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"Liam! ...Vortex! Damn it! Good thing you showed up just in time, or those despicable bastards would've gotten what they wanted. Cowards, the whole lot of them! The moment things didn't go their way, they ran off as fast as a Kadabra! I swear, if I run into them again...!"
Liam coldly surveyed the snow-covered forested mountain ahead. He didn't bother giving chase—he knew better than to pursue desperate enemies. With that, he turned around and leapt off Aerodactyl.
At that moment, Takeshi came running over, cursing under his breath and fuming with rage.
"Hah! Even they knew they couldn't win and ran. Why do you always have to play the hero, huh? At the very least, you could've fought while retreating. What, planning to stay behind and cover the retreat? You trying to be some tragic martyr or something?"
Liam turned and glanced at Takeshi, then smirked and teased him right back.
"Well... I might've lost my temper a little," Takeshi muttered, scratching his head in embarrassment. "Look, I was under the boss's orders to come guard this place and establish a temporary base. But honestly, this wasn't even their first attack. The previous times were just probing strikes—they'd destroy a bit of our gear and flee. I don't get why they launched such a big operation today."
He pointed to what used to be their base—now nothing but rubble—with a puzzled look in his eyes.
Liam looked over at the wrecked temporary base and fell into thought before turning to ask Takeshi:
"Sounds like they were trying to gauge your strength at first. Once they figured it out, they launched this full-scale attack."
"And judging from how smoothly they retreated, they're clearly very familiar with the terrain around here. They might've been stationed in Mt. Silver for some time already, possibly with a hidden base of their own. You've been here for a while—did you notice anything suspicious?"
Takeshi blinked, then frowned, trying hard to recall. In the end, he shook his head helplessly.
"You're probably right... but we haven't been here that long. Most of our time has gone into setting up the base, so we haven't thoroughly scouted the area. I honestly have no clue where they could be hiding."
Liam sighed slightly. He'd initially assumed Giovanni's assignment was going to be easy—clearly, he'd been too naïve.
"Forget them for now. Have the team gather what salvageable equipment and supplies they can find. Then relocate everything to a more concealed location. We can't afford to stay in such an exposed area. I'll stick with you for a while—I've developed a bit of interest in Mt. Silver."
After thinking it over, Liam looked at the group of Team Rocket members standing behind Takeshi. They were all staring at Liam—and the Aerodactyl behind him—with expressions of awe and admiration.
Liam smiled faintly, then turned around and returned Aerodactyl to its PokeBall before speaking to Takeshi again.
"Yeah, I get it. We picked this spot because we were in a rush, but clearly that didn't work out. I'll take care of things here," Takeshi said, nodding, then turned to his subordinates and barked out:
"What are you standing around for? Didn't you hear the Vortex Leader? Squad One, start gathering all usable supplies. Squad Two, split into two groups—one group will scout for a new base location, the other will follow the enemy's retreat path. Do not engage them. If anything dangerous comes up, fall back immediately. Our goal is to find out where their base is located. Got it?!"
"Yes, sir!"
With a loud, unified response, the twenty or so Team Rocket members behind him scattered quickly, each setting to work on their assigned task.
The reconstruction effort began in an orderly fashion, though the recon teams had yet to return. Liam stood on a large boulder, staring at the mountains ahead while using his navigation device to pull up a 3D map of Mt. Silver. Unfortunately, only a small section was visible—the entire range was just too vast.
"Liam, seriously... thank you. If you hadn't shown up when you did, I don't even want to think about how badly this could've gone."
Takeshi walked up from behind, now that they were alone. He addressed Liam by name, his eyes filled with guilt and frustration.
"No one died, that's what matters. It's just material losses—no big deal. Honestly, this is the best possible outcome. Giovanni's not going to blame you for this."
Liam shook his head and smiled, offering a few words of reassurance.
"Whew, that's a relief," Takeshi sighed. "Also, both recon teams just came back. One found a well-hidden location with favorable terrain for a new secret base. The other tracked the enemy for a while but eventually lost them—the Hunter Squad gave them the slip. They couldn't find the enemy base. I've already ordered the supply transfer. Let's get out of here."
Liam nodded slightly, and the two of them began walking back toward the ruined base. After a few steps, Liam suddenly thought of something—the figure who had commanded a Gyarados from the woods—and asked curiously:
"By the way, those leaders who attacked you—do you recognize any of them? And there seemed to be someone even more powerful hiding in the forest. Do you have any intel at all?"
Takeshi gave a bitter smile and shook his head.
"No clue. I'd never seen those three before today. I don't know anything about them... except, well, now I know what they look like—and that they each use at least one powerful Pokémon."
Liam sighed again. Team Rocket was still in its infancy. So much was still missing—most importantly, a functioning intelligence network. At this stage, they weren't even sure if they had proper surveillance coverage of Kanto, let alone other regions. It was like working blind.
The hidden location discovered by the team turned out to be a natural cliff crevice near a small waterfall. Due to the cold weather, the flow of the waterfall had slowed to a trickle, revealing a large cavity behind the rock face. With a bit of reinforcement and support work, it could be turned into a proper temporary base.
"This is perfect. With the current cold weather, the waterfall barely flows, but once it warms up and the water pressure rises, it should completely cover this cliff face. This place was made to be a secret base."
Liam sounded genuinely impressed with their new hideout.
"Haha, yeah! Once the water flow increases, it'll hide everything behind the falls. No way anyone's finding us then. Easy fix—I'll get someone on it right now. And we can add some camouflage around the area just in case. Those Hunter Squad scumbags won't find us so easily next time."
Takeshi grinned excitedly.
He then ordered two Team Rocket members to head up the mountain with some strange equipment, while the others began transporting supplies into the rock crevice and kicking off the new construction phase.
Liam, watching the two heading uphill, grew curious. He was about to ask Takeshi what they were up to when a sudden sound reached his ears—rushing water slamming against stone. He looked up quickly and saw clear water streaming down from the cliff, rapidly forming a curtain that veiled the entire rock face, leaving only a narrow hidden path behind the waterfall for entry and exit.