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"What?! A plan to overthrow the entire Kanto Region?!" Green exclaimed in shock.
To be completely honest, although she had suspected that Team Rocket would eventually make some kind of major move, she had never imagined that they had actually begun implementing a plan to overthrow the Kanto Region!
"If I think about it carefully, Team Rocket does possess this kind of strength," Green muttered, her mind racing through the implications. "Lt. Surge from Vermilion City's gym is one of Team Rocket's three executives, which means the other two executives are also gym leaders."
"And the Team Rocket boss who can command gym leaders as subordinates must be significantly stronger than those three executives!"
"The gym leaders of Cinnabar Island and Viridian City have been missing for quite some time. There are only six active gym leaders remaining in the Kanto Region. The enemy has three gym leaders plus a boss who's stronger than gym leaders. Their high-level strength already exceeds what Kanto Region can field."
Green hadn't yet fully investigated the specific details about these enemy operatives, but she could make educated guesses about their identities.
After all, the gym leaders of Pewter City, Cerulean City, and Celadon City had always maintained their public presence. In contrast, the gym leaders of Vermilion City, Fuchsia City, and Saffron City were frequently absent from their posts.
While ordinary people might assume these absences were due to legitimate travel or business, someone as perceptive as Green immediately concluded that they were carrying out Team Rocket operations.
"With high-level strength superior to the Kanto Region's defenses, plus thousands of Team Rocket combat members, the region faces an overwhelming disadvantage," Green analyzed grimly.
Even for someone as confident as Green, her expression had become notably more serious.
She was a trainer from Pallet Town, and her hometown was located in the Kanto Region. Naturally, she refused to accept the possibility of her homeland being ruled by Team Rocket.
"What about the specific details?" Green demanded sharply. "Don't tell me you only know the general concept, because if that's the case, I'm going to be very angry."
Green wanted much more detailed information now. After all, Butch had only revealed the plan's overall purpose so far.
She had no intention of allowing her hometown to fall under Team Rocket control, especially since she was actively investigating the organization herself. She was already forming plans to sabotage Team Rocket's scheme.
"We don't know the specific content of the plan," Butch admitted with a helpless shake of his head. "After all, we're not strong enough and our status within the organization is too low."
However, he knew that Green wouldn't be satisfied with such a vague answer, so he prepared to share everything else he knew.
"We only know that after the boss announced the launch of the plan, most of our members were assigned to four different locations."
"What are those four locations?! Tell me immediately!" Green demanded.
She understood instantly that these four places must represent the most critical clues and the most important targets in Team Rocket's entire strategy.
"Seafoam Islands, the Power Plant, Indigo Plateau, and Saffron City," Butch revealed, collapsing to the ground after speaking.
He had now shared all his available information and realized there was no way back from this point.
He could only hope that Green would honor her promise and not expose their cooperation, otherwise he would truly be doomed.
"These four places..." Green frowned thoughtfully, looking puzzled by the selection.
She had only recently returned to the Kanto Region after an extended absence.
Although she knew these locations existed within Kanto, she didn't understand what made them particularly special or strategic.
"Why target these specific places?" Green wondered aloud. "Indigo Plateau serves as the Pokemon League headquarters, and Saffron City is the most prosperous metropolitan area in Kanto Region. I can understand why you'd want to attack those locations."
"But what about Seafoam Islands and the Power Plant? What could you possibly accomplish in such remote places?"
Green couldn't figure out the strategic value, so she decided to ask Butch directly.
Butch's eyes flickered momentarily, but since he was sitting on the ground with his head lowered, the angle prevented Green from observing his facial expression clearly.
"I honestly don't know," Butch replied. "Only the operatives who were actually assigned to those locations know what they're supposed to accomplish there."
Butch was being truthful about how Team Rocket had organized the mission assignments.
However, through his connections within the organization, he had already learned what the teams sent to these locations were planning to do.
He had also realized that Green seemed unfamiliar with the rumors and legends surrounding these particular places, so he thought he could get away with withholding that information.
Green displayed an obviously displeased expression upon hearing his response, and she discreetly glanced toward Cassidy to observe the latter's reaction.
She wanted to use Cassidy's response to judge the truthfulness of Butch's statements. After all, Cassidy was much more "straightforward" than Butch, or perhaps Cassidy simply wasn't very skilled at concealing her thoughts.
If Butch had just lied, Cassidy's expression would definitely change unless the two had coordinated their story beforehand.
For this reason, every time Green asked a question, she kept careful watch on Cassidy's reactions.
However, each time Butch provided an answer, Cassidy's expression remained unchanged.
This seemed to prove that Butch was telling the truth, at least according to Green's assessment.
"Since you don't know the details, there's nothing more I can do about that," Green said with resignation.
"One final question I want to ask: did your Team Rocket capture any children from Pallet Town several years ago?"
Green felt she had gathered enough general information, so she decided to ask directly about the matter she had been personally investigating all along.
"Pallet Town? Capturing children?" Butch asked in genuine confusion.
Team Rocket didn't typically engage in kidnapping children—they focused on capturing, stealing, and robbing Pokemon. In this Pokemon-centered world, Pokemon were far more valuable than humans.
"Well, our Team Rocket doesn't capture children," Butch explained honestly. "Or rather, our organization doesn't involve itself in human trafficking operations."
"And regarding several years ago, Cassidy and I only joined Team Rocket two years ago. During our time with the organization, we haven't heard of anyone being sent to Pallet Town to capture children. As for any activities that occurred before we joined, we don't have any information about those events."
Butch didn't understand why Green was asking about this particular topic, but he shared everything he knew.
Since he had already revealed the most important organizational secrets, these seemingly unimportant details didn't matter anymore.
"Only two years ago? That doesn't make finding answers any easier..." Green muttered in frustration.
It wouldn't be simple to investigate what she was really looking for, especially since several years had already passed.
"Well, I'll still have to visit Team Rocket headquarters to find those answers," Green thought privately, then gestured dismissively toward Butch and Cassidy.
"Go ahead and leave. I hope the information you provided today was accurate, because otherwise, I'll come looking for you to have another conversation."
Butch and Cassidy looked toward Green uncertainly, as if trying to confirm whether she was being truthful about letting them go.
After determining that she posed no immediate threat, both criminals ran away as quickly as possible.
This left Green standing alone with a deeply troubled expression.
"Of those four locations, Seafoam Islands is the closest to my current position," she mused aloud.
"After I locate and capture a Dratini, I'll head there to investigate what Team Rocket is planning."