The skinny man couldn't help swallowing as he watched the fat man eat with obvious relish.
Still, he didn't ask the fat man to leave him even a single bite.
The skinny one might be a little slow, but he wasn't stupid.
Without the fat man's planning and support, there was no way he could pull off something this big on his own.
He couldn't very well hog the delicious taste of Slowpoke Tail all to himself.
Even though, truth be told, he really did want to eat a bit more.
"According to the routine, there's still a little over two hours left. The owner of the Charcoal Kiln will bring the semi-finished charcoal to this dormant volcano.
He'll usually finish today's work around eleven at night.
About ten minutes beforehand, I'll stir up some trouble inside Azalea Town.
All you need to do is knock him out at that time, grab the charcoal, and get out.
We'll regroup at the usual place."
The fat Team Rocket member repeated the outline of the plan once more.
Ultimately, it depended on whether the commotion he created would be enough to draw Azalea Town's attention away.
If it failed, the Pokémon League would react very quickly.
"Relax. That old man only has a Pokémon that's barely Pesudo-Elite at best.
Leave it to me."
The skinny member patted his chest confidently.
"Remember—just knock him out. Don't go causing real trouble. If we get caught stealing, HQ still has ways to bail us out. But if you kill that old guy, we're seriously screwed."
The fat man was still uneasy.
He knew all too well that once this idiot got impulsive, no one could stop him.
"Yeah, yeah, you've said that a hundred times. Knock him out and run, I get it."
The skinny man was clearly getting annoyed.
They had been staking out Azalea Town for over a month just for this job.
There was no way he'd risk his own life over it.
"Alright then. Let's just wait here.
This path is unavoidable for that old guy.
Once he passes through, today's job is already halfway done."
The fat man nodded, choosing to trust him.
The bushes fell completely silent once more.
High above them, in a blind spot neither of them noticed, a device occasionally flashed with red light, hanging from a tree.
Hidden beneath thick foliage, anyone looking up would be fooled by its leaf-like camouflage.
Several kilometers away, inside a mountain cave—
"Sir, they're still waiting there."
A man in a crimson cloak lifted the tent flap and stepped inside, reporting respectfully to the burly man seated cross-legged on the ground.
"From their conversation, it seems they plan to move once the target finishes production."
"Mm."
The burly man replied softly.
His face was completely obscured beneath the shadow of his hood, making it impossible for his subordinate to read his expression.
"Lord Blasie, should we drive them away?"
The subordinate asked carefully.
After a brief silence, the man known as Blasie spoke:
"No need.
Tell Courtney and the others to prepare.
We'll proceed according to plan."
"Understood."
The subordinate nodded and exited the tent.
Anyone familiar with their attire wouldn't even need to hear their titles.
The massive 'M'-shaped mountain emblem emblazoned on their clothes marked them clearly as members of Team Magma, one of Hoenn's criminal organizations.
Strictly speaking, calling them a criminal organization wasn't entirely accurate.
If you listened only to Team Magma's stated goals, you might even briefly think they were the "good guys."
Unlike Team Aqua, which sought to reclaim land for Pokémon by expanding the oceans and wiping out humanity's excesses, Team Magma didn't aim to erase humanity to create a Pokémon paradise.
Instead, they sought to expand the landmass and increase humanity's living space.
Team Magma believed that human progress was inseparably tied to the world's happiness, and that coexistence between humans and Pokémon hindered development.
Put simply.
Team Aqua wanted to destroy humanity to save Pokémon.
Team Magma wanted to sacrifice Pokémon to advance humanity.
From the moment they were founded, conflict between the two groups was inevitable, not merely because they worshipped different Legendary Pokémon.
Naturally, such extreme ideologies could never gain acceptance in the mainstream Pokémon world.
Even though the Pokémon League sometimes pursued development goals similar to Team Magma's, it would never go as far as erasing Pokémon entirely.
Most humans still believed in harmonious coexistence with Pokémon.
Occasional conflict was unavoidable but it was also Pokémon that enabled human civilization to advance so rapidly.
The two had become inseparably linked over countless years.
For that reason, labeling Team Magma as a criminal organization aligned perfectly with public sentiment.
The burly man called "Blasie" was one of Team Magma's upper executives, one of the Three Admins.
The Admins functioned much like Team Rocket's executive officers, though fewer in number.
They were known as Blasie, Courtney, and Tabitha.
These names weren't real names, but inherited titles passed down over generations.
Aside from Team Magma's leader Maxie and the Three Admins themselves, no one knew the executives' true identities.
According to League intelligence, their roles were clearly divided.
Courtney oversaw research and scientific development
Tabitha handled internal discipline, rewards, and punishment
Blasie led frontline operations and direct missions
Because of this, Blasie was also the most frequently replaced among the Three Admins.
Even without knowing identities, changes in physique made that obvious.
As for Maxie himself, he preferred manipulating events from the shadows—completely opposite to his rival, Archie, leader of Team Aqua, who favored direct action.
Team Magma's presence here was easy to explain.
They routinely operated near volcanoes—active or dormant.
If the volcano was active, Team Magma would intentionally trigger eruptions.
They believed this would expand the landmass and hasten the awakening of Groudon.
If the volcano was dormant, they would use advanced technology to reactivate it, then trigger an eruption anyway.
After all, as long as Groudon still existed somewhere beneath the earth, no volcano in the Pokémon world was ever truly extinct—only sleeping.
From this alone, the power of Legendary Pokémon was beyond human comprehension.
"Hey—Is this Thousand Faces?"
Inside the tent, Blasie finally picked up a communicator and made a call.
"Oh? Isn't this Lord Fire Shadow?
To what do I owe the pleasure?"
A flippant male voice answered.
"I know you're in Johto.
Get to Azalea Town within two hours and cause as much chaos as possible, by any means necessary."
Blasie spoke coldly and ended the call immediately.
"Tch."
The person known as Thousand Faces listened to the busy tone and curled their lips in disdain.
A short-lived man, yet still acting so high and mighty. How amusing.
Whatever, no point arguing with the dead.
"She" walked over to the restroom mirror and examined her face.
"What a shame… looks like the progress here has to be delayed again."
Whether Thousand Faces was male or female was impossible to tell, but "she" sighed inwardly.
Crafting this face had taken a great deal of effort, now she would have to change it again once she left.
If it weren't for the fact that Team Magma's name was extremely useful in certain places, "she" wouldn't have joined them in the first place.
"Well, I'll find a chance to withdraw sooner or later. I've already obtained most of what I wanted anyway."
That was what Thousand Faces thought.
For ordinary people, leaving a massive criminal organization like this without injury was nearly impossible.
After all, knowing too much alone was reason enough to be silenced.
But "she" was no ordinary person.
There was no need to rush either—Team Magma still made for a very good shield.
Click, click, click.
The sound of high heels striking the floor echoed through the small café.
In the most prosperous city of Johto, no one cared where a fashionable urban woman went after finishing her afternoon tea.
On the outer wall of the building beside the café, a large screen was broadcasting a notice.
"Recent reports indicate that a master thief has appeared in Goldenrod City. All Trainers are advised to safeguard their valuables.
If any items are lost, please report immediately to Officer Jenny at the police station.
If anyone has information regarding the thief's whereabouts, please contact the police or the nearest Pokémon Center at once."
"Interesting, isn't it?"
At the street corner, a young Trainer who had appeared out of nowhere wore a sly smile.
-------
"Oh, me? I'm up in the back mountains right now. I'll head over in a bit."
Silas spoke to Bugsy through his Pokégear.
"Didn't you say you were just going to walk around town? Why did you suddenly head into the mountains?"
Bugsy sounded confused.
"Well, didn't we say we'd come here tomorrow to test that thing together? Since I had nothing better to do, I figured I'd take a look around first."
Silas explained.
"I have the Azalea Town Encyclopedia with me—you can rest easy."
Bugsy suddenly understood and spoke confidently.
"I've been to every corner of the back mountains. There's nothing here I don't know."
"Then may I ask whether the Azalea Town Encyclopedia can tell me where Abra and Ralts live around here?"
Silas asked teasingly.
"Cough."
Bugsy coughed awkwardly. "That… I can't help with."
"Alright, alright. It's getting late, hurry over and give me a hand."
Afraid Silas would keep pushing, Bugsy quickly changed the subject.
"Got it. Don't worry."
Silas smiled casually, not taking it too seriously.
If Bugsy had answered directly, that would've been strange.
After all, even among the extremely popular Psychic-type Pokémon, Abra and Ralts ranked among the most sought-after.
Their final evolutions, the genius-level Alakazam, the often jokingly called "my wife" Gardevoir, and the stylish yet powerful Gallade were all dream Pokémon for the vast majority of Trainers.
As a side note, unlike Gallade, which is exclusively male, Gardevoir despite its feminine appearance, has both male and female individuals, with a nearly 1:1 ratio.
In other words, "your wife" could very well be a male Gardevoir, just one that looks feminine.
Silas remembered that someone once caused a farce by "marrying" a male Gardevoir.
One could only imagine the psychological damage.
Hosting a wedding with a Pokémon was already stressful enough, finding out afterward that it was male was even worse.
It could only be said that knowledge about Pokémon had been far less developed back then; otherwise, such an embarrassment wouldn't have happened.
The fact that forests near Azalea Town contained traces of these Pokémon wasn't common knowledge.
It was more like a tacit, semi-public secret.
After all, even during the day, Ilex Forest was as dark as night. with massive numbers of Bug-type Pokémon inhabiting it, the place hardly seemed suitable for Psychic-types.
Bug-type Pokémon were somewhat more compatible with Psychic-types than Ghost- or Dark-types but not by much.
If Bugsy hadn't reported it to the League back then, the Johto League authorities wouldn't have believed that Abra and Ralts populations could exist in such a place.
Even now, researchers who knew about it still couldn't explain why these Pokémon chose to live here and why they didn't migrate.
For Trainers who did know, however, this was unquestionably great news.
Who wouldn't want a Psychic-type partner?
That didn't just mean power, it also meant safety.
Unfortunately, Psychic-type Pokémon and Trainers always chose each other mutually.
It wasn't something you could obtain simply by wanting it.
Psychic-types, capable of sensing human intent, would only choose those they deemed trustworthy.
With their abilities, if they didn't want to be seen, capturing them was nothing but a dream.
Conversely, once a Psychic-type chose someone as its Trainer, the loyalty and trust it gave far surpassed that of most other Pokémon.
Take Gardevoir, for example.
The Pokédex describes it as follows:
"To protect its Trainer, it will unleash its full power. It is even willing to risk its life."
Because of this single line, countless people dreamed of making Gardevoir their partner.
The dream was beautiful but distant.
Ralts, its base form, was rarer than most pseudo-legendary Pokémon.
Silas had come here hoping to test his luck.
Who would've thought Bugsy would assign him a task so soon after they'd parted?
"Let me see… northeast of Ilex Forest, the outdoor Pokémon Center, should be that way."
Comparing the map to his position, Silas picked a direction and started running.
That's right, this outdoor Pokémon Center was established by the League specifically for those two Psychic-type populations.
Moreover, League-certified Trainers known publicly as "Azalea Town residents" but in reality acting as guardians, also lived here.
....
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