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While Maya yielded to Janine's overwhelming pressure, Sato was happily enjoying dinner in a VIP private room at a luxury restaurant with his team of Pokémon.
Since today was the day Golbat completed its evolution, Sato had specially organized a celebration in its honor. The joyful event thrilled both the Pokémon and the restaurant owner.
Pichu, in particular, adored the gift Sato gave him that evening, further deepening the bond between them.
At the mont, Pichu was bouncing and hopping around the room, cheerfully carrying his Soothe Bell. Sotis, he even used his electromagnetic levitation (Magnet Rise) ability to float about in the air.
The soft and soothing chis of the bell echoed gently throughout the room, and with mischievous little Pichu around, the atmosphere of the celebration grew especially warm and lively.
Perhaps it was the calming effect of the bell, but even the usually cold and short-tempered Arbok allowed Pichu to jump all over his body—and even offered a congratulatory nod to the newly evolved Crobat.
Seeing the bond between his Pokémon growing stronger, Sato felt deeply satisfied. He knew that only through mutual trust could his team unleash their full potential in battle.
Ti always flies during monts of joy. Around 9 p.m., Sato left the restaurant with his Pokémon and headed to a decently upscale hotel nearby to rest.
In truth, Sato had no intention of boarding the ship tonight. The reason was simple: it was far too dangerous. He'd not only have to face infighting among Team Rocket mbers but also deal with the impending chaos.
So, Sato decided to play the role of the opportunistic fisherman—appearing only when the ti was right. It was less dangerous and much less effort.
With a little ti left before things truly kicked off, he decided to attempt making a basic version of Pokémon food specially tailored for the Pikachu family.
Compared to the custom food he had previously made for Swampert, this low-tier Pikachu-line Pokémon food was much simpler to prepare.
After all, Pikachu was a single-type Pokémon, and the ingredients needed for its specialized food were far fewer, making the prep process easier.
After five or six failed attempts, Sato finally succeeded in making his first batch of the basic Pikachu-line Pokémon food around 10:30 p.m.
Perhaps due to the absence of the key ingredient—leaves from the Electrowood Tree—the resulting food didn't take on the transparent jelly-like form of Swampert's custom food. Instead, it beca small, solid yellow spheres.
Fortunately, Pichu was absolutely delighted by them and was showing signs of becoming a tiny food lover.
Even though the Electrowood Tree leaves were missing, the food still contained highly concentrated Electric-type energy.
After eating it, Pichu—whose fur had grown a bit dull from expending electricity to maintain his levitation—regained his luster. Fine sparks of electricity began to flow across his fur.
The lightning-shaped mark on his forehead, which had dimd, began to glow again. Pichu was once more brimming with energy.
Just before 11 p.m., Sato quietly exited the hotel room through the window.
Dressed entirely in black and wearing a dark mask, he silently rose into the night sky above the harbor with Crobat's help.
Using a pair of high-powered night-vision goggles, Sato clearly saw a small vessel from Cinnabar Island slowly docking at one of the berths, right on schedule.
A large number of "passengers" had already gathered at the docks—most of them Team Rocket mbers. As soon as the ship's crew lowered the gangway, so of them could hardly wait to board.
However, the ship's crew clearly weren't ordinary sailors. Several of them blocked the overly "enthusiastic" guests—and showed them sothing on their right wrists that imdiately cald everyone down.
Sato noticed that those "sailors" were wearing Team Rocket watches on their right hands. In that mont, he understood: this ship was run by Team Rocket. Clearly, they had anticipated the ticket shortage issue.
Evidently, gaining access to the ship bound for Cinnabar Island was a mini-trial arranged by Team Rocket as part of this newcor showdown—ant to eliminate the excess participants.
Naturally, the other "passengers" had realized the sa thing.
As a result, those without tickets wisely stepped back, letting the ticket-holders board first.
Before long, all the Team Rocket mbers with tickets successfully boarded. However, to their annoyance, the sailors didn't allow them to roam freely once aboard—they were ordered to gather on the deck.
The ship wasn't large, but the deck was more than enough to accommodate fifty or so passengers.
From Sato's perspective, this spacious deck would soon beco a battlefield, where only the strong would remain standing.
Soon, the ship's whistle blew and it began to move.
At that mont, many Team Rocket mbers still on the docks released Flying- or Water-type Pokémon and began pursuing the ship.
Within minutes, the vessel had traveled several kiloters and faded from view, becoming invisible to the "dockworkers" and "sailors" still onshore.
After exchanging glances, those "dockworkers" and "sailors" quickly dispersed. Under Sato's watchful eye, a large number of black-suited divers entered the sea along with various Water-type Pokémon.
"Looks like I was right. These underworld players just couldn't resist the lure of tens of billions in PokeDollars. This 'mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind' strategy is actually brilliant. If I hadn't suddenly intervened, those few people on board would've stood no chance against this well-prepared group."
Watching the black-clad divers slip into the dark waters below, Sato, still floating in the night sky above the harbor, frowned in thought.
It was well past 11 now, but Joe hadn't arrived yet. That made Sato a bit uneasy.
He shook off the concern and refocused, directing Crobat to follow the ship that had already sailed quite a distance.
By the ti Sato arrived above the ship, carried by Crobat, chaos had broken out on the deck.
Nurous Team Rocket mbers without tickets had found ways to board and were now engaged in battles with the ticket-holding mbers, spurred on by the ship's crew.
The rules were simple: only fifty mbers could remain on the deck. The losers would have to catch the next ship—or find another way to Cinnabar Island.
Naturally, those with tickets had the upper hand and, once they understood the rules, they banded together and began driving the uninvited ones off the deck.
Since they held the higher ground and controlled the deck's layout, the initial waves of Water-type Pokémon riders were easily repelled.
That changed when a few Team Rocket mbers arrived using Flying-type Pokémon and created havoc on the deck. Only then did a large number of Water-type Pokémon riders manage to get on board.
Thus, the grand lee began.
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