"The League hasn't sent anyone yet, but there are people moving out from Saffron City already."
Proton braced one hand on the desk, staring at the intel coming in from Team Rocket members stationed in Saffron, and spoke to the subordinate behind him:
"The League still doesn't know how to access our secret base. In the meantime, we need to have everything perfectly prepared. Once the little mice come in, we'll turn this place into a pot and catch them all in one go."
"Understood, Manager Proton! I'll get everything ready right away!"
Given his orders, the grunt rushed off in a panic.
Once the new subordinate was gone, someone stepped out from the shadows behind Proton.
"Grey, that bastard… This time, we're going to make sure it's a one-way trip for him!"
The newcomer—Petrel.
"Listen, Petrel—are you really saying there's no room for negotiation at all? If we could win over a Trainer on Grey's level, Team Rocket's situation in Kanto would completely change."
"I think you know exactly what I mean."
Proton spoke up, his tone shifting from sounding like a question to something that brooked no argument at all.
"Proton… Don't tell me you don't trust me?"
Petrel narrowed his eyes, clearly displeased by Proton's words.
They were both executives—so why did Proton have to use that attitude with him?
"It's not that I don't trust you as a person. I simply view your competence with a certain… degree of skepticism."
A relaxed smile hung on Proton's face as he met Petrel's gaze, his aura as the man on top pressing down on the other exec like a physical weight. "After all, you've been personally taken in by Grey. Twice."
"You—!"
Petrel jabbed a finger at Proton, but no words came out.
Proton wasn't wrong. In Giovanni's eyes, Petrel's current value really wasn't worth mentioning anymore.
He might have Elite Four–class strength on paper, but in practice he'd turned into Grey's personal punching bag.
Meanwhile, Proton—still the only Rocket executive who hadn't been arrested even once—already stood far, far above a man who'd been caught twice in a row.
Even Giovanni himself was starting to get sick of him.
For a simple reason: he'd been caught too many times.
A so-called Elite Four–level Trainer, arrested twice by the same Gym Leader.
Everyone knew how strict Team Rocket's internal hierarchy was.
The higher you climbed, the sharper the knives around you.
Technically, Petrel and Proton both held the title of executive—but the gap between their actual situations was already a chasm.
On Petrel's record, the two humiliating entries where he'd been personally thrown into prison by Grey were like red-hot brands, burning holes straight through whatever merits he'd earned in the past.
Every time he was broken out and had to make his report, the rhythm of Giovanni's fingers tapping on the tabletop was a constant reminder that Petrel's value was plummeting with each failure.
Proton, on the other hand, was all smiles in public, and his secret identity had never been exposed.
To the outside world, his persona was that of a model citizen: a "people's entrepreneur" who frequently appeared on Celadon City's local news.
In Giovanni's eyes, Proton had a perfect résumé:
No arrest record, over-fulfilled mission quotas, and—most recently—the effort he'd put into tracking down Silver.
With credentials like that, he'd be able to walk into the next executive council meeting and calmly take a seat as close to Giovanni as he liked.
Side by side, the comparison made Proton unconsciously straighten his back.
And Petrel? His shoulders hunched a little more.
Their titles might be the same, but the gulf between them—called "value"—was already enormous.
"Recruiting talent is an investment. If you're too stingy to spend anything, why would anyone accept your investment?"
"If you offer too little, you're just trying to freeload. You do get that much, right?"
"You've been following the Boss for this long and you still don't understand something that basic… sigh…"
Proton was unusually talkative today. After finishing his little speech, he lifted his cup and took a sip of coffee, the curve of his lips reflected in the porcelain a clear picture of confidence and certainty.
"Tch, we're talking about the guy who has Articuno on his team! He might have even managed to capture Zapdos by now! I tried to be generous, you know—I was even ready to hand over a Dratini! I already had Dratini out!"
The moment the subject of "investment" came up, Petrel nearly lost it. "And he didn't even want a pseudo-legendary! How am I supposed to win someone like that over, huh? Proton, you're so amazing, you tell me! I'd love to hear this grand plan of yours!"
Petrel honestly felt like he'd gone plenty far already, and Grey had still shrugged him off like he was nothing.
It had been a Dratini that knew Extreme Speed, for crying out loud.
He'd paid a steep price to get his hands on that thing.
And for what?
Straight into the League's custody!
To this day, he still had no idea what had happened to that Dratini.
Talk about losing both the bride and the army.
It had gotten to the point where Petrel didn't even dare get near Grey anymore.
When he heard Grey was coming this time, his first instinct had been to shove Proton out to receive him while he himself slipped quietly out the back.
Seeing the look on Petrel's face, Proton let out a cold little chuckle.
"Petrel, when I call you an idiot, you really are an idiot. Ever heard of 'appealing to someone's tastes'? What do Trainers want most?"
"Rare Pokémon, top-tier resources, overwhelming power. It all boils down to those three."
"Don't tell me you couldn't pick one of those to work with? Or did you blow yourself up with that 'mutual destruction' mindset of yours so many times that you scrambled your own brain?"
Proton shook his head, his tone dripping with mockery.
In his personal philosophy, there was simply no such thing as someone who "couldn't be bought."
So-called "loyalty" was nothing more than a price tag that hadn't hit the right number yet.
Once the price was high enough, people would pick up a knife against their own parents and children.
From a businessman's perspective, the reason Grey had turned them down was simple: the offer wasn't good enough.
"Why'd he turn down your Dratini? Because it's not a Fighting type and it's not that rare."
"Sure, Zapdos and Articuno aren't Fighting types either—but they get a pass for being legendary."
Proton turned fully to face Petrel, meeting his eyes. "Do you really think a Trainer who's willing to capture all kinds of non-Fighting Pokémon is the kind of man with unshakable convictions?"
"I… I don't know how to answer that…"
Petrel instinctively took half a step back, his lower back bumping into a filing cabinet with a sharp metallic clack.
Whatever he had been about to say got cut off by Proton's next words.
"You can't even see that much desire and you still somehow became one of the four executives. I honestly don't know how you pulled that off."
Proton's face was full of disappointment, like a teacher looking at a hopeless student. He seemed one step away from slapping Petrel across the face. "Everyone has a price. The only question is how far you're willing to go."
"If Grey wants to catch legendaries, then we give him all the support he could ever want—and throw in the locations of their habitats while we're at it."
"We hand over the coordinates as a welcome gift. You really think he'll just turn that down?"
"And what if he backs out afterward? The guy loves fishing for information—he could just walk off the moment he gets what he wants."
On that point, Petrel's voice grew firm. There was no room for doubt in it at all.
"Heh… In that case, we'll just have to show Grey exactly how dangerous we are."
Proton tipped out the last of his untouched coffee into the trash, then lifted his head to look up at the ceiling.
"This time," he said slowly, "that distinguished gentleman is coming along as well."
//Check out my P@tre0n for 20 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810.