The doors to the arena opened.
No one moved.
The image of ten bodies lying beneath white sheets remained burned into every recruit’s mind.
Thirty-four others had been carried away on stretchers.
Some had lost limbs, some would never become trainers.
None of the survivors believed the first trial had been exaggerated anymore.
Captain Mercer looked over the remaining recruits.
“Follow.”
The one hundred fifty-six survivors obeyed without a word.
The deeper they traveled through the underground complex, the larger it became.
Adrian had expected hidden corridors and secret laboratories.
Instead, he found an entire city.
Cargo trains rolled through reinforced tunnels carrying supplies.
Mechanics repaired armored vehicles.
Scientists hurried between laboratories with Magneton floating overhead.
Rocket Grunts patrolled every hallway while Team Leaders barked orders to younger members.
Nobody stopped to acknowledge the recruits.
They were insignificant.
Eventually, massive blast doors opened, groaning on hinges built for something far heavier than foot traffic, and every recruit froze.
The cavern beyond stretched for hundreds of meters.
Artificial lights embedded in the ceiling simulated daylight.
Concrete streets connected dozens of buildings.
A Pokémon Center, a cafeteria, battle arenas, training fields, a library, shops, dormitories, even entire artificial environments: an indoor forest, a swamp, a rocky canyon, a lake nearly the size of a city block.
The air itself felt wrong in a way Adrian couldn’t immediately place.
Then he understood.
It was too clean.
No exhaust, no dust, no trace of the rain-soaked streets he’d left behind that morning.
Somewhere overhead, ventilation systems were working hard enough to make an entire underground city smell like nothing at all.
People moved between the buildings with the unhurried pace of residents rather than prisoners, which told Adrian more about how long this place had existed than anything Mercer had said out loud.
Someone whispered, “This is impossible…”
Mercer answered without looking back.
“No.
It’s expensive.”
A few nervous laughs escaped the recruits.
Mercer ignored them.
Somewhere behind him, a training arena rang with the sound of an attack landing hard enough that even Mercer’s voice couldn’t fully cover it.
“This is Cerulean Base.
One of Team Rocket’s regional training facilities.
For the next month, this is your home.”
The recruits gathered before a massive electronic display in the center of the plaza.
Mercer stood beneath it.
“The League has schools.
We don’t.” Murmurs spread through the crowd.
“There are no classes.
There is no timetable.
There is no instructor waiting to tell you what to do.”
The display behind him changed.
A detailed map of Cerulean City appeared, the underground base sitting beneath the eastern district.
Nearly the entire city glowed blue.
Mercer pointed toward it.
“You are free.” That single sentence surprised everyone.
“You may leave this base whenever you wish.
You may explore Cerulean City.
You may train.
Battle.
Take missions.
Capture Pokémon.
Make allies.
Make enemies.
So long as you return before next month’s trial.”
A recruit slowly raised his hand.
“…We’re allowed outside?”
Mercer looked directly at him.
“You’re Rocket.
Act like it.”
The recruit swallowed.
“What if the League catches us?”
Mercer’s answer came instantly.
“Then you’re on your own.”
Silence.
“If Officer Jenny arrests you, I won’t help you.
If you challenge someone stronger and lose, I won’t help you.
If you wander into the forests and get eaten by wild Pokémon, I won’t help you.” He paused.
“If you expose Team Rocket, pray the League finds you before we do.”
The plaza became silent.
Mercer folded his arms.
“Your survival is now your responsibility.”
The display changed again.
Large white letters appeared.
TEAM ROCKET POINTS
All Recruits Current Balance: 0 TRP
A murmur spread through the crowd.
“What are points?”
Mercer answered.
“The most valuable currency in Team Rocket.
You earn them.
You spend them.
You do not buy them.”
The display shifted once more.
Ways to Earn TRP • Complete Missions • Monthly Trials • Capture Valuable Pokémon • Sell Valuable Resources • Exceptional Performance • Contributions to Team Rocket
“And money?”
Mercer almost smiled.
“Money is useful.
Outside.” He looked around the plaza.
“Inside Team Rocket, it means almost nothing.”
Another recruit frowned.
“So if I’m rich…”
“You start with zero TRP.”
The recruit fell silent.
Mercer continued.
“You may exchange TRP for cash.
You may not normally exchange cash for TRP.”
Several recruits understood.
TRP wasn’t simply currency.
It was proof.
Proof that Team Rocket considered you valuable.
Someone with millions of dollars couldn’t simply walk into the Rocket Market and purchase a rare Pokémon.
Someone with enough TRP could.
Mercer pressed another button.
The display changed again.
Rocket Market Poké Balls · TMs · Evolution Stones · Held Items · Medicine · Rare Pokémon · Training Equipment · Information · Special Facility Access · Mission Licenses
“Everything has a price.
The better the reward, the higher the cost.”
The screen changed one final time.
A massive countdown appeared.
29 Days 23 Hours 51 Minutes Until Trial Two
“The next trial will determine who remains.
No further explanation will be given.
You have one month.
How you spend it is your decision.”
Mercer looked over every surviving recruit.
“Some of you will spend this month training.
Some will hunt stronger Pokémon.
Some will earn TRP.
Some will waste their time.” He shrugged.
“I don’t care.
The results will speak for themselves.”
He turned to leave.
Then stopped.
Without looking back, he spoke one final sentence.
“If you need someone to tell you how to become stronger, you were never meant to survive Team Rocket.”
Mercer walked away.
No farewell.
No dismissal.
Just silence.
For several moments, none of the recruits moved.
Then the plaza erupted into activity.
Some rushed toward the battle arenas.
Others headed for the Rocket Market.
Several hurried toward the mission hall.
A few walked toward the exit leading into Cerulean City.
Everyone had their own plan.
Adrian stayed where he was, his eyes drifting over the enormous underground city.
A month of freedom.
No classes.
No supervision.
Only opportunities.
Everyone around him had already started sorting the same information into a plan.
Adrian could see it happening.
A boy near the mission hall entrance kept glancing between the map and his Poké Ball, working out routes.
A girl by the market doors was counting something on her fingers, probably TRP she didn’t have yet.
Nobody was standing still except him, and even that felt like a decision rather than hesitation.
Thirty days.
Rocket had given him a Pokémon that shouldn’t have chosen him, thirty days to prove that choice meant something, and absolutely nothing else.
No instructor.
No guaranteed meals beyond the basics.
No one who would notice if he wasted the entire month sitting exactly where he stood now.
That was either the cruelest structure Adrian had ever heard of or the fairest one, and he suspected the answer depended entirely on what he did with it.
He rested a hand on Croagunk’s Poké Ball.
The first trial had earned him a place here.
The second would decide whether he deserved to stay.
And for the first time since joining Team Rocket, his future was in his own hands.