Chapter 327: Johto Crisis
Norman withdrew his Slaking with a expression caught somewhere between impressed and bewildered. "I genuinely don't know what to make of that Pichu. In thirty years of Pokémon training I have never seen an Electric-type handle Grass moves like that."
Pichu, apparently having decided that returning to its Poké Ball was not on the agenda, deactivated its electromagnetic levitation and launched itself from the arena floor directly onto Ryan's shoulder, where it settled with the air of something that had made a permanent decision. Ryan didn't argue with it, reaching up to scratch behind its ear. "It grew up around a Celebi family. Long-term exposure. Something about the energy environment enhanced its feel for Grass-type moves way beyond what you'd normally expect."
Norman clicked his tongue, turning it over in his mind. A slightly wistful look crossed his face — he was clearly doing the mental math on what a Grass-type Pokémon raised in the same environment would be capable of. Then he let it go. For most Trainers that would be a tantalizing hypothetical. For Ryan, with the roster he had and the training environment he'd built, the gap could be closed by other means.
Before the conversation could continue, Caroline — Norman's wife — appeared from the back of the Gym with the particular energy of someone who had already made a decision on everyone's behalf. She looked at Ryan and Lillie and smiled warmly. "You two haven't been here in ages. You're staying for dinner, and that's settled. I want to know if my cooking has actually improved or if Norman has just been too polite to say anything."
Ryan and Lillie accepted without a moment's hesitation.
That evening, Brendan and May came back to the Gym and told Norman and Caroline about the engagement. The reaction was immediate and enthusiastic — Norman shook Brendan's hand with the grip of a man who had genuinely been waiting for this, and Caroline pulled May into a hug that went on for a while.
They also called Professor Birch with the news.
Professor Birch's response, delivered at a volume that suggested he'd forgotten he was on a call and not simply shouting across a field, was one of pure unfiltered joy. "May! That wild girl finally— I mean— wonderful! This is wonderful news!"
May, overhearing this from across the room, went very still for exactly two seconds, then turned to Brendan with an expression that suggested Professor Birch would be having a very interesting conversation with her Blaziken in the near future.
The night passed comfortably. Ryan slept well.
Then his Pokégear went off.
Not the standard notification tone. Not the friend-call chime. The third channel — the one reserved for situations that couldn't wait, the one that sounded like someone had wired an Electrode directly to the alarm function.
Ryan went from asleep to sitting upright in approximately one second. Beside him, Lillie stirred, saw his expression, and sat up too.
He answered. Ethan's face appeared in the holographic display, and whatever Ryan had expected to hear, the expression on Ethan's face immediately made it clear this was serious.
"What happened?"
Ethan's smile was the specific kind that people put on when there was nothing funny happening and they needed something to do with their face. "Team Rocket turned on us. Giovanni's leading a full offensive. The Johto League is getting hammered — they're close to being wiped out entirely."
Ryan absorbed this. His expression didn't change much, but there was a quality to the silence that Lillie recognized.
"That's what happens," Ryan said evenly, "when you keep a criminal organization on a leash and expect them to stay there. The League built that problem themselves."
Ethan's expression stayed calm. "Right. Also — the Johto Guild branch was destroyed. Ethan and Kris were captured. We can't get to them from our end."
The even tone evaporated.
Ryan and Lillie both went rigid at the same moment. Ryan's jaw tightened. "How? They both have Raikou and Entei. How did Giovanni get past that?"
"We underestimated him." Ethan's voice dropped, losing the wry edge entirely. "Giovanni's current strength is genuinely dangerous — Steven and Lance both went down. And Team Rocket's genetic engineering program has gone further than anyone realized. They've developed something that operates at Domain level."
Ryan went still. "Domain level. What are we talking about — more cloned legendary birds?"
"Worse. They took the three legendary birds — Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres — and fused them. All three, into a single Pokémon. A three-headed chimera." Ethan shook his head. "I know how it sounds. But it works. My Deoxys couldn't take a single hit from it. Fifty-fifty against a fully powered Deoxys — that's Domain-level output, no question."
Ryan's hand moved to his chin. He was quiet for a moment, working through the shape of it. A fusion of the three Kanto legendary birds — not clones, not copies, but an actual combined form. The power ceiling on something like that, if the fusion was stable, would be genuinely difficult to manage even with his roster.
"How many people does Giovanni have?"
"A few thousand, mostly deployed around the three-bird fusion as a core. We can hold the line for four, maybe five days. After that we have to pull out of Johto entirely."
"Hold the line. I'll be there." Ryan cut the call.
The room was quiet for a moment. Lillie was already looking at him.
"Do you need me?" Her voice was calm and direct — no hesitation, no performance. She'd understood from the moment the third-channel alarm went off that this wasn't a normal situation, and she wasn't going to pretend otherwise.
Ryan looked at her for a moment, then shook his head. "No. Stay here." He was already moving, reaching for his clothes. "Don't tell Brendan and May yet — they're in the middle of something good and I'm not pulling them into this before I know what we're actually dealing with. And with my psychic abilities and the team I have, getting to me through all of that is close to impossible. So don't spiral."
Lillie was quiet for a beat. Then she crossed the room and wrapped her arms around him from behind, pressing her forehead against his back. "Come back fast. I'll keep Brendan and May occupied."
Ryan stilled for a moment, then gently unwound her arms, turned, and looked at her properly. Something passed between them that didn't need words.
Then he pushed open the door and walked out into the early morning, Pichu still asleep on the folded jacket he'd left on the chair.
(End of Chapter)
[Milestone: 500 Power Stones = +1 Chapter]
[Milestone: 10 Reviews = +1 Chapter]
Enjoyed this chapter? Leave a review.
20+advanced chapters on P1treon Soulforger