
"Didn't I tell you never to come into this cave?" Sylvia glanced sideways at Jacob's serious expression, feeling a twinge of unease herself, then turned back to Lucia. "Why must you always disobey me? Go back home — you're not allowed at the laboratory anymore."
"Wait — Sister Sylvia…" Lucia scrambled to explain. "I only came in because I heard Centiskorch and Cinderace and got curious! I promise… I won't ever do it again."
Sylvia's stern tone had clearly frightened Karl and Eve as well. Both of them stood frozen, heads bowed, looking every bit like children caught in the middle of a scolding.
"That's enough, Sylvia." Jacob's voice softened as he looked at her. "You don't need to put on this performance for my sake. I was only worried they might get hurt — and since they're fine, that's all that matters."
He understood well enough that Sylvia's harsh words were meant to protect him — she feared he would be upset, so she had scolded Lucia first, before he had the chance to.
At Jacob's words, a faint blush crept across Sylvia's face, and she looked a little sheepish. She smiled at him, her voice turning gentle as she rested both hands lightly on his shoulders — almost as though she'd used Charm on him. "I was only afraid you'd be angry."
Jacob let out a quiet laugh and shook his head. Then he turned his attention to Lucia, Karl, and Eve — the three young Psychics.
Among them, Lucia's gift was something called Changpan Power. It allowed her to speak with Pokémon mind to mind, to see through their eyes, sense their thoughts, speed along their growth, and even help them recover from injury far faster than normal.
But its rarest and most remarkable trait was its ability to forge a bond with a Pokémon so strong that it could noticeably raise that Pokémon's natural potential.
With a gift like Changpan Power, Lucia was, without question, a born Trainer.
Jacob had already spent a good deal of thought on how best to raise her.
At first, his plan had been to groom Lucia into a central figure within Team Rocket — perhaps, one day, its successor.
But lately, his thinking had shifted.
Rather than shaping Lucia into the next leader of Team Rocket, Jacob now hoped to raise her into the Champion of China, someone who could walk proudly out in the open, under the sun.
What was more, in the plan slowly taking shape in Jacob's mind, once Team Rocket had drawn together every hidden resource beneath the surface, the organization would need to find a way to step into the light and become legitimate.
Team Rocket could not remain in the shadows forever. All they needed was the right moment to prove their true strength to the world, reach an understanding with the Pokémon Association, and then they could finally come forward.
… … … …
"Lucia, I promised you a starter Pokémon of your own." Jacob's gaze settled on her, his tone gentle. "In a few days' time, I'm going to enroll you in school. If you do well there, I'll give you a Pokémon of outstanding aptitude to be your very first partner."
"Really?" Lucia's face lit up — but the moment she remembered the word "school," her excitement collapsed into a pout. "But I don't want to study! I want to join Team Rocket! I want to be a great villain — I want to be Giovanni!"
"Lucia." Jacob shook his head, coaxing her the way one might coax a stubborn child. "Even joining Team Rocket takes hard work and study. Go to school, apply yourself, become a fine Trainer — and then I'll let you join us."
"Really and truly?"
"Really and truly." Jacob nodded, then fixed her with a more serious look. "But listen carefully — while you're at school, you must never breathe a word about Team Rocket to anyone. Understood?"
"Mm-hm…" Lucia nodded firmly. "I know. Sister Sylvia already told me."
"Karl… Eve, come here." With Lucia settled, Jacob turned and waved the two siblings over.
At the sound of his voice, Karl and Eve edged toward him cautiously, still wearing that same uneasy, timid look — a look that made something in Jacob's chest tighten with quiet sympathy.
Compared to Lucia, Karl and Eve had come from far more difficult circumstances — and yet their potential, too, was greater still.
Even so, deciding how best to care for the two of them remained a difficult question, one Jacob had not yet found an answer to.