Kanto region, Saffron City.
"What?! How can a single manga cost this much?!"
Inside the bookstore, Jessie stared wide-eyed, pointing at the hardcover manga on the counter and speaking so loudly that almost everyone in the store heard her.
The clerk behind the counter jumped, then hurriedly explained, "Ma'am, this is the newly released hardcover collected edition of Pokémon Adventures. Besides the serialized chapters, it includes color pages and character designs drawn specially by the author. Naturally, it costs a little more than a regular magazine."
"A hardcover edition?"
James leaned over beside her, picked up the sample copy, and flipped through it.
He had to admit, the book was beautifully put together.
On the cover, Red wore his signature cap, with his Pokémon companions beside him. The paper was thick, the printing crisp, and several exquisite illustrations were included at the back.
The more James looked, the more he liked it.
"Jessie, this really is much nicer than the magazine we bought yesterday."
"Of course!"
Jessie folded her arms and raised her chin smugly.
"If it's a gift for Giovanni, how could we just grab an ordinary magazine and call it a day?"
"But..."
James felt his wallet.
"I think we've already spent almost all the money we earned working yesterday."
"Meow! And we haven't even had breakfast today!"
Meowth clutched his stomach, looking thoroughly aggrieved.
Yesterday, to scrape together enough money for the manga, the three of them had spent a full half-day washing dishes at a restaurant.
They had thought they could finally complete their mission, only for Jessie to suddenly decide today that they should get the fancier hardcover edition instead.
And now look where that had gotten them.
They had yet to send out the manga, and their living expenses were already almost gone.
"What do you two know?!"
Jessie shot them an irritated glare.
"This is called an investment! An investment, understand?"
"As long as Giovanni is happy, never mind this little bit of money-even promotions and raises might be no problem!"
At the mention of promotions and raises, Meowth's ears immediately perked up.
James looked hopeful too.
"When you put it that way, I guess that makes sense."
"Of course it makes sense!"
Jessie slapped the counter with a grand flourish.
"We'll take this one!"
Five minutes later.
With their newly purchased hardcover manga, the three crouched on a bench outside the bookstore, silently gnawing on discounted bread from a convenience store.
"Boo-hoo... My lunch money..."
Looking at his nearly empty wallet, James couldn't help shedding bitter tears.
Meowth looked just as aggrieved and indignant.
"Once the boss rewards us, I'm going to eat ten deluxe seafood meals, meow!"
Jessie took a bite of bread, brimming with confidence.
"Relax! This time, it'll definitely work!"
She cradled the hardcover manga in her arms and admired its cover once more.
"But wouldn't just mailing it be a little too plain?"
James raised his head.
"What are you planning now?"
"Gift wrapping, of course!"
Jessie said matter-of-factly, "The most important thing about giving a gift is sincerity! If we don't even wrap it, how can we show our respect for Giovanni?"
"But we're already out of money..."
"Then we'll do it ourselves!"
With a wave of her hand, Jessie decided their next task.
And so, that afternoon, at a temporary hideout somewhere in Saffron City, the trio began their gift-making project.
James found a cardboard box of the right size.
Jessie handled the wrapping, even tying a red ribbon around the box.
As for Meowth, he was assigned an extremely important task.
Writing a recommendation letter!
"Meow? Why is it me again?"
Meowth looked thoroughly unwilling.
"Because you have the best handwriting!"
Jessie patted his head.
"And you can speak human language, so writing a letter should be a breeze, right?"
Meowth immediately puffed out his chest.
"That's true, meow!"
As a Pokémon who could use human language fluently, Meowth had always taken great pride in that.
He fetched some stationery and sat solemnly at the table.
"So, what should the first sentence be?"
Jessie thought for a moment.
"Dear Giovanni, greetings!"
Meowth immediately started writing.
"And then?"
"While carrying out an important mission, we happened to discover a manga of tremendous value!"
James nodded repeatedly as he listened beside her.
"Good, good! That sounds very formal!"
The more Jessie spoke, the more enthusiastic she became.
"This manga vividly portrays Team Rocket's immense strength and depicts you as a great leader of imposing presence and extraordinary wisdom!"
Meowth's paw was nearly cramping from writing.
"Slow down, meow! I can't keep up!"
"Finally, write that we all agree this work can help Team Rocket gain greater recognition and improve the organization's image!"
"Wait."
James suddenly raised his hand.
"Jessie, isn't Team Rocket supposed to be a secret organization?"
"So what?"
"Why would a secret organization want greater recognition?"
Jessie froze for a moment.
Meowth stopped writing and looked up too.
"That's right, meow. If everyone knows we're Team Rocket, how are we supposed to catch Pokémon in secret?"
The three fell silent for a moment.
Finally, Jessie swept her hand.
"Change it to boosting morale among our members!"
"Oh!"
James and Meowth saw the light.
That sounded much more reasonable!
After nearly an hour of fussing, the recommendation letter was finally finished.
Meowth unfolded the letter and admired his work with great satisfaction.
"Meow! Now the boss will definitely feel our sincerity!"
James opened the manga again and found the information on the copyright page.
"Come to think of it, the manga's author seems to be called Masuda Senbei."
"Hmm?"
Jessie leaned over.
"Masuda Senbei?"
"Yes, and the publisher's address is here too."
James rubbed his chin.
"I wonder if we should investigate this person first?"
"Why investigate him?"
"Think about it. He actually knows what Giovanni looks like, and he drew the boss as Team Rocket's leader. What if this person really knows something?"
His words made Meowth hesitate as well.
After all, Giovanni's identity had not been made public.
Why would an ordinary manga artist think of drawing Viridian City's Gym Leader as Team Rocket's leader?
But Meowth soon shook his head.
"Why worry about all that, meow!"
He slapped the recommendation letter onto the table.
"The most important thing right now is to get the manga to the boss as soon as possible!"
"What if other members discover this manga too and send it before us? Wouldn't we lose all the credit?"
Hearing that, Jessie immediately grew anxious.
"You're right!"
"We can't let anyone else snatch our chance at a promotion!"
James opened his mouth, but ultimately gave up trying to persuade them further.
Fine.
He wanted to get his reward sooner too, anyway.
The three packed the hardcover manga and recommendation letter into the box, then attached a card to the outside.
[To the greatest boss of all, Giovanni!]
Naturally, it was signed with all three of their names.
Jessie, James, and Meowth.
With everything done, Jessie clapped her hands in satisfaction.
"Excellent!"
"Now there's just one final step!"
That evening.
An unremarkable warehouse somewhere in Saffron City.
On the surface, it was a transfer station for an ordinary freight company, but it actually housed an internal supply transport channel for Team Rocket.
Jessie, James, and Meowth made their way to the warehouse's back door with practiced ease.
The Team Rocket member handling reception visibly paused when he saw them.
"You three again?"
Jessie immediately looked displeased.
"What do you mean, 'you three again'? We're here on important business!"
James hurriedly handed over the beautifully wrapped gift box.
"Sorry for the trouble, but could you send this to headquarters for us? It's addressed to Giovanni."
"Giovanni?"
The worker glanced at the gift box, his expression immediately turning odd.
"What's inside?"
"A gift!"
Jessie raised her chin proudly.
"A precious gift that will put Giovanni in a good mood!"
Meowth hurried to add his piece too.
"And it might even help the organization grow, meow!"
The worker accepted the box dubiously.
"Are you sure you want to send it through internal channels?"
"Of course!"
James nodded earnestly.
"We put a lot of care into preparing this!"
The worker inspected the parcel according to regulations. Only after confirming there were no dangerous devices inside did he repack the manga and letter.
Then he filled out an internal transfer form.
"All right, it'll be sent to headquarters through the usual channels. Whether it reaches Giovanni will depend on the higher-ups."
"No problem!"
Jessie was brimming with confidence.
"As long as the boss sees our gift, he'll definitely be happy!"
All three were in quite a good mood as they left the warehouse.
Although buying the hardcover manga had emptied their wallets yet again, that little loss meant nothing when they thought of the reward to come.
"Jessie, what do you think the boss will reward us with?"
James couldn't help asking.
"A promotion, of course!"
Jessie answered without hesitation.
"And hopefully a huge bonus!"
Meowth held his head in his paws and began imagining the wonderful life he would have after replacing Persian and regaining Giovanni's favor.
"Heh heh heh, Boss, you'll finally see how great Meowth is this time, meow!"
The more the three thought about it, the more excited they became.
They even temporarily forgot that they could only afford instant noodles for dinner tonight.
Meanwhile.
Shiraishi Ritsu's manga studio, Celadon City.
"Smeargle, I think we should put Red in the middle of this cover."
Shiraishi Ritsu lay on the sofa, holding several freshly finished cover sketches.
Smeargle sat at the workbench, carefully mixing paints.
Hearing its trainer's words, it raised its head and glanced at the sketches.
"Smeargle!"
Then it extended a paw and pointed at another sheet of drawing paper.
That cover used a very bold composition.
Red stood at the front, with several Pokémon ready for battle behind him, while figures from Team Rocket appeared faintly on the other side of the image.
"You want to use this one?"
Shiraishi Ritsu rubbed his chin.
"It's not bad. Team Rocket really has been pretty popular lately."
As he spoke, he picked up another sheet of drawing paper.
It depicted Giovanni in a suit, with a languid-looking Persian lying at his feet.
There was no denying that Smeargle's drawing skills were astonishing.
Though it was only a simple character design, it captured Giovanni's composed, commanding air to perfection.
"Tsk, tsk. Just what you'd expect of Team Rocket's boss."
Shiraishi Ritsu couldn't help marveling.
"One look at that face tells you he's not someone to mess with."
"Smeargle!"
Smeargle nodded proudly.
Shiraishi Ritsu set the drawings aside and continued working out the plot for the next installment.
Lately, he had begun considering whether to add some more interesting details to the villains in his manga.
After all, the Team Rocket content was getting more and more popular, and readers clearly liked these distinctive villains.
Still, remembering what had happened with Sabrina and Lt. Surge gave him something of a headache.
"Ah, I hope no one else comes knocking."
Shiraishi Ritsu sighed and casually picked up a Berry cookie.
"I just want to draw manga in peace. Why is that so hard?"
Smeargle nodded in wholehearted agreement.
It didn't like those visitors who suddenly showed up and left its trainer trembling with fear, either.
Especially that black-haired girl last time, who could make paintbrushes fly.
That had been far too scary!
The man and Pokémon chatted for a while before returning to their manga work.
Outside the window, the sky gradually darkened.
The studio lights remained bright.
Shiraishi Ritsu had absolutely no idea that, at that very moment, a gift painstakingly prepared by the Team Rocket Trio had already been sent to Team Rocket headquarters through their internal transport channels.
And inside that gift was a manga that portrayed Giovanni as the leader of Team Rocket.
Team Rocket headquarters.
In a spacious office, Giovanni sat behind his desk, his head lowered as he read a report on a research project.
A Persian lay quietly at his feet, occasionally flicking its tail lazily.
The room was very quiet.
Until a soft knock came from outside the door.
"Come in."
Giovanni didn't even raise his head.
A Team Rocket executive pushed the door open, holding an exquisitely wrapped box.
"Boss, a package came through our internal channels."
Giovanni continued leafing through the documents and asked offhandedly, "What is it?"
"It seems to be a gift."
"A gift?"
Only then did Giovanni look up.
The executive approached the desk, opened the box, and took out a hardcover manga and a densely written letter of recommendation.
At the sight of the manga, Giovanni frowned slightly.
The executive carefully placed the items on the desk.
"Boss."
"Jessie, James, and Meowth sent these."