Chasing After A Legend

Homecoming

"Human talking"

'Human thinking'

"Talking in a Flashback/Memory"

"Pokémon talking"

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"You seem happy, doctor." Giovanni remarked. "I trust, then, that the data conversion went well?"

"'Went well'? It exceeded even my highest expectations!" A blue-haired, spectacled man exuberantly replied. "To think Pokémon of that caliber are hiding in Oak's crummy little corral! The mirage system's replication rate has significantly expanded just from a mere 36 entries out of the thousands provided!"

"Interesting," Giovanni nodded. "Those 36 Pokémon must be quite strong if they could have that much of an impact. I'm eager to see the results, Dr. Yung."

"That's great and all, but what about more 'tangible' updates?" A green-haired, blue-eyed man asked on one of the screens displayed man impatiently asked. "Because I have a few that I've been dying to share."

"More like you have a few more cards in your collection," another man muttered.

Giovanni chuckled. "No, he's right – aside from Dr. Yung's breakthrough, I'm curious what else we've accomplished so far. As for the core Team Rocket, I have... rediscovered a power source that our scientists are currently attempting to recreate. It should serve our goals quite well."

"And knowing you," a long-haired woman wearing a red suit cut in, "you won't tell us what it is until you think it's good enough to show off, right Giovanni? I swear, if there's one thing I regret, it's teaching you the value of marketing..."

"If you're finished putting your son on the spot, Madame Boss..." a lavender-haired man wearing goggles on his forehead interrupted, "thanks to the three agents you sent my way, Giovanni, I've managed to pinpoint the exact whereabouts of the Sky High Pokémon. With my Mega Evolved army, I'm confident that it will fall under my control."

"Now there's an enticing offer," Giovanni praised.

"If you don't mind," the green-haired man interrupted, "I'd like to speed things along and point out that I have a venue booked in Crimson City for an exhibition. My collection will be sure to lure in a few prominent parties. Of course, I'm hoping I won't be hosting by myself."

Giovanni frowned. "Is that right," he replied sarcastically.

"It's been hours, Giovanni. Shouldn't we have heard from Annie and Oakley by now?" The other man got to the point. He had a sophisticated, calculative gaze, but if one were to listen closely, they would be able to hear a hint of worry in his voice.

Giovanni frowned. "As I explained last night, Lawrence, all communications with them have been cut off since 8 o'clock last night. Even if their radios were lost, they would have returned and reported to me in-person if the rest of their mission went well. At this point, we can assume they've been captured or killed, or perhaps even abandoned the organization entirely."

"It's the former," a man that was shrouded in darkness suddenly spoke up. "Those two young ladies have been defeated – I can no longer sense the presence of Kabutops nor Aerodactyl. Quite a shame, too – such interesting powers that the two creatures exhibited..."

Lawrence the Third twitched. "What do you mean, 'interesting powers'? They're obviously not interesting enough if Annie and Oakley were still defeated. And here you promised that this so-called 'missing power' would do wonders, but evidently, you grossly miscalculated."

A few moments of terse silence followed.

"... Is that right?" the other voice finally asked.

Some of those present in the call shuddered at how amused he sounded.