The silhouette of Cerulean City appeared exceptionally bright and beautiful under the afternoon sun, and amidst the misty water vapor, one could almost hear the gentle caress of distant ocean waves.
"..." Looking at Cerulean City, Misty seemed a bit conflicted, but she soon made up her mind.
"Ash, I have something to do, so I'm going to head off first," Misty said, turning to leave immediately after speaking.
"Eh? Do you need us to go with you?" Ash turned to look at Misty, narrowing his eyes.
"No need." Misty didn't look back, simply waving her hand.
"Pika?" Pikachu felt a bit baffled.
"Come on, Ash~~" Brock looked thoughtful. "You have to understand a girl's heart."
"I got it." Ash nodded, asking no further questions. "Be safe on the road."
What Misty was going to do... Ash could probably guess.
Waiting for me at the Cerulean Gym, are you?
I'm really looking forward to it~
After seeing Misty off, Ash and Brock arrived at the police station.
After handing over the still-cursing Jessie and the trying-to-maintain-composure-but-failing James to Officer Jenny, and successfully collecting the forty-thousand bounty...
(｡◝ᴗ◜｡) Ash was in a great mood ↑↑.
"Now my wallet is finally thickening up." Ash satisfyingly stowed the money away.
Meanwhile, on the side.
What was happening was a bit surreal.
"Beautiful Officer Jenny~" Brock, blushing, leaned in close to Officer Jenny.
"You want to pursue me, don't you?" This Officer Jenny was quite knowledgeable. Seeing Brock's behavior, she guessed exactly what he was thinking... clearly, this wasn't the first time she had encountered something similar.
"I really want to become friends with you~~" Brock didn't even deny it.
Clearly, having laid down his duties as a Gym Leader, he was letting himself go a bit.
"...Let's meet up at the Cerulean Gym later." Seeing Brock's state, Ash didn't plan to manage him.
Simply put, having traveled in the wild for so long, it was time for everyone to split up and rest a bit.
Ash left the police station alone and arrived at a secluded spot in the park.
A somewhat absent-minded Meowth was released.
Meowth immediately understood the assignment and walked into a nearby public phone booth.
He lowered his voice: "I-I'm going to give HQ... uh, a call, meow!!"
Ash didn't stop him, merely giving him a meaningful look: "Go ahead... remember our 'agreement'."
After speaking, Ash walked toward the distant lakeside.
The lake in this park connected to the ocean and was very vast.
Meowth shuddered and mumbled a vague response.
He quickly used his claws to dial an encrypted number buried deep in his memory, one he dared not ever forget.
The phone rang only once before connecting. There was no greeting from the other side, only a steady, majestic male voice that seemed to carry an invisible heavy pressure, piercing directly through the receiver and striking the tip of Meowth's heart:
"Speak."
Meowth's tail instantly stiffened, and he subconsciously stood at attention, even though the other party couldn't see him at all:
"Bo-Boss! It's me, Meowth!"
"Jessie and James... they failed, meow!"
"They were sent to the slammer in Cerulean City by a brat from Pallet Town!"
He spoke extremely fast, roughly recounting the encounter with Ash, being easily defeated by Pikachu, and finally being captured.
Of course, he cleverly omitted the details of being captured himself and the secret bet with Ash, reporting purely from the perspective of a failed field operative.
The other end of the line fell silent for a few seconds. That silence almost suffocated Meowth.
Just as he was about to crack, Giovanni's voice sounded again, betraying no emotion: "The brat from Pallet Town... Name?"
"Ca-Called Ash, meow!"
"...Describe him..." There seemed to be a trace of imperceptible inquisitiveness in Giovanni's voice.
Meowth dared not delay, trying hard to recall, describing with the most appropriate vocabulary he could think of:
"That kid... looks very ordinary, but is also very special, meow!"
"His eyes are scarily bright, as if nothing can be hidden from him, meow!"
"As for his Pikachu..."
Meowth's voice carried obvious fear and disbelief.
"Ridiculously strong, meow!"
"Speed as fast as lightning, and the power of the electric shocks is absurd!"
"And, and it can use moves I've never seen before!"
"Simply like a monster, meow! And... and..." Meowth was thinking of how to phrase it.
Honestly, he felt very lost right now, like a traitorous...
"And what?" Giovanni's voice rose slightly, seeming to finally take a hint of interest.
"And he-he also caught a Golden Gyarados, meow! The kind that sparkles! Fished it right up in Viridian Forest!" Meowth threw out this heavy intelligence all at once, hoping to atone for the failure.
Uh... this was also colluded with Ash in advance.
Only by reporting enough information could he maintain his own credibility.
Even if Giovanni didn't really care about the abilities of this trio.
The other end of the phone fell into silence again.
This silence was longer and heavier than before.
Meowth could even faintly hear the very slight, rhythmic sound of fingers tapping on a desk from the other side, as if his Boss was in deep thought.
After a long while, Giovanni's voice came slowly, still steady, but seeming to contain something deeper: "Golden Gyarados... Viridian Forest... Interesting."
He paused, then suddenly asked a question that caught Meowth off guard:
"Meowth."
"In your opinion..."
"That Ash, what kind of 'Trainer' is he?"
Meowth froze, blinking. He didn't expect the Boss to ask this.
He carefully recalled the brief, pressure-filled contact with Ash.
Recalling his phrase, "No one understands Pokémon better than I do."
Recalling his calmness when facing Gyarados's rampage and Team Rocket's attack.
Recalling how he casually pointed out the price of learning human speech.
And even more, recalling that conversation in the forest, like a curse, that made him use Swift as if possessed by a ghost.
Meowth weighed his words and answered carefully: "He... he's very strange, meow... Clearly a rookie, yet he seems to stand at the peak like a king, meow."
"Very scary... meow."
"He seems to not care about conventions at all, his guts are boundless, and if he wants something, he will definitely get it..."
"But-but towards his own Pokémon... he seems... pretty good, meow?"
"At least that Gyarados was beaten so badly by him, yet it still obediently listens to him..."
Meowth's voice got lower and lower.
He found that the more he spoke, the more complex and contradictory the boy's image became, and the more... heart-palpitating.
This fully exposed the conflict in Meowth's heart.
The "talk therapy" Ash gave him that day had too great an impact.
— If someone tells you there's a god, you'd call them a liar, but what if they actually teach you how to summon lightning from your palm?
On the other end of the phone, Giovanni listened quietly, not interrupting.
Only when Meowth finished did he chuckle softly, with almost no discernible emotion.
The laugh was extremely short, yet it made Meowth feel an inexplicable chill.
"Understood."
"I will send someone to fish them out."
"Meowth."
"Before they are bailed out, continue to stay in that vicinity."
"Observe that young man named Ash more."
"Report at any time."
"Beep... beep... beep..."
The phone was hung up crisply.
Meowth held the receiver, standing dazedly in the phone booth, but a cold sweat had broken out on his back.
What did the Boss's last sentence... mean?
Just simple surveillance?
Or... some deeper level of... "interest"?
Team Rocket also recruits rookies.
For trainers with potential... Team Rocket also competes with the League for talent.
Meowth shook his head, daring not to think any deeper.
He left the phone booth and ran in Ash's direction.
In the distance.
Ash was standing in the sea breeze of Cerulean City, gazing at the shimmering sea surface, seeming to be thinking about something.
____
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