This was the only my suggestion, and it, damn it, appeared to be right. I hate to be right about such things…

"Please, Ven, I didn`t mean to…" the girl rushed to the bars and grabbed them. Damn, she looked like she was crying for the whole day at least. No surprise she was put into a single chamber, otherwise she would be silenced… brutally. As it is officially accepted in prisons.

"Let me talk to her." I asked Sabrina. She silently opened the cage and let me in. "Be close and on guard."

"I… I didn`t mean to…" Susan continued to cry.

"Come on, stop this. You have this uniform for a reason, girl," I strictly addressed her, pointing at the black suit she had on. "And now tell me what made you… a Rocket grunt."

She guiltily looked down. I had absolutely no intention on pressing her, she looked… too fragile for that. But she knows, and knows something important. I have to be extremely careful with her.

"I just wanted to help my parents…" Susan whined quietly.

Oh… Looks like it`s the standard 'because of despair' reason… This couldn`t be otherwise with this girl. I don`t care much for the details in here, but I just can`t believe she would betray her own grandfather by her own will. Or she is just a good actress.

"I understand," my gentle voice was calm and straight, and unusually cheering, "Whatever you needed the money from Team Rocket for…" I paused for a second to give her a good look. Among all people surrounding her now, she can trust only to me. I can tell it by her big eyes, full of hope. "I understand. But tell me how did you allow them do that… to your grandfather?"

The girl suddenly looked around with frightened glance, afraid that someone could listen to us and find out her connection to Mr. Fuji. But then she remembered that it`s useless now, and there is no sense of hiding anything from me. Now it`s too late.

"I didn`t…" She admitted guiltily, "I used the fake name among them so they didn`t find out anything."

"And you did it because… they know something about your grandfather. Was he connected somehow to Team Rocket?"

"Y-yes… I don`t know, how, but… yes, he was."

My very first suspicions were not wrong - Mr. Fuji does have the roots in Team Rocket. Roots he tries to hide even from his granddaughter. Maybe he was working against them or even for them, and that is why they took him in Lavender town. Maybe everything is even worse than I think.

A quiet clicking sound distracted me a bit. That sounded really strange… I turned back to look at the ceiling corner behind me, but there were nothing. The camera was on the other side, but the sound was definitely there. Well, maybe I`m just imagining things…

"Tell me about the scheme." I strictly said to Susan, returning her my attention. "What was the point of Lavender post? The garage with severed pokemon body parts?"

"Oh no, it`s not like that!" Suddenly she got up and tried to convince me. "They are not… Well, they actually ARE severed, but for a reason."

"What could possibly be the reason of cutting down Oddishes leaves?"

"They all are wild. Wild pokemon may have different diseases, so… they were actually put to shape." The girl was talking with calm and determinative tone. "Pokemon have extremely good regeneration, especially grass-types. So if one leaf or root is injured or infected… it`s better to get rid of it completely. It`s not that painful, and a new one will grow up in a few days."

I didn`t know whether I should believe this or not. I don`t know much about pokemon biology, so it may even be true. But I didn`t like it just for one reason – such explanation shows Rockets in better light than they actually are.

Still, this sounds quite logical. As far as I know, Team Rocket steals pokemon from around the region… puts them in shape… and sells, I guess? To make money for Giovanni`s researches! But this still doesn`t answer why do they need exactly grass-type pokemon? Who is so specific to buy grass pokemon in such amounts? Definitely someone even higher than grass-type gym…

Another click… Judging by absent Susan`s reaction, she didn`t hear it. Maybe the building is slowly falling apart? Or some Rattata is gnawing on electric cables behind the walls? I shouldn`t distract myself.

"Please, continue…" I returned my attention back to the prisoner.

SHE is your target…

"Yes… I was under Archer`s command, he is the head of our operation wing…" The girl was telling. I noted a new name on my dark list. "He had an agent in Celadon City, someone who marked as A.E. for short… I was just checking the instructions for me to leave the garage opened in one certain night for hunters to leave pokemon and in another night for truck team to take them. That old garage is actually ours, so my granddad had the key from it and I could steal it any moment I need…"

So the agent from Lavender side was her, and possibly she was the one who was that note was targeted for…

"Was that Archer wearing the greatcoat to instruct hunters?" I asked her.

"No… That was me."

That was sudden. Really sudden.

"And… How did you manage to make them think you`re a man in greatcoat?"

"I covered my face and… smoke a lot before it." She suddenly smiled a bit, like enjoying her own inventiveness, but then caught herself in this and looked away. "I had the task to meet them in the first place and… arrange the operation."

So, that`s where it begins. I have found the trail… Too bad I don`t need it anymore. This is a mystery that will not help me in finding Giovanni, learning the purpose of 2B squad and getting my car back.

"What was the original purpose for that garage of yours?" I tried to get a little of backstory. "Who does this actually belong to?"

"It was ours, but we never actually used it. But then one businessman really, really insisted on buying it, so we sold the garage… but it was not enough to help my mom in Hoenn. So I tried to find some job through that man… that appeared to be Archer himself… and so I ended up here."

She stared into the floor with her glass eyes. Her story explains quite a lot, and maybe even more. A businessman called Archer could be my new trail.

Leave me alone…

"He introduced you the world of crime…" I slowly and quietly said. "And you were very useful for him too with the perfect point for transportation line."

"And when they took my granddad… I wanted to quit, really! But they threatened me that there are no ex-Team Rocket in the world… alive." The last words made her almost cry again. For a second I wanted to tap her shoulder to cheer a bit, but I decided not to.

"I see… You could not leave them even for your grandfather." I concluded.

Well, at this point I`ve got everything I needed from her, and even a bit more. She felt she said enough and guiltily lowered her head, staring into the floor.

The click repeated again. This becomes mania of some sort. Maybe I should really ignore it, this couldn`t mean much. Interrogating Susan is much more important.

"Can you tell me who exactly you were contacting? The location of hideouts you know?" I carefully touched girl`s shoulder.

Susan looked at me with her sad eyes and nodded.

"I don`t have the contact numbers, but I remember the place. I could show… If you let me." She added with hope. "Just… please, help me with my granddad. He`s still in coma, and I can`t take care of him… from here."

"For now, your fate depends on Sabrina. I can`t actually do something directly." I honestly admitted. "But I can talk to her. And if you will cooperate, she may judge you… differently. Still, you were fighting in Saffron City against her."

"I… I did not!" Suddenly Susan shouted. "I was scared, and tried to run away. Rockets caught me and were going to execute for desertion… The squad of leader Misty saved me, actually, but grabbed with the rest."

This becomes more interesting. The quarrels inside of the enemy structure is always profitable for me, so her words made me… smile for some reason. But I tried to take it away as it is not appropriate.

You`re wasting your time!

"Okay, but convincing her isn`t going to be easy. You know how much Team Rocket managed to do… But with your help we`re going to stop them, right?"

I gently grabbed both her shoulders and looked in her eyes. For some moment she hesitated to reply.

"…right?" I repeated the question giving my tone a bit more of seriousness.

"Right." She replied and nodded.

"Then it`s a deal." I released her and stood up. "I will talk to Sabrina about you. We can think of something."

I left her alone in the cell and headed back to the corridor where leader Sabrina was standing. I didn`t tell her anything and just grabbed her hand and pulled to the first free office I have found.

"What the heck was that?" I angrily shouted at her… quietly. "This was the perfect opportunity for you to check HER mind, but all this time you tried to read ME? What for?"

"I have read her mind already. I know she is telling the truth and sincerely wishes to cooperate." Sabrina replied calmly.

"Great, I knew you will also listen to us so I don`t need to tell you everything." I turned away and leaned on the table. "She is actually a nice girl, forced to make wrong choices… You don`t need to punish her for that."

"I see. Team Rocket has all sorts of people in it… But I don`t have the time to check the true intentions of each one of them." Sabrina replied seriously.

"I don`t ask about each one of them… I ask only about her. Her granddad helped me on my investigation, and suffered very much for it. I will feel myself frigging guilty if I won`t do everything I can to help them."

"You don`t need them anymore…" She said with a questionable tone. "Why do you keep worrying about them? Mr. Fuji just opened that damn garage for you, and that`s all!"

"Oh, so you did read that part… Well… That was a key point in my investigation. So I try to be at least a bit thankful… That`s all. Really unusual for me, but… sometimes my conscience wakes up."

Sudden click somewhere from the side really scared me. It was really quiet, barely hearable, but that actually was disturbing.

"Did you hear that?" I whispered to Sabrina and looked in the direction of sound.

"What?"

"The strange click…" Quietly I replied and headed to the wall. It was unusually… boring and empty. "I heard that some times in the cell…"

"What could click in a prison?" The woman seemed to believe me and showed interest in this too.

"I`m asking myself the same question."

I looked on the other side of this wall, from the corridor. It was empty too. I finished the observation and returned back into the office, tightly closing the door.

"I don`t always rely on my paranoia… But I highly recommend you block this place." I seriously addressed Sabrina. "You have a lot of different criminals here, who knows what Team Rocket can do to take them out."

"Block this place? What do you mean by that?"

"Organize the strongest guard you can. Turn it into an unapproachable fortress, surround by moats, I don`t know… We have struck Team Rocket hard capturing so many of their men, and they will definitely attack soon to retrieve them."

Sabrina understood what I wanted to say, but hesitated to do anything.

"There you have much more prisoners than guards. With the help from outside they can easily escape and make all our work useless. Bring here everyone you can."

At least, we must keep the defenses until I find any one of them who knows the possible location of Giovanni now. I wasn`t going to, but now I decided to interrogate each bastard here until get the information I need.

"Don`t you think it`s too early for a counterattack?" Sabrina asked with determination. "We dealt with Team Rocket, now they have to retreat and heal their wounds. Giovanni has no men to do something stupid right now…"

"Don`t underestimate the enemy, woman!" I interrupted her. "Do you really think he had the troops only in Saffron City? He does have people. He does have pokemon! How stupid… Of course, he will react as fast as he can! When I and Erika uncovered their lair in Celadon, he burned the whole building down on the next day. When we have captured their squad in Lavender town, he took them away in an ambulance back to Saffron City…"

I threateningly approached her and looked deep in her eyes.

"Team Rocket has its secrets, and Giovanni is VERY serious about keeping them that way…"

Sabrina looked at me suspiciously.

"When was that ambulance from Lavender you talk about?"

"Nearly a month ago… Maybe, plus a week or so…" I answered a bit confused.

"Then I see how serious he is. One of my students saw it. That ambulance exploded on its way. No one survived."

"Holy shit…" I said in shock. That was extreme even for me. Was that their punishment for the failure at Pokemon Tower?

I remembered the face of that girl I encountered in Lavender town. She was too young for this shit. All of them were young, actually. A squad of stupid newbies sent to capture an old man.

I felt how tight I squeezed my fist uncontrollably. That was enraging me to the highest level. I released my anger on the table, breaking though a good hole in it. That was damn hurt, but I didn`t care.

"Even I didn`t know about that…" I said breathing heavily. "Giovanni can spent human lives so easily just to keep secrets they know…" I rushed to Sabrina and grabbed her shoulders. "Can you imagine what he will do to this place?!"

She looked down, thinking. She imagined that.

And I imagined that too…

Repeating clicking sounds… The suspicious janitors with a box… Exploded ambulance.

"This place is mined!" I shouted to Sabrina, realizing the truth. "Get everyone out…"

But it was too late. The loud and powerful explosion blasted somewhere on the side, causing the massive wave of fire and destruction to sweep down the building.

I dropped on the ground with Sabrina, trying to cover from the wave. But the woman raised her hand, and a purple sphere appeared around us. The wall of flame, incinerating everything on its path, flew past, leaving nothing but rubble and ashes. Without Sabrina I would have no chance for surviving.

The wild flame surrounded us. Bricks and other trash was falling from above and ricocheting from the energy barrier created by Sabrina`s psychic powers. Among all psychics I know only she is strong enough to perform such magic, and yet it was too hard even for her. I could see how quickly she loses her strength keeping the barrier active, and how little time we have until she is done.

I looked around in search for something that can help us escape. There may be just a couple of walls to break until we reach the street and will be safe. And a large piece of beam fit perfectly fine. I stomped it a couple of times to extinguish the flames on it, lifted it up and checked if this hard and heavy enough.

"Can you break the walls with this?" I showed it to Sabrina. "Use telekinetic force or something to break the wall."

"But I will lose the shield!" She shouted to me in reply.

"Screw the shield. I will not let Giovanni kill me with such crappy method…" I approached the edge of barrier and threw beam as high as I can.

Sabrina focused on this and created a powerful wave that pushed beam into the wall and broke through it. We got our way out, but the shield disappeared, letting smoke reach us almost immediately. I coughed and turned back to see Sabrina falling down from fatigue.

"Oh, come on…" I rushed to her and took the woman in my hands. Sabrina was almost fainted and unable to walk. Even for her this is too much.

So, I rushed through the fire, rubble and everything outside. On her last strengths, Sabrina tried to cast another barrier around us, pushing back the fire and letting me run a bit safer.

Finally, outside we ran out on the street and both fell down, heavily breathing. Building is loudly crashing behind us, covering the cries of those who didn`t make it.

Sabrina doesn`t need to be worried about the prisoners anymore…