Chapter 73

"Xiao Gang, it's fine." Huo La gently pulled Xiao Gang's arm, shook his head at him, then turned to Lt. Surge, the corners of his mouth curling into a knowing smile, "Gym Leader Lt. Surge should want to 'give me some extra coaching', talk about the details in the battle, or... have other 'private matters' to explain, right?"

He said the last few words exceptionally lightly, but his eyes locked straight onto Lt. Surge's gaze—that gaze didn't have expectations for a junior, only the scrutiny and testing belonging to a Team Rocket member.

Huo La knew clearly in his heart, Lt. Surge was going to "fulfill his duty", verify his identity, and maybe even convey Sakaki's instructions.

A flash of surprise crossed Lt. Surge's eyes, clearly not expecting this ten-year-old teenager to be so keen, but soon returned to normal, patted Huo La on the shoulder: "Still you kid who's sharp. Indeed have a few whispers about 'League trends' to tell you, it's quiet on the second floor."

He specifically emphasized the four words "League trends", as if hinting at something.

Xiao Gang wanted to say something more, but was stopped by Huo La's gaze.

"You wait for me downstairs, help me look after Nidoqueen, I'll be down soon." Huo La handed the Poké Ball containing Nidoqueen to Xiao Gang, his tone firm, "Don't worry, nothing will happen."

Looking at Huo La's calm appearance, Xiao Gang, although still having concerns, nodded: "Then pay attention to safety, call me if there's any situation."

Lt. Surge led Huo La toward the stairs in the corner of the Gym, the lights in the stairwell were a bit dim, and the footsteps were exceptionally clear in the small space.

Walking to the second floor, Huo La discovered that this wasn't any lounge at all, but a simple office—a paint-peeling wooden table, two chairs, a few training charts of Electric-type Pokémon pasted on the wall, and the communicator at the corner of the table was flashing with a faint red light.

"Sit." Lt. Surge pointed to the chair opposite, while he sat behind the table, his body leaning forward slightly, his eyes instantly becoming sharp, "Let's get straight to the point, what is your relationship with Boss Sakaki? Why would he specifically ask me to 'take care' of you?"

Without outsiders present, he completely shed the disguise of "Gym Leader", his tone filled with the directness of a Team Rocket member.

Huo La had long been prepared, sat down calmly, and took out the Team Rocket badge to play with in his hand: "I am a member absorbed into Team Rocket by Dr. Zager, I haven't seen Boss Sakaki."

"Hmm? Dr. Zager, huh..." Lt. Surge gave a light "huh".

"Yes, Dr. Zager." Huo La nodded, "Boss Sakaki paying attention to me should be because of that thesis about 'super-ancient Pokémon' published by Dr. Zheng Hui, I just provided some ideas, didn't expect Dr. Zheng Hui to also include me in the affiliated signature."

He didn't say too much, just said some things that were now on the table, especially specifically mentioning Dr. Zager and Dr. Zheng Hui; having contact with two doctors could also show his characteristic of leaning toward research.

"Super-ancient Pokémon?" Lt. Surge's eyes lit up, his body leaning forward more, "Is it the kind written in Dr. Zheng Hui's thesis? Have you really come into contact with it?"

"Seen it once, at the lighthouse near Vermilion Port." Huo La said half-truthfully, his tone as calm as stating an ordinary matter, "It was a super-ancient Dragonite, went to Mount Podoro to confirm the traces of its kind, later didn't find clear clues, and went into the depths of the sea."

He deliberately mentioned Mount Podoro, also to prove to Team Rocket that he wasn't lying.

Lt. Surge stared into Huo La's eyes for a full few seconds, that gaze was as sharp as if it wanted to pierce through the heart, clearly judging the truth of these words.

The air in the office was stagnant, only the red light of the communicator at the corner of the table flashing slightly.

After a while, he seemed to put down his doubts, reached out and pulled open the bottom drawer of the office desk, took out a thin document, and "slapped" it in front of Huo La: "This is the data sent over by headquarters. It's written very clearly. You lean toward the research type, captured the Team Rocket four brothers in Mount Moon, and even declared you wanted to become a Team Rocket executive."

Huo La's heart stirred, he reached out and picked up the document.

The paper had a faint smell of ink, the first page was printed with Team Rocket's black R badge, below were his photo, birthplace, captured Pokémon, and even the process of his battle with the four brothers in Mount Moon was recorded clearly.

It seemed Team Rocket's intelligence network was much more detailed than he had imagined.

"Originally, headquarters knew you 'betrayed' your own people, and were furious." Lt. Surge leaned back in his chair, hands crossed in front of his chest, his tone carrying a bit of playfulness, "The instruction given to me was, when you arrived at Vermilion Gym, punish you in the name of 'challenge failure'—break a few bones and throw you out, that would count as completing the mission. When necessary, could do it even more excessively."

"Hmm?" Huo La raised his eyes, his fingertips tapping the edge of the document, his tone unreadable, "So, you called me up, not just to ask questions, but also to 'execute' the old instructions of headquarters?"

"Originally planned that way." Lt. Surge shrugged, his tone changed, "But after that thesis about super-ancient Pokémon by Dr. Zheng Hui was published, the Boss suddenly changed his mind, let me not do anything first, and properly test your background."

He glanced at Huo La, the corners of his mouth curling into a look of approval: "Now it seems, you kid really have something—not the kind of hot-headed kid who only knows how to fight, but a scientific-type Trainer with a sense of justice not completely worn away, but with a clear enough brain. This kind of person, for our Team Rocket, is much more valuable than those four pieces of trash, worth cultivating."

The stone in Huo La's heart finally landed, but he deliberately pursued: "What about the Team Rocket four brothers? Headquarters didn't pursue the matter of me 'capturing them'?"

"Pursue?" Lt. Surge sneered, his tone filled with disdain, "Those four idiots, couldn't even beat a kid who just went out, being caught by the League is just their own fault. The Boss had long disliked them for not getting things done, you sending them in just gave them a chance to reflect on themselves."

"And, your current quite positive Trainer identity is also a very important thing for our Team Rocket."

Hearing this, Huo La completely breathed a sigh of relief.

He knew very well, Lt. Surge's attitude was Sakaki's attitude—in the face of the huge benefit of "super-ancient Pokémon", the "grudges" of the Team Rocket four brothers were simply not worth mentioning.

This matter, could be considered completely suppressed.

He put the document back on the table, nodded slightly to Lt. Surge: "Thank you, Gym Leader Lt. Surge, for the reminder, and thank you for the 'tolerance' of headquarters. I won't let Boss Sakaki down, as for clues about super-ancient Pokémon, I will report them as soon as I have new discoveries."

"Don't need to give me this fake stuff." Lt. Surge waved his hand, took out another small black communicator from the drawer, and threw it to Huo La, "This is Team Rocket's internal communicator, encrypted channel, only I and headquarters can contact you."

"If you need help, call me directly with this."

Huo La caught the communicator, the cold metal touch came, and a tiny serial number was engraved on it. He gripped the communicator tightly; this thing was both a "proof of trust" and a "shackle of surveillance", but for now, it was a necessary tool for him to delve into Team Rocket.

"Understood." Huo La put away the communicator, got up and prepared to leave, "Then I'll go back to the Pokémon Center first, the Pokémon are still waiting to recover their stamina."

"Go." Lt. Surge waved his hand and added another sentence, "By the way, you'd better not provoke Sabrina of Saffron City. She's also been asking about super-ancient Pokémon recently, that woman's psychic power is evil, even headquarters doesn't dare to easily order her around."

Huo La paused, turned back and said "Thank you for the reminder", then turned and walked down the stairs.

"Wait a minute." Lt. Surge called out to Huo La again.

Huo La turned around in confusion, only to see Lt. Surge take a photo from the drawer, skillfully sign his name on it, and throw it to Huo La: "As proof that you won the challenge against me, my signed photo, take it."

Downstairs, Xiao Gang had long been waiting anxiously, seeing Huo La come out, he immediately greeted him: "How is it? He didn't do anything to you, right? Just now I seemed to hear movement upstairs."

"It's fine, just chatted and encouraged me, and gave me a signed photo by the way." Huo La shook the signed photo in his hand and smiled to change the subject.

"Uh..." Xiao Gang looked at Huo La's calm expression, although still having concerns, he didn't ask any more questions.