The opening of the Rainbow Game Corner hit the entire Kanto region like a blockbuster bomb.
"The ultimate dream of every dragon slayer!"
That highly provocative slogan, paired with the young Dratini swimming leisurely in a specially made glass tank, instantly ignited the enthusiasm of every Trainer and gambler.
On opening day, a sea of people crowded the entrance, and the line stretched from one end of Commercial Street to the other.
Countless people waved their cash as they poured into this glittering money pit, all for the dream of getting rich overnight.
At the Game Corner's token exchange, the machines ran almost twenty-four hours a day. To Giovanni, the sounds they made were the most beautiful music in the world.
Money flooded into Team Rocket's coffers like a rising tide.
In just a few days, the Game Corner's profits surpassed Team Rocket's total gray-market income for the entire previous year.
The organization's funding problems were completely resolved.
Not only that, Team Rocket even began accumulating a substantial surplus, which could be used to upgrade equipment, recruit more personnel, and research more advanced Pokémon technology.
The entire organization's strength began growing at an unprecedented rate.
Team Rocket was quietly transforming from a mere violent criminal gang into a vast, deeply entrenched underground business empire.
And all this success brought Giovanni's prestige within the organization to an unprecedented peak.
Just as everyone in Team Rocket was basking in joy and excitement, an inconspicuous personnel transfer order was sent to every department through the internal system.
[Personnel transfer notice] [Clerical Department employee Ye Li has recently demonstrated outstanding document-processing abilities and archival organization skills, along with keen thinking and a meticulous approach to his work. To better utilize his talents, it has been decided that he will be transferred to the General Affairs Department to serve as the boss's assistant, effective immediately.] [Addendum: this is a supreme directive personally signed by the boss. Anyone who refuses the transfer will be treated as a traitor to the organization.]
When Ye Li saw the notice on his computer, he froze as though struck by lightning.
The boss's... assistant?
Him? Ye Li?
A low-level clerk who only wanted to stay unnoticed in Team Rocket, coast through life, and lie low until the plot began before making a run for it-now he was supposed to become the assistant to the biggest villain boss in all of Kanto?
This had to be the most ridiculous joke in the world!
He remembered Giovanni's unfathomable gaze and all the times his ideas had been "stolen."
He understood at once.
This wasn't a promotion. It was surveillance!
Giovanni must have discovered something and wanted to keep him right under his nose, monitoring him around the clock without a single blind spot!
Ye Li's face turned deathly pale in an instant.
He only wanted to remain unnoticed and quietly gripe in a corner. Why did he have to be thrust into the eye of the storm?
He wanted to refuse.
His fingers moved onto the mouse, ready to click the "Decline" button.
But his gaze fell on the final line of blood-red text in the notice.
"Anyone who refuses will be treated as a traitor."
He could figure out what happened to traitors in Team Rocket without even using his brain.
Being fed to Golbat would count as one of the most merciful ways to die.
Ye Li's hand hung in midair, trembling uncontrollably.
On one side lay hell; on the other, an even deeper hell.
He had no choice.
In the end, he closed his eyes and, summoning every ounce of strength in his body, clicked "Accept."
It was his first day as Giovanni's assistant.
Ye Li changed into a crisp black suit, the standard uniform for an assistant.
Standing in Giovanni's vast, empty office, he had no idea what to do with his hands or feet.
Giovanni sat behind the desk opposite him, not looking at him, merely handling the documents at hand.
But the powerful aura he radiated pressed down on Ye Li like a mountain, leaving him barely able to breathe.
He felt as though he had come here not to be an assistant, but a hostage.
The office was frighteningly quiet, with only the scratching of a fountain pen across paper.
Ye Li kept his head lowered and his eyes fixed on the tips of his shoes, not daring to breathe loudly.
He had only one thought now.
Empty my mind. Don't think about anything.
Whatever happens, don't let Giovanni hear anything he shouldn't ever again.
[I'm so nervous, so nervous, so nervous...]
[His office is way too big. It's even bigger than my dorm room.]
[That fountain pen he's using looks like a Parker. He's really rich.]
[That Persian on his shoulder keeps staring at me. Those eyes look so fierce. He won't suddenly pounce on me and bite me, will he?]
Ye Li did his best to fill his mind with these dull thoughts.
What he did not know was that Giovanni was hearing every word of these trivial yet genuine inner thoughts.
Out of his sight, the corners of Giovanni's mouth curved upward slightly.
He raised his head, set down his fountain pen, and looked at the young man before him, who was as nervous as a frightened Meowth.
"Ye Li."
His voice was low and steady.
"Yes! Boss!"
Ye Li jolted, snapped his head up, and stood ramrod straight like a soldier awaiting inspection.
A trace of amusement flickered in Giovanni's eyes as he watched his comical display.
"From today onward, you're my assistant."
"Your job is very simple."
"Wherever I go, you follow."
"Keep every word I say firmly in mind."
"Understood?"
"U-understood!"
Ye Li stammered his reply.
Before you continue