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In the tunnel, Liam darted away at lightning speed. Only when the sound of the helicopter taking off had completely faded did he finally slow down and come to a stop.
"Phew... Good thing I ran fast! Haha! I hit the jackpot—what a score! I can't believe I managed to get a Larvitar egg under these circumstances. This trip to Mt. Silver was absolutely worth it!"
He gently rubbed the dark green Pokémon egg cradled in his arms, his face beaming with joy so clearly that even the black hole mask couldn't hide it.
Garchomp~What's he grinning like a fool for? It's just an egg...
Arcanine~ Not sure. But seeing him like this... feels kinda familiar...
Beep beep beep...
As Liam continued to grin idiotically, a familiar beeping echoed from the communicator built into his black mask.
"Hmm? Hello? Is that you, Takeshi? What's going on now?"
Snapping out of his excitement, Liam quickly answered the call, speaking into the communicator.
"Hey! Vortex? How's it looking on your end? We've wrapped things up here, and I've got our people heading your way. We've just reached a huge cavern. Where are you now?"
Takeshi's slightly anxious voice came through as soon as Liam finished asking.
"Oh? You've reached the big hollow already? Then stay put there for now. I'll be right over. Things on my end are also taken care of, so you don't need to come any further. I'll meet up with you soon."
Liam nodded lightly as he responded, ending the call shortly after. He then turned around, retrieved his PokeBalls, and recalled Garchomp and Arcanine, carefully hugging the green Pokémon egg to his chest as he dashed back the way he came.
Before long, Liam reached the entrance he'd originally come through. Two Team Rocket grunts in uniform were posted there, keeping watch. Upon hearing footsteps and spotting Liam running toward them, they quickly turned around and shouted:
"Captain Takeshi! Leader Vortex is back!"
Liam sprinted out of the cave mouth as the two grunts stood at attention on either side of the entrance.
Just as he emerged, Takeshi came running over with Golbat and Weavile following closely behind.
"Nido!"
"Weavile!"
The moment they saw Liam, both Pokémon picked up their pace, quickly outrunning Takeshi and rushing up to Liam, affectionately rubbing against him.
"Vortex! You're not hurt, are you?"
Takeshi was right behind them, circling around Liam as he checked him over for any injuries.
"I'm fine. There wasn't even a fight—no way I could've gotten hurt."
Seeing Takeshi so worried, Liam chuckled and waved it off.
"Huh? What do you mean? You didn't catch the person you mentioned?"
Takeshi paused, confused by the unexpected response.
"Heh, it's complicated. Let's talk about it once everything else is taken care of. It's not something that can be explained in a few words... How about your side? The poachers didn't resist?"
Liam shook his head slightly and didn't elaborate. The fact that Black Ape was a Johto League undercover agent was far too important to reveal casually. He'd explain things to Takeshi later, in private.
"Heh, my side was wrapped up ages ago. Honestly, we owe it all to your Nidoking and Weavile. They really carried us—most of the enemies from the poacher group were taken out by those two. The rest of us just cleaned up after them. It's kind of embarrassing to admit, really..."
Takeshi didn't press for more when he saw Liam wasn't willing to say more. Instead, he turned to look enviously at the two Pokémon by Liam's side, eyes practically glowing with admiration.
"Hey, hey, hey! Don't you dare eye Nidoking and Weavile like that! I'm not giving them to you!"
Seeing Takeshi's expression, Liam protectively stepped in front of his two Pokémon with a teasing grin.
"Who's eyeing them! I've got Fearow and Dodrio—I'm good! Even if you wanted to give them to me, I wouldn't take them!"
Takeshi's face turned red with embarrassment as he sputtered in protest.
"Oh? You really wouldn't want them? I was thinking of giving you a strong Pokémon, but since you don't want one, I guess I'll have to find someone else to give it to..."
Liam said with mock sincerity, then sighed in pretend disappointment.
"W-Wait! I was joking! If you really want to give me a Pokémon, how could I say no? I mean, sure, I'd feel a little bad about it, but we're such good friends—if I refused, it'd be rude, right? Hehehe. So... which one were you going to give me? You don't have to give me your strongest! That Nidoking looks really good though... How about that one?"
Takeshi's expression instantly flipped as soon as he realized Liam was serious about gifting him a Pokémon. He quickly scooted closer with a big grin, sounding bashful but acting anything but shy.
"What?! You want my Nidoking?! Keep dreaming! That's the only one off the table! Take this or nothing!"
Nearly coughing up blood from frustration, Liam shoved Takeshi aside and pulled out a PokeBall from his backpack—the one containing the Sneasel. He casually tossed it over.
"Hey hey hey! Don't throw it! What if it breaks? Then I'd have to catch it all over again! Heh, fine, fine, if you don't want to give it to me, no need to get mad about it... Anyway, let's see what kind of Pokémon this is!"
Takeshi scrambled to catch the PokeBall and eagerly prepared to open it—only to be stopped by Liam, who reached out and blocked him. Seeing Takeshi's confused look, Liam explained:
"Hold on. Let's finish things up here first. You can check it out later when we're back and there's nothing else going on. I just caught this little guy—it's probably still a bit wild. Let's not risk it causing trouble right now."
Takeshi gave him a doubtful look, but he had to admit Liam had a point. Reluctantly, he stuffed the PokeBall into his pocket, then called his subordinates to regroup and head for the exit of the Mt. Silver cave.
Liam followed behind, climbing the sloping path. At the top, he paused, turning back to glance at the vibrant, life-filled flowerbed nestled in the rocky jungle.
Then he remembered—he still didn't know what was inside the other case Black Ape had. The aluminum case with the Larvitar eggs must've been Case No. 2. That meant the other one was Case No. 1. And whatever was in Case No. 1... surely it wouldn't be anything less valuable than what was in No. 2...
Liam stood there in thought, then shook his head and chased after the group without further speculation.
This operation at Mt. Silver had once again wiped out a full poacher cell. They'd caught three lieutenants and nearly forty poachers in total. When Liam saw them, they were drenched and charred, clearly having been hit by Nidoking's Surf first, then taken down by Thunderbolt—just as Takeshi had described. These people would be held here for a few days before being transported elsewhere.
Takeshi also informed Liam that reinforcements from HQ were on their way. Their job was twofold: to escort the captured poachers to the police, and to bolster local defenses—just in case the poachers tried anything big in retaliation after this failure. Having more people here would ensure they were ready for whatever came next.