[Huh?]
Hearing Elias's words, the system paused for a moment before quickly reacting, its voice sounding somewhat defensive.
[Host, you know me—I'm always steady and reliable in critical moments.]
[What happened just now absolutely has nothing to do with me!]
The system's response was quite intense, clearly irritated by Elias's suspicion.
Aside from accidentally deleting part of the system manual, missing a bit of training information, and forgetting some important reminders, the system had otherwise reached the high standards expected of a qualified assistant.
So, the system felt a bit upset by Elias's doubts.
On the other side, after hearing the system's firm answer, Elias felt like he might have overthought things.
He gave a small nod, saying:
"Alright, I guess I misunderstood."
[Mm-hmm.]
The system responded with satisfaction.
But it didn't forget Elias's lingering doubts.
While the system felt that the incident was most likely unrelated to it, it still decided to skim through the existing system manual.
What if there was something it had missed?
With that thought in mind, the system entered the database...
That night, after confirming everything had returned to normal...
Elias, Gardevoir, and Tias all went to sleep together.
Of course, since Gardevoir had won the previous battle, she slept on Elias's left side.
The next morning, Elias woke up early.
It wasn't that he didn't want to sleep more, but Gardevoir and Latias had rather chaotic sleeping positions.
With the weather already being hot, it was hard to get any rest when two warm Pokémon were sprawled on top of him.
Sighing, Elias gently nudged Gardevoir and Tias to the sides.
Both Pokémon were deep in sleep, showing no signs of waking up despite his efforts.
He carefully got up, got dressed, and made his way downstairs.
Downstairs, the first thing he saw was Sabrina, sitting at the dining table and sipping coffee in small, measured sips.
As a Gym Leader, her routine was quite regular, unlike Gardevoir, who had a habit of sleeping in.
Upon seeing Elias, Sabrina's eyes brightened a little, and she waved at him in a casual greeting.
"Good morning, Sabrina," Elias responded with a wave.
What surprised him, however, was the familiar figure sitting at the table, one that had been missing for the entire night.
"Mew?"
"You're up this early?"
Elias's expression reflected his surprise as he looked at the pink cat Pokémon at the table.
Unlike Gardevoir, who liked to sleep in, Mew had fully inherited the typical cat trait: if she wasn't completely asleep, she was going to sleep hard.
Seeing her awake at this hour, in this place, was quite unexpected.
"Mew~"
Mew squinted at him and waved her tiny paw.
She was up this early for two reasons: first, because she couldn't sleep comfortably without Elias around. And second, because she had her own goals for the day.
"Mew? (When are we going to Team Rocket?)"
Her big, watery eyes locked onto Elias, her question filled with purpose.
Elias was taken aback.
Mew wanted to go? Wasn't that practically walking into a trap?
But then, he remembered that Mew had some kind of partnership with Team Rocket in the past.
The earlier contact with Sachi had been a liaison between Team Rocket and Mew.
Though that cooperation had ended because of Elias's intervention, Mew wanting to join in actually made some sense.
Thinking it through, Elias replied:
"Once Gardevoir and the others wake up, and after breakfast, we can go."
"Is that alright, Sabrina?" he asked, making sure to check with her.
"I'm fine with it."
Sabrina nodded and answered.
Mew, hearing this, rubbed her paws together eagerly, practically vibrating with excitement.
Her anticipation wasn't because she had a particular fondness for Team Rocket, though.
Rather…
Before the planned cooperation, Giovanni had promised her something.
He had said he would use her genes and Elias's remaining psychic powers to create a "daughter" for her and Elias.
And apparently, that "daughter" would be quite powerful—strong enough to suppress Gardevoir and maybe even take Elias back.
Just thinking about the possibility made Mew feel a surge of excitement.
She wondered if Giovanni had kept his word... she needed to ask him about it!
Once she had her "daughter," whether it was Gardevoir or some "other mom," she would come out on top.
She, Mew, would be the ultimate answer to this version of the story!
Seeing Mew waving her paws in the air, Elias couldn't help but wonder if she had been hit too hard by Gardevoir.
Had Mew been knocked silly?
...
After sitting for a while, Elias figured it was time and moved to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.
Just as he placed the breakfast on the table, Gardevoir and Latias came downstairs, both yawning.
Their timely arrival almost made Elias think they'd been pretending to sleep all along.
After a quick breakfast, Elias cleaned up and got ready to meet Giovanni at Team Rocket.
"Sabrina, I'll leave the way to you," Elias said, handing over the responsibility.
Though he had been somewhat involved with Team Rocket in the past, it had been so many years that he wasn't sure whether the base had changed or not.
So he still needed Sabrina to guide him.
"Got it."
Sabrina seemed pleased by his request, her lips curling up in a smile as she agreed.
She recalled all the Pokémon one by one.
With Gardevoir, Latias, and Mew following closely behind, Elias and his group left the Gym.
Latios had been assigned the job of keeping watch over the Gym.
...
Not long into their walk, Elias realized—
—After all these years, Team Rocket's base in Saffron City was still located in the Silph Co. building.
Saffron was the largest city in the Johto region, and for it to be infiltrated so thoroughly without anyone noticing was rather concerning.
It only proved how inefficient and unaware the League was.
But for Elias, the fact that the base hadn't moved was a good thing.
At least when Team Rocket employees saw a stranger walk in confidently and correctly input a series of codes, their expressions were absolutely priceless.
"You know, if I didn't know better, I'd think you were one of Team Rocket's Executives," Sabrina muttered under her breath as she followed behind.
But then she realized something wasn't quite right.
When she really thought about it… Elias was technically her senior. He'd been involved with Team Rocket far longer than she had.
---
PS — Mew:Surprised? While you two were bickering, I already took the shortcut and have my own daughter now!
In the end, collaborating with Giovanni was the right choice. He's the perfect partner—never leaves me hanging!