Chapter 157 – Team Rocket Executive Asahi!
Hearing this, Green's lips twitched as she barely held back a laugh.
She glanced at Asahi, who remained perfectly serious.
"Of course, there are conditions," Asahi said, meeting the expectant gazes of the two guards.
He then began counting on his fingers, "First, strength—you need to at least reach the level of the organization's elite forces.
"Second, during missions, you must be willing to endure hardships and strictly obey orders from superiors."
"The third rule: maintain strict confidentiality. You all know that two of our three executives, Matt and Koga, have been captured. Lady Sabrina is deeply concerned, so she has repeatedly emphasized the importance of secrecy."
"The fourth rule: absolute loyalty to Team Rocket..."
...
Watching Asahi spout nonsense with a straight face while the two guards listened intently, Green didn't even know how to describe her feelings.
She considered herself to have strong mental resilience. Even infiltrating Team Rocket's heavily guarded base hadn't made her particularly nervous.
But compared to Asahi, who was casually chatting with Team Rocket members, the difference was obvious.
Even the tied-up Professor Blaine looked stunned.
And just as Asahi was enthusiastically patting his chest, vowing to introduce these two "outstanding talents" to Lady Sabrina...
The office door swung open.
Ariana stood at the entrance, staring at the scene in confusion.
She frowned and asked, "What are you all doing?"
The two guards, who had been getting along well with Asahi, were startled upon hearing Ariana's voice. Their relaxed expressions vanished, and they immediately stood at attention.
Asahi, however, remained unfazed. He simply turned around and saluted. "Lady Ariana, we were discussing ways to better serve Team Rocket."
Ariana frowned.
Discussing loyalty to Team Rocket? She didn't buy it. In her eyes, they were probably just slacking off.
However, since Asahi was one of Sabrina's subordinates, Ariana chose not to reprimand them and instead said coldly:
"Take Professor Blaine inside."
With that, she turned and walked back into the office.
Asahi merely shrugged, unconcerned by Ariana's indifference. He gave an "OK" gesture to the two hopeful-looking guards, signaled Green to wait outside, and then led Professor Blaine into Giovanni's office.
---
Stepping into Giovanni's office, Asahi's first impression was that the decor was pragmatic.
A massive screen was mounted on the wall, divided into multiple sections based on function.
Apart from the carpet and the desk, there were no unnecessary decorations.
Inside the office, there were only three people: Giovanni, seated in his chair; Ariana, standing beside him; and Sabrina, who was looking directly at Asahi.
To be honest, Sabrina was a little nervous.
Not because she was worried that Giovanni would see through Asahi's disguise.
Although Giovanni was formidable, Asahi's cover had been personally vetted by her and was nearly flawless. Moreover, Asahi was only playing the role of one of her subordinates, which wouldn't normally attract much attention.
However... Sabrina was afraid that Asahi would do something unexpected!
She had only been in Team Rocket's Kanto division for a short time, but she had already gained a deep understanding of Asahi's personality.
She was genuinely worried that he'd pull some crazy stunt right now!
[Don't do anything unnecessary.]
She sent a telepathic message to Asahi, feeling uneasy.
Asahi, however, was dissatisfied with her caution.
[I'm your superior. And do you think I don't know how to judge the situation?]
He had been in the field for years, had made great contributions to the League, and was known for his reliability.
Ask Lance, ask Bruno, ask Agatha—well, maybe not Caesar.
Anyone who had entrusted a mission to him had never been disappointed.
[Relax. I'll be even more Team Rocket than Team Rocket itself.]
But the moment Asahi said that, Sabrina's heart tightened.
From her experience, whenever Asahi claimed he was "reliable," that was precisely when he was most unreliable.
[Asahi, you—]
Before she could finish, Asahi suddenly shoved Professor Blaine forward.
"Move it, old man! Do you want to keep Giovanni waiting?"
"...…"
Sabrina was dumbfounded.
Professor Blaine also looked confused, but figuring Asahi had some kind of plan, he cooperated by putting on a flustered expression.
Ariana: "..."
Even Giovanni was momentarily stunned.
Meanwhile, Sabrina, seeing Giovanni's reaction, felt like her heart was about to leap out of her chest.
However, Giovanni didn't seem suspicious—just slightly surprised. It had been a long time since he had seen a subordinate with such a classic Team Rocket attitude.
For a moment, he felt nostalgic for the early days when he first took over Team Rocket.
His gaze lingered on Asahi for only a brief moment before he turned to Professor Blaine.
"Professor Blaine, it's been a while."
Hearing Giovanni's words, both Sabrina and Professor Blaine silently breathed a sigh of relief.
Sabrina, meanwhile, was already mentally cursing Asahi.
Professor Blaine quickly adjusted his mindset and responded according to the script they had prepared earlier.
"If you're expecting me to work for Team Rocket again, don't waste your time."
Giovanni wasn't particularly surprised. This reaction was within his expectations.
From what he knew of Professor Blaine, unless he had fully prepared himself, he would never have defected from Team Rocket in the first place.
And since he had already betrayed them, he wouldn't easily change his mind and return.
"I'm curious—what made you choose to betray Team Rocket?"
Under Giovanni's intense gaze, Professor Blaine instinctively touched his arm. After a moment of silence, he spoke honestly.
"Ever since Mewtwo's cells infiltrated my body, I've reflected on my past actions."
"When I was younger, I did countless wrongs in the name of scientific progress and the pursuit of 'truth.' I caused great harm to innocent Pokémon. I left Team Rocket because I didn't want to continue making the same mistakes."
Hearing this, Giovanni's expression darkened with disappointment.
"That's it? Such a dull reason. I expected more from you, Professor Blaine."
He had assumed there was a more critical reason behind Professor Blaine's defection. But it turned out to be something so trivial.
"Besides that, there's also Mewtwo." Professor Blaine added, "Mewtwo is too dangerous. I had hoped that leaving Team Rocket would prevent its creation..."
"Mewtwo will be completed—with or without you."
Giovanni interrupted, pressing a button on his desk.
Immediately, a screen behind him lit up, displaying Mewtwo inside a tank, curled up like a sleeping infant. Even through the screen, its immense power was palpable.
"Mewtwo is beyond your control, Giovanni," Professor Blaine warned, repeating the lines Asahi had prepared for him.
Giovanni, unimpressed by this predictable remark, lost interest in the conversation. He turned his chair away, looking at the screen.
"Then watch closely. I'll show you how I control Mewtwo."
With that, he waved his hand dismissively.
Asahi immediately understood the signal. He grabbed Professor Blaine's shoulder.
"You're useless now, old man! Off to the prison with you!"
For a brief moment, Giovanni's posture stiffened.
Hearing those words again, and seeing how naturally Asahi acted, Sabrina couldn't help but question—
Why are you so good at this?
---
When Asahi walked out of the office with Professor Blaine, the two guards at the door gave him a thumbs-up.
Even though the door had been closed, Asahi's voice had been so loud they heard everything.
As Team Rocket elites, they deeply despised traitors like Professor Sam. But since Giovanni hadn't ordered anything extreme, they couldn't act on their hatred.
Yet Asahi had openly berated him in front of Giovanni—truly a role model for them all.
Before, they had thought Asahi's declarations of loyalty were just empty words. Now, they realized he was the real deal!
Faced with their admiration, Asahi waved modestly.
But before he could say anything, the two guards suddenly stood at attention.
Footsteps approached from behind. Asahi turned to see Sabrina and Ariana.
Sabrina remained expressionless as she spoke. "Secretary Ariana has something to tell you."
Ariana glanced at Asahi, frowning.
"Giovanni is quite impressed with you. From now on, you're no longer under Sabrina—you're officially a Team Rocket Squad Leader."
The two guards were dumbstruck.
He got promoted just from one meeting with Giovanni?
What insane luck was this?
Asahi was also stunned. He hadn't expected this outcome at all.
He had only made a few offhand comments to make his disguise more convincing—how did that lead to a promotion? This was way too hasty!
Ariana frowned as she looked at his surprised expression. "Are you unwilling?"
Asahi quickly snapped out of it and responded decisively, "Of course, I'm willing!"
Even though his Team Rocket identity was fake, getting promoted still meant that his abilities had been recognized.
As expected, true talent shines anywhere.
"Good." Ariana nodded, then turned to Sabrina. "Since he was your subordinate, I'll leave the registration process to you. I have other matters to handle."
Sabrina nodded. "Leave it to me."
As Ariana reentered the office, Sabrina turned to Asahi with a smile. "Let's go."
She took the lead, with Green—still full of questions—escorting Professor Blaine behind her. The two Team Rocket guards stood by the door, their faces filled with envy.
---
Since Professor Blaine had once been a high-ranking Team Rocket member, and he had only eliminated a squad sent after him without leaking any Team Rocket information to the League, Giovanni granted him some dignity. Instead of throwing him into the base's prison, he arranged a separate room for his confinement.
Asahi discreetly handed Professor Blaine a communicator and Poké Balls, instructing him to wait for the signal, while Green was assigned to "guard" him.
Then, he followed Sabrina toward the personnel department.
[Sabrina, what exactly just happened?]
On the way, Asahi asked through telepathy.
Everything had seemed normal when he left the office—how did he suddenly become a Team Rocket Squad Leader?
[Since you captured Koga and Matt, and the damage caused by Masked Man's forces in Johto was severe, Team Rocket is currently short on manpower.] Sabrina explained. [Giovanni probably took note of your performance and asked me about your strength after you left. Then he decided to promote you.]
[… Am I really that charismatic?]
Asahi stroked his chin thoughtfully.
If he had joined Team Rocket instead of the League when he first arrived in this world, he might have already become their second-in-command by now.
Sabrina: […]
She was used to Asahi's shamelessness. As long as he didn't pull another heart-attack-inducing stunt, she could tolerate it.
The two soon arrived at the personnel department of Team Rocket's New Island base.
Sabrina retrieved a registration form for Asahi.
Using her psychic power, she floated a pen toward him. "Fill in your 'detailed information'—name, age, Pokémon team, specialties."
Asahi looked at the form in front of him.
Asahi thought for a moment, then smirked slightly as he put pen to paper.
[Name: Silver]
[Age: 14]
[Pokémon: Sneasel]
[Specialties: Theft, Pokémon trade evolutions]
He placed the form into a file folder and handed it to the Team Rocket employee in charge of records. Trusting Sabrina, and seeing this as just a formality, the clerk didn't even check the contents before filing it away.
And at the very moment the file was stored in Team Rocket's archive—
A system notification sounded in Asahi's mind.
[You have successfully infiltrated Team Rocket's heavily guarded base under a false identity. After meeting Giovanni, your "classic Team Rocket-style" behavior earned his recognition, leading to your promotion to Squad Leader, making you an official Team Rocket officer.]
[Congratulations! You have unlocked the title: "Double Life."]
Still holding the pen, Asahi was left speechless.
Double Life?
How am I living a double life? This Team Rocket officer gig is just an act!
I have always been loyal to the League. There's only one true sun in my heart!
System, this is slander! Utter slander!
Though he was deeply dissatisfied with the system's accusation, his body was honest—he immediately checked the rewards.
---