Chapter 256: How's That? A Surprise, Isn't It?
After taking stock of the captured Rocket members, Asahi realized their numbers were far lower than expected.
Roughly estimating, they had captured fewer than two hundred Rocket Grunts in total.
According to the prisoners' statements, Giovanni had taken a large group with him when he left, which was why so few remained in the base.
Of course, that was Asahi's interpretation of their words. The actual quote was: "If Giovanni were here, you would never have taken our base!"
With that settled, Asahi assigned tasks—Green would inventory the base's supplies, while Gary would handle the prisoners.
Inside Giovanni's Office, Rocket Base
Leaning back in Giovanni's rotating chair, Asahi spun in a slow circle, feeling like something was missing.
After thinking for a moment, he released Slowpoke and let it squat beside him, placing a hand on its head and giving it a good rub. Only then did he nod in satisfaction.
Slowpoke, thoroughly intimidated, didn't dare move.
Sabrina: "..."
Her evaluation? A terrible imitation of Giovanni.
Asahi didn't mind Sabrina's reaction in the slightest.
"Secretary Sabrina, tell me—what's in Team Rocket's warehouse?" Asahi rested his elbows on the desk, fingers interlocked in front of him.
Sabrina didn't bother correcting him that Green was actually the secretary. Instead, she pulled out a report.
"Most of it consists of supplies for Team Rocket's personnel at the base. There are also several dozen Pokémon bred specifically for distribution among their operatives. Aside from that, I found a large stash of uniforms belonging to Team Aqua and Team Magma. It looks like Team Rocket is planning something."
"However, after interrogating the remaining Rocket members, none of them knew the actual details of the plan."
"The only ones who would know for sure are Giovanni and Athena, who left with him."
Clearly, after everything that had happened, Giovanni had grown more cautious—unwilling to trust even his own subordinates.
Whether that was a good or bad change… was up for debate.
Asahi tapped his fingers on the desk, idly rubbing Slowpoke's head. Then, turning his chair to face the wall-mounted map, he fell silent.
Sabrina assumed he was deep in thought and held her breath, waiting for his conclusion.
Until—
"So this is what it feels like to be Giovanni!" Asahi suddenly exclaimed, slapping the desk.
Sabrina nearly lost it.
So this whole time, you were just playing make-believe?!
Seeing Sabrina's exasperated expression, Asahi coughed. "I get it now. Team Rocket's plan is easy to guess… they're probably disguising themselves as Team Magma to attack Team Aqua, and vice versa, to stir up conflict."
"They want to escalate tensions between Team Magma and Team Aqua, throwing Hoenn into total chaos—making it easier for Team Rocket to operate in the region."
The strategy wasn't exactly sophisticated, but knowing Maxie and Archie, those two blockheads would never see through it.
If Asahi hadn't come to Hoenn, Team Rocket might have actually succeeded.
But now…
Asahi gave Slowpoke's head another rub, even squeezing its squishy ears. Ignoring Slowpoke's dare-to-be-angry-but-can't-act-on-it expression, he stood up.
"Let's give Giovanni a little surprise."
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Team Rocket's Airship
Giovanni was in a great mood.
Leaving behind the repeated failures of Kanto and Johto, he had come to Hoenn—the promised land.
Team Aqua and Team Magma were well-known and fought fiercely, but in reality, they were just playing at war. Giovanni didn't take them seriously.
To him, they were merely tools to distract the Hoenn League.
Of course, all that was secondary.
The real reason for his good mood?
Asahi hadn't sent him any annoying messages all day.
Glancing at his communicator and confirming there were no unread emails, Giovanni felt even better.
But just then, Athena approached.
"Boss… we have a situation."
Giovanni paused mid-stroke, his hand resting on Persian's fur. "What happened?"
His expression remained calm—unfazed.
With his strength, unless Team Aqua or Team Magma had already summoned Groudon and Kyogre, only Steven Stone could possibly match him in Hoenn.
"Our scheduled twenty-minute contact with the base has been disrupted."
Giovanni frowned. "Disrupted? What do you mean?"
"Our communications with the base are still functional, but they haven't responded to the agreed-upon passcode check. It's been ten minutes past the scheduled time."
"I suspect…"
Athena trailed off, but Giovanni understood what she meant.
The base had been compromised.
As Team Rocket's leader, Giovanni didn't entertain false hopes.
This security measure existed precisely for situations like this—whether or not the base could still communicate, it was likely a trap.
But…
Who could have discovered a hidden, well-camouflaged underground base in the middle of nowhere?
Giovanni didn't understand.
"Who did this?"
For some reason, Asahi's face popped into his mind.
"…."
Giovanni wondered if he should hire a priest to exorcise his bad luck.
That damn Asahi was like an unshakable curse.
"Boss, what should we do?" Athena asked.
She suggested a direct assault—after all, Hoenn's trainers were nothing special.
But Giovanni shook his head.
Partly because of the shadow Asahi cast over him.
Partly because he wanted to be cautious.
The enemy knew he and Athena existed, yet they dared to remain at the base. That meant they were extremely confident.
"Ascend to a higher altitude."
"Maintain complete radio silence."
"Activate my office's video feed."
As his final order was given, the massive screen in the command room connected to the base's office.
For thirty long seconds, there was no response.
Just as Giovanni started to suspect the video system had been disabled—
Beep!
The screen lit up.
Then, a face appeared on the screen—one that Giovanni was all too familiar with. So familiar, in fact, that he absolutely hated it.
"This screen actually has a video call function? Hello, hello? Can anyone hear me?"
Asahi leaned in, curiously examining the scene on the other side of the screen.
Giovanni: "..."
For a brief moment, he was caught off guard. But more than that, he fell into silence.
Why?
Why had he come all the way to Hoenn, only to still be unable to escape Asahi?
Giovanni was starting to question his very existence.
"Boss Giovanni, surprised to see me?" Asahi asked with a grin. "Honestly, I'm surprised too. I had no idea your screen had a video call function."
Giovanni: "..."
Seeing Giovanni remain silent, Asahi continued, "So, Boss Giovanni, how do you feel about me attacking your Team Rocket base?"
"Oh, by the way, have you caught the mole yet? Need some help? I'm always happy to assist in these matters!"
Giovanni's blood pressure skyrocketed.
"Shut it off!" he growled through clenched teeth.
He didn't want to look at Asahi's face for even one more second.
The moment Athena pressed the power button, Giovanni finally felt at peace.
"How did he even find our Hoenn base?" Athena couldn't help but ask.
It made no sense. Hoenn was so far from Kanto—there was no way Asahi should've been able to locate it.
And even if, against all odds, he had found it, why would the head of the International Police Kanto Division personally get involved?
Giovanni said nothing.
But he had his suspicions.
Asahi probably learned about the base's location from his previous dealings with Matori.
Matori had been tricked into revealing the base's coordinates when Asahi fed her outdated intel about Stalker being a mole.
At the time, Giovanni was sure Matori had thought she was making an unbeatable trade…
She just hadn't expected Giovanni to also be in Hoenn.
Now that he thought about it, including the previous incident with Silver's intel, this was the second time Matori had "helped" Asahi by accident.
…Unacceptable.
Giovanni had to rescue Matori from Asahi's influence.
Otherwise, Team Rocket would suffer even greater losses!
He was certain of one thing: Asahi, with his bottomless moral flexibility, was more than capable of scamming Matori a third time.
Time to act.
With Asahi currently in Hoenn, Kanto was left defenseless…
But just as Giovanni reached for his phone to contact Sird for the rescue mission, his hand suddenly froze.
Wait.
Sird… was a mole.
The investigation had all but confirmed Sird's betrayal. They just hadn't acted yet since he was still in Hoenn.
Matori knew Sird was the mole—if Giovanni sent Sird to "rescue" her, he'd essentially be handing her an escape route on a silver platter.
"….."
Giovanni fell silent.
He had to endure this.
He would tolerate it for now.
But once he secured Deoxys, Asahi would pay for interfering with Team Rocket!
Placing his phone down, he turned to Athena, whose face was full of questions—questions she dared not ask.
"Change course," Giovanni ordered. "Head to Backup Base No. 2."
"Send word ahead—double the security. We will not let what happened to Base No. 1 repeat itself."
"Understood, Boss Giovanni!"
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