When Aoki left the underground laboratory, he encountered two people waiting for him at the door.
Aoki was slightly surprised by their appearance.
"Look, Aoki is right here," one of the two, Sabrina, said to the person beside her.
The person standing silently beside her was Koga, who had also been in Giovanni's office earlier.
Koga gave Sabrina a look.
Seeing this, Sabrina pouted helplessly and said to Aoki, "Koga wants to talk to you. You two can chat."
"Hmph, acting like it's some big secret."
With that, Sabrina used Teleport and vanished from the spot.
Only Aoki and Koga remained in the corridor.
Neither of them spoke first, just standing silently in the corridor, looking at each other.
After a long while,
"May I ask what Koga is looking for me for?" Aoki finally spoke first; he didn't have much time to waste here with Koga.
Koga was not someone who was good at communication, and as an assassination master, talking was not something he enjoyed.
"You're the one who removed my poison?" Koga finally spoke, his voice slightly cold.
Hearing this, Aoki understood that the poison affecting Lance, who had once come to the Kanto region, was indeed administered by Koga.
To be able to silently approach an experienced Elite Four member showed that Koga's assassination ability far surpassed his own strength.
However, Aoki was not very afraid of Koga's assassination methods; his psychic abilities allowed him to sense the approach of living beings at any time. Even if Koga had special methods to evade psychic detection, he could absolutely not evade the system's detection.
Moreover, Aoki's Gengar had already reached the peak of quasi-Champion level and could appear at the first moment to protect his personal safety.
As for the Pokémon strength Koga displayed, Aoki was even less afraid of him.
Therefore, Aoki did not fear Koga like others did, but merely looked at him with extreme indifference.
"Yes," Aoki responded, his tone also devoid of much emotion.
Anyone who had even slightly investigated Aoki's identity knew about his relationship with Drake.
Drake had provided Aoki with countless assistance. Although Aoki was a Team Rocket member, he was also a person with emotions. Drake, Adams, and many other elders in the Hoenn League had given him a lot of help. Even Steven, Wallace, and Phoebe had given Aoki a lot of help.
Therefore, up to now, Aoki had not done anything to harm the interests of the Hoenn League. Even the Sky Team only filled the void left by the original underground forces in the Hoenn region, and even helped the League to some extent in managing illegal elements in the black or grey areas.
After learning that Aoki had become an Elite Four member, Koga had also conducted some investigations into him and knew about the relationship between Drake and Aoki.
So, a hint of embarrassment appeared on Koga's perpetually unchanging face. "Regarding Drake, it was because the Hunter Guild approached me, so..."
It was certainly difficult for such a proud person to apologize, but Aoki had more or less figured out his intention.
Since Koga had already softened his stance, Aoki no longer gave him a hard time.
"It's fine, the matter is in the past, and I also benefited from it, becoming a senior breeder." Although his face couldn't be seen, Aoki's attitude could be heard from his tone.
Koga also secretly breathed a sigh of relief. His way of speaking today was indeed not his style, but as the first person in Team Rocket to become an Elite Four member of the League, he also had something to say.
"Regarding the Kanto split, I have a high probability of becoming an Elite Four member of the new Johto region. I hope to form an alliance with Elite Four Aoki." Koga directly stated his intention.
"Alliance?" Aoki frowned slightly.
"Although I am in the Johto region and you are in the Hoenn region, the distance between the two regions is actually not very far. When the new region is established, a series of activities and multi-faceted cooperation will definitely be held. I hope we can cooperate then to more firmly grasp the Hoenn and Johto regions in our hands," Koga explained.
Hearing Koga say this, Aoki understood.
Whether it was the Kanto region or the newly separated Johto region, the Champions of both regions had not been decided.
It seemed Koga hoped to contend for the Champion's seat.
Aoki nodded in agreement on the surface, but in reality, he didn't care much internally.
Even if the Kanto split happened a bit early now, would the Dragon Clan's influence in the Johto region be that simple? Drake would definitely be parachuted into the Johto region to become Champion then.
Because... in the Kanto region, someone wouldn't allow it.
Moreover, in Aoki's opinion, forming an alliance with Koga was nothing more than a verbal agreement. For someone who prioritized profit above all else, Aoki would not easily trust him.
...
One day later.
Aoki quietly arrived in Vermilion City.
Here, a new batch of trial participants would board Team Rocket's ship, heading to the vast, dangerous Trial Island in the boundless ocean.
Among these trial participants, some were volunteers, while others were orphans and paupers wandering the streets, specifically captured by Team Rocket personnel.
Most of them ranged in age from twelve or thirteen to seventeen or eighteen, with the main age group being fifteen or sixteen.
They possessed a certain degree of independent thinking ability, were not too old, and had sufficient potential.
As the highest-ranking executive on this voyage, Aoki was naturally on the uppermost deck of the ship. Without his permission, no one else could approach.
And the original person in charge of this voyage, a captain with quasi-Elite Four strength, was both surprised and delighted when he learned that a top executive would also be going to Trial Island.
Surprised that a top executive would actually go to Trial Island, and delighted that he felt his opportunity had come.
This was a top executive, at least a veteran Elite Four member or even stronger. If he could impress him, even a small hint of something would be of great help to him.
If he could be taken in as a direct subordinate, that would naturally be even better.
However, Aoki didn't pay him any mind.
As this batch of trial participants boarded the ship, Aoki leaned on the railing of the top deck, watching the people walk onto the ship one by one.
Soon, he found the two oddballs, Jessie and James.
Others were boarding the ship with trepidation, but on their faces, there was no fear, and even a hint of excitement, as if going to Trial Island would be some particularly good thing.
In fact, in their view, going to Trial Island was a shortcut to quickly becoming a mid-to-high-level member of Team Rocket.
Every year, countless people joined Team Rocket, but they all started as grunts.
Those who survived Trial Island, if lucky, would get a position at the squad leader or even platoon leader level. Even if they were less lucky and didn't get a position, their strength and resume would be stronger than ordinary members, and their promotion speed would be much faster.
Aoki's face showed a slight smile. "Still habitually naive. Let you suffer a little on Trial Island first."