That night, after finishing his duties at the Celadon City base, Giovanni returned to the Viridian Gym.
Once he had dismissed the Trainers who had come to challenge the Gym, he opened a video call with Ariana.
"What did the four of them do today?"
Ariana stared at the report in her hand, silent for two seconds before answering truthfully.
"The girl spent the day wandering around the base, observing the layout. We had people watching her, so she never got near the core area. The chubby one and the lean one were asking other members about the locations of additional bases."
She paused.
Giovanni immediately caught it. His gaze sharpened.
"And the last one?"
Ariana opened her mouth, clearly reluctant, then read from the report in a flat voice.
"2:00 p.m.—Target treated a girl to coffee at Blue Mountain Café.
3:00 p.m.—Target went to the Pokémon Center and chatted with Nurse Joy for two hours.
5:00 p.m.—Target visited the Celadon Library, stayed until 7:00 p.m., and borrowed two books on Pokémon breeding.
8:00 p.m.—Target went to the night market, purchased a Tonsoku, and ate it while watching a Magikarp perform Splash."
Giovanni: …
Silence filled the room.
After a long moment, Giovanni rubbed his tired eyes.
"Put that matter aside for now. How is the Mewtwo Project progressing?"
Ariana straightened.
"The Mewtwo prototype is developing smoothly. It has been transferred to the core area of the base and is now under Dr. Fuji's full supervision."
She hesitated slightly.
"But Dr. Fuji's emotional state has been unstable lately. I'm worried it may affect the research."
Giovanni frowned.
"Stabilize him. No matter what. End call—another Trainer has arrived to challenge the Gym."
"Yes, Boss."
…
10:00 p.m.
Armin dragged a large suitcase back into the base.
As soon as he reached the dormitory corridor, he saw the other three standing outside his door, apparently waiting.
He first returned Mimikyu—who had fallen asleep in his hood—to its Poké Ball before asking,
"You guys… what's going on?"
Hannah explained calmly.
"I ran into them at dinner. Now that the instance difficulty has increased, the NPCs are clearly wary of us. I think we should unite."
Armin understood immediately.
"So you want to cooperate?"
Hannah nodded.
"Exchange information. See if we have anything the others need."
"Oh."
Armin opened the door with his access card and rolled the suitcase inside.
Floyd couldn't help staring at the overstuffed luggage.
"What's in there?"
"Local specialties from the Pokémon world, obviously."
Armin sat down, fingers interlaced on the desk, gaze sweeping across the three of them.
"Go on. Say what you want to say."
Floyd hesitated.
"You know that aside from Pokémon, nothing else from an instance can be taken out, right?"
"That's… unfortunate."
Armin sighed.
He had spent the entire afternoon shopping—aside from gathering information at the Pokémon Center and library, he had visited Celadon Department Store and purchased high-quality Pokéblocks.
Pokéblocks—nutrient-rich treats made from blended Berries, ideal for supporting a growing Pokémon.
They were expensive.
But since Team Rocket was footing the bill—
He felt absolutely no pain.
He didn't elaborate and instead asked,
"So? What did you find?"
Hannah answered concisely.
"There's an area in this base called the Core Zone. Security there is ten times heavier than anywhere else. I suspect something extremely important is inside."
Floyd added,
"We learned the names and locations of several other Team Rocket bases while chatting with members."
Armin stared at him.
…That counted as a clue?
Perhaps his expression was too obvious.
Rento noticed immediately and bristled.
"What about you? What did you find? Or did you just spend the day blowing Rocket money and flirting?"
Oh.
He was getting defensive.
Armin raised an eyebrow.
"And you? The two of you only got one clue? You want to trade half a clue for a full one? That doesn't seem fair."
"You—!"
Rento looked like he might slam his head into the wall.
Fortunately, Floyd grabbed him in time.
Rento ground his teeth.
"If player-versus-player combat wasn't forbidden, I swear you wouldn't live to see tomorrow."
"Oh? So players can't harm each other in this instance? Thanks for the info."
Rento nearly coughed up blood.
He clutched his chest dramatically.
Armin stopped teasing and turned serious.
"I only got one piece of information. Lance will arrive in Celadon City in two days."
Hannah's expression changed instantly.
Lance was a member of the Kanto League.
If she handed evidence directly to him, she could clear her mission immediately and exit the instance.
That meant she only needed to gather proof within the next forty-eight hours.
Rento also froze.
His mission was the same—collect evidence and report it to the Kanto League.
If this information was accurate, he too could finish in two days.
Floyd's eyes flickered.
His mission was different from theirs.
He didn't belong to Team Rocket.
Nor to the Kanto League.
He was an undercover agent from Team Galactic in Sinnoh.
With Team Rocket expanding operations into other regions, rival organizations had grown wary.
Cyrus had personally dispatched trained operatives to infiltrate Team Rocket.
Floyd was one of them.
Armin watched the three fall into thought and stood up.
"Alright. It's late. Go get some sleep. If whoever's monitoring us sees the four of us gathered here too long, they'll think we're plotting something major."
The others didn't linger.
Each left with their own calculations.
…
Once alone, Armin lay back on his bed and opened Mimikyu's status panel.
Mimikyu
Level: 11
Gender: Female
Type: Ghost / Fairy
Ability: Disguise
Egg Move: Destiny Bond
Moves: Scratch, Astonish, Copycat, Double Team, Wood Hammer
With its level increase, Mimikyu had naturally learned two new moves—Double Team and Wood Hammer.
Armin thought for a long moment.
Ariana had been right.
Real combat was the fastest and most effective way to grow stronger.
Time inside this instance was limited.
He couldn't afford slow, traditional training.
High-quality Pokéblocks and the affection of a caring Trainer—
Those were the only two advantages he could currently provide Mimikyu.
Twenty-nine days remained.
Unlike the other three, he wasn't in a rush.
He never fought a battle without preparation.
And clearly, training Pokémon and battling would become a central part of this instance.
Tomorrow—
He planned to wander the city again.
And carefully observe how Trainers in this world commanded their Pokémon in battle.
Because before rising within Team Rocket—
He needed to become stronger.