Ding ding ding!
"Another 777 jackpot! How many times has that been now? I've lost count. Did you keep track?" someone asked his friend beside him.
"A hundred and thirty? Maybe a hundred and forty?"
His companion scratched his head uncertainly.
"It's been one hundred and fifty-three times—no, wait, one hundred and fifty-four," said a boy with a slicked-back pompadour, watching as Nozomi pulled the slot machine lever again.
One hundred and fifty-four times. Each win gave a hundred coins. Which meant that, in barely over half an hour, Nozomi had already won a total of 15,400 coins from the game center!
Each coin was worth a hundred yen. In other words, he'd made 1.54 million yen in half an hour.
At that speed, he was basically a human printing press.
The people nearby couldn't help exclaiming in awe.
But as the man in question, Nozomi himself felt only unease creeping in.
"Are the Rocket members here all this calm? I've won this much, and they haven't even shown their faces?" he thought, silently grumbling.
His plan had been simple—use a gambling streak in the Game Corner to lure out Team Rocket's operatives, then strike and clean out their base.But even after pulling levers until his wrist went numb, not a single Rocket grunt had shown up.
Since when did Team Rocket get so timid?Every encounter he'd had before was full of overconfident maniacs ready to fight the world.
Still muttering to himself, Nozomi yanked the lever once more.
Clatter clatter!
A pile of coins spilled out again—though fewer this time.
"Ah, out of coins again? Guess I'll switch machines."
Under the crowd's admiring gaze, Nozomi got up and picked another slot machine.This was already the fourth one—he'd completely drained the first three.
If these Rocket goons don't show themselves soon, I'm tearing this place down, Nozomi thought grimly. I don't want to drag this out.
But if I do that, it'll be hard to explain later how I 'knew' this was a Rocket base. What am I supposed to say—intuition?
After all, he already had the track record of exposing and stopping Giovanni's schemes several times. Many in the League were paying attention to him now. Doing something that looked unreasonable or reckless was best avoided.If he had to act, he at least needed a plausible reason first.
Just as Nozomi was weighing his next move, the crowd around him suddenly stirred.
"They're here! The game center staff!"
"Finally! I told you, this guy's been doing something fishy!"
Some were gloating, others just eager for drama. Envy and resentment filled their eyes as they turned toward Nozomi.
Ignoring them, Nozomi looked up to see two men in staff uniforms walking over with stiff smiles.
"Can I help you gentlemen?"He feigned ignorance, pretending not to know that this was one of Team Rocket's hideouts.
The "employees" visibly relaxed a little.One of them—a Team Rocket squad leader—stepped forward, followed by his subordinate.
To everyone's surprise, instead of accusing Nozomi of cheating, they bowed politely.
"Good afternoon, sir. We're terribly sorry. You're far too skilled—our little establishment can't handle it. If you keep winning, we'll go bankrupt! Please, accept this compensation as an apology… and have mercy on us."
The man handed him a check, face full of forced sincerity.
The crowd, who'd been expecting a scandal, froze in shock.
Their faces filled with disbelief.
"This is insane!"
"He wins that many coins, and the arcade apologizes to him?"
"That's terrifying!"
All around, people stood speechless, jaws slack.Was this really the same rude staff they'd seen working here before? Were they sure they hadn't walked into a parallel world?
Some even pinched their thighs hard to check if they were dreaming—only to wince in pain. It was real.
Now, all eyes turned back to Nozomi—this time, with open admiration and jealousy.
The guy was too lucky. First all those coins, now a check too? What kind of absurd good fortune was this?
Nozomi glanced down at the check.
One million yen. Not bad—but considering he'd just signed a two-hundred-million-yen endorsement with Silph Co., it wasn't even pocket change.
"I'm actually curious about something," Nozomi said, pulling a lighter from his pocket.
"What are you curious about, sir?" the Rocket grunt asked nervously, clearly desperate to get rid of him.
"I'm curious when Team Rocket became such cowards."
He flicked the lighter—fwoosh—a small flame danced up.
"Heh, sir, you must be joking. We're legitimate businessmen! How could we possibly be connected to Team Rocket?"The two men forced a laugh, but it looked painfully unnatural.
Some of the bystanders sensed the tension and quietly backed away.
Whoosh.
Nozomi lit the check and let it drop, watching it burn on the floor.
"That Rocket stink on you guys—I could smell it from blocks away."With a snap of his fingers, he used telekinesis to lift both men into the air, freezing them mid-struggle.
"M-Mr. Nozomi, what are you saying? We don't understand," stammered the squad leader, panic creeping in.
He still tried to bluff to the end.
Unfortunately, that last line only made things worse.
"You see? You just called me by name. So much for pretending you don't know who I am."Nozomi's tone hardened. "And honestly, could your disguise be any more obvious? If you really wanted to hide your identity, maybe stop wearing uniforms with Rocket insignias underneath!"
As he spoke, the "staff uniforms" on the two men suddenly tore apart—revealing black outfits with a bold red R across the chest.
The crowd gasped.
"It's Team Rocket!"
The revelation sent ripples through the onlookers.Here, in Celadon City—a place long plagued by Rocket activity—people had grown used to hearing about Pokémon thefts and attacks.Only recently, Team Rocket had even attempted a strike on the Celadon Tower, causing massive casualties.
Everyone had assumed their bases were hidden deep underground or in secret facilities.
No one expected that Team Rocket had been right under their noses all along.