After stowing their luggage in the cabin, Lorelei and Nozomi sat down together.
"Are you sure it's really okay for us to share a cabin?" Nozomi asked tactfully, glancing at the woman across from him.
"What? Are you afraid I might have some ulterior motives toward you?" Lorelei shot him a teasing look, a faint smile playing on her lips.
She suddenly found Nozomi rather amusing.
"That's not what I meant."
To be honest, even if Lorelei did have such intentions, Nozomi wouldn't exactly be the one losing out. It was just that they didn't really know each other that well—sharing a room felt… awkward.
But since Lorelei didn't seem to mind, he decided not to either.
"Dealing with Team Rocket is our top priority," she said calmly. "Everything else is irrelevant."
"So, how are we splitting the tasks?" Nozomi asked.
"You'll disguise yourself and gather intel in the main hall. I'll head down to the cargo hold and find out what Team Rocket is after." Lorelei gave her orders with crisp precision.
Nozomi nodded without objection. After Lorelei disguised herself and left for the lower decks, he adjusted his mask and made his way toward the banquet hall.
The hall was crowded and lively.
The passengers aboard the S.S. Anne roughly fell into two categories.
The first were Pokémon Trainers on short pleasure cruises—mostly those who'd received free tickets from Team Rocket as part of a promotional ruse. They boarded at Vermilion City and planned to disembark at Fuchsia City, treating it as a short sightseeing trip.
The second group were true travelers, heading on long voyages from Kanto to other regions like Hoenn, Sinnoh, or Unova. Their backgrounds varied widely—some were Trainers, others merchants hoping to find opportunities in far-off lands.
Perhaps sensing business potential in this crowd of Trainers, a number of merchants had even set up stalls right there in the hall, selling various goods—and surprisingly, business was booming.
Shaking his head at their creativity, Nozomi pretended to browse the stalls while secretly observing his surroundings.
"There sure are a lot of Team Rocket grunts here."
He swept his gaze across the room and immediately spotted several dozen disguised members dressed as waitstaff.
Even though they wore uniforms, that unmistakable Team Rocket aura gave them away instantly. After dealing with them so many times, Nozomi could now tell a Rocket apart from a normal Trainer at a single glance.
Most importantly—no ordinary waiter would have Poké Balls hanging from their belt.
"But with this many people, things could get tricky," he muttered, frowning.
Memorizing the faces of each disguised grunt, Nozomi turned casually toward one of the merchants and pointed at a plush doll. "Boss, how much for that Marshtomp plush?"
If he stood there pretending to browse without buying anything, it would look suspicious—especially under Team Rocket's watchful eyes.
"Fixed price—fifty thousand."
"…How much?"
Nozomi blinked. Fifty thousand? Was this guy out of his mind? That was robbery.
He'd spent less than that buying an Evolution Stone for his Eevee back then.
Seeing Nozomi's skeptical look, the middle-aged merchant—an oily man with the air of a veteran con artist—hurried to explain, "Ah, young man, you see, this is a Hoenn-imported plush! Officially licensed by Devon Corporation, limited edition—released for Champion Steven Stone's third anniversary! A true collector's item!"
Talk about name-dropping—Hoenn, Devon Corp, Steven Stone… To a clueless Kanto Trainer, it might've sounded convincing.
But Nozomi wasn't so easily fooled.
"Nice try. Steven's only been Champion for two years. There's no such thing as a 'third anniversary edition.'" His tone was flat. "And besides, Steven's signature Pokémon is Metagross, not Marshtomp. Devon would have to be brain-dead to make that mistake."
"Ahem…"
The merchant looked embarrassed for a moment—but quickly recovered.
"My mistake, my mistake! Not the anniversary edition, but still an authentic Devon product! Just look at the craftsmanship, the material—top-notch!" He began enthusiastically displaying the plush, spinning it in his hands like a prized relic.
When you couldn't sell substance, you sold style. The man was shameless, but he had the instincts of a real businessman.
By now, several nearby Trainers had turned to watch.
For the first time, Nozomi found himself the center of attention over something so ridiculous. Still, thanks to his mask disguise, he wasn't worried about being recognized by Team Rocket.
"Two thousand," Nozomi said flatly. "Take it or leave it."
In this world, two thousand Pokédollars had about the same buying power as a hundred dollars from his past life.
"Impossible!" the merchant shouted, jumping up. "That wouldn't even cover the cost! At least thirty thousand!"
"Three thousand."
"Twenty thousand!"
"Four."
"Ten!"
After several rounds of bargaining, they settled at eight thousand Pokédollars.
As a "bonus," the merchant even tossed in a Magikarp.
Muttering under his breath as he opened the box of Poké Balls, the man grumbled, "You're robbing me blind, kid… total loss here…"
"Heh." Nozomi replied with a single dry chuckle.
Honestly, if not for the need to keep up appearances, he wouldn't have spent a single coin.
"Here, pick one."
The merchant laid out six Poké Balls—all containing Magikarp.
Nozomi released them one by one, carefully inspecting their size, energy, and liveliness. In the end, he chose the largest and most energetic one.
Transaction complete.
Watching the merchant gleefully count his money, Nozomi couldn't shake the feeling that, had he haggled a little longer, the price might've dropped even further.
But he didn't have time to linger.
From the center of the hall came a sudden burst of cheering. A crowd had gathered around something—or someone.
Even the disguised Team Rocket members began to drift toward the commotion.
Nozomi's eyes narrowed. He followed.
And then, before he even reached the group, he heard a familiar voice echoing above the noise.
Ash.
"So Ash is on board too?" Nozomi muttered, raising an eyebrow. Then again, it wasn't surprising—according to the story, Team Rocket had sent him and his friends free tickets as well. His presence here made perfect sense.