That evening, Giovanni returned to the Viridian Gym after wrapping up work at the Rocket Base in Celadon City...
After sending off a few challengers, he dialed a video call to Ariana.
"What did those four do today?"
Ariana silently glanced at the report in her hands, pausing for two seconds before answering truthfully:
<...The girl wandered around the base today, seemingly observing the layout. But we had people watching her, she didn't get close to the core area. The fat guy and the skinny guy were asking other employees about intel on other bases...>
Here, Ariana hesitated...
Giovanni noticed immediately. He raised his head, his gaze sharp, "And the last one?"
Ariana opened her mouth, then recited the report with a hint of exasperation:
<...At 2 PM, the target invited a girl for coffee at Blue Mountain Café. At 3 PM, he went to the Pokémon Center and chatted with Nurse Joy for two hours. At 5 PM, he visited the Celadon Library and stayed until 7 PM, borrowing two books on Pokémon training. At 8 PM, he arrived at the night market, bought a pig's trotter, and watched a Magikarp perform Splash while eating it...>
Giovanni: "…."
The air fell into an awkward silence.
After a long pause, Giovanni rubbed his tired eyes and said, "Let's set that aside for now. How's the Mewtwo Project progressing?"
Ariana replied:
<...The Mewtwo embryo is developing successfully. It's been moved to the core area of the base, now under Dr. Fuji's full supervision...>
She hesitated before adding:
<...But Dr. Fuji's mental state has been... unstable lately. I'm concerned it may affect the research....>
Giovanni frowned, "Do whatever it takes to stabilize his condition. I need to go now, another challenger just arrived."
<...Understood!..>
.....
At 10 PM, Caleb dragged a large suitcase back to the base...
As he reached the dormitory area, he saw the other three players loitering outside his room.
He first recalled the Mimikyu sleeping in his hat back into its Poké Ball, then asked, "What are you guys… doing here?"
Gwen explained, "I ran into them at dinner. Since the difficulty of this scenario has increased and the NPCs are already wary of us, I thought we should work together."
Caleb understood, "So, you're here to propose a collaboration?"
Gwen nodded, "Let's exchange the intel we've gathered and see if we can help each other."
"Oh." Caleb swiped his keycard to unlock his room and wheeled the suitcase inside.
Lucien stared at the bulging luggage and couldn't help asking, "What's in there?"
"Just some souvenirs from the Pokémon world." Caleb sat down at his desk, interlacing his fingers as he studied the three of them, "So, what do you want to talk about?"
Lucien hesitated, "You know you can't take anything out of the scenario except Pokémon, right?"
"What a shame." Caleb sighed regretfully.
He had spent the whole afternoon shopping... aside from gathering intel from Nurse Joy and the library, he had visited the Celadon Department Store to stock up on high-quality Pokéblocks.
Pokéblocks, delicious treats made from blended Berries, were packed with nutrients to fuel a growing Pokémon.
Though expensive, since Team Rocket was footing the bill, Caleb didn't feel the slightest bit guilty.
Without elaborating, he pushed the suitcase aside and asked, "What intel did you guys find?"
Gwen was concise, "There's a restricted zone in this base called the Core Area. Security there is ten times tighter than anywhere else. I suspect something important is hidden inside."
Lucien added, "We learned the names and locations of other Rocket bases by chatting with members."
Caleb raised an eyebrow, barely suppressing an eye-roll, 'That counts as intel?'
His expression must have been too obvious, because Victor immediately snapped, "And what about you? What did you find? Don't tell me you just wasted the whole day shopping!"
'Oh, he got triggered.'
Caleb smirked and fired back, "And what about you? Did you two really only gather one piece of intel? Trading half a clue for a full one isn't exactly fair."
"You—!" Victor looked ready to bash his head against the wall. Luckily, Lucien held him back.
Victor gnashed his teeth, "If this scenario didn't ban PvP, I'd make sure you didn't live to see tomorrow!"
"Oh, so players can't attack each other in this scenario? Thanks for the info, Fat Tiger."
'Fat Tiger?!' Victor nearly choked on his own rage, clutching his chest as he leaned against the wall, gasping for air.
Caleb decided to stop teasing him and turned to the other two, "I only found out one thing... Lance is arriving in Celadon City in two days."
He'd learned this from Nurse Joy. In two days, the annual Dragon-Type Pokémon Festival would be held, and Lance was scheduled to appear as a special guest.
Gwen's expression turned grave.
Lance was a member of the Indigo League. If she could provide him with evidence of Team Rocket's crimes, she could complete her mission and leave the scenario early.
She just needed to find proof within the next two days.
Victor was stunned too. His mission was also to gather evidence for the Indigo League. If this was true, he could finish his task just as quickly.
Lucien's eyes darted back and forth as he weighed the credibility of this information.
His mission was different from the others, he wasn't aligned with Team Rocket or the Indigo League.
His identity was that of a spy from Team Galactic in Sinnoh.
With Team Rocket expanding into other regions, rival organizations had grown uneasy.
Team Galactic's leader, Cyrus, had sent trained operatives to infiltrate Team Rocket and gather intel...
Caleb stood up, signaling the end of the discussion, "Alright, we've shared what we know. It's getting late, time to head back. If the people watching us see us gathered like this, they'll think we're plotting something."
The others didn't linger. Lost in thought, they filed out of the room.
Once they were gone, Caleb lay on his bed and pulled up Mimikyu's status screen.
«Mimikyu»
- Level: 11
- Gender: Female
- Type: Ghost / Fairy
- Ability: Disguise
- Egg Move: Destiny Bond
- Known Moves: Scratch, Astonish, Copycat, Double Team, Wood Hammer...
As it leveled up, Mimikyu had naturally learned two new moves; Double Team and Wood Hammer.
Caleb quietly considered Ariana's earlier words... "Battles are the fastest and most effective way to strengthen a Pokémon."
Time in the scenario was limited. He didn't have the luxury of slow, traditional training methods.
High-quality Pokéblocks and affectionate care were the only things he could provide Mimikyu for now.
With 29 days remaining, he wasn't in a rush like the others. He never fought a battle unprepared...
And clearly, training, raising, and battling Pokémon were essential aspects of this scenario.
Tomorrow, Caleb planned to continue his "shopping spree", and observe how the trainers of this world commanded their Pokémon in battle...