Judging by her earlier reaction, Mizuki had probably obtained some fairly important information.
Shinichi dared not delay. He immediately returned to his car and started listening to the recording.
The audio was a little raspy, but he could make out a man and a woman talking.
"The race is over."
"Shen Qi should head back with Porygon tomorrow."
Bzzzt... (electrical static)
"Intercept them on the mountain side road to Fuchsia City."
What followed was a fragmented discussion of plans. It was obvious the voices came from Team Rocket.
Mizuki... had intercepted Team Rocket's internal communications?
This was no small matter. Shinichi drove away from the hotel.
Halfway across Vermilion City, Shinichi waited quietly in a private room at a bar.
Twenty minutes later, Mizuki entered the bar and sat down across from Shinichi in the private room.
"You're awfully relaxed. With both of us out here, who's left to protect Shen Qi?"
"No need to overthink it."
The reason they could watch the T3 Race without worry was that Team Rocket did not dare make any big moves right now. Otherwise, they would surely have targeted the hotel instead of waiting for Shen Qi to reach the Fuchsia City Side Road.
"Let's talk about the recording first."
"Here's what happened..."
Mizuki worked with data transmissions and was also part of the security system, so she often carried special equipment to check nearby radio transmissions.
There had been no problems at the White Cape Track.
During the second round of the semifinals at Quiet Bridge, Mizuki had discovered some unusual signals operating outside public frequency bands, with encrypted transmissions to boot.
At first, she had assumed they belonged to industries with special requirements, such as postal services and infrastructure, or official agencies. Later, Mizuki increasingly felt something was wrong. The signals'