What remained were scattered odds and ends.
A worn wallet.
Loose Pokédollars.
Several identity cards.
Silas sat cross-legged beside the dying campfire and examined them one by one.
Some cards held only a few hundred Pokédollars.
Some had a few thousand.
The highest balance barely reached 300,000 Pokédollars.
After transferring everything, his total funds rose to just over 4,000,000 Pokédollars.
Not bad.
Then-
"Hm?"
The final card caught his eye.
Stamped clearly in bold red ink-
R
Silas's fingers paused.
"…No way."
He stared at it for a long moment.
"Team Rocket again?"
Including the black-market assassination from before, this was the second time in a short span that he had run into a member of Team Rocket.
And both incidents were close together.
Had their infiltration into the Hoenn region already reached this level?
Silas frowned slightly.
He found the psychic man's portable terminal among the scattered belongings and inserted the card.
The screen flickered.
Access granted.
The man hadn't even set a password.
Was he that confident in his abilities? Or was he idiot?
A large red R filled the screen before transitioning into a secure internal interface.
Silas's eyes narrowed.
"As expected… This is their identity verification card. Like a League ID."
Instead of a normal operating system, the device booted directly into a hidden private network.
An internal Rocket website.
Silas scrolled.
His expression changed slightly.
It wasn't just an identity page.
There was an exchange system ,kind of similar to the Pokémon League's internal rewards list.
Rare Pokémon eggs.
Evolution materials.
Exotic TMs.
Strange artifacts.
But instead of League points-
They used Rocket Points.
Silas's gaze sharpened.
"…They've even opened exchange access for pseudo-legendary lines."
Dragonite.
Tyranitar.
Metagross.
Though the required points were astronomical, the fact that they were openly listed spoke volumes about Rocket's power.
Just then suddenly-
A notification popped up.
Silas clicked it instinctively.
A chatroom opened.
Only around a dozen members were present.
All anonymous.
[Have you all received the mission?]
[Colleagues, you should have gotten the same orders.]
Silas's eyes flickered.
He opened the mission tab in another window.
Special Mission:
Infiltrate the Hoenn region.
Track Team Magma and Team Aqua.
Disrupt any potential cooperation between the two organizations.
Silas finally understood why the psychic had attacked him immediately upon seeing Crawdaunt and Sharpedo.
He had mistaken him for Team Aqua.
Back in the chat
[You're probably all still running around blindly. You don't know much about those two groups, right?]
[What are you implying?]
[I propose information sharing. As a gesture of sincerity, I'll release my intel first.]
One by one, messages appeared:
[Agree.]
[Agreed.]
[Sounds reasonable.]
Silas typed a single word.
[Agree.]
A folder appeared shortly after.
Inside was a compiled summary of Team Magma and Team Aqua and their ideologies, activity zones, leadership structure.
Kyogre.
Groudon.
The legendary Pokémon they pursued.
Silas skimmed calmly.
Most of this, he already knew.
But what caught his attention were the member dossiers , including detailed Pokémon lineups of certain cadres.
If someone could rise to cadre rank in either Team Aqua or Team Magma, their strength was likely at least near Elite Four tier.
Level 60+ Pokémon minimum.
The chat grew lively.
Some information was useful.
Some was ridiculous gossip.
For example.
One rumor claimed a Team Magma mid-captain had an unusual fixation on bronze trophies.
Silas gave a quiet exhale through his nose.
"Even criminal organizations have their share of nonsense."
He contributed something minor in return - mentioning sightings of Team Magma activity near Mt. Chimney.
After further observation, Silas noticed something else.
Even within their own private network
All identities remained masked.
Team Rocket guarded internal secrecy carefully.
Soon after exiting the chatroom, someone added him privately.
It was the squad leader who had proposed information sharing.
The man's tone subtly hinted at wanting to position himself as a coordinator , perhaps even an informal leader.
Silas responded politely but briefly.
Then ended the conversation.
"Internal competition is inevitable."
His current access level: Squad Leader.
The same as the other man.
Equal rank.
No hierarchy.
Silas crouched beside a stone and examined the Rocket ID card in his hand.
First, he set a password for the device.
Then activated its built-in self-destruct protocol.
Three failed password attempts would permanently wipe all internal data.
Next-
He carefully removed the visible "R" marking from the physical card.
He would not make the same careless mistake the psychic man had made.
"Team Rocket Squad Leader…"
Silas looked up at the fading night sky.
A faint, self-mocking smile touched his lips.
"Three identities now."
League-affiliated trainer.
Independent operator in the shadows.
And now Rocket Squad Leader.
Within Rocket's hierarchy, ranks progressed as:
External Affiliate → Grunt → Squad Leader → Company Leader → Battalion Leader → Executive.
Anything beyond that was unknown territory.
From what he gathered, all squad leaders assigned to Hoenn operated independently and did not know one another personally.
Likely for operational secrecy.
Silas's confidence in accepting this identity came from lessons he once received from someone who lived comfortably in gray zones.
Dark organizations often cast wide nets.
They recruited freely.
But promotions?
That required scrutiny.
Heavy scrutiny.
Undercover agents were a constant risk.
However, peripheral ranks like Squad Leader rarely underwent strict background investigations.
And Rocket, given its size, would hardly notice if one low-level operative disappeared.
"If one day I discard this identity," Silas murmured, "I doubt they'd even remember my name."
Still- The Rocket exchange system was a valuable channel.
Some items inaccessible through League privileges were obtainable through Rocket.
Access alone was power.
...
When Silas left the cave, dawn had already begun to lighten the horizon.
His next destination:
Fallarbor Town.
From there, Route 113 would lead him closer to coastal Hoenn.
He couldn't remain wandering forests forever.
Umbreon walked silently at his side.
"Umbre…"
Murkrow circled above.
"Kraa—!"
Sandile trotted near his feet, black eyes alert.
As the early morning mist drifted between the trees, wild Pokémon activity was noticeably higher.
Perfect timing.
Silas glanced down at Sandile.
"Let's find you a proper opponent."
Sandile's jaws parted slightly.
"San…"
The hunt resumed.
<><><><><><>
(End of chapter)