Hidden beneath the meeting table, pretending to be sick, Nozomi quietly listened to Lt. Surge as he addressed the Team Rocket members seated before him.
At this moment, Nozomi's mood was excellent.
This was as good as it could get!
Originally, he had only planned to sneak into Lt. Surge's office to see if he could find any useful documents. But by some incredible twist of fate, he had stumbled straight into a Team Rocket pre-operation meeting.
Now he didn't even need to search or verify files himself.
It was as if the heavens were helping him.
As he lay there thinking, he heard Lt. Surge mention the S.S. Anne Operation Plan.
"The S.S. Anne? An operation plan?"
Hearing those two names, Nozomi immediately had a rough idea of what Team Rocket was up to.
It seemed they still intended to target the S.S. Anne—just like in the original timeline.
He couldn't help but feel curious. Ever since his journey began, he'd clashed with Team Rocket again and again, dealing them considerable damage. He'd even managed to take down three of their mid-ranking officers.
Yet, Team Rocket hadn't shown the slightest hint of restraint. And now, they were planning to launch a major attack—on the S.S. Anne, no less.
Who in the world gave them this kind of courage?
Nozomi frowned thoughtfully. In his mind, there were only two possibilities. Either Giovanni was so stubborn that he didn't care about minor losses, or there was something on the S.S. Anne that Team Rocket absolutely had to obtain.
Personally, Nozomi found the latter far more likely.
Lt. Surge continued, his deep voice echoing through the room:
"Following Giovanni's orders, we've already gone hard on the Trainers who came to challenge the Vermilion Gym. Their injuries will take some time to recover, even at the Pokémon Center. That means, for this mission, we won't need to assign many people to deal with passing Trainers."
Lt. Surge stated this calmly, showing no remorse for having ambushed the Trainers who came to challenge his Gym.
"According to Giovanni's command, our tasks are simple—only three things."
"First—cut off the S.S. Anne's distress signal. Yamamoto, Hatoyama—you'll each take your men to the port and activate the signal-jamming device. Make sure that no SOS can reach the harbor."
"Yes, Lt. Surge!"
"Second—Sōgi, Kitano—you two will take your teams to gather intel and stand guard. Track any Trainers who've recently arrived in Vermilion City, especially those headed toward the port. Record every strong opponent you find and report immediately."
"Understood!"
"Lastly—myself, and… Inoue."
Lt. Surge gave a disgusted glance toward Nozomi, who was currently disguised as one of his underlings, "Inoue."
"I'll handle any unexpected developments. If our operation at sea is discovered, I'll buy time. Inoue, you're responsible for contacting the Pokémon Center. They've started to grow suspicious of us. Go explain things—and while you're at it, treat that diarrhea of yours."
"Mmh…"
Nozomi mumbled weakly, keeping up his sickly act.
Inside, though, he was rapidly analyzing Lt. Surge's deployment strategy.
The tasks were relatively minor—mostly auxiliary or surveillance work. That meant the Vermilion Gym's role in this mission was purely supportive.
Clearly, Giovanni hadn't trusted Lt. Surge enough to give him a front-line combat assignment.
Which made sense. After all, Lt. Surge's public identity was still that of a League-recognized Gym Leader. Unless Giovanni was prepared to completely abandon the Vermilion Gym and expose Lt. Surge's affiliation, there was no way he'd risk having him participate directly.
Even playing a supporting role already carried enormous risk.
That, in turn, confirmed Nozomi's earlier theory—Team Rocket's attack on the S.S. Anne was of critical importance.
"Any questions?"
Lt. Surge scanned the room.
A Team Rocket member raised his hand.
"Lt. Surge, about monitoring strong Trainers—should we keep an eye on Nozomi, the one who challenged our Gym before?"
At that name, Lt. Surge's face instantly darkened. Couldn't they stop bringing him up? Every time someone mentioned Nozomi, he was reminded of that humiliating battle—one he'd rather erase from memory.
Still, he forced down his irritation and replied curtly:
"Ignore him. As long as he's in public, Headquarters will handle surveillance. Giovanni has already sent a specialist to deal with Nozomi personally. You don't need to worry about it."
The slight glee in his tone when he said "deal with Nozomi" didn't escape Nozomi's notice.
Combining that with the intel he'd overheard underground earlier, Nozomi was now almost certain—Giovanni had dispatched two senior executives to hunt him down.
Another member spoke up nervously:
"What about the S.S. Anne signal jamming? That device is huge. If Officer Jenny's patrol catches us, we're done for. Our disguises won't hold!"
"The organization has already rented a cargo ship," Lt. Surge replied. "You'll head out to sea. Everything happens offshore. If a patrol vessel spots you, bluff your way through. And if that fails—jump ship. Don't tell me I have to teach you how to jump?"
"No, sir! No need!"
The Rocket Grunt waved his hands quickly.
Lt. Surge waited a few moments longer. When no one else spoke up, he rose to his feet.
"Since there are no more questions, begin the operation! This mission concerns Giovanni's top-priority plan. There must be no mistakes. Understood?"
"Understood!"
The Team Rocket members responded in unison.
"I understand too," Nozomi murmured with a sly smile, pressing the save button on the recorder hidden in his pocket.
Now he had evidence.
Lt. Surge had personally mentioned Giovanni's name—a rare and valuable slip-up.
Up to now, every Team Rocket agent Nozomi had encountered was tight-lipped, never uttering Giovanni's name in public. Without proof, he'd had no way to expose Giovanni's connection to the organization.
But now, Lt. Surge had practically handed him that proof himself.
With this recording, Nozomi could enlist the Elite Four to move against Giovanni. Even if they couldn't capture him, it would be enough to force Giovanni out of his Viridian Gym Leader position.
"Then let's move!"
Lt. Surge waved his hand, and the meeting dispersed quickly.
As the others filed out, Nozomi quietly made his way toward the restroom where he'd earlier knocked out a Rocket grunt—he still had one loose end to tie up.