It was a sunny day with not a cloud in the sky.

Sato and his group returned with renewed spirits to the long-missed Shadownight Town.

"That's Leader Sato! You're all back!"

"Mr. Joseph and that rascal Mark are here too… Come to think of it, it's been ages since we last saw Mr. Joseph~"

"Sina, Sia, Akira… wow, it's all the first-generation trainees from Shadownight Gym. They must've accomplished something huge and returned together!"

"Yeah, I think so too! Our Shadownight Gym Trainers really are outstanding!"

"See that girl with the blue hair? She's a Dragon-type Breeder. I heard she's raising several pseudo-legendaries!"

"Gym Leader Sato is so handsome, I wanna have his babies~ (〃ω〃)"

"…"

After several years of rapid development, Shadownight Town had changed dramatically; there were now more than just a couple of skyscrapers.

But for the old neighbors in the historic streets, time seemed to have passed in a flash.

Sato and the others greeted everyone warmly. Even Lotta waved and smiled at a few girls her age. It was clear she'd already made new friends.

Just as they reached halfway down the street, a large group of people came rushing toward them.

"LEADER!"

"Joseph!"

"Mark-senpai…"

"…"

The newcomers were none other than the other trainees who had stayed behind to guard the Gym.

As soon as they heard Sato and the others were back, they ran over in excitement to welcome them.

Sato recognized the group leaders and gave them a warm nod before casually asking about the Gym's situation.

"Reporting to Leader, in the past two months, Shadownight Gym has received 124 challenge requests in total, of which we lost 18. We've issued 21 Low level Badges and 9 Mid level Badges."

The speaker was Misaka Hope, with his distinctive chestnut bowl-cut hairstyle. He was one of the more outstanding members of the second generation of Gym trainees, and after Akira and the others left with Sato, he'd had the chance to carry some real responsibility.

"Mhm, anything else worth noting?"

"Yes!"

"After Amber left on a journey with Trish, he had been contacting the Gym every week to check in. But it's now been ten days since the last call. He's missed the agreed contact window.

I've already asked Officer Jenny for assistance, but since it's very common for Trainers to go missing for a month or more during travel, they can't mobilize large-scale resources based on that alone…

As of yesterday, Officer Jenny has only managed to retrieve the last footage showing Trish and Amber appearing together in a city."

Hope didn't hesitate at all, quickly delivering a full report on Trish's situation.

Sato came to a sudden stop, his expression turning serious as he immediately pressed for details.

"Where was the last sighting?"

"Kanto Region, Viridian City!"

'Mm?' Sato's fists clenched tightly. As everyone looked at him in confusion, he took a deep breath.

'Why did it have to be that damned Viridian City?!'

"Sato, what's wrong about that place?" Joseph also noticed something was off and grabbed Sato's arm to ask.

Sato looked at the others who had stopped with him, then quickly waved his hand.

"We'll talk at the Gym!"

Returning home should have been a joyful occasion, but the sudden news of Amber going Missing, paired with the serious look on Sato's face, made everyone realize that things might not be so simple.

The group hurried off, and the crowd that had gathered quickly dispersed. Within moments, all of Shadownight Town knew that Sato and his companions had returned.

But Sato clearly didn't pay attention to any of that. He just silently prayed in his heart, hoping this matter was nothing more than coincidence…

---◓---

Back at the Gym, Sato waved off the other trainees and kept only the Gym's current core members behind. He also instructed Hope to compile all available information about Amber's trip.

Ten minutes later…

Sato pointed to two of the call logs, brows tightly furrowed as he asked, "Did Amber ever tell you why Trish, who was traveling peacefully in Johto, suddenly went to the Kanto Region?"

Misaka Hope thought for a moment before slowly answering, "I think Amber mentioned it briefly. He said Trish had made two Trainer friends around her age, and they invited her to Kanto. He didn't say what for. Amber seemed happy that Trish made new friends, and he seemed to trust those two quite a bit."

'Real friends… or was even Amber deceived?' Sato's brows still hadn't relaxed after hearing that.

Right after, Sato contacted Haruka Joy, the regional head of the Joy family, in front of everyone and directly asked her to investigate the situation.

[Since you thought to come to me first… I'll take on this case, just for that!]

Haruka agreed decisively and with her usual efficiency, but not without a bit of teasing.

After all, ever since a rift had grown between them, Sato hadn't reached out to her in a very long time; let alone called her "Aunty Haruka" the way he used to.

"Thanks… Haruka."

[Mhm~ Wait for the news.]

Haruka hung up right after, and Sato, staring at the now-black screen, could only sit in and wait.

Trish was a Trainer who had come up through Shadownight Gym -a true League member- so she naturally enjoyed the full benefits of Pokémon Center services.

As long as she had stayed at a Pokémon Center, the Joy family could easily locate her, and from there track down a great deal of information.

Amber was also a veteran Ace Trainer. He was always extremely reliable, and nothing was more important to him than Trish's safety.

So upon learning that Amber had failed to contact the Gym beyond the agreed time frame -and that their last known location was Viridian City- Sato had already made the worst possible assumption…

Viridian City… was the place Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket, spent the most time in. That place had long since been turned into an ironclad fortress under Team Rocket's management, right under the League's nose!

This city that looked so prosperous on the surface had, in truth, been thoroughly corrupted from the inside out by Team Rocket. Out of every ten Officials there, 'ten' had already pledged themselves to the darkness.

Fortunately, there was no way Viridian City wouldn't have a public Pokémon Center. So the Joy family could still gather some intel from that location.

And by going through unofficial channels, the data they obtained would definitely be far more detailed than anything Officer Jenny could provide.

As the minutes ticked by, Sato began combing through long-buried memories from his past life, he might need them very soon.

He had even mentally prepared himself to storm Viridian City alone… until Haruka Joy's video call came through again.

"Haruka, did you find anything?" As soon as the call connected, Sato skipped the small talk and went straight to the point.

Seeing Haruka's serious expression on the other side of the screen -even before she said anything- Sato's heart was already sinking.

[Sato, their last appearance really was in Viridian City, and they did heal their Pokémon at the Pokémon Center. That part checks out.

…But I looked deeper into those two Trainer "friends" of Trish's. While both of them have perfectly legitimate Trainer registration profiles with the League… I used special access to dig deeper, and before age 12, their records… are completely blank!]

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200 PS - CH