Pokemon: With Title System

Chapter 66: What It's Like to Have Exceptionally Capable Subordinates

During the livestream, after responding to Asahi's Super Chat, Iono swiftly shifted away from the controversial topic and instead started dancing to a newly learned fitness routine.

In Asahi's arms, Eevee watched the screen and, as if inspired, began hopping along with her.

Her fluffy ears swayed back and forth, making her look ridiculously adorable.

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When Green arrived at the battlefield, she was met with a bizarre sight.

Asahi was sitting in a chair, staring at his phone with an oddly amused expression.

Gardevoir, still holding onto the Psychic Plate, sat beside him with her eyes closed, meditating to recover her expended energy.

Meanwhile, Eevee wobbled and swayed in Asahi's lap, occasionally letting out soft "Vee~ Vee~" sounds.

"...What are you guys doing?" Green asked, puzzled.

In an instant, Asahi shut off the livestream and shook his head. "Nothing, just killing time on my phone. Anyway, did you finish collecting the evidence?"

Hearing this, Green smirked and waved a hard drive in her hand.

"Everything's here. More than enough to convict Lt. Surge!" She glanced at the unconscious Gym Leader on the floor.

The files stored in the control room were shocking.

Over the years, Lt. Surge had used his position as both a Gym Leader and a high-ranking member of the Shipping Association to smuggle an insane amount of contraband and illegal equipment for Team Rocket.

Even though Green wasn't a scientist, after spending time with the Masked Corps, she had picked up enough to recognize that Team Rocket was working on some sort of major project.

Unfortunately, there was no mention of where these materials were being sent, so they were still missing a crucial piece of the puzzle.

Asahi listened to Green's report and took the inventory list she handed him.

A quick glance showed that most of the smuggled goods were biological research equipment and genetic materials.

That was all he needed to know.

New Island. Mewtwo.

Ever since Mew had mentioned sensing another of its kind, Asahi had already suspected this. Now, it was all but confirmed.

He shook his head at Green. "Forget about that for now. Let's wrap things up here first."

Mewtwo…

Even if it had only just been created, it was way beyond what he could handle right now.

His priority was cutting off Team Rocket's resources and getting stronger.

"What's next, then?" Green asked, glancing at the faint light of dawn.

"We stay put and wait."

Asahi planned to remain at Vermilion Gym, waiting for the Rocket members Lt. Surge had sent out to walk right into his hands.

And while they were at it, he wanted to hear from Lance.

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Celadon City

For the residents of Celadon, last night had been chaotic.

The entire city had been wracked by battles.

First, the League was hunting down Team Rocket.

Then, Rocket reinforcements arrived and turned the tide, pushing back the League forces.

And finally, just before dawn, something happened—

Suddenly, all the Rocket grunts stopped resisting and fled the city.

The rapid shifts in momentum left people's heads spinning.

At the now-destroyed Celadon Game Corner, battle scars covered the area.

League officials had completely sealed off the ruins.

Hibiki, one of Kanto's Elite Four, stepped out of the Game Corner, his arm wrapped in bandages, following Lance.

"Did not expect to take a hit during what should've been an easy mission." Hibiki rubbed his injured arm.

It was only a minor wound, but for someone who trained with Pokémon daily, it was still surprising.

"Bad luck," Lance replied bluntly.

The mission had started smoothly.

They had sealed off the Game Corner and systematically searched for the hidden Rocket base.

And they found it—a concealed entrance in a storage room.

So far, so good.

But just as they entered the base to begin their raid, reinforcements arrived.

Two of Team Rocket's Three Beasts, Sird and Chakra, showed up and ran into the League forces guarding the perimeter.

And, as expected, the moment Rockets and League members met, a battle immediately broke out.

The commotion outside gave the Rocket grunts inside the base a chance to escape.

The League trainers found themselves under attack from both sides.

Ultimately, it took Lance's Champion-level Dragonite to drive off Chakra and Sird—

But even then, a lot of Rocket members managed to get away.

It was frustrating.

Lance exhaled sharply, trying to push aside his disappointment.

Instead, he turned his thoughts to Asahi in Vermilion City.

"...Wonder how Asahi is doing over there."

He had barely won his fight, and over in Vermilion, it was just Asahi and Green.

It was hard not to worry.

He pulled out his communicator and called Asahi.

The first thing to appear on the screen wasn't Asahi's face.

Instead, it was Eevee's big, curious eyes peering directly into the camera.

"Eevee, move. You're blocking the screen."

A hand reached in, picking Eevee up.

Then, Asahi's face appeared.

Lance felt a wave of relief—he looked fine.

But before Lance could speak, Asahi beat him to it.

"Lance, what happened in Celadon? You were offline for a while."

"...Tch."

Lance gave him a rundown of the battle.

Then he asked, "How's it going on your end? If you didn't find anything, you can back off for now. With the Celadon base gone, Rocket will be even more cautious."

It was a fair point.

After a major loss, Team Rocket would obviously go on high alert, making it nearly impossible to gather more intel.

But—

Lance noticed Asahi's expression shift.

"...What?"

Without saying a word, Asahi simply turned the camera.

On the screen—

Lance and Hibiki saw Lt. Surge, unconscious, handcuffed, slumped against the wall.

Beside him, several restrained Rocket grunts squirmed uselessly.

"...?"

You… already caught Lt. Surge?!

And Asahi wasn't done.

Turning the camera back to himself, he held up a USB drive.

"This contains all of Lt. Surge's smuggling records for Rocket. More than enough to convict him. I'll send it to you in a bit."

Having an extremely competent subordinate—

Lance really felt that now.

It was a huge relief.

But at the same time, he also felt pressure.

Meanwhile, Hibiki, unbothered by any such concerns, just looked at Lt. Surge and shrugged.

"Lance told me Lt. Surge might be working with Rocket. Guess I should've believed him sooner."

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