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"Rules? What rules?"
Sato didn't even bother responding to most of what Maya had just said. He instantly picked up on the most valuable keyword from her sentence and questioned her directly.
Since it was a competition, there were bound to be rules. Competitors had to thoroughly understand these rules before the match began. Otherwise, no matter how strong you were, you could easily end up at a disadvantage simply because of them.
Maya had just mentioned the rules for the second phase of the Rookie Competition. As a new recruit aiming to do well in this tournament, Sato was extremely interested.
And from the sound of it, very few people currently knew the rules for the second phase. At the very least, Sato, despite being a close subordinate of Giovanni, was completely in the dark about them.
This suggested that the rules for the second phase were currently under tight wraps.
However, due to various internal connections, people like Maya—who had strong backing from a high-ranking faction within Team Rocket—had already gotten early access to this critical information, well ahead of the average participant.
Though it was unfortunate, Sato knew that no matter the era or the organization, fairness in competitions was always difficult to achieve. At best, you could hope for relative fairness.
Upon hearing Sato's near-instant response, Maya gave him a knowing look, as if she'd expected this. She didn't answer his question right away; instead, she smiled at him sweetly.
After all, knowing the rules in advance gave you a massive edge. It was like being fully prepared for an exam compared to someone who started cramming the night before. It was a big advantage.
So, until Sato agreed to become one of "her people," Maya had no intention of handing that advantage over.
"What you said earlier about forming an alliance probably has something to do with the rules, right? If I'm not wrong, the rules for the second phase must put you at a big disadvantage—so you're scrambling to find someone to team up with. Let's hear it. If you tell me, I might lend you a hand during the match. And if it makes sense, I'll consider teaming up with you."
Seeing Maya keeping silent like that, Sato immediately understood what she was getting at. After a moment of frowning and thinking, he gave her a solemn promise.
While Sato definitely wanted to learn the rules ahead of time, agreeing to Maya's terms without thinking it through could easily land him in a worse position.
So, after weighing things out, Sato offered a conditional trade.
"…Fine. Just don't forget to help me out when the time comes. The location for the second phase is seriously dangerous, and the rules are just plain cruel."
Maya pouted a bit at Sato's refusal to "hunt without seeing the rabbit," but seeing as she at least got a verbal agreement, she reluctantly shared the intel she had managed to gather.
Sato listened closely to her explanation and complaints about the rules. The more he heard, the more alarmed he became. His brow furrowed tighter and tighter into a scowl.
The second phase of the Rookie Competition would take place on an uninhabited island somewhere in the Orange Islands.
According to Maya, the island was massive—at least 500,000 square kilometers. It was rich in natural resources and home to a huge number of wild Pokémon, with species from multiple regions.
But for some unknown reason, the island was surrounded year-round by a dense sea fog and powerful whirlpools, leaving it almost completely cut off from the outside world.
Team Rocket only discovered the island by accident during a maritime incident. Once they realized the location didn't even exist on maps, they began secretly developing it.
After years of exploration, Team Rocket had mostly finished surveying the island.
However, because the island was surrounded by strong sea currents and whirlpools, full-scale development had proven too difficult. Instead of mining its rich natural resources, Team Rocket had focused on harvesting the abundant Pokémon population.
Because of the island's isolation, its ecosystem had developed very differently from the outside world. Pristine jungles—now rare elsewhere—were still common across the island.
Thanks to the well-preserved environment and favorable climate, wild Pokémon thrived there, and their average potential was noticeably higher than those found in the outside world.
Team Rocket's researchers had discovered that, genetically, these Pokémon were more "ancestral"—their bloodlines more pure compared to their counterparts outside the island.
Because of this, Team Rocket had long planned to turn this island into an elite breeding and supply base for the organization's Pokémon.
However, the average level of the island's Pokémon was also significantly higher, with their strength surpassing the norm.
Over the course of countless years, the island had developed a sophisticated ecological system, culminating in the rise of a powerful King of the Island—a wild Dragonite of champion-level strength.
Beneath this Dragonite, there were four regional lords. Though not quite as strong, each one was still at the champion level and commanded multiple powerful Pokémon.
In short, the wild Pokémon on this island were terrifyingly strong.
Even for an organization like Team Rocket—one of the top underground forces in the Pokémon world—taking control of the entire island was no small task.
The island's king and its four regional rulers held an absolute grip over their territories. They were fiercely territorial and would not tolerate outsiders invading their home.
There had been several attempts by Team Rocket to build large bases on the island and gradually expand operations, but each time, their facilities were destroyed by the Dragonite or one of the regional rulers leading hordes of wild Pokémon. These attempts came at a steep cost.
Still, these confrontations weren't entirely fruitless.
After losing several elite trainers in battle, Team Rocket finally earned the respect of the island's king and its rulers. In the end, they were allowed to move freely on the island—but strictly forbidden from claiming any land as their own.
Now, Sato and the rest of the recruits who passed the first phase of the Rookie Competition would be competing on this perilous island.
According to Maya, the rules for the second phase went like this:
The second phase would last approximately three weeks. To keep things as fair as possible, each participant could only bring six of their own chosen Pokémon and a standard set of supplies issued by the organization.
At the start of the stage, however, each participant was only allowed to bring in one Pokémon.
To retrieve their remaining five Pokémon and obtain more supplies, they would need to collect number tags from other competitors.
Every participant carried a personal number tag. If you lost your tag, you were automatically eliminated, no matter how many points you'd earned.
Each time you captured someone else's tag, one point would be added to your score via a tracking device.
According to Maya, the third phase would involve direct Pokémon battles, and the higher your score from phase two, the bigger your advantage in phase three. The top scorer would automatically qualify for the finals.
This made the second phase critically important—essentially determining who would make it into the top two of the Rookie Competition.
To "pass," each participant needed to collect at least five points. But even then, they had to hold on to their own tag until the end of the phase. If your tag was taken, it didn't matter how many points you had—you were out.