As Sato ventured deeper, the surroundings gradually became more anized, showing clear signs of ret activity.

  Zoroark and Haunter fnked him oher side, their eyes sharp, carefully surveying the area.

  With two Pokémon guarding him, Sato didn't focus solely on scouting ahead. Instead, he occasionally picked up discarded researotes, flipping through them for clues.

  "They evacuated in a hurry."

  He held a nearly plete research report on Scyther's evolution. The study had painstakingly detailed every aspect of its transformatioribute shift, physical enhas, and potential growth thresholds.

  However, despite its value, the dot had bee carelessly on a desk, as if no one had bothered taking it along whereating.

  "If this were the Pokémon League, they would've swept the entire b , fisg everything as 'evidence' before repurposing the research for themselves."

  Uo make sense of it, Sato pushed aside his thoughts, tinuing his searore clues.

  "Kehehe!"

  Haunter poioward a corridor ahead, signaling that this was the spot where it had previously entered a Pokémon.

  After its brief report, it hurriedly floated behind Zoroark, hiding like a subordinate seeking prote from its boss.

  "Stay cautious, Zoroark."

  "Zoro."

  Zoroark fshed him a fident look, then waved for Hauo lead the way, following closely behind to provide support.

  Sato trailed at a steady pace, unhurried.

  Zoroark's evolution had signifitly boosted his fidence—if Zoroark couldn't hahe situation, then there was no point in w—even Dark Energy wouldn't help against an overwhelming force.

  "Zoro?"

  "Kehe?"

  Haunter and Zoroark had already ehe room, but they hadn't engaged in battle. Instead, they seemed to be having an argument over something.

  Sato, growing curious, walked past the er, stepping into the room.

  Both Haunter and Zoroark turo face him, returning to his side.

  Ahead of them, on an oversized mattress, several infant Abra and Drowzee y crawling about blindly, their tiny limbs fumbling as they searched for something in distress.

  "Zoro…"

  Zoroark's gaze flickered with uainty, casting a side g Sato, seemingly unsure of how to react.

  Meanwhile, Haunter was utterly unfazed. It pyfully grabbed a tiny Drowzee by its tail, lifting it upside down.

  The frightened Pokémon filed wildly, kig its stubby legs helplessly in midair.

  "Haunter, put it down. Stop messing around."

  "Keheh~"

  Haunter relutly released it, watg as the little Drowzee tumbled bato the mattress.

  Sato's eyes darkened.

  "So that's how it is."

  Both Akazam and Hypno were known to live in groups, but Psychion were naturally rare. Even in ies, they typically formed small, selective groups.

  Moreover, Akazam was far superior to Hypno in nearly every way—they normally wouldn't associate with them.

  However, in desperate situations, an Akazam that couldn't find a suitable mate might settle for a Hypno.

  That realization made Sato hesitate.

  Both Akazam and Hypno were valuable Pokémon.

  With Wester's es, selling them was one of the fastest ways to earn a fortune.

  Even more temptihese young Abra and Drowzee—they were easier to capture, easier to train, and easier to trol.

  But…one of the infant Drowzee, the same ohat Haunter had teased earlier, seemed the st of its parents on him.

  With unsteady movements, it clumsily crawled toward Sato, its tiny body trembling with uainty.

  Sato's chest tightened as he retrieved Akazam and Hypno's Poké Balls and switched them to release mode before tossing them forward.

  A fsh of blue light sigheir return.

  The defeated Akazam and Hypno sat motionless, their expressions hollow, but then—

  A familiar sound echoed through the room.

  "Hu!"

  Akazam sprang to its feet, instinctively reag out to catch a tiny Drowzee that had nearly tumbled off the mattress.

  Hyped just as quickly, f itself to stae its injuries, positioning itself between Sato and its offspring, as if shielding them from harm.

  Thud. Thud. Thud.

  Several Figy Berries rolled across the ground—Sato had casually tossed them over.

  He gnced briefly at the sealed metal wall behind the mattress, then turned away without a word.

  Zoroark silently followed, its crimson gaze flickering like stars, filled with a steadfast warmth as it looked at Sato.

  "Kehehe~"

  Haunter gnced back at the newly freed Akazam and Hypno, then at Sato's retreating figure, scratg its head in fusion.

  It didn't quite uand but, as always, it simply floated after him without question.

  ---------------

  This research facility was rge—the room where Akazam's family had bee was just one of many boratories.

  As they ventured further, the experiments they entered became increasingly disturbing.

  Inside one chamber, a Metapod had been pletely stripped of its shell—a pulsing, crimson mass of exposed flesh floated lifelessly iank.

  A Parasect y on a surgical table, its massive mushroom entirely removed.

  Nearby, a tainer anic soil had bee a breeding ground for smaller, identical mushrooms, eerily replig the ohat had beeracted from its back.

  A Beedrill's ohal stingers had been repced with metallic spikes, thick tubes protruding from its body, signs of desperate struggle evident in the broken apparatus surrounding it.

  One by ohese gruesome experiments unfolded before them.

  Even someone like Sato, who had long grown numb to death, found his emotions uled.

  Zoroark strode ahead, wordlessly .

  The warmth it had dispyed earlier toward Sato was o be seen—only cold detat remained.

  People often said, "Ghost Pokémon have s, but they feel emotions."

  Sato found the saying oddly fitting.

  Haunter showed ion to the horrors before it. It even leaned in curiously, as if fasated by the grotesque sights.

  Yet—Haunter respected and trusted Sato, it feared and admired Zoroark, and it loved pying pranks on the ever-serious Larvitar.

  That meant it had feelings.

  That was enough.

  Most of the spes were sealed in reinforced tai units, isoting the horrors within.

  There was no overp stench of decay, no visible pools of blood—the cold sterility of it all only deepehe mystery.

  Why had Team Rocket left in such haste?

  They had abaheir work mid-progress—they hadn't everoyed the evidence before fleeing.

  The more Sato saw, the more uneasy he felt. Team Rocket was the undisputed overlord of Kanto and Johto's underworld.

  A group like that would never leave behind such obvious incriminating evidence.

  For a fleeting sed, something fshed through his mind.

  A memory—something important—but just as quickly as it surfaced, it vanished before he could grasp it.

  "What is it?"

  He muttered to himself, trag a web of es in his mind.

  Pokémon evolution.

  The National Park.

  Team Rocket.

  A secret underground b.

  The Pokémon League…

  He was close—he could feel it—the truth was just within reach.

  His gaze drifted across the b, idly sing his surroundings.

  Then, suddenly—his thoughts froze.

  His steps faltered—for just an instant.

  Then, as if nothing had happened, he steadied himself and tinued walking, his expression unreadable, though a hint of frustration flickered beh the surface.

  He slowed his pace, eyes drifting toward a puter terminal sitting on a nearby desk.

  There was a brand logo on it.