"Archie and Maxie, the leaders of Team Aqua and Team Magma in the Hoenn Region, were recently arrested. Mt. Pyre..."
The latest news played across a wall-sized screen.
Onscreen, a familiar long-legged beauty held a microphone and explained the details. Finally, the shot changed to a close-up of someone whose face was blackened, their features only vaguely discernible.
After another brief shot of a burly, stubble-faced man, the broadcast returned to the long-legged woman.
Silence filled the dim room, eventually broken by a "Meow~"
"How useless..."
Giovanni reclined on a round sofa, utterly relaxed, wearing a black suit with an "R" emblem on the chest.
A Persian with an unmistakably haughty expression lay across his lap. The meow had come from this Pokémon.
Persian watched his slowly rising right hand expectantly, then leaned into it with a blissful sound. "Meow~"
That expression came straight from the heart. Judging by the flattery alone, this cat's ability to act cute had to be maxed out. Unlike all those gaudy little tramps of the feline world, Persian was a refreshing stream of clear water, every lifted head and soft murmur elegant and free of insincerity.
To secure a permanent place on Giovanni's lap, a Persian needed not only astonishing strength but also a refined, distinctive meow—unlike that Meowth, who could fool a few children at best and was far too mercenary and tacky.
Giovanni rested one elbow on the sofa's armrest and stroked the Persian on his lap with his other hand. His expression never changed as he watched the images onscreen, as though he had no idea that tens of millions of his money had just gone down the drain.
But to him, tens of millions really were nothing more than numbers.
The Unova branch had been destroyed and its executives arrested,