[12]
Johto; Safari Zone-
When they found Norman, he was nearly out of breath, having run the path from Cianwood City to the Safari Zone gate. Pierce helped him up and led him back to the rest house, while Cynthia made him a glass of water. "Sorry," he muttered when he could speak. "Didn't want any delay."
"What happened?" Cynthia asked. "What was so important?"
"Saw on the news," Norman said, still panting slightly. "Team Galactic took a prisoner. Bringing him to Kanto, to Viridian City. Says it's to International Police Headquarters, but really it's-"
"Team Rocket headquarters," Sabrina finished for him.
"Did they say who this prisoner is?" Pierce asked, arching an eyebrow at him.
"Buck," Norman said. "Flint's brother."
"Shit," Cynthia said. "If they have Flint's brother, that means they know about Flint and Volkner being loose in Sinnoh. They're trying to smoke them out."
"Will they come out of hiding?" Flannery asked.
"Flint will certainly try, but Volkner has a cooler head. If he can keep control of Flint, they can stay safe," Cynthia answered. "If not, they'll be next in line."
"Wonder why they decided to bring Buck to Kanto," Pierce said.
"I have no idea. But it's important we get out there and get him. We still need to work on the Johto lead as well," Cynthia answered.
"We could split up," Pierce suggested. "Two of us go get Buck, the other three head to Mahogany Town."
"That could work," Norman said slowly. "I want to be one of the ones going after Buck, though."
"No, you need to rest, and going from here to Kanto is a huge journey," Cynthia said. "I'll go get him."
"I'll go with you," Sabrina said. "I'll be able to teleport us out once I know how we're getting in. It'll reduce our chances of being caught."
"Sounds good. Norman, if you absolutely have to participate, you can go with Pierce and Flannery to Mahogany Town," Cynthia said.
"Why, what's in Mahogany Town?" Norman asked.
"There's an old base that Team Rocket used to use to brainwash Pokémon at Lake of Rage. The transmitter's gone, from what we hear, but the base might still be there," Pierce said. "We were going to go see if we could get into their computers and pull any information on their other bases, or what they have planned."
"Makes sense. Fortunately, I have just the Pokémon to help with that," Norman said. "Getting it into the system will be tricky, but it should help out quite a bit."
"So, wait, you have a Porygon?" Cynthia asked. "I didn't realize you'd gotten one of those."
"I was surprised by it myself, honestly, but the last time I was at the Pokémon World Tournament, someone traded me one. They said it'd be perfect for me," Norman said. "To tell the truth, it really is an interesting Pokémon. I'm still not sure about half of its powers, but May tells me it can enter computers and manipulate programming."
"Well, that's it, then," Pierce said. "We can slip the Porygon into Team Rocket's system, and it can tell us what we need to know. Or just wipe out the data altogether so they have no idea what to do."
"No, that's a bad idea," Cynthia said. "If we delete the data, it might set off an alarm, and they'd be on us almost instantly. Besides, they may have a copy backed up somewhere else, so deleting it would do no good."
"That sucks," Pierce said, frowning. "So what're we supposed to do once we have what we need?"
"Just leave. Try to make it seem like you were never there," Cynthia said. "It'll take no end of precision and stealth. Try not to show off too much."
"Next question," Pierce said, giving Cynthia an annoyed look. "How do we get the Porygon in? Once it's in, how do we guide it to where we need to go? Once we have what we need, how do we get it out?"
"The Pokémon Storage System," Cynthia answered. "When we all leave, we'll go to Goldenrod City first. Bill lives there, and he can give us the access we need, even if the Pokémon Center is locked up. Since the International Police are watching the system, we can bet they'll link it directly to the coalition's computers. Porygon can go in, and if it ends up in Team Rocket's system, it's no problem, because for all we know, Team Rocket is using the system to steal Pokémon anyway. We can pull it back out the same way."
"Fair enough," Pierce said. "I'm just hoping Bill's house isn't being watched as carefully as anyone else is."
"Probably not," Cynthia said. "He's somewhat of an expert on Pokémon, but he's not a registered trainer. Anytime a Pokémon shows up, he gives it away."
"Well, that's good, at least," Norman said. "So when are we leaving?"
"After you've had a chance to rest a little more," Cynthia said. "We'll probably do better heading out this evening, so we can arrive at our destinations at nightfall."
"Because nothing bad ever, ever happens at night," Flannery muttered.
-Kanto; Viridian City-
"Mister President, the reports you asked for," one of the aides said.
"Excellent," Giovanni answered. "And the bill that was drafted?"
"It's in there as well," the aide replied. "Once it's signed, I'll take it back to the committee for you."
"Very well. That is all," Giovanni said. The aide departed, and Giovanni looked through the files he'd been handed. Cipher's notes on the Shadow Pokémon process, their information about the Snag machines used by their previous associates, Team Rocket's own cloning technology… Ghetsis had done very well assembling it all for him.
The mysterious Unovan mastermind had even gone so far as to appropriate Aqua and Magma's notes on the Hoenn legends. Cyrus was still trying to access his own warehouse, so information on the Sinnoh legends would still be slow in coming. Nonetheless, he had a treasure trove of information, and that information did not need to fall into anyone else's hands. In the end, it could only serve Team Rocket.
Which was why, as soon as his help was no longer needed, Giovanni planned to have Ghetsis killed. On that day, Giovanni would truly be unstoppable.
-Sinnoh; Veilstone City-
"Master Cyrus, we've delivered the boy to Giovanni, as you instructed," Mars said, bowing.
"Good. Then I trust there was no problem during transport?" Cyrus asked.
"No, sir, not worth mentioning," Mars answered.
"Not worth mentioning," Cyrus repeated. "Not worth mentioning. So I suppose a phone call to Jubilife Television was not placed, and their reporters were never told of our intentions to take him to Kanto."
"Well, no," Mars said, faltering. "I didn't think it worth mentioning. I mean, we didn't know who the phone call was to. We caught him in the middle of the call. We asked him who it was, he said he was calling his brother."
"And you believed him?" Cyrus asked. "You didn't press the matter further? You didn't torture him for the truth?"
"Well… Well no, Master," Mars answered. "The assumption was that Giovanni wanted the boy delivered unharmed."
"Were you expressly told that? Did you receive instructions from Giovanni on that matter?" Cyrus asked.
"No, Master-"
"Then do not make assumptions where none are warranted," Cyrus answered. "We will not have a repeat of our difficulties from last time, Mars. If you continue to let things like this slip past you, I will re-evaluate the command structure of this organization. You will not be part of it any longer. Is that understood?"
"Y-yes, Master Cyrus," she said
"Good. Once we have access to our warehouse and computer system, you will send Giovanni information regarding the legendary Pokémon of Sinnoh. All of them," Cyrus said. "Remember, this is your final chance. Do not fail me again."
Mars bowed again and departed, her face red from a mixture of shame and anger. Even after all this time, and after all he'd seen in the Distortion World, he still carried the memory of the calamity from three years previously. Granted, that calamity led to his being trapped in the Distortion World, but she had worked tirelessly to free him, had he forgotten that?
It didn't matter, anyway. Hopefully, she'd be able to get away with a little bit more, and then she could leave all this behind. All it took was giving them what they needed, so they could take what they wanted later on.