Giovanni was starting to feel like cursing.
The situation in front of him was genuinely hard to handle.
If Grey had sent his Annihilape back over from Kanto, Giovanni would not have been afraid.
But what Grey had brought over was Reshiram.
The legendary Dragon Pokémon of Unova.
A massive dragon with the Fire type.
He had no idea which was stronger, Reshiram or his Beedrill.
From a type standpoint alone, though, Giovanni was at a disadvantage.
Bug and Poison against Dragon and Fire.
Just thinking about it, Giovanni knew he had been perfectly countered.
Grey's Reshiram could overpower Champion-level Pokémon, and with a Trainer backing it, it could even suppress Zekrom.
Giovanni narrowed his eyes slightly, calculating the odds if Beedrill fought Reshiram head-on.
"Beedrill, Outrage!"
He had no choice but to go for it now.
They had come this far, there was no way he could just tuck tail and leave.
Of course, he really did want to run.
But with things like this, escaping would not be easy.
"Bzzzzz!"
A fierce aura surged up around Beedrill. Its silver-white twin stingers and tail needle all pointed at Reshiram at once as savage Dragon-type energy burst out from its body.
It was Outrage, a Dragon-type move.
For a Bug-type Pokémon to learn a move like that despite its species' limitations, Giovanni had clearly put in an incredible amount of work.
"That presence... it's actually worth one and a half Kyurem."
Reshiram was secretly shocked. Beedrill looked like nothing more than a perfectly ordinary roadside Beedrill, yet in its normal state it possessed power equal to one and a half Kyurem.
Rounded off, that meant it was basically half a Reshiram.
For an ordinary Beedrill to reach that level, the middle-aged man in front of it had to possess extraordinary resolve.
Unfortunately, that resolve had been put to the wrong use.
"Human, your actions obstruct the truth the hero seeks to carry out. Now, I shall crush you with world-scorching blue fire!"
As it spoke, Reshiram lifted its head. Endless blue light gathered before its mouth, then condensed into a blazing beam that roared straight at Beedrill.
Boom!
Everywhere the blue flames passed, everything melted.
Whether it was expensive research equipment or the desks and chairs scattered all around, everything inside that sea of blue fire was reduced to ash.
But then...
Bzzzz...
A low buzz of insect wings rang out. Using its agility to the fullest, Beedrill barely slipped past the blue flames. Then it poured Dragon-type energy into the tips of its stingers and shot toward Reshiram's neck with a savage thrust.
Boom!
Outrage tore open the Blue Flare with great difficulty. The moment that gap appeared, Beedrill felt it had a chance to wound Reshiram.
Whoosh!
With a bit more force, the opening in the flames widened under Beedrill's assault, and the shockwave generated by Outrage even tried to suppress Reshiram.
"A mere insect dares strike at me with Outrage?!"
Reshiram let out a cold snort. Its tail turbine blazed with crimson firelight, and intertwining spirals of flame howled out once more, instantly filling the gap shut.
Beedrill hastily pulled back. The crisscrossing fire reflected in its blood-red compound eyes.
Dragon-type energy immediately gathered in front of it as a shield, colliding with the incoming flames and setting off a violent explosion.
"Hm? Not bad. For such a small insect to possess this kind of strength, if you had walked the proper path, you absolutely could have stood alongside the weaker major legendaries. What a pity, truly."
There was genuine regret in Reshiram's voice.
Even among the major legendaries, power varied.
There were strong ones like itself, and weaker ones like Kyurem and Regigigas, at least that was how Reshiram saw it.
Of course, while Regigigas was treated like a lesser legendary under game battle rules, according to the setting it had originally been capable of matching ordinary major legendaries.
It was just that Arceus had left it in such a state that now it had become little more than a gatekeeper to that tier.
Beedrill's current strength was about at that gatekeeper level, what could be called battle-legend tier.
Only by reaching battle-legend tier could one truly face a major legendary head-on.
But if it ran into a type disadvantage, or a major legendary of overwhelming level, something like Beedrill would turn soft in an instant.
It might have broken through Reshiram's blue flames just now, but that had only been a casual breath of fire from Reshiram. Its tail turbine had not even been activated.
And what about Beedrill?
It was already practically fighting with everything it had.
"Tch."
Giovanni frowned to himself and wanted to leave.
But with Reshiram here, he could not come and go as he pleased.
And with Mewtwo still in Unova, escaping without a scratch was almost impossible.
"Fine. Then we join forces."
Giovanni muttered something under his breath.
"Dragon Roar!"
A dragon's cry came from outside the window, and a streak like a falling star flashed across the sky.
Above Saffron City, countless meteors suddenly appeared, then came crashing down in full view.
Reshiram: ?
"Are those reinforcements you called in?"
Sensing such overwhelming Dragon-type energy, Reshiram turned to look at the other Pokémon.
"Anni." (No idea, but the only Dragon-type Pokémon we called was you.)
"Gallade...!" (That Dragon-type aura is totally unfamiliar... and definitely hostile!)
Gallade frowned slightly. If Lance had shown up, it would have recognized him immediately.
But the situation outside clearly did not feel like an ally had arrived, and the source looked nothing like Lance.
"This is bad. That Draco Meteor is aimed at the civilians. The Team Rocket boss wants to drag Saffron City's residents down with him!"
If it were only humans, Terrakion might not have cared.
But there were plenty of Pokémon living here too, and that made it feel it could not just stand by.
Bzzzz...
Reshiram had just been about to unleash blue fire and make sure Beedrill stayed behind.
But then a seven-colored radiance burst from Giovanni's side, and a sound like a cocoon cracking apart rang through the entire battlefield.
Beedrill's appearance changed drastically. Its body became much slimmer, and its forelimbs turned into even sharper stingers.
The tail needle on its lower abdomen grew even deadlier.
Mega Beedrill.
At that moment, Beedrill's power was boosted to the limit. The effect of Outrage still lingered, and it took the shape of an energy cloak draped over its body.
It looked more ferocious than ever.
Now even Reshiram felt a real sense of trouble.
At first, Beedrill had possessed about half its power. After Mega Evolution, Beedrill's strength could now stand shoulder to shoulder with its own.
"I didn't expect you to be capable of using Mega Evolution too. Honestly, that surprises me."
Reshiram knew exactly what Mega Evolution was.
A special evolution that only Trainer and Pokémon could use when their hearts were in sync.
And after Giovanni and Beedrill Mega Evolved, there was no sign of the usual backlash.
That meant the bond between them ran very deep.
"Hey, Team Rocket boss, are you leaving or not? This chance only comes once. I've already fired off Draco Meteor, so we'd better run. Otherwise the Kanto League is going to put us both on the wanted list."
A cool female voice drifted over at an unhurried pace.
Giovanni's eyes sharpened, and he ordered Mega Beedrill to unleash its strongest Outrage.
"Bzz!"
Its low buzz rose to a shrill peak. Before the other Pokémon could even react, the Outrage released by Mega Beedrill blasted most of Silph Co. into dust.
The Pokémon that had not been rescued yet instantly lost their footing and fell toward the floors below.
Seeing this, Gallade let Victini enhance its power, then used Teleport again and again, saving many of the falling Pokémon.
The other Pokémon did the same. Anyone strong enough rushed to help.
As for Reshiram...
"To harm innocent lives just to cover your escape..."
Reshiram's snow-white wings spread wide, and dazzling crimson light burst from the turbine of its tail.
It rose against the falling meteors, climbing straight into the heavens, every feather on its body burning with pure fire.
"Burn away!"
With a cry that seemed to split clouds and stone alike, the blue flames around Reshiram suddenly spread into a vast net of fire that blotted out the sky.
The flowing flames accurately intercepted every falling meteor, wrapping each one in a cocoon of azure fire.
Draco Meteor exploded within that fiery web into a brilliant rain of sparks, yet not a single one broke through the solemn barrier of flame.
With just one attack, a Champion-level Draco Meteor was completely erased.
In the distance, Giovanni and the unknown girl both fell silent as they watched the blue flames shatter Draco Meteor.
"So this is the power of a legendary Pokémon? Giovanni... are you sure you can really help me do what I want?"
The girl spoke slowly, clearly unwilling to trust him.
If Giovanni really had the power to defeat legendaries, he would not need the help of a mere Champion-level Trainer like her.
If nothing else, he should at least possess the ability to stand against legendary Pokémon for an extended time.
But instead he threw out one move and ran. What was that, some kind of cheap fireworks routine?
"You don't understand. Even if I don't have the strength to fight legendary Pokémon head-on, I still have the technology to capture them. And the two organizations you want me to wipe out are nothing more than light work to me."
Giovanni believed that even if he fell short, it was only in comparison to powerful major legendaries.
But compared to villainous organizations, whether in scale or overall strength, Team Rocket was absolutely among the best.
That was the source of Giovanni's confidence.
His ace was a Pokémon at battle-legend tier, standing at the very peak of the Trainer world.
Even if Team Magma and Team Aqua from Hoenn came at him together, they still would not be his match.
"Heh. Let's hope you can actually do what you said."
The girl only gave a cold snort.
Then she rode off into the distance on Salamence.
Giovanni alone headed back toward Viridian City.
Fortunately, no one was hurt.
Reshiram did not want to reveal itself too much, so it returned to its Cherish Ball as if nothing had happened.
This disaster had come too fast and vanished just as quickly.
Only some of Saffron City's residents even knew it had happened.
As for what the real situation had been, that was much harder to say.
...
...
Unova Region, the Tepig Nursery.
"Tepig!" (Take this, my ultimate Tackle!)
After defeating Tepig No. 3, Grey's Tepig charged around wildly, practically beating one Tepig after another with a single move.
But Tepig No. 2 still refused to change her mind.
"Tepig." (A rough, crude Tepig like you is exactly the kind I hate most!)
Those were Tepig No. 2's exact words.
Tepig: "..."
"Well, there are plenty of fish in the sea. Why obsess over just one pig?"
Putting on the air of a man speaking from experience, Grey patted Tepig on the head and said earnestly, "As long as you stick with me, forget Champion level, you'll definitely reach at least Elite Four level. By then you'll be an Emboar. Getting any Pokémon from the same Egg Group you want will be no problem."
"Tep... Tepig..." (But I only want to play with Mia...) [Not simping, keep reading]
Tepig suddenly felt like giving up again.
It had wanted to become stronger for that little sister of his, Tepig No. 2.
But now Tepig No. 2 looked down on him.
So what was the point of becoming stronger in the first place?
Might as well just sleep all day.
Grey: ?
Well, that was something. This Tepig actually wanted to quit on life?
But a case of heartbreak like this was something Grey had genuinely never seen before.
"Tepig." (Tell me, what is a pig even supposed to live for?)
As Tepig spoke, it suddenly choked up. Huge tears rolled down its face, dripping one after another.
It had thought that once it got stronger, beat Tepig No. 3, and even defeated every Tepig in the whole nursery, it would finally win Tepig No. 2's affection.
But...
Tepig No. 2 had called him a crude pig. She said she hated rough pigs more than anything.
That left Tepig completely lost.
All the motivation driving it forward disappeared in an instant.
"Well, there's an old saying, you've got to keep moving forward. How about this, I'll tell you the story of a mighty Emboar marshal, Lord Embermane."
"Tepig?" (Lord Embermane? What kind of Pokémon is that?)
Tepig knew what an Emboar was.
But what in the world was Lord Embermane? That part it had no clue about.
"Exactly. Since you don't know, listen up."
Grey held out a hand and waved it slightly in front of Tepig's eyes, pulling its attention back to him.
"Once upon a time, there was an Emboar named Lord Embermane. He was incredibly powerful, famous even in the Celestial Court."
"One year, during a grand midsummer feast, Lord Embermane drank three whole casks of berry wine and got utterly drunk. In his haze, he wandered into the Moonlit Hall. There he saw a Gardevoir dancing gracefully in a courtyard woven from moonlight. Spellbound, Emboar reached out with a burning hand to touch that pale radiance, but the fire on his body scorched a nearby tree and left it withered."
"When Arceus learned what had happened, it flew into a rage. A terrifying divine light came down, and Emboar's mighty body rapidly shrank away. He was banished to Unova and turned into a perfectly ordinary Tepig."
"The Tepig that fell into Unova landed in a muddy pit and was rescued by a passing Buneary. After being saved, Tepig looked into the reflection on the water and dimly remembered the heroic figure he once cut, commanding a hundred thousand Pignite."
"From that day on, Tepig set out on a journey to reignite his flames. He made achievement after achievement in Gym battles and League matches, and in the final championship battle he exploded with all his power. Flames shot into the heavens from his entire body, revealing his full strength. In the end, Emboar and Buneary got together and stayed happy forever."
"After hearing that story, did you realize anything?"
//Check out my P@tre0n for 30 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810