Lt. Surge, as a Gym Leader in a major city, had no knowledge of this matter, which meant that Anabel had yet to leak any relevant information…
Ever since Anabel had possessed Celebi and vanished, she seemed to have used some kind of psychic ability to shield her thoughts—or rather, to intercept part of her pheromone signals—preventing Lucius from extracting them. As a result, he could only roughly pinpoint her location but was unable to scan her thoughts and memories.
The reason he hadn't restricted Anabel's movements was precisely to let her leak some information to the Pokémon League, stirring up chaos.
Lucius' only directive was that she must not reveal anything about the virus in any way. However, there was nothing stopping her from exposing matters related to Team Rocket. Ideally, the League's attention would shift toward Team Rocket, serving as a smokescreen for Umbrella's activities.
Yet, it seemed she had yet to take such action.
"Tell Bernard to be careful with this operation," Lt. Surge spoke up. "Team Rocket has been operating in Kanto for many years. Over twenty years ago, they emerged victorious from the underworld power struggles, becoming the most powerful organization in both Kanto and Johto. Working with them is never that simple."
Dolores nodded. Kanto hadn't always been ruled solely by Team Rocket—there had been numerous crime syndicates and gangs. However, under the leadership of two consecutive bosses, Team Rocket had swept across the region, unifying the underworld and claiming the title of the undisputed king in the shadows.
When collaborating with Team Rocket to excavate underground ruins in Kanto, the greatest concern wasn't the archaeological discoveries—it was the risk of getting double-crossed.
"I have full control over Team Rocket's movements," Dolores replied confidently.
After all, with Lucius possessing Archer's memories, he knew their plans like the back of his hand.
Moreover, after scanning Dolores' memories, he had also obtained intel on Syndicate's plans.
Six months ago, during their excavation of underground ruins in Unova, Team Plasma had unearthed an ancient bioengineering lab from a lost civilization. To their shock, they discovered that this civilization had once attempted to resurrect Genesect from its fossilized remains, despite the species having been extinct for hundreds of millions of years.
Their findings confirmed that these creatures hadn't perished naturally; instead, they had been completely frozen by an abrupt and catastrophic ice age.
Although it appeared that the ancient civilization ultimately failed to resurrect Genesect, Team Plasma still transported the fossil back to their base, intending to continue the experiment.
At the same time, Team Plasma's research suggested that this civilization had built similar bioengineering labs in multiple regions.
Under normal circumstances, such a groundbreaking discovery would have prompted immediate project development. However, Team Plasma became more obsessed with studying the phenomenon of the prehistoric ice age rather than launching expeditions to other sites, resulting in this intelligence being locked away.
Unbeknownst to them, a Syndicate operative embedded within Team Plasma had stolen this data and delivered it to their superiors.
While Syndicate's primary business was smuggling Pokémon, they had a strong interest in unearthing ruins and ancient Pokémon fossils.
If they could successfully resurrect a few prehistoric Pokémon, they could auction them off—there were plenty of elite families willing to pay a fortune for such rare creatures. It was far more profitable than traditional smuggling operations.
After analyzing the geological and environmental data of the site, Syndicate operatives spent a significant amount of time scouring Kanto to pinpoint the exact location. Along the way, they collaborated with several renowned aristocratic families, such as the Hjelle family and the Andreas family.
Ultimately, however, they chose to partner with Team Rocket—not because they trusted them, but because they planned to double-cross them.
Unlike the Hjelle and Andreas families*, which were deeply entrenched in the Pokémon League, a betrayal against them would inevitably trigger political retaliation through League channels.
Team Rocket, on the other hand, was a purely underground organization. Even if they were wiped out during the operation, they would have no way of launching a counterattack against Syndicate in Unova.
And if Team Rocket ever dared to seek revenge in Unova, Syndicate could simply report them to the authorities.
Ironically, Team Rocket had the exact same idea…
Seeing the confident glint in Dolores' eyes, Lt. Surge nodded slightly.
As expected from someone trained by the International Police.
Taking a sip of his drink, Lt. Surge suddenly changed the subject. "The League is circulating rumors lately. Apparently, Agatha is planning to step down due to old age and will no longer serve as a member of the Kanto Elite Four."
"You're thinking of competing for the spot?" Dolores asked.
Based on Lucius' acquired memories, while Lt. Surge was undeniably strong, he wasn't at the level required to become an Elite Four member.
After all, while many trainers in a region might reach an Elite Four level, only four individuals were officially recognized as the Elite Four, wielding significant authority within the League.
The title "Elite Four" wasn't just a power ranking—it was a position.
They were the face of the Pokémon League, its military strength, and even its official icons.
"I won't be competing for the position," Lt. Surge admitted. "But that guy will. I just want to use this as an opportunity to fight him."
As he mentioned this person, the slightly jaded aura surrounding him instantly vanished, replaced by a blazing fighting spirit.
"Volkner?" Dolores asked.
Lt. Surge nodded slowly. "Though Agatha stepping down as an Elite Four member hasn't been officially confirmed yet, the news is already circulating. All of us Gym Leaders know it's pretty much a done deal. Many of them have voiced their opinions, and Volkner is already eager to make his way to Kanto."
In Dolores' memory, Lt. Surge had once served under her father, Marshal, before becoming a Gym Leader himself. Years ago, he had lost to a much younger Volkner in an Electric-type Trainer tournament—an embarrassing defeat that he had carried as a shame ever since. It seemed he was planning to use this opportunity to finally reclaim his honor.
"When is he arriving?" Dolores asked.
Among Lucius' list of objectives, taking down Team Galactic was a priority. Recruiting Volkner into Hive would be a major asset.
"In three days," Lt. Surge confirmed.
Though he had already fallen under the Syndicate's corrupting influence, he was still a formidable Trainer, and his rivalry with Volkner continued to ignite his fighting spirit.
Dolores nodded, exchanged a few more words with Lt. Surge, and left the villa.
Lucius had acquired the intelligence he wanted—along with an unexpected bonus: Volkner's exact whereabouts in three days.
Of course, as a public figure, a Gym Leader's schedule wasn't exactly a well-kept secret.
Especially someone like Volkner—a celebrity Gym Leader who looked like the Fourth Hokage from Naruto, often trailed by fans who secretly snapped photos of him and posted them online.
But Lucius wasn't some infatuated fan.
He coveted the man's body.
That's right. As bizarre as it sounded, after spending a full day in a female body, Lucius felt a lingering discomfort. Volkner, however, was the perfect host for his parasitic needs.
A man. A Sinnoh native. A League-affiliated Gym Leader. Charismatic. With a strong fan following…
He checked all the right boxes—the perfect vessel.
And once Umbrella's product hit the market, Volkner could serve as the ideal spokesperson.
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TL/N: The raw said "Luo Family" (洛家) and "Sasaki Family" (佐佐木家). I tried searching but there was no such name or families in the pokemon.
The character for Hjelle is the same as Luo, which is Mia Hjelle's family, the friend of Ophelia, that one she met at the Game Corner.
As for the Sasaki Family, they have same characters for the vice president of Silp Co. which I translated as Andreas, thinking it was a name and not a surname at the time when I translated that character.
Whether these families exists in canons, that I don't know. If you know, please do tell me.
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