While Iono replied to August’s Super Chat, she quickly moved on to another topic—switching to a fitness routine she had just learned.

  Nestled comfortably in August’s arms, Eevee watched the stream, ears twitching in time with Iono’s movements.

  Then—

  It started mimicking her.

  The little fox wobbled side to side, ears bobbing up and down—looking absolutely adorable.

  ...

  By the time Blue arrived at the battle arena, she was met with a bizarre sight.

  August was sitting in a chair, staring at his phone with a very strange expression.

  Gardevoir was beside him, eyes closed, meditating with the [Mind Pte] to recover her energy.

  And Eevee?

  Still in August’s p, happily swaying its head from side to side, occasionally letting out soft "Bui~ Bui~" sounds.

  "...What are you guys doing?" Blue asked, puzzled.

  August instantly shut the livestream and shook his head. "Nothing. Just passing the time. More importantly—did you finish gathering the evidence?"

  At his question, Blue smirked and waved a hard drive in her hand.

  "Everything’s right here! This is more than enough to convict Lt. Surge!"

  She gnced at the unconscious Surge and scoffed.

  The files stored in the control room were downright shocking.

  Over the years, Lt. Surge had used his status as a Vermilion Gym Leader and a director of the Shipping Association to smuggle a staggering amount of illegal goods and scientific equipment for Team Rocket.

  Even though she wasn’t an expert in research, Blue had picked up a thing or two from her time with the Masked Corps.

  Judging by what had been smuggled—

  Team Rocket was definitely executing some kind of major pn.

  Unfortunately, the files didn’t say where all those supplies were being sent.

  There wasn’t much else to go on.

  As Blue summarized her findings, she handed August a detailed inventory.

  Flipping through it, he quickly noticed that most of the smuggled goods were biological research equipment and genetic materials.

  That told him everything he needed to know.

  New Isnd… Mewtwo.

  Mew had already mentioned sensing another of its kind. August had been prepared for this possibility—

  Now, he was certain.

  But for now, he simply shook his head at Blue.

  "Let’s put that aside for now. First, we wrap up the Lt. Surge situation."

  Even if Mewtwo had only just been created, it was still far beyond what he could handle at his current strength.

  For now, his priority was simple:

  Take down Team Rocket’s key figures and grow stronger.

  Blue gnced at the slowly brightening sky.

  "So, what’s next?"

  "We wait."

  August pnned to stay in Vermilion Gym—ying in wait for the Team Rocket members Lt. Surge had sent out to return.

  And in the meantime—

  He’d wait for news from Lance.

  ---

  For Cedon’s residents, st night was unforgettable.

  Fights had broken out all across the city.

  In the first half of the night—the League was hunting down Team Rocket.

  Midway through—Team Rocket reinforced their numbers and pushed back against the League.

  And just before dawn—something changed.

  For some unknown reason—

  Team Rocket abruptly surrendered their resistance and abandoned Cedon.

  The series of reversals had been dizzying to witness.

  Now—

  Where Cedon Game Corner once stood was nothing more than a battlefield full of destruction.

  The area had been completely sealed off by League enforcers.

  ...

  Lance and Bruno emerged from the ruins, battle-worn.

  Bruno, his arm wrapped in bandages, shook his head.

  "Didn’t think I’d actually take a hit in what should’ve been a guaranteed win."

  It wasn’t a major injury—

  But for someone who trained alongside Fighting-type Pokémon every day, even a minor wound was unexpected.

  "Bad luck," Lance replied tersely.

  Everything had gone smoothly at first.

  They had sealed off the Game Corner and conducted a full sweep—

  And soon found a hidden entrance to Team Rocket’s underground base.

  So far, so good.

  But just as they infiltrated the base—

  Reinforcements arrived.

  Two of Team Rocket’s Three Beasts—Sird and Carr—appeared at the entrance.

  And they immediately cshed with the League forces outside.

  The situation spiraled into an all-out battle.

  Seizing the opportunity—the Team Rocket members inside the base attempted a breakout.

  Suddenly—

  The League found themselves caught in a pincer attack.

  Had it not been for Lance’s Dragonite stepping in to repel Sird and Carr—

  Things would’ve gone far worse.

  Even so, many Rocket members managed to escape in the chaos.

  It was a frustrating outcome.

  Shaking off his disappointment, Lance thought of August.

  Wonder how things went in Vermilion.

  Compared to his struggle, August and Blue were operating alone—

  That worried him.

  Taking out his communicator, he dialed August’s number.

  The screen lit up.

  But instead of August’s face—

  A small, curious Eevee peeked into the frame.

  "Eevee, move, you’re blocking the camera."

  A hand reached over, gently picking up Eevee—

  And finally, August’s face appeared.

  Lance immediately exhaled in relief.

  If August looked this rexed, things couldn’t have gone too badly.

  But before Lance could speak—

  August asked first, "Lance, what happened in Cedon? You’ve been offline for a while."

  "…"

  After a pause, Lance briefly expined what had happened.

  Then he asked, "What about you? If you didn’t find anything, we can leave Vermilion alone for now. After what happened here, Team Rocket will be way more cautious."

  He wasn’t wrong.

  After losing a major base, Team Rocket would go into high alert.

  Tracking them down would only get harder.

  But—

  After he finished speaking—

  Lance noticed something strange about August’s expression.

  "…What?"

  August didn’t reply.

  Instead—

  He slowly panned the camera to the side.

  Lance and Bruno followed the shift—

  And there, slumped unconscious against the wall, was Lt. Surge—handcuffed.

  Surrounding him—

  A pile of bound, struggling Team Rocket grunts.

  "…?"

  You already took down Lt. Surge?!

  And that wasn’t all.

  August turned the camera back, now holding up a USB drive.

  "This contains proof that Lt. Surge has been smuggling for Team Rocket for years. Enough to convict him. I’ll send it over."

  Lance was speechless.

  What was it like having an insanely competent subordinate?

  Now, he understood.

  On one hand—he felt immensely relieved.

  On the other—he felt an unexpected sense of pressure.

  Bruno, however, didn’t overthink it.

  Gncing at Lt. Surge, he muttered,

  "Lance told me before that Surge was part of Team Rocket."

  "I didn’t quite believe it."

  "Looks like I trusted him a bit too much."