As soon as these words were spoken, several team members eavesdropping nearby almost burst out laughing.
This idiot, how dare he try to act smart in front of Lord Tabitha?
Tabitha was indeed piqued with a sliver of interest; his eyebrows twitched slightly, and the corners of his mouth curled into a dangerous arc.
"Oh? Interesting. Let's hear the good news first then."
Having received permission, the squad leader immediately perked up, his voice becoming loud and clear.
"The good news is, we just repelled a team of League Trainers outside!"
As he spoke, he secretly observed Tabitha's expression.
Tabitha's brow furrowed into a knot.
People from the League? They found this place so quickly?
The squad leader completely failed to grasp the implication, thinking instead that the Lord was shocked by his achievement, and began to boast even more recklessly:
"We beat them to a pulp! Every single one of them was crying for their parents as they fled in a pathetic state! Our Magma Team's prestige has surely been established by us!"
The few team members behind him also seemed to have forgotten the shame of being insta-killed by Krokorok just moments ago, each of them standing tall and proud, sharing in the glory.
"Idiot!"
A sudden roar erupted.
Tabitha's figure was as fast as a phantom. Everyone felt their vision blur, and in the next second, a large foot had already kicked the squad leader squarely in the stomach.
There was a dull thud.
The squad leader flew out like a tattered sack, slammed into a distant wall, and then rolled to the ground, curling into a ball while clutching his stomach, unable to make a sound for a long time.
The entire hall fell into a deathly silence instantly.
Everyone lowered their heads, even deliberately slowing their breathing, for fear of becoming the next target.
Tabitha slowly withdrew his foot and looked down at the squad leader on the ground, his chest heaving violently.
"You actually let them go? Are you itching for the Fortree City Gym Leader and Jenny to lead a force here to wipe us out immediately?! Why did I occupy the Weather Institute? It was to keep a low profile! It's to wait for the Boss's plan to succeed! You beat them away, and once they report back, all our plans will go down the drain! What is that pig brain of yours for?!"
Every sentence was like a heavy hammer smashing onto the squad leader's skull.
He finally realized how big a mistake he had made, and scrambled to Tabitha's feet, clutching his pant leg while covered in tears and snot:
"Boss! This subordinate knows his crime! I deserve to die!"
Tabitha shook him off with a look of disgust, though his anger had subsided slightly. He waved his hand irritably:
"There's still bad news, isn't there? Speak."
The squad leader shuddered, swallowed hard, and his voice became as thin as a mosquito's buzz:
"We... we also encountered a lone Trainer not far from the Institute... We, we couldn't beat him."
Tabitha felt a rush of blood go straight to his head.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to suppress the anger that was about to explode.
A League squad was driven away, and then a lone Trainer pops up and takes out his men.
What the hell is this?
"One person?"
Tabitha's voice was squeezed out from between his teeth.
"Your entire squad lost to one person?"
"His... his pokémon was very strong..."
The squad leader explained tremblingly.
"One move... and he insta-killed my Camerupt..."
"Camerupt?"
Tabitha's eyes snapped open, a cold light flashing through them.
"You used a Camerupt? Outside in that heavy rain?"
"I... my Camerupt isn't afraid of water..."
"Did I fucking ask you that!"
Tabitha wanted to raise his foot again but ultimately held back.
He stared at the squad leader and asked, emphasizing every word:
"That Trainer, what did he look like? What pokémon did he use?"
The squad leader was scared out of his wits and tried hard to recall:
"He was... just a black-haired youth, didn't look very old... his pokémon was a... a Krokorok!"
Krokorok... youth... these two terms combined like a key, instantly opening the most humiliating box in Tabitha's memory.
Mt. Chimney, the mysterious ore, that hateful figure... based on the blurry image from that old surveillance footage, it seemed to be black hair... "What is his name?"
Tabitha's voice had calmed down, but this kind of calm was more heart-palpitating than any roar.
"I... I don't know..."
The squad leader thought hard, but the other party indeed hadn't revealed his name.
Tabitha's face turned gloomy, and he ordered his subordinates to drag this group of defeated remnants away.
He stood alone facing the control console.
"Ariel, could it be you?"
...Fortree City.
The rain was falling endlessly.
Raindrops the size of beans smashed onto the massive tree canopies, merging into small streams that meandered down the rough bark, finally dripping onto the unseen ground.
This was a city built in a forest, or rather, the city itself was a forest.
Ancient towering trees shielded the sky, and the residents' houses were like giant bird nests suspended from thick trunks dozens of meters above the ground. Connecting these treehouses were countless vine suspension bridges that swayed violently in the wind and rain.
At this moment, the entire city was shrouded in a gloomy and damp atmosphere.
Winona stood on the terrace of the top floor of the Flying-type Gym, letting the gale mixed with rain mess up her hair.
The scent of rain, mixed with the fragrance of moist soil and plants, should have been her most familiar smell, but now it only brought her a sense of agitation.
Her gaze passed over the swaying suspension bridges below and cast toward the distant Weather Institute, its silhouette blurred by the curtain of rain.
Just now, a League Trainer squad had fled back to the Gym in a pathetic state, bringing that terrible news—the Weather Institute had been occupied by the Magma Team.
She did not immediately order an attack.
It wasn't that she didn't want to, but that she couldn't.
As the Gym Leader of Fortree City, she should have been the guardian deity of this city, like her Pidgeot, soaring freely and perceiving everything.
But now, she felt as if she were firmly trapped by an invisible net, unable to move.
Part of this net came from the Magma Team, but a larger part came from the League she was supposed to trust.
"Gym Leader Winona, regarding the clues of Team Rockets' secret activities in Fortree City, we are still verifying them. Please do not act rashly for the time being."
"Gym Leader Winona, the search application you submitted has incomplete procedures. To protect Fortree City's unique natural ecology, it is temporarily rejected."
"Gym Leader Winona..."
Time and again, intelligence and applications were met with cold obstructions and perfunctory excuses.
Team Rockets was like a poisonous thorn buried deep in the shadows of Fortree City. She knew the location, yet she couldn't pull it out.
Now, the Magma Team had jumped out brazenly and directly occupied an official institution.
One in the shadows, one in the open.
What exactly did these two groups want to do? And what exactly was the League's high command hiding?
Winona's knuckles turned white from the force of her grip, and she closed her eyes wearily.
The sound of wind and rain, the anxious urgings of her subordinates, and the hypocritical officialese of the higher-ups all mixed together, giving her a splitting headache.
At this moment, a figure was braving the heavy rain, walking with difficulty on the muddy path leading to Fortree City.
"Achoo!"
Ariel rubbed his nose, pulled at his soaked collar, and looked up at the looming giant tree shadows ahead.
"Good grief, what kind of place is this? The houses actually grow on trees?"
After slipping away from the Magma Team, he had been traveling toward Fortree City on the map.
He hadn't expected the city to look like this.
Ariel shrunk his neck and quickened his pace.