Never in his life did August imagine that, as a League officer, he would one day find himself walking among the ranks of Team Rocket.

  As he moved through the group, many passersby and trainers took notice of the uniformed squad, but no one said a word.

  Once they entered Mt. Moon under the captain's command, the thirty or so Team Rocket members quickly dispersed in all directions to begin their search.

  Only August and Daijiro were left behind.

  "You two, stay here and block any passing trainers. Don't let them in!"

  "Yes, sir!" Daijiro immediately straightened his posture and responded seriously.

  At the same time, he gave August a discreet shove, snapping him out of his thoughts.

  August stiffened, then quickly mimicked Daijiro's stance, mumbling, "Yes, sir!"

  At this point, August was fully prepared for the possibility that his cover had been blown. His fingers tightened around the Poké Ball hidden in his sleeve.

  While the [Mimic Mask] could fwlessly replicate someone's face, it couldn't imitate their voice—his biggest weakness.

  I need to get myself a voice changer after this.

  August made a mental note.

  However, whether it was because there were too many grunts for the captain to remember everyone's voices, or because August's response had been vague enough, Ijun merely frowned but said nothing. Instead, he released his Crobat and disappeared into the deeper tunnels of Mt. Moon.

  Once the captain's figure had completely vanished, Daijiro immediately rexed, slumping his shoulders.

  "Whew… finally gone!"

  "You're one lucky guy. Not only did you fake a sick day, but you didn't even react when the captain spoke to you. I was sweating bullets for you."

  "Last week, some poor guy forgot to greet the captain when they ran into him—he's still in the medical wing recovering."

  "Seriously, how did you get off so easy? Don't tell me… you're actually the captain's illegitimate son?"

  Daijiro rambled on, his chatter endless.

  But despite his talkative nature, his actions were efficient. Without missing a beat, he released a Magneton, positioning it as a blockade at the entrance of the tunnel. Any trainers attempting to pass through would have to get past it first.

  Then, he turned to August.

  "Come on, man, let's go! Get your Pokémon out too. If the captain catches us scking, we're screwed."

  August lowered his head, hiding his expression in the shadows. "You sure about that?"

  "Of course! There's no way I can hold off all these trainers on my own… Wait, why does your voice sound kind of weird today?"

  Before Daijiro could process what was happening, August released his Pokémon.

  "Gardevoir?! A shiny one from Hoenn?! No way—are you really the captain's kid?!"

  Then, his eyes widened in horror.

  "Wait, what the hell are you doing?! Why are you attacking my Magneton?!"

  "N—N-No! Gardevoir, stop! Hayato, you're messing around, right? Come on, let me go! I'm your buddy, Daijiro!"

  August watched as Gardevoir effortlessly pinned Daijiro down with Psychic.

  Then, in response to Daijiro's angry, shocked stare, August smiled—calmly, casually.

  And with that perfectly neutral smile, he spoke.

  "Buddy? Sorry, I'm with the police."

  ...

  After confiscating Daijiro's Poké Balls, August knocked him unconscious and secured him with handcuffs.

  Then, he sent a message to Lance.

  [Are you here yet?]

  It took about a minute before Lance replied.

  [I can't break away for now, but I've already contacted Officer Jenny in Pewter City to back you up. What's the situation?]

  Lance couldn't come. August was a little disappointed, but this was still manageable.

  [According to the intel I've gathered, Team Rocket has deployed two squads, totaling just under a hundred members, to track Mew's presence in Mt. Moon.]

  [They're tracking Mew?! Do they pn to capture it?!]

  [Not sure yet. But if that were the case, they wouldn't just send these grunts—there's not a single executive among them…]

  It wasn't that August was underestimating these Team Rocket members.

  It was just that, from what he had seen, they didn't stand a chance of capturing Mew.

  Then again, it was possible that Team Rocket had some kind of advanced technology to aid them.

  After all, they had a habit of pulling new tricks out of nowhere.

  To prevent any surprises, August decided to head deeper and investigate.

  [I'm going to follow them. I left a prisoner at the entrance—have Officer Jenny pick him up.]

  Since he hadn't held back when knocking Daijiro out, the guy wouldn't be waking up for at least another half day. There was no need to worry about him escaping.

  [Be careful. If the situation gets too dangerous, wait for backup.]

  [Got it.]

  After putting his phone back in his bag, August turned to Gardevoir and called out, "Alright, enough pying around!"

  Hearing his voice, Gardevoir sighed and unceremoniously dropped the battered Magneton she had been toying with, before gracefully returning to August's side.

  August scooped up the fainted Magneton, returned it to its Poké Ball, and stuffed it into his bag.

  Then, he headed into the deeper tunnels of Mt. Moon.

  ...

  Mt. Moon's cave network was incredibly complex.

  Aside from the main paths—equipped with lighting for travelers—there were countless branching tunnels, remnants of mining operations from the past.

  According to official League statistics, first-time visitors had an extremely high chance of getting lost if they didn't have a guide.

  But for August, this wasn't a problem at all.

  Gardevoir extended her psychic senses, mapping out the surrounding environment in real-time.

  A complete three-dimensional model of the tunnels formed in August's mind, seamlessly transmitted through their telepathic link.

  With this ability, they could navigate the pitch-dark caves as if walking through an open field—without needing any light.

  [Thirty meters ahead, turn right at the next fork. There are three Team Rocket grunts stationed there.]

  Gardevoir's voice echoed in his mind.

  August nodded, silently creeping forward.

  When he spotted the three unsuspecting grunts with their backs turned, he gave his order.

  "[Psychic]."

  Boom!

  The three Team Rocket members didn't even have time to react.

  It felt like an invisible sledgehammer had smmed into the backs of their heads. Their vision went bck, and they crumpled to the ground without a fight.

  August walked up to the unconscious grunts, smirking.

  "Too easy…"

  The way Team Rocket had divided their forces made it all too simple to pick them off one by one.

  With these three, August had already taken down thirteen members—nearly a third of the entire squad.

  As usual, he stripped them of their Poké Balls and marked their location on his communicator before sending the info to Lance so Officer Jenny could retrieve them ter.

  He was about to move on—

  But just then, the radio on one of the fallen grunts crackled to life.

  Static buzzed for a moment before a familiar voice came through.

  It was Captain Ijun.

  "All units, listen up—"