"Is the intel confirmed?"
"Absolutely! My Lord, do you still doubt my sources? In all these years, when have I ever been wrong?"
"...Repeat it one more time, carefully."
"With pleasure! The other division commander for Team Snagem's operation—that fellow named Ryuka—has taken over two hundred men to deal with Lord Roki. The guard at the mine where they're keeping the spoils is currently hollow. They have fewer than a hundred Trainers left. It's the perfect chance for a raid!"
Hearing the words of the gaunt, monkey-faced man standing before him, Gemat, one of the Top Executives of Team Snarl, wore a complex expression.
The roars of another Top Executive, Roki, still echoed in his ears:
"You cold-blooded bastards! The Boss was captured, not killed! You're ready to part ways without doing a damn thing? Fine! I'm telling you now, if you won't handle this, I will!"
Roki had stormed off, taking nearly his entire unit to reinforce Mine No. 2.
It was true. As Roki said, the Boss was captured, not dead. But what was the scale of the International Police? Even the Mayor of Gateon Port wouldn't dare oppose them openly. Their influence and personnel spanned the entire globe.
They weren't an organization that a backwater faction like Team Snarl could contend with.
But truthfully, after all these years, how could there be no sentiment left? In his youth, Gemat had severed his emotions, believing only in profit and power. As he grew older, however, he found that sentiment was actually important—it was one of the bonds that maintained their status and wealth.
"I'll help him one last time."
Gemat made up his mind and called over a trusted confidant. "I have a mission for you. Pick two Executives and two hundred men. Move stealthily to Team Snagem's Mine No. 1. Take down the guards with maximum speed, blow everything inside to hell, and get out. Do you understand?"
"...Understood!"
The confidant bowed and scraped, not even asking how much damage this would cause Team Snarl. He turned and left immediately.
Gemat looked back at the monkey-faced man. "If your intel is accurate, your reward will be substantial. Dismissed."
"Yes! My Lord!"
The man bowed and retreated.
But the moment he left the office, his hand reached up to touch his somewhat distorted face. He adjusted it until his facial muscles settled back into place, revealing a smiling face.
"Luck, luck. Truly great luck."
He laughed heartily as he walked away.
----
The Mine
"Only five official members?"
Kashiwagi looked at the female driver, Tyra, in shock. "Only five official members to coordinate with the drones and Rotom Phones? Isn't the manpower a bit too tight?"
Ayana's arrangements were reasonable enough—at least she hadn't asked the scouts to rely solely on their eyes. They were equipped with life-detection drones, two aerial-photography Rotoms, and outer-circle members to operate them.
The issue was the number of official members sent out to scout.
Five was simply too few. He still had to leave four of his own squad members back at the mine.
"You know how tight manpower is right now. There are only about ninety official members left at this mine in total. Don't you understand the point of scouting?"
Tyra shook her head. "If the enemy uses some trick to break through your line, or uses specific Pokémon to mislead the drones and Rotom, wouldn't it be dangerous if we sent out more official members? We have to be firm with both hands—tech and people."
But five people is still...
Kashiwagi rubbed his temples. He felt the danger of scouting like this was extreme, but as a subordinate, he had no right to refuse an order from Ayana.
Could the Rock Unit and Crystal Unit really not spare even a single squad for reinforcement?
What a mess.
"Alright, get ready to move! The squad before you just got back. The rotation for scouting is only three hours; the time goes by fast. Stop being such a grandma!"
Tyra slapped him hard on the back.
"Fine."
Kashiwagi had no choice but to leave a portion of his squad behind. He took four teammates and dozens of outer-circle members, departing on hover-bikes toward the designated coordinates.
While Tyra didn't give him a step-by-step masterclass on scouting like Frobo would have, she did hand him a notebook detailing the perimeter and key points to watch.
Normally, being provided with that much was already impressive.
Someone like Frobo was the anomaly.
"Woohoo! Finally, some unrestricted riding!"
Otsuka's voice came from beside him, followed by the roar of an engine.
The vast desert was indeed perfect for pinning the throttle and enjoying the adrenaline rush. After his injuries had healed, Otsuka had bought a single-wheel hover-bike. Having only recently learned to ride, he was currently in the "honeymoon phase" with his vehicle.
By contrast, Naruhisa and the others were a bit short on cash, so they had pooled their money to buy three second-hand hover-bikes and a beat-up hover-jeep, taking turns driving.
But this time, without Kashiwagi needing to scold him, Otsuka slowed down of his own accord.
"I know, I know. Mission first, right?"
"Smart move."
Kashiwagi retracted his gaze. Shortly after, they arrived at the designated scouting location.
He flipped open the notebook Tyra had given him. Lines of crooked, messy handwriting met his eyes.
It stated that, assuming one wasn't being lazy, there were two scouting methods:
1. Distributed: One official member takes a few outer-circle members and drones to cover a specific sector. After a set period, they rotate sectors with other members.
2. Concentrated/Shifted: Official members cover one large area together, while outer-circle members and drones cover another. They periodically swap areas.
The "lazy" method—the third option—involved letting the outer-circle members do all the work while the official members did nothing.
Kashiwagi decisively chose the second method.
While the first method was technically more efficient for reporting enemies quickly, dispersing their already limited combat power was simply too dangerous.
A man's strength has its limits. He couldn't be responsible for the safety of every outer-circle member; he could only look out for the people he actually knew.
Moreover, Frobo's words—"As long as the lush hills remain, there's no need to worry about firewood"—were still fresh in his mind. The man might not have known the exact proverb, but Kashiwagi's brain had automatically translated the sentiment into that classic saying.
Kashiwagi felt he was absolutely right.
While seizing two mines might benefit him as a squad leader, the reward wasn't worth his life. Why die for the people at the very top?
He wasn't some naive kid who could be fooled by talk of "making a name for himself."
Kashiwagi believed he could sacrifice himself for an ideal, for a bright future, or for those he held dear—but that list definitely did not include Team Snagem, the Boss's new house, his new car, or even his new mistress.
Before leaving, he had specifically instructed Naruhisa, who was staying behind, to run as fast as possible if something went wrong. He told him not to be a fool and try to be a hero.
Team Snagem wasn't worth it.
Naruhisa and the others seemed to have taken it to heart.
"Scouting begins!"
Under his command, the group began working diligently.