"That being so, there shouldn't be any trouble."
Delaney turned it over. Going through official channels, accidents were rare, and especially so at a time like this.
For that reason he had made certain of it one more time.
He had a hand of his own in the logistics department as well.
"There shouldn't be any trouble."
Delaney drew on his cigarette, his eyes narrowed, his gaze passing out through the smoke to the world beyond.
There was a very good chance of its coming off this time. If he got hold of a pseudo-legendary and still could not raise it, that would be his fate and he had no talent at all; in that case he would hold his position steady, take a wife, have children, found a family and lay up capital for the next generation.
With a pseudo-legendary in hand that would be enough to keep a small family going; the offspring of a pseudo-legendary were fine Pokémon in their own right, and there would be plenty of room to grow afterwards.
"Talent. In the end it isn't a thing a man can take by force."
Delaney said it with a sigh. He was held back by it after all; every scrap of his energy had gone into his career.
"Thud, thud, thud—"
At the logistics department the red lights had come on, and most of the equipment was sounding fault alarms.
A tense atmosphere settled over everybody there.
Afraid of being caught up in it, the floor fell into confusion; a great many people clung together and ran for the doors, terrified that something would go wrong with the machinery and injure them.
The "trio" mingled quietly into the crowd, slipped through it at speed and fell back, smiles all over the three of their faces.
Ha ha ha. They were rich.
Ordinary logistics department though it was, there had been no small number of good things in it — so they had not stood on ceremony.
They dropped into a sewer, changed into fresh clothes, and made their way through the dense tangle underground.
"Quiet!"
The head of the logistics department shouted it and steadied the situation; the technicians took their places, and after a certain amount of time had the fault repaired.
But what came next turned his face black.
On one of the walls was a great letter R, with mocking words underneath it, and the print of a cat's paw.
"Very well, very well. Team Rocket's James and Jessie, is it. Notify the investigation department and have them turn out."
He had never imagined Team Rocket would be brazen enough to strike here of all places, and one moment of carelessness on his part had let them bring it off.
At that thought the face that had been as black as charcoal went white instead, and he hurried off inside.
Sure enough, a great deal was missing.
None of it stood in the names of the men above him; it had all been put into his hands for discretion's sake. The value was considerable, and some of it was awkward to be seen with — and now there had been a slip.
He was in serious trouble. He hurried to get things in order, and then reported upward.
On a street in the eastern suburbs a manhole cover shifted, and a Meowth jumped out.
He looked round: the mouth of an alley, and nobody about.
"Come out, quick. Nobody here for the moment."
Meowth called it down.
Only then did James and Jessie jump out of the shaft.
"What a thrill. Our names must have made a great impression on them, ha ha."
Jessie said it with satisfaction; this success gave her an enormous sense of achievement.
"They'll come after us hard now, too."
James added it.
"So much the better. Next time we're back we can tell that wretch Cassidy about it — we're wanted this badly and she's still playing in the mud."
To a Team Rocket member's way of thinking, being wanted was not a bad thing at all but a good one.
It gave you standing.
The harder they hunted you, the more face you had. It had turned into a competition.
"Beep, beep, beep—"
"Eh? Who would be calling?"
Jessie said it in puzzlement, and opened the communicator; Vance's face came up on it.
"Branch Chief, sir."
James and Meowth both crowded in.
"Do you...... not know that the branch has been lying low of late? What do you mean by making a noise as loud as that??"
Vance said it with very little good humour.
"Eh? Is that so?"
Jessie scratched her head, and James and Meowth beside her were much the same. Oh dear — there had been something of the kind, now they came to think of it.
Only their hearts had been set on doing something big, and they had let it slip out of mind.
"Of course it's so. Giving you a free hand doesn't mean a blind hand. Now look at it — a great many plans will have to be adjusted. Do you pay no attention to how the branch is moving as a whole? Or did Ambrose not make it clear to the three of you??"
"Meowth — don't be angry, Branch Chief, sir. It was all for your sake. We caught a rare Pokémon this time, you know. We'll present it to you the moment we get back."
Meowth appeared in front of the screen and said it with a smile.
"A rare Pokémon??"
Vance doubted it without thinking. What rare Pokémon could these three come by? Other things they might manage, but at getting hold of Pokémon, going by the record he knew of, they were not much good.
"Very well, then. I'll wait for this rare Pokémon of yours. Mind the three of you keep yourselves safe."
Vance did not mean to pursue it any further; and as for the rare Pokémon in Meowth's mouth, he thought nothing of it.
He knew perfectly well what the three of them were worth. What rare Pokémon could they possibly get hold of?
Rarer than his own Pokémon?
"Yes, Chief. You may rest easy."
James pressed forward to say it.
When the call was over, the three of them looked at one another.
"We really shall have to watch that side of it in future. We aren't the only three out working, meowth."
Meowth said it blankly.
"So are we giving the Zorua to the Chief? Not to the Boss?"
Jessie asked it, puzzled. Her original thought had been to send it to Giovanni; it was only Meowth's stirring things up that had put a twist in it.
"To the Chief, I say. The Boss can come later. Hmph — with what we can do, we're certain to catch a better one to give the Boss. Or have the two of you no confidence?"
Meowth settled it, his arms folded against his chest, his face full of confidence.
With his wits, Meowth's wits, he could not come by a rare Pokémon?
What a joke.
James and Jessie thought so as well.
With a three-part combination like theirs, what was there they could not get??
So they set their minds at rest and it was decided: they would present this Zorua to the Chief.