In the dimly lit corridor, the Blue-rank assassin, Kalo, led the group, followed closely by the now-silent Red-rank assassin. Behind them, the twenty recruits who had passed the trial walked in step—not one more, not one less.

  Sato kept his Dark Energy flowing without pause. Zorua's dition oor; the blood it had ed earlier served as internal nourishment, and now the external application of Dark Energy was accelerating its recovery, ensuring it could regain bat strength as soon as possible.

  There was no telling when the assassin who had kidnapped him would appear again, but even the Red-rank assassin before him wouldn't hesitate to eliminate him if given the ce.

  "Zor…"

  Zorua whimpered softly.

  The way Dark Energy accelerated its healing was by fueling its cells, f them tee faster. But it didn't remove the pain.

  The process was just as agonizing as any normal recovery. Fortunately, Zorua trusted Sato enough and could feel the clear improvements in its body. So, it endured.

  The walk wasn't long—just a few minutes—before the group arrived at a spacious room.

  Bright fluorest lights.

  Cool, dry air.

  Cold, gray walls of reinforced steel.

  A workbench brimming with high-tech equipment. Everything here sighat they had stepped into the core of the anization.

  Atop the workbench, hundreds of Poké Balls were ly stacked.

  The recruits' breathing became noticeably faster. A daring thought surfaced in their minds, and their eyes burned with anticipation.

  "Alright, recruits, gratutions on passing the sed trial. Now, you may each step forward and choose a Pokémon. Remember, you ot open the Poké Ball—your sele will be based purely on luck."

  Perhaps due to Kalo's silent pressure, the Red-rank assassin immediately stepped aside after speaking, saying nothing more.

  The recruits could barely tain their excitement. The moment they had seen Sato already possessing a Pokémon, their jealousy had been unbearable.

  Without hesitation, all 19 recruits rushed forward, each grabbing a Poké Ball. Their eyes gleamed with excitement.

  Sato also stepped forward, cradling Zorua in his left arm while his right hand swiftly reached into the pile, seleg one specific Poké Ball with precise movements before turning and stepping bato formation.

  Some recruits wao question why Sato was allowed to take another Pokémon when he already had Zorua. But seeing that her Kalo nor the Red-rank assassin objected, none dared to speak up.

  "Now, I will expihird trial. For the hree months, you will undergo training in five areas: physical endurance, bat teiques, disguise, reaissance, and Pokémon battles. Three months ter, you will be tested in all five. Fail even one… and…"

  The Red-rank assassin trailed off with a meaningful smile, ohat sent a chill deep into the recruits' bones.

  The rest of the process involved receiving basic supplies, seg living arras, and other trivial matters.

  The two assassi without another word. Surprisingly, the Red-rank assassin didn't give Sato any trouble before leaving.

  Ihe anization, only Gold-rank assassins and above were sidered high-ranking members. Everyone else—regardless of status—wore biforms, with their rank identified only by the color of their belt badge.

  Ohe two left, a group of twenty workers, each wearing a white badge, filed in. A massive anization wasn't just made up of bat personnel.

  The existence of a vast logistietwork was a true indicator of an anization's strength. Even new recruits who had only passed the sed trial were assigned a personal assistant for daily affairs.

  Of course, whether these assistants also served as informants was another matter.

  The in of these white-rank assistants? Those who failed the trials but survived.

  However, this wasn't something new recruits would discover until ter.

  So, when Sato quietly took his assigned supplies from a girl about his age, he wasn't surprised in the slightest.

  White-rank attendant, Rika.

  Sato remembered her name. In his past life, for a long time, Rika had handled everything uo his training.

  "This is your identification badge. Until you officially pass the third trial, your default ame is HL20."

  Rika tried her best to sound mature, but she was still just a ten-year-old girl. Her voice carried a hint of nervousness.

  Sato, being a naturally quiet person, simply listened as she expihe badge funs and basic anization rules. After about half an hour, Rika led him to his assigned quarters before leaving.

  Onside, Sato ied the room thhly. Only after firming there were no surveilnce devices did he finally rex a little.

  Zorua immediately leaped from his arms and began expl the small 20-square-meter room.

  pared to its time in the cage, it now looked far more eid lively. The effects of Blood Nourishment were undeniable.

  "Zorua, eet your eammate."

  "Zor!"

  Zorua obediently jumped to his side, staring at the red-and-white Poké Ball in Sato's hand with an expression of deep focus.

  "Pong!"

  The Poké Ball burst open. A gaseous Pokémon slowly emerged, its purple mist-like body spreading as it hovered.

  At its ter was a bck orb, with rge eyes c half its body and a wide mouth revealing two small fangs.

  Gastly.

  The Gas Pokémon. A Ghost/Poison-type Pokémon with a three-stage evolution and high potential.

  Mischievous and ing, Gastly cared little for life and often took its pranks too far—sometimes even sg people to death.

  "Kehehe~"

  A chilling ugh echoed through the room as Gastly gri Sato, making a spooky face.

  But before it could finish—a hand suddenly grabbed its body.

  It caught it. Gastly's expression froze.

  It suddenly realized that its entirely gaseous body had just been firmly caught—and it couldn't escape!

  For several moments, it struggled in vain. Sato the go, and Gastly immediately shot backward, darting behind Zorua.

  Its eyes now held genuine fear as it peeked out cautiously from behind Zorua's fur. It no longer dared to make jokes.

  "Not bad."

  Sato smirked.

  This wasn't a random sele—he had chosen Gastly iionally.

  Using Dark Energy's ability to deteergy, he could gauge a Pokémon's potential based oensity of its emotional feedback.

  Just like Zorua—when observed through Dark Energy, the response had been one of immeement.

  In his past life, Sato had ducted extensive experiments—evely traveling to Hoenn to study Elite Four Sidney's Dark-type Pokémon.

  After analyzing and piling the iy levels of emotional feedback, he had cssified them into five tiers, which vely aligned with Pokémon strength categories: Ordinary, Elite, Pseudo-Elite Four, Elite Four, Champion.

  Zorua's feedback had matched the fourth tier—Elite Four-level potential!

  Romeloff