Somewhere on the seabed outside the Whirlpool Archipelago, a Team Rocket Secret Base lay hidden.
It was an enormous, arched steel structure built on a flat stretch of rock. The entire Secret Base stood thirty or forty meters tall, and even in the pitch-black depths, the light spilling from within illuminated a large area around it.
Countless Water-type Pokémon swam far beyond the base's perimeter, seemingly not daring to approach.
Through the glass windows, people could be seen moving about inside from time to time. Clearly, quite a few Team Rocket Members were hiding there.
As Team Rocket's most secret research base in the Johto Region, it was headed by Dr. Namba, an old man over sixty who remained full of vigor.
The old man's fiery hair and beard hinted at his explosive temper, though his balding had left him with only a ring of hair around his head. At the same time, despite his outstanding academic achievements, somehow, no matter how many times he corrected them, everyone would instinctively get his name wrong.
At that moment, Dr. Namba sat in the control room, with several black-clad Team Rocket Members standing on either side. The large screen before him displayed live footage transmitted by the search team.
Although the expedition team kept asking him for further instructions, Dr. Namba had no attention to spare for them. Instead, he focused on the people beside Lugia.
More precisely, his gaze was fixed firmly on Xia You!
He stared at Xia You, his brows nearly knotting together, and muttered to himself, "Honestly, isn't that Xia You, the one they call Team Rocket's number one enemy? What is he doing here? This is going to be difficult..."
After thinking for a while, he waved a Team Rocket Member over.
The Team Rocket Member approached