"Ah, Elite Four Bruno!"

  It wasn’t until Bruno spoke that August noticed his presence.

  Bruno smiled at August. "I heard you were the one who discovered the intelligence about Team Rocket’s Cedon City base. That’s really..."

  He wasn’t sure whether to praise August or be furious at the incompetence of the League’s intelligence personnel.

  Setting Lt. Surge aside for now, just looking at the Team Rocket base beneath their feet—

  According to the intelligence gathered from inside the base, this Cedon City Team Rocket facility had been established as early as seven years ago.

  Yet, before August provided a lead, they had no clue about it.

  Lance was also displeased with the bureaucracy of the intelligence department.

  However, he restrained himself and changed the subject:

  "Do you need any assistance, August?"

  August had been about to speak when Lance took the initiative to ask. Without hesitation, he replied, "Can you send some people over? I’ve got too many captives here. Blue and I are having trouble handling them all."

  "So many?"

  Lance was a bit puzzled. From the video he had seen earlier, the number of Team Rocket members didn’t seem too overwhelming. Was August exaggerating?

  "It’s a lot," August confirmed with a nod.

  Since August put it that way, Lance decided to go in person.

  After all, the only thing left to do in Cedon City was the cleanup work, which he could leave to Bruno and Erika, the Cedon Gym Leader.

  "Hold on, I’ll be right there."

  After hanging up the call, he had a quick exchange with Bruno before soaring into the sky on his Dragonite, heading straight for Vermilion City.

  ---

  Viridian Gym – Underground Base

  Sird and Carr, who had just escaped from Lance and Bruno, now stood in Giovanni’s office.

  "…That’s how it went, Boss Giovanni. In the end, we were only able to rescue a portion of our personnel," Sird reported respectfully.

  Hearing Sird’s words, Giovanni tapped his fingers on the desk. However, to Carr’s surprise, Giovanni didn’t dispy any anger. Instead, he asked a question:

  "How did the League find out about our Cedon City base?"

  Indeed, Giovanni’s first concern wasn’t the extent of their losses but rather the source of the information leak.

  From his position, the way he viewed problems was different.

  For someone who controlled the entire Team Rocket organization, losing a base to the League was merely a setback in manpower and resources—nothing that time couldn’t recover.

  But an intelligence breach? That could indicate a problem within Team Rocket itself.

  And that was far more dangerous.

  Since Sird and Carr had just returned from the Sevii Isnds, they had no way to answer.

  Beside them, Matori adjusted her gsses and spoke up:

  "According to reports from Cedon Base before it was taken down, about a week ago, someone won a huge sum of money at the Game Corner. Our people attempted to retrieve the money, but the team we sent out only managed to send a distress signal before disappearing."

  "The Tech Department recovered a recording from the communication device left at the scene. It indicates that the assaints were part of an organization called the 'Masked Corps'."

  "Cross-referencing our database, it seems there’s a group of masked individuals active in the Johto region. However, they are highly secretive, and we don’t have much information on them."

  "Johto? They dare to provoke Team Rocket? Leave it to me! I’ll track them down and deal with them!" Carr decred, his voice full of aggression.

  Beside him, his Forretress shook slightly, mirroring his emotions.

  Hearing this, Sird chuckled. "Carr, you’d fall for such a simple frame-up? You’re just as dumb as Lt. Surge."

  Carr, who had been speaking animatedly, flushed red at Sird’s remark.

  "Sird…!"

  He raised a hand, wanting to strike Sird, but due to their height difference, he could only reach her knee.

  "Enough."

  Giovanni’s voice put an end to their argument.

  Hearing his words, both Carr and Sird immediately fell silent, their expressions respectful.

  Giovanni stood up, turning his back to them.

  "Hmph. A frame-up, is it? Regardless, investigate this ‘Masked Corps’ first."

  "If someone went to the trouble of framing them, it means they have a significant conflict with this group."

  "As long as we follow the clues, we’ll find out who’s really targeting us."

  His words earned nods of agreement from those present.

  "Let me handle it, Boss Giovanni!" Carr volunteered.

  But Giovanni ignored him. "This matter will be left to our Johto executives. You two, return to the Sevii Isnds. Leaving only Orm there is not enough to handle Lorelei."

  Carr seemed like he wanted to say more, but in the end, he and Sird simply lowered their heads respectfully.

  "Understood, Boss Giovanni!"

  "Now then…" Giovanni was just about to dismiss the meeting when—

  Matori’s tablet suddenly chimed.

  She gnced at the screen, her expression changing as she looked up at Giovanni.

  "Lt. Surge has lost contact! Vermilion Gym may have been attacked. The situation is currently unclear, but a witness reported seeing Lance enter Vermilion Gym just now."

  "….."

  Upon hearing this, Giovanni didn’t respond immediately.

  However, both Carr and Sird could clearly feel the temperature in the office drop to freezing levels.

  ---

  Dragonite was capable of circling the globe in 24 hours.

  And among Dragonites, Lance’s Champion-level Dragonite was one of the fastest.

  It took only a short time for him to reach Vermilion City.

  Landing in front of Vermilion Gym, Lance felt an inexplicable sense of nostalgia.

  The st time he had come here was during st year’s routine assessment of Gym Leaders across the region.

  At the time, Lt. Surge’s Raichu had demonstrated excellent combat prowess, standing out even among Kanto’s Gym Leaders. It had left a strong impression on him.

  But now…

  Looking at the handwritten "Closed" sign at the Gym’s entrance, Lance shook his head and stepped inside.

  Unlike most Gyms, where staff would usually be stationed at the entrance to assist rookie trainers, this one was silent.

  Gardevoir stood at the door, holding a stone tablet, while numerous trainers in Vermilion Gym uniforms y sprawled across the floor.

  It was clear—they were all Team Rocket members.

  Lance reassessed his estimation of August’s strength.

  "Gardevoir, where’s August?" Lance asked.

  Gardevoir’s blue-glowing eyes opened, and upon hearing Lance’s question, she pointed toward the battle arena.

  So, August was still inside.

  "Thanks!"

  After thanking Gardevoir, Lance approached the arena doors.

  Pushing them open—

  He saw August engaged in a Pokémon battle with Blue.

  That was his first impression.

  But after watching for a while, Lance realized—this wasn’t a normal battle. It was a lesson!

  August’s Pokémon was an incredibly agile Eevee.

  Under his precise command, Eevee effortlessly dodged Clefable’s attacks. Whenever Blue made a mistake, August had Eevee capitalize on it while expining the errors in Blue’s tactics.

  "Professor Oak recommending August as a lecturer at Cedon University… That was spot on."

  From what Lance knew, not a single instructor in Cedon University’s Pokémon battle department could match August’s teaching ability.

  August, noticing Lance’s arrival, signaled Blue to stop.

  "Lance, you’re finally here..." August wore an expression of relief, as if he had been waiting desperately.

  "…?"

  Wasn’t that a bit much?

  Lance gnced at Lt. Surge and the dozen or so Team Rocket members in the corner.

  "Even with the ones outside, you could handle this on your own, couldn’t you?"

  "Well… Forget it. Just take a look for yourself."

  August led Lance to a basement storage room in the Gym.

  Creak—

  The door opened.

  And Lance was utterly stunned.

  Nearly a hundred unconscious Team Rocket members, handcuffed together, were packed into the cramped space like a school of Wishiwashi.

  August chuckled beside him. "And that’s just part of it. I’ve got over forty more in my hotel room..."