"How?" Giovanni's tone was nothing short of furious as he glared at the man in front of him, Lithos, for all that he looked stoic, wouldn't be able to keep his steel-like demeanor if the mob moss decided to actually move.

"A ninja sir, Koga's," Lithos' answer was straight and blunt, he didn't try to say it in a flowery language, and he didn't dare to be dishonest with Giovanni.

"Koga?.." Giovanni's expression had a flash of confusion for a brief second, he looked down, unsure of what to think of the sudden development, "Why..?"

The mob moss stopped murmuring under his breath and locked gazes with his executive.

"You're sure about your claim?" Giovanni asked.

"Mhmm." Lithos nodded, "they were seen running around the slums sometime back," the executive explained in a calm tone, "their way of traversing cities by jumping from building to building strongly leans on the fact that they were trained by Koga's men,"

"I see…" Giovanni tapped the armrest of his chair, his lips pursed into a tight frown, "why would Koga be active around Goldenrod… no," Giovanni said in realization, "we have been competing drug sales with a mysterious group haven't we?"

"Yes we have sir," Lithos nodded, his expression told Giovanni that he was catching on, "they are mostly located in cities and have a clientele centered around war veterans,"

"Right," a deep chuckle escaped the mob boss' throat, "right,"

Giovanni grabbed his shot of whiskey and downed it in one gulp, he sighed as the burn washed down his throat and cooled his chest, "right…"

So Koga was weakening Johto was he? That should have been something that Giovanni expected him to do from the start, espionage was Koga's specialty after all, and what kind of ninja would he be if he didn't sabotage the other side during times of peace?

The mob boss shook his head, "why he chose to attack us is a mystery but he did,"

Which meant he had motives, and Giovanni decided to take care of the most obvious and plausible reason for why the attack happened.

The mob boss looked Lithos in the eye, "remove any and all information on our Kantonian activities in most of the bases in Johto," he ordered, "I want them all wiped clean, everything about me needs to be prioritized followed by our more legal businesses within the cities, after that, clean up anything that might harm Team Rocket's operations,"

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"I'll pass it on to everyone," Lithos confirmed.

"And just to make sure that Johto still has the information Cyrus needs, build a safehouse on the border, put a database inside, put in all the things he needs for his experiments, transfer him there if you have to," Giovanni knew this was a risk, but allowing Cyrus to work in Kanto was an even bigger one.

If Koga wanted to know more about his project, then Giovanni dared the man to risk the lives of the ninja's men to get even a sliver of his secrets.

…

"… I never knew you could do this," Whitney sounded impressed, and she was being genuine, or maybe Virah just wanted to convince herself that the pinkette truly cared about her.

"You're like Techman Kadabra," Whitney added as she put down the electric baton.

"Kadabra huh?" Virah chuckled as she retracted the baton, the weapon was placed on the table with a loud thunk, "I don't stay inside of a room all day making stuff though,"

"Yeah but you're still the person who will be responsible for making all our gadgets!" Whitney pumped a fist, her eyes shining with excitement.

"Our?.." Virah was taken aback, she didn't share her friend's sentiment on the entire thing, "Whitney, you just heard me explain what happened when I-"

"And that's okay," Grene directed a glare Virah's way, "this was the first time you did this," the martial artist pushed her point from earlier, "you didn't know that your Aura could do that,"

"I did though," Virah replied with a soft tone, her eyes directed at the ground, "it's what the trigger mechanism is solely based off of after all,"

"Then you didn't know your Aura could be that lethal," Grene backtracked, "the point is, you had no idea that any of that could have possibly happened so give yourself a break,"

"I…" Virah met Grene's gaze, then she nodded, "right, I'm sorry,"

"You don't need to say you're sorry, it's fine," Grene shook her head, "nothing bad is going to happen,"

"I- I know that," Virah looked out the window.

There was no way the Jennies currently fighting in the slums would suspect her of all people to be responsible for what was happening out there but her nerves were still wracked with anxiety at the possibility of it, no matter how small it is.

"Virah," Whitney grabbed the poison specialist's hand, "it's not your fault, it's okay, we're okay,"

"R-right," Virah shuddered as she inhaled, "everything is going to be okay,"

"Hey," Whitney's words got Virah to face her, she looked at her friend's caring gaze and held back tears, "how about we pile our money to buy you a Pokewatch?" She suggested, "h-hey! Did I say something wrong?!"

"Nothing," Virah chuckled as she wiped her eyes, "nothing like that- it's just…" she was speechless, how could she possibly put what she was feeling into words? "Thank you, really,"

"Don't mind it," Grene responded, her tone as serious and genuine as it could get, "we're here for each other,"

Virah planted her head on Whitney's chest and went back to bawling her eyes out.

When she calmed down, the three of them decided to sit back and simply watch trainer battles on the TV.

At the professional level, everything seemed so climactic and amazing, Pokemon fought with moves that leveled the arena and speeds that could only be described as teleportation. Everything was a spectacle, even the simplest moves.

All three of them had someone to cheer for, Whitney often picked the cute ones, Grene liked the Pokemon known to be strong while Virah liked the slow and bulky ones as they were perfect for her preferred battle style.

Tactics over strength or charm, which one of those three was superior Virah didn't know, as each one showcased their respective strengths during multiple battles.

Whitney looked out the window, "Huh," she said out loud, "the smoke died down,"

"Water Types probably got to work," Grene replied, the martial artist's gaze followed Whitney's, "they really do work fast,"

"They do don't they?" Virah felt a pang of guilt from the fact that she was so casual about what's happening in the slums despite being responsible for it, "it's… weird to think about,"

"It is yeah," Whitney smiled, she hummed, "Virah, promise me nothing like this will happen again,"

Virah could only nod, "I'll try my best,"

"Please do," if Whitney caught Virah's obvious avoidance to making a promise, she didn't let it show outward, she offered Virah every bit of support she could muster, "you did well, even if the consequences were bad,"

"Did I?" Virah asked out loud, "did I really?"

"… Maybe," Whitney's voice turned soft, uncertain, "but what matters is that you're here, and I think that's more important than everything else,"

"Thanks," Virah gratefully replied.

"You're welcome." Whitney smiled.