Night had fallen, yet the bustling streets of the seemingly prosperous Viridian City were still teeming with people. For them, nightlife was just getting started.

Disguised, Lance and Will arrived at a remote alley with no streetlights. Continuing down the alley, they stopped in front of an unmarked bar.

The two exchanged a glance before opening the door.

Clatter~

As the sliding door was pushed aside, the nameless bar inside turned out to be surprisingly packed. But the only one truly paying attention to Lance and Will was a completely expressionless server at the entrance.

"We're full. If you're looking to drink, head back to the main street… plenty of places there."

Lance tilted his head and looked at the server. Up to this point, everything happening inside this bar matched what Sato had predicted.

"There's always room to squeeze in. We can't afford to waste time," Will replied earnestly. At the same time, a wristband marked with an "Ⓡ" symbol peeked out from under his sleeve.

The server lowered his head slightly… then silently extended his right hand to lead the way.

They passed through the drinking crowd until they reached the back kitchen; throughout the entire walk, not a single person turned their head to look at them.

The server then lightly pressed a spot on the table. The wall that once held a refrigeration unit suddenly slid back, the entire fridge shifting sideways to reveal a pitch-black tunnel.

[Rapp, ID JH35282, Elite Action Unit Member.]

[Akiko, ID HL5641, Elite Action Unit Captain.]

[Upon entering the base, proceed to the mission handoff zone. Unauthorized intruders will be eliminated on sight.]

A cold, mechanical male voice spoke slowly. Lance and Will exchanged glances once more before stepping boldly into the passage.

Soon after, the refrigeration unit returned to its original position. The server glanced around the already-empty kitchen, then calmly returned to the front hall.

The bar's patrons continued their noisy chatter and drinking. Strangely, no matter how much they drank, their glasses never seemed to empty…

If one looked a little longer, they'd notice: these people were repeating the same actions again and again.

Clearly, they were all just… projections?

---◓---

While Lance and Will were infiltrating one of Team Rocket's hidden bases, Sato and his team -under the cover of Gengar- slipped quietly into Viridian Forest.

Under the moonlight, two dark shadows darted through the trees, seemingly searching for something.

Upon closer look, the two shadows were revealed to be Houndooms.

According to intel passed on by Haruka, Trish and Amber had left Viridian City and headed into the forest.

Team Rocket had more than one underground base in Viridian City, each operating independently with different roles.

Even if one base were accidentally exposed, the others would have time to evacuate.

In his past life, Sato had been an assassin. He was most familiar with the bases used for mission handoffs, mission assignments, and the detention of hostages and Pokémon.

And the one where Giovanni himself resided was undoubtedly the largest and most central base in all of Viridian City.

More importantly, that central base wasn't just connected to the underground of Viridian Gym… it also extended directly into Viridian Forest.

Not only was this ideal for escape routes, it was also because Viridian City had been practically hollowed out by Team Rocket. They had no choice but to expand outward.

So, based on memory, Sato led them toward a few entrances hidden within Viridian Forest, hoping to find any trace of Trish and Amber.

If they had really been captured, Trish aside, someone as experienced as Amber would definitely have left behind something.

That's why the sharp-nosed Houndoom and Zoroark were sent out. Zoroark, of course, transformed into one of the Houndooms.

Both were adept at operating in the dark, and since Houndoom, while rare in Kanto, wasn't unheard of, it wouldn't raise too much suspicion.

Naturally, Sato and the other two remained floating invisibly above, hidden under Gengar's Spatial Barrier, quietly waiting to see if Houndoom and Zoroark would find anything.

But even if they didn't find a single clue, Sato was still prepared to break into Team Rocket's underground base.

"Awoo~"

Suddenly, Houndoom let out a howl.

A discovery!

"Let's go, over there."

"Mhm!" x2

Soon, the three of them arrived beside Houndoom, who was holding a dark gray ancient coin in its mouth.

Relic Silver!

There was no doubt this had been left by Amber. It was also one of those ancient relics Zillion once collected without restraint back when he was still active in the Pokémon world.

"Nice work, Houndoom! From here, start a full sweep of the area. And I'm counting on you too, Zoroark!"

"Howoo~"

"Zoro!"

The two Pokémon responded affirmatively, then each took one side and began carefully searching again.

Before long, both Pokémon had found several more Relic Silver coins: gold, silver, and copper alike.

And the direction in which the coins had been scattered gradually led the three deeper into the heart of Viridian Forest.

"This is already really deep in. It'd be hard for an ordinary person to get here…"

Joseph frowned as he sensed the presence of several Elite Pokémon in the area.

"Boss, that means there's definitely an entrance to a Team Rocket base here, right?" Mark couldn't help asking.

After carefully confirming the location, Sato finally nodded with certainty. "Yes!"

"Awwww yeah! Then let's head in already!" Mark clenched his fists in excitement and threw a punch into the air, not forgetting to urge the others on.

"Hold on, we're waiting for one more reinforcement."

This time, Sato wasn't in any rush. Instead, he turned to Gardevoir and said, "Please go and bring him over."

Gardevoir gave a small nod, then vanished in a flash of white light.

Only a few seconds later, it reappeared… with a burly, muscular man dressed in a martial arts uniform by its side. Despite his size, there was nothing sluggish about him.

"Y-you… You're Elite Four Bruno!"

"Mhm. Your Gardevoir… not bad."

Bruno nodded calmly; perhaps in response to Mark's surprise, or maybe simply to compliment Gardevoir.

"Elite Four Bruno, we'll be counting on you."

"No problem. Though I didn't expect that a casual promise back then would end up dragging me into an infiltration of a Team Rocket base. Heh~ If I'd known that… maybe I wouldn't have made the promise so easily."

Though Bruno looked stern and upright, the fact that he could "joke" with Sato came as a bit of a surprise to everyone.

Sato nodded but didn't respond to the "joke". He simply turned and pointed toward the base entrance, signaling the others to follow.

"Hidden presence…? that's Gengar's special ability, right? Pretty impressive! If you become a League Investigator, Team Rocket's going to have a real headache."

Clearly, Bruno didn't yet know that Sato was already set to become an Investigator. But with Gardevoir and Gengar at his side, Sato's skill set was undeniably perfect for infiltration.

…And that wasn't even counting Zoroark's Illusion Ability!