After their victory, Sato aer advao the quarterfinals.

  While Wester attended every remaining match, Sato used an excuse to slip away, fog on iigating Ghost Ship's assassination plot.

  Wheempted assassination of ae Four member had occurred in his past life, Sato hadn't yet been assigo his master.

  So he had no memory of the specific details surrounding the event.

  Fortunately, at this point, his master wasn't too powerful yet, only holding the rank of Blue Badge Assassin.

  Sato suddenly froze. Why had that thought crossed his mind?

  Somewhere, deep down, he was already aligning himself with the Pokémon League.

  He sighed. Being a legitimate Pokémon Trainer was far better than surviving in the shadows, always hiding, always struggling.

  He never said it out loud, but his goal was clear—to stop the assassination attempt.

  In his past life, he had seen too much of the world's darkness.

  He had betrayed morals, spilled blood, and at times even drowned in it.

  Had it not been for his master—a lone flickering light in the darkness, stubborn but weak—Sato might have embraced the shadows once again in this life.

  He could have fully exploited his knowledge from the past, rising to power without hesitation, withard for sequences.

  So this time—he would stop the assassination.

  And he would protect his master.

  But his master was already a Blue Badge Assassin, and esg the anization was nearly impossible. Unless he fled to an uninhabited isnd or vanished into the wilderness, there was o run.

  -----

  Because of the Elite Four Battle Tour, Mahogany Town had structed a massive stadium.

  Shops, vendors, and temporary stalls sprang up around it, turning the area into a bustling marketpce.

  If both Elite Four members capitalized oour's success, in ten years, this pce might even bee a city.

  Wearing sungsses, Sato wahe streets like a regur tourist, seemingly carefree.

  But iy, he was meticulously sing his surroundings, searg for any traces of Ghost Ship's activity.

  His efforts were not in vain.

  The assassination wasn't just targetie Four Sen.

  The stronger an assassin, the more they preferred w alohey would olerate interference, always ensuring full trol over their missions.

  That meant a Gold Badge Assassin was likely assigo Sen's assassination.

  Meanwhile, Silver, Blue, and Green Badge assassins were responsible for eliminating key officials and promising trainers from the Pokémon League.

  This was a direct sp in the face to the Pokémon League.

  At present, the League was a reized force for justice, but it was nowhere near as dominant as it would be in a decade's time, when it would goveren regions.

  That night, after dining with Wester, Sato locked himself in his room.

  Sitting at his desk, he typed rapidly on what, to him, was an a desktop puter. After so long, he had grudgingly adjusted to using it.

  When it came to Sen's assassination, Sato's rank and strength left him with no direct means of intervention.

  So, he opted for the simplest, yet most effective method.

  A mysterious message sent to Sen's puter—a hidden Trojan script, set to auto-delete five seds after being opened. A warning that would be delivered every day at the same time.

  That was all he could do for now.

  —it was time to deal with his master. The best approach was not to interfere.

  In his past life, his master had not been captured in this operation—which meant he should be fihis time as well.

  But that was assuming there were no unforeseen ges.

  And Sato himself was the biggest variable.

  …

  The Pokémon League building in wood Town stood ten stories high, already one of the tallest buildings in the area.

  Inside a spacious top-floor office, Elite Four Sen and Yanagi sat side by side, their desks covered with scattered dots.

  A quice revealed the tents—thick stacks of detailed reports on every partit iour.

  "What do you think about this one? Fujiwara, male, 13 years old, born in Violet City. His parents are ordinary pany employees, his background is , and he's easy to train."

  "Tant. No signifit progress in the past year. Low development potential."

  Elite Four Yanagi's voice was cold, unwilling to say another word.

  "Then how about this one? Chishima, female, 13 years old, a local of wood Town. Her parents work within the Pokémon League, but their positions aren't iial."

  "A girl? Too emotional when fag challe that age. Not suitable."

  "Hey, hey, now that's just bias!"

  Sen waved Chishima's profile in front of the ice block beside him, protesting.

  "…Field operations would be inve."

  After realizing that his previous statement might sound prejudiced, Yanagi struggled for a moment before ing up with that half-hearted excuse.

  "I give up on you."

  "Alright, how about this one? Yuga Sato, male, 10 years old, from Cerulean City in Kanto. Orphaned, but possesses extremely high potential—already firmed to have four Elite-level Pokémon. This one should be fine, right?"

  Sen pulled out Sato's file, intrigued.

  At their age, her he nor Yanagi had been this strong.

  "…His talent is too high. Not suitable either."

  "What the hell?! I swear, I'm losing my patience!"

  Sen, usually as warm as spring in front of outsiders, rolled up his sleeves, ready to smack Yanagi on the head.

  Not too weak, not to—then what exactly were they looking for?!

  "Don't fet—this kid is highly favored by the Joy family. I heard he even helped them make a fortuly."

  "That's true. There's no way they'd let him go. Even if they did, that brat himself wouldn't want to e. But the rest of these didates are either too well-ected, too old, or—"

  Sen ched his jaw.

  "—still girls!"

  "I have someone in mind."

  Yanagi paused for two seds before speaking softly.

  "Who?"

  "Not listed here."

  "He's one of the Top 16 testants—the gsses-wearing boy who was eliminated by Sato aer."

  "I remember him. Wait, let me pull up his profile."

  As Sen opened his puter and started searg, he noticed an anonymous email. He clicked it casually.

  "Yanagi, e look at this."

  "What is this…?"

  "On the day of the finals, assassins will attack. Targets include Elite Four Sen, high-ranking officials, and potential didates."

  Both of them frowned, intending to read it carefully—but in the moment—the anonymous email vanished.

  As if it had never existed.

  " we trust this?"

  "…I don't know."

  …

  The day, Sato aer arrived at the stadium as usual.

  Because of Sato's dominant performahe previous day, his elusive Gengar had pletely overwhelmed the oppo, leaving them powerless.

  As a result—many trainers who had previously only paid attention to Wester had now shifted their focus eo Sato.

  He was now the ter of attention.

  "Who are we using today?"

  "Gengar."

  "Alright, I'll go with Bae!"

  "It evolved?"

  "Haha, and it reached Elite-level too!"