Viridian City, Team Rocket's Base A3.

A clean floor, a soft and comfortable bed, and on the TV stand opposite the bed were the hottest manga, the latest tablet, and a game console preloaded with the most popular games!

Trish sat at the edge of the bed, her eyes red and blank, staring at the locked steel door.

As for the manga and game console nearby… she hadn't touched them even once.

Strictly speaking, this wasn't the first time she had been taken hostage…

Back when her father was forced to remain trapped in the Reverse World, she and Amber were more or less forcibly brought aboard Sato's ship.

Although there were reasons behind it, and Sato did need to indirectly protect Trish. It was also undeniable that there was a deeper implication of Trish being used as a hostage.

As a highly reputable billionaire in the Sinnoh Region, Zillion had ultimately become a porter for the Reverse World. It was, in some sense, a rather tragic fate. Even though it was his own choice, the ones who truly benefited were clearly Sato and Shadownight Gym.

Precocious since childhood, Trish had long understood the complicated relationships behind it all. Though she missed her father, she had never held even the slightest resentment toward Sato, the "Leader-niisan".

But what she hadn't expected was for a real kidnapping to come so suddenly…

She had guessed that Amber would have someone protecting her in secret, and she had never intended to reject that concern. What she hadn't expected… was that the one who came was Amber himself.

And now, Amber had been captured alongside her!

She had been locked in this rather well-furnished room for an entire week. Other than the person who delivered meals, Trish hadn't seen a single living soul. Naturally, all her Pokémon had been taken away too.

Trish didn't know how Amber was doing, didn't know which Underground Organization had captured them, and had no idea if anyone would come to rescue them.

After all, the last news she had before being captured was that Sato and the others were still in Kalos and hadn't returned yet.

She could only keep herself from breaking down, hold on as long as she could!

Otherwise, even the slightest hope of surviving would vanish completely…

Click!

Suddenly, the sound of a door unlocking echoed. Trish instinctively thought it was the person delivering food.

But she quickly remembered that dinner had already been delivered. She still remembered having soft, tender tomato beef stew.

So… they were delivering a late-night snack now?

No!

Someone was here!

Whoever it was, after a full week without any human interaction, Trish felt like she was about to go insane!

She stood up quickly from the bed. The faded yellow dress she wore looked a bit worn, and her puffy hair hadn't been taken care of in a long time.

The next moment, Trish saw a woman with wine-red hair stroll in slowly. She didn't even close the door, just stood there with a cheerful smile on her face, looking at her.

Trish instinctively took a step back, her calf bumping into the bed behind her.

"He…"

She subconsciously tried to speak, but realized her voice wouldn't come out; maybe from not having used her vocal cords in so long, or maybe just from nerves. For the moment, she couldn't utter a single word.

"Don't be nervous. You can call me Miyamoto-obaachan~ My daughter is about your age. I prepared all of this for you, but it seems you don't like it very much."

Miyamoto walked over to the TV stand and casually picked up a manga, noticing it was so new it didn't even have a single crease.

Trish swallowed hard and forced herself to calm down. Only then did she manage to speak slowly, "Am… Amber…?"

"The one who came… with you?"

"M-Mhm." Trish nodded, her eyes filled with urgency.

"His condition isn't looking too good right now. If you want to help him, you'll have to answer my questions honestly, alright~?"

Miyamoto leaned forward, speaking softly to Trish, as if Amber's situation had nothing to do with them at all.

"W-Who are you?" Trish didn't take the bait; instead, she tried to draw out more information.

Miyamoto smiled, and for a moment, she thought to herself… if her daughter ever tried to act clever like this with her…

She would have been so proud!

'Whaaa~ What a shame!'

"Little girl, I'm the one asking questions here~ If you don't answer properly… fufufu~"

Miyamoto's smile didn't change in the slightest, but it was enough to make Trish's legs give out as she sat weakly back onto the bed.

"You know how to enter the Reverse World, don't you?"

'That again!'

Hearing Miyamoto's question, Trish's heart sank. Would her family never escape the curse of the Reverse World?

Her father had already been trapped there and could never come back!

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she murmured, "I… don't know…"

Not getting the answer she wanted, Miyamoto's smile vanished. She straightened up and looked down at Trish from above.

"You don't know, and your Amber doesn't know either, huh? We don't keep useless people around, so… are you absolutely sure about that?"

Trish froze, unsure how to respond. After all, unlike Sato, she had never been to the Reverse World herself, so she really didn't know much about it.

Then, Miyamoto suddenly leaned forward again, speaking almost regretfully, "Listen, little one… I'M the person in charge here. If you quietly tell me how to enter the Reverse World, I'll make sure you and your Amber are both safe. Otherwise, if I have my subordinates do the interrogating… things will get really, REALLY ugly."

After saying that, Miyamoto seemed to think her description wasn't vivid enough, so she repeated it again.

"Really, really ugly~"

Trish's face turned pale as she stared at the terrifying woman before her -like a ghostly Pokémon- her whole body trembling uncontrollably as tears kept flowing.

She didn't know how long it took before Miyamoto suddenly seemed to lose interest. With a wave of her hand, she turned and began walking out.

"No other choice, I'll have to let my subordinates handle it, sigh… Little girl, I hope you can endure what's coming."

Trish tried to get up, but her legs were too weak to support her, and her sobs came so hard that she couldn't even speak.

Just then, a grunt came running up in a panic, head lowered as he hurriedly reported, "Leader Miyamoto, a Trainer with a supposed Elite Four level has invaded Area B16! Winter Star Hunter is requesting support!"

"Hah! What support? Just retreat already! By the time I get there, it'll all be over anyway!"

Though she complained, Miyamoto was already striding quickly toward the exit.

…But after taking only a few steps, she turned and pointed at where Trish was.

"Lock the door. We'll deal with her when I get back!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

Bang!

Click!

Trish stared at the steel door as it locked once again, momentarily dazed.

It felt like… just a little more, and she would have been…

'WAIT!'

She'd just heard someone had broken in. Could it be that Sato had come to rescue her and Amber?

When despair and hope arrived together, Trish didn't know whether to cry or to laugh.

---◓---

Meanwhile, deep beneath Viridian City, inside Team Rocket's Base B13, Lance and Will had finally been exposed.

But at the same time, they had also discovered where Team Rocket was keeping a large number of captured wild Pokémon.

And by coincidence, their exposure had drawn the enemy's attention away, making Sato's rescue operation much easier!

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150 PS - CH