Chapter 107: Big Sister, Wait for Me to Prepare

His gaze swept over Yingzi's suddenly pallid face, and his tone grew a few degrees more solemn: "The Rocket Team isn't a street‑hounding gang; it's an organization that can go toe‑to‑toe with the League. I'm just an ordinary Trainer; there's no need to provoke such a massive force over people and matters unrelated to me—the risk is simply too great."

Speaking, he stood up, reached out to pull the door open, and the shadow of the doorframe cast a cold, hard line across his face: "Go back right now and find Officer Jenny, tell her everything about Hongzhi's whereabouts and situation; it might still be in time. League police are far more reliable than me fighting alone."

Yingzi stared at Huo La in a daze, her lips moving a few times as if she wanted to say more, but meeting his unyielding resolve, every plea got stuck in her throat, turning into a barely audible sigh.

She glanced at Huo La, then turned to Bilan, whose face was full of anxiety and who seemed eager to rush out, and finally lowered her eyes, her voice full of disappointment: "…I'm sorry for disturbing you."

When the words fell, she clenched the leather handbag in her hand, turned and hurried out, the click of her high heels fading farther away, each tap betraying an unmistakable dejection.

"Hey! Sister Yingzi!" Bilan, seeing this, immediately tried to chase after her, but Huo La's grip on her wrist held firm.

She snapped her head back, glaring at Huo La, hopping anxiously: "What are you doing! This is such a big matter, how can we just ignore it!"

Huo La said nothing, his gaze fixed on the far end of the hallway until Yingzi's figure vanished completely around the corner, then he released his grip and, with a "bang," slammed the door shut.

"How can you be so cold‑blooded?" Bilan exploded, her voice rising a few pitches, "That was a living human life! And Sister Yingzi was on the verge of crying just now…"

"What good is panic? Showing off will only get you into trouble."

Huo La cut her off, hurried to the window, lifted a corner of the heavy curtain, and his sharp eyes scanned below—sure enough, Yingzi had just stepped out of the Pokemon Center's doors, and at a nearby alley entrance two figures in black trench coats with their hat brims pulled low were already following, neither too close nor too far.

He let the curtain fall, a cold curve lifting his mouth: "If we actually followed them, we'd be throwing ourselves into a fire pit. Being stalked without noticing it—given your vigilance, you still think about rescuing anyone?"

He glanced at Bilan, his tone tinged with mockery: "What's my status? What's yours? When the time comes, no disguise will help."

Bilan froze for a moment, the anger on her face fading, then she caught on, her eyes bulging: "You mean… they let Yingzi escape on purpose, just to bait a rescue force?"

"Baiting a rescue isn't enough." Huo La walked to the bedside, sat down, his fingertips lightly tapping his knee, deep in thought, "Officer Jenny and the League's power are the 'reinforcements' they truly dread. I guess Yingzi and Hongzhi's escape is real; even the Rocket Team probably didn't anticipate that those two managed to bring out the most core secret data."

He paused, sorting his thoughts: "According to Yingzi, she and Hongzhi got separated, yet the Rocket Team kept trailing her. That shows the Rocket Team hasn't found Hongzhi; they can only focus on Yingzi's trail, betting she'll go after Hongzhi, or that someone will look for Hongzhi because of her."

Bilan opened her mouth, momentarily speechless—her mind was only on 'saving people', she hadn't considered the tangled intricacies behind it.

"Then… do we just watch Hongzhi get captured?" she said, still a bit unwilling, her tone softening.

"Of course not." A hint of helplessness flashed in Huo La's eyes. "Big sister, even if we aren't being followed, we can't just show up plainly as 'Huo La' and 'Bilan', can we? Give me a moment to prepare."

Half an hour later, outside an unremarkable research facility to the southeast of Goldenrod City.

This is a branch research institute of the Silph Company, now a wreck— the alloy doors of the lab are burnt, warped and twisted, the edges still glowing with charred heat.

Inside, Yingzi and a Researcher wearing thick‑rimmed glasses crouched behind a plump Gloom, clutching a laptop tightly to their chests, their faces as pale as paper, eyes filled with terror.

Opposite them stood two youths in the Rocket Team's black uniforms, smirks at the corners of their mouths, and in front of them a Flareon engulfed in blazing flames.

The Flareon's fur was dyed a deep red by the firelight, but its eyes lacked any spark, just a murky crimson, exuding a frantic ferocity.

"Hey, hey, this Flareon's acting weird." On the research center's roof, by the skylight, Bilan clutched the window frame, nudged Huo La, and whispered in a very low voice.

Having taken a System Task, and using its location function, Huo La and Bilan easily pinpointed Hongzhi's position.

"Seen." Huo La nodded, his gaze instantly chilling, his voice edged with ice, "It's probably a Rocket Team‑modified test subject, its consciousness controlled."

His eyes swept over the Gloom protecting the Researcher, then added, "But this Gloom is well‑kept—plump body, leaves a rich color, clearly carefully tended."

"What era is this, still studying this!" Bilan rolled her eyes, fingertip pointing at the Researcher inside, "Look at the computer in his arms—that's definitely Hongzhi! The laptop holds the core computational data! I wonder how much this thing would fetch on the black market…"

Her eyes lit up, looking like a genuine money‑hungry fanatic.

Huo La gave her a sidelong glance, his tone suddenly stern: "I warn you, nothing in that computer may ever enter the black market."

Something that can make the system dispense Master Balls as rewards, and that even drives the Rocket Team to surround the Silph Company's headquarters to seize—it's almost certainly the core manufacturing technique of the Master Ball.

Only something like that would merit the Rocket Team's massive effort, possibly even mobilizing half of the Nine Great Captains, and perhaps even drawing the Five Great Commanders into the fray.

As for Yingzi and Hongzhi managing to escape with the data, it was probably because the Rocket Team's attention was fully on the headquarters' core area at the time, completely overlooking those two 'unremarkable' Researchers.

Seeing Huo La's serious demeanor, Bilan pouted dejectedly: "Got it, got it. Rescue them, and the reward from the Silph Company will surely be substantial; I'm not after that black‑market cash."