Pokemon: Master of tactics

Marco didn't hesitate for a second and immediately knocked on the door they were standing in front of.

After hearing the words, "Come in," he opened the door. ​​

Alex entered alongside Marco into the room with a sedate expression on his face.

Although he had met Giovanni before, Alex could not assess the Boss of Team Rocket particularly well. He had felt that Giovanni was not easy to see through and is a bit like himself.

Alex, Maria, Marco, and Janine entered the large office almost simultaneously and saw Giovanni sitting quietly on his chair and caressing Persian.

Although Alex was looking at the info of Persian after a long while, it was still at LV 59. Alex could not find any visible difference from the first meeting with Giovanni.

Giovanni looked at the four with a satisfied smile as he spoke.

"I'm really impressed that so many strong rookies have entered Team Rocket this year."

"Each of you is already an Elite trainer with at least 3 Elite Pokémon, even though none of you are 18 yet."

Then he laughed and said, "Haha, in comparison, all other rookies look like trash."

"I think it was over 10 years ago that such a number of talents appeared in one year."

After a short pause, he continued with a smile, "And this is your chance. Since this year is so good, I have decided to give each one of you an incredible chance. The chance... to reach a higher position as an Executive."

Alex felt that something didn't quite fit. Even if this year had some very impressive rookies, there shouldn't be a reason why Giovanni will choose rookies instead of older members for this new position.

Giovanni, who saw those surprised and confused eyes of everyone with his keen eyes as he said, "I can understand your confusion. In normal cases, you would never have such a chance. Let me explain it a bit more to you."

"Team Rocket has now expanded almost to its maximum in Kanto and Johto; and has little opportunity to grow much further."

"So there are only two ways left for Team Rocket to develop more. The first is to defeat the Alliance and control Kanto completely. And the second possibility is to expand in other regions."

"The first option is impossible for now, and the second option has encountered a problem."

Giovanni looked at the 4 teenagers with piercing eyes and no expression on his face. "I've been trying to build a Team Rocket base in Hoenn for several years, but the problem is that the whole underground organization in Hoenn reacts very strongly against it."

"Hoenn doesn't have a large underground organization like Team Rocket but has several medium-sized organizations like Gang Night or the recently emerged Team Magma & Team Aqua. In addition, there are many relatively small organizations that make Hoenn very chaotic."

"The problem is that every time Team Rocket tries to build up in Hoenn, we are attacked by every single organization from there. Which makes it impossible for Team Rocket to lay the foundation for future activities there."

"Team Rocket doesn't have enough free members to be able to fight against all of Hoenn, so I thought of a different plan when I saw rookies with a lot of potential this year."

Giovanni showed a faint smirk, "I will get one of you the position of Hoenn Team Rocket leader and thus supervise an entire region."

"Each of you has the potential to become a Team Rocket Executive and enough time to build your own organization in Hoenn."

"Team Rocket cannot give you any personnel because otherwise, the Hoenn underground organization will find out quickly. And of course, you must not tell any of your members that this new organization is part of Team Rocket."

Giovanni looked at the 4 and said, "But Team Rocket won't leave you alone and provide you with items, money, Pokémon, and any resource required."

"This position is very important, so I have to find out which of you is best suited for this job. It's not just about strength, but also about whether you know how to use subordinates and manage an organization."

Alex, who heard this, felt that this position was an incredible opportunity for him. Although it is a bit risky, the benefits are enormous. He had the feeling that this plan is only possible because so many talented trainers are here this year for the Team Rockets to slowly build up there.

Marco showed a confident expression when he asked, "Uncle, how will you decide which of us is the most suitable for this position?"

Giovanni looked at Marco without showing any emotion and said, "The test determining that will only take place in a year."

All 4 teenagers in the room showed a surprised expression.

"This test has nothing to do with strength. I allow each of you to build a team that fights along with you. Each of you can bring 3 subordinates to this test."

Giovanni showed a knowing smile when he said, "Of course, to be fair, none of your subordinates must have reached the age of 18 years. And, you have a year to choose your subordinates and train them."

Alex, who heard this, immediately understood how important these 3 subordinates will be for this test. If he managed to find 3 subordinates that are as strong as himself, he would almost automatically win this test. Unfortunately, that's almost, if not entirely, impossible.

Giovanni looked at the 4 people in the room who were all thinking about different things and said, "I will also give each of you a few missions from time to time that you can accept. These missions will not give you an advantage in the test, but the rewards will be better than the normal mission ones. So, you can do them if you want to."

After seeing how each of these 4 people had a confident expression, he said with a small smile, "I would like to tell you that each of you can refuse to take this test if you want."

When he saw the uninterested looks, Giovanni said, "And yes, anyone who refuses this test can get a Dratini, Bagon, or Gible that's on the S-rank."

Alex and the rest showed surprised expressions when they heard of this reward. Alex couldn't understand for a moment why Giovanni was doing this.

'Wait, does he want to prevent the person who has almost no chance of victory from joining forces with other participants? Does he knows about my conversation with Maria, or did he expect something like that?'

Maria, who heard this reward, couldn't help but show her hesitation. Although this position of Giovanni is better than this reward, you have to win the test first to get this position. She knows that she has almost no chance, and it would be more worthwhile for her if she would take this reward and give up taking part in this test.

But when she thought about the conversation with Alex, she didn't know what to do for a moment.

After a few seconds, she looked at Giovanni and asked, "Boss, can I become a member of another participant's team even after I have given up?"

Giovanni showed a knowing smile and nodded.

Maria stopped thinking and told Giovanni that she would like to give up the chance to participate in this test and that she would like to receive a Gible.

Alex, who heard this, showed no particular emotion. It would be better for him if Maria would still take part so that he would have a total of 7 team members. But he could understand why Maria would not give up everything for him.

The fact that she had already asked Giovanni regarding joining another team showed that she was at least a little bit considerate of him despite neither of them had an agreement yet.

He felt that Giovanni would have used other tricks to make this 'fair' if Maria had not accepted this offer.

Giovanni looked at Alex and Maria's face and showed an easy-to-miss, knowing smile.

*****

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