Interlude VII - Connections

Returning to her Celadon apartment, Laura Verres finds a warning note on her door. A masked, voice-modulated figure enters through her balcony and hands her an encrypted flash drive containing meticulous evidence of Silph Co.’s illegal activities—including bribery, relocating missing researchers, and murder.

Laura gives the drive to Dominick, an ex-cybercrimes cop, to back up. She reviews the files, verifying connections to the missing scientists Sam Oak previously mentioned, and emails Sam about one relocated to Lavender Town.

Kazue Silph unexpectedly arrives at her door for an off-the-record chat. He politely warns her that her "criminal" source is attacking his company and offers her a chance to cooperate. Laura refuses to reveal her sources. After Silph leaves, Laura senses a faint psychic intrusion in her mind. Paranoia spiking, she violently destroys the flash drive and scatters the pieces across the city.

The next morning, Celadon police raid her apartment with a search warrant, confiscating her computer, notes, and phone under suspicion of criminal collaboration. Shaken but determined, Laura buys replacement electronics and contacts Peter, her old broadcasting boss, securing an open retainer to pursue the story.

She watches a news broadcast where Dr. Madi from Pallet Labs (crediting Red’s research) explains a newly discovered "flight particle" that allows pokemon like gyarados to fly regardless of wingspan.

To avoid alerting Silph to the deeper conspiracy, Laura uses spoofed numbers to verify the lower-level bribery charges and publishes a safe, white-collar crime article. Her masked informant returns, furious that she published such a minor piece, warning that Silph will retaliate like a military strategist. The informant tells her to get a pokemon for self-defense, though she has already purchased a tangela. After the informant leaves, Laura burns a note warning the intruder that her apartment is compromised.