"Huh? Uncle, I feel like you're looking pretty troubled. Did something happen? Want to tell me about it? Maybe I can even help you solve something."
Zinnia was in a great mood. She felt that if possible, maybe she could help Giovanni deal with a few things while she was at it.
Even if she could not, hearing about it and having a laugh would not be bad either.
"You? Forget it. What I want to do isn't something ordinary people can solve."
Giovanni spoke honestly.
"Hm? Hurry up and tell me. We're strategic partners now. Maybe I really can help you with something."
Zinnia became interested.
She was a Champion-level Trainer, and a powerful Dragon-type Pokémon Trainer at that. Could she really not help Giovanni with something?
"Fine. There's something I want to do, but there's a chance I'll run into that Reshiram from before. I need someone who can help me stall for half a day. What do you think..."
"What?! You want to mess with Reshiram? Are you crazy or what?"
Before Giovanni could finish speaking, Zinnia's shocked voice came through.
Picking a fight with a proper top-tier Legendary?
His brain must have broken!
"Heh."
Giovanni sneered.
Only then did Zinnia realize she had lost her composure.
After all, she had been the one who told Giovanni she could help him, only to immediately try to back out. That was indeed a little dishonorable.
But!
That was not a reason for Giovanni to drag her off to die!
Picking a fight with Reshiram for no reason?
What exactly are you trying to do, Giovanni?!
"Heh, Zinnia, you should think about your own matters instead. If I remember correctly, you want to take action against your local top-tier Legendary, Rayquaza, don't you? It's true that you have Champion-level strength, but against a top-tier Legendary at the level of a third-deity-class being..."
Giovanni stopped there.
"You don't need to worry about that. Anyway, when the time comes, you just need to help me deal with Team Magma and Team Aqua."
Zinnia folded her arms across her chest, clearly not taking Giovanni's words to heart.
"Fine. When the time comes, I'll only be responsible for helping you deal with the leaders of those two teams. Once that's done, I'll retreat."
Giovanni knew there were many Champion-level Trainers in the Hoenn region.
So he would not stay there for too long.
Otherwise, he might get surrounded and attacked by everyone at once.
"I know. See you then."
"Good. See you then."
The two ended the video call.
Giovanni removed his disguise again.
Then he began thinking about what he should do next when he went to the Hoenn region.
"Hmm... It's time to call Mewtwo back for a while..."
Giovanni felt it was time to summon Mewtwo.
He wondered how strong Mewtwo had become with Colress's help.
...
...
In the blink of an eye, a week passed.
"Fetch." (You're leaving already? You're not staying a few more days?)
Sirfetch'd was somewhat reluctant to part with Grey.
"Sigh, there's nothing I can do. The Indigo League Conference has already reached the semifinals, so I have to go watch it in person. Once the Indigo League Conference ends, I still need to battle the winner. After that fight, I'll have to take a plane to the Hoenn region."
Grey counted on his fingers.
Then he realized that his schedule was a little packed.
"Fetch." (I see... Then take care. I'll wait for you to come back.)
Sirfetch'd had recently still been working as a wall-building master. Unfortunately, it did not have the chance to go to the Hoenn region with Grey.
The main reason was that it did not want to leave home.
Otherwise, it really would have gone out with Grey.
"Sigh, I'll have a proper chat with all of you later."
Grey waved his hand, wrapped an arm around Sabrina's shoulder, and once again rode away on Reshiram's back.
...
...
Kanto region, Indigo Plateau.
The semifinals arrived as scheduled.
The first match was Green versus Gary, while the second match was Ash versus the Masked Royal.
As expected, the second match would depend on how the first match played out.
"Red, Blue, you two are both here."
Grey was a little surprised.
It was normal for Red to be here, but he had not expected Blue to come as well.
"Yeah. It's the semifinals, after all. I should come take a look."
Blue sat in the VIP seats, overlooking the battle below.
To be honest, he had not wanted to come.
If the old man at home had not told him to come, he would not have bothered.
It was just a little-kid tournament, not an Elite Four challenge.
With his little brother's level, reaching the semifinals was already pretty good.
"Grey, who do you think will win this battle?"
Blue did not know much about Green's strength, and he actually was not too optimistic about his own younger brother either.
"It's hard to say. I feel like the two of them are evenly matched. In a six-on-six match, it depends on who catches the other person's opening first."
Grey could not say for sure either.
"Yeah, I think so too. I just hope that brat can perform beyond his usual level."
Blue did not have many extravagant hopes.
As long as Gary could pull off something that surprised him, that was enough.
The battle began.
Green's first Pokémon was Wigglytuff.
Normal and Fairy, only weak to Poison and Steel.
And the Pokémon Gary sent out was Nidoking, which had Poison and Ground typing.
In the first battle, Gary had the advantage.
Green made a decisive call and chose to switch Pokémon.
"Wiggly, come back for now! Blastoise, Surf!"
Green sent out her starter Pokémon, Blastoise, the one she had picked up.
After taking Nidoking's Earthquake head-on, Blastoise successfully released Surf.
Towering waves surged forward. After they swallowed Nidoking, Green discovered that they had not caused the slightest damage.
Then an energy barrier appeared.
Protect!
Seeing this, Green immediately had Blastoise use Aqua Tail at close range, bringing its tail down in a heavy slash.
Facing this attack, Nidoking's fists crackled with electric arcs as it charged forward to meet Blastoise head-on.
Boom!
Both sides' moves struck each other, but Nidoking took the heavier damage.
It panted heavily. Poison seeped from the horn on its head, then it suddenly lunged forward.
The Poison-type move, Poison Jab!
"Oh, after taking damage from Aqua Tail, it didn't pause. Instead, it endured the pain and used Poison Jab. Gary raised this Nidoking pretty well."
Grey gave his assessment.
"Green's Blastoise is also among the better members of its species. You can tell she usually takes good care of it."
Blue followed up with his own assessment.
Both of them only commented on the person related to the other side.
As for their own family?
Forget it.
No need to mention them.
Red was speechless.
In the end, during that back-and-forth battle, Blastoise successfully took down Nidoking.
But it also spent quite a bit of stamina in the process.
Gary's second Pokémon was Exeggutor.
It opened with Razor Leaf, but Blastoise's Ice Beam froze it in an instant.
Despite having the type advantage, Gary had once again fallen somewhat into a disadvantageous position.
"Don't panic. Exeggutor, Psychic!"
After roughly judging Blastoise's strength, Gary prepared to use a Psychic-type move that was useful in mid-to-low-level matches.
Blue light shone in Exeggutor's eyes.
Dense psychic power surged forward like a raging sea, restraining Blastoise before tossing it around everywhere.
It was nothing if not violent.
Green frowned. With her current Blastoise, she still did not have a good method to break Psychic while also closing in on Exeggutor.
So she simply withdrew Blastoise and sent Wigglytuff out again.
"Wiggly, use Fire Blast!"
Wigglytuff blinked. Then a huge fireball shaped like the character for "big" blasted out, scorching the ground black along its path and even twisting the air around it.
The power was pretty good.
Seeing this, Exeggutor also used Psychic to counterattack.
After controlling Fire Blast, it had just been about to throw it back when it suddenly felt a wave of coldness invading.
A piercing icy wind howled.
It was actually the Ice-type move Blizzard!
Gary was confused.
It had to be said that Pokémon with the Normal type had a wide attack range.
They could practically dabble in moves of almost every type.
The battle went back and forth. Although it was a rookie tournament, it had already reached the semifinals, so both sides' strength was already enough to fight against the main Pokémon of normal Gym Leader-level Trainers.
In the end, Green used a combination of Ingrain, Leech Seed, Substitute, and Toxic to finally wear down Gary's ace Blastoise.
By the end, Grey, Blue, and Red only wanted to say one thing.
Green, what turned you into this?
"Gary, I'm really happy I got to battle you. This was actually our first time using this tactic. Otherwise, I really wouldn't have been able to beat your Blastoise. Hehe."
Green brushed her hair back and gave Gary a wink.
Gary's expression twisted with anger.
That damned woman!
Once I bide my time and improve a little more, I'll definitely get my revenge!
"Gym Leader Grey, I'd like to discuss something with you."
After the first match ended, Blue, who had been silent for a long time, finally looked at Grey and slowly spoke.
"What?"
Grey turned his head. It was his first time seeing Blue look this serious.
"After some time passes, which means after you finish going to the Hoenn region and then return from the Unova region, how about letting Gary train with you for a while?"
Blue wanted to hand Gary over to Grey for training.
At first, he had wanted to send Gary to his own master, Chuck of the Cianwood Gym, for training.
"Huh? Let Gary train with me? I don't think the tactics and training methods I know suit Gary, do they? I feel like if I train him, I'll lead him astray."
Grey pondered how compatible his tactics were with Gary.
Even among the Pokémon he had caught, there did not seem to be many that overlapped with Gary's.
In contrast, he did have a few that overlapped with Ash's.
"I also want Ash to spend some time biding his time with you."
Red had the same thought.
"Hmm..."
Grey pondered slightly.
If they wanted him to train them, it was not really a problem.
By then, he would have time.
But the thing was, he was afraid something else might suddenly come up and stop him from giving Ash and Gary much guidance.
Besides, Red and Blue were both battle-legend tier Trainers. If anyone was going to guide them, wouldn't it be better for those two to do it themselves?
As if seeing through Grey's thoughts, Blue said, "Our paths don't suit them. Besides, those paths can't be replicated. They absolutely aren't something a second person can copy step by step."
"Your path, on the other hand, contains everything. I can see the shadows of many people inside it. If Ash and Gary can follow you and learn for a while, I think their rate of improvement will be much faster."
"Contains everything? Me?"
Grey pointed at himself.
It seemed like his training method was basically just going with the flow.
It had been fine before. Usually, early in the morning, he could still give pointers.
But now, he was either traveling or on the way to travel, relying entirely on his system to carry him.
"That's right. Your path contains everything. Even I gain insights when I watch your battles."
Blue seemed to be speaking from the heart.
Grey continued pondering.
"Hmm... Fine, then. When the time comes, leave them with me, and I'll look after them for a month for you."
If Grey remembered correctly, Ash and Gary should next be preparing to rest for a while before heading to the Johto region to challenge the Silver Conference.
They had plenty of free time during that break. Aside from Ash going to the Orange Islands to handle things, Gary would be even freer.
Anyway, Red and Blue had given him quite a lot of money.
Grey had been worrying about how to repay Red and Blue, so during that period, he might as well help guide them.
"I'll trouble you then."
Red thanked him.
He decided that the next time Grey started a livestream, he would send him a full annual Governor-tier membership.
"It's nothing."
Grey shook his head and did not mind.
...
...
Kanto region, Orange Islands.
"Giovanni, why are you looking for me at this time?"
Inside Team Rocket's new base in the Orange Islands, Mewtwo had already brought Colress to meet with Dr. Namba.
They had been preparing to discuss what came next when Giovanni suddenly called to ask about the situation.
"Mewtwo, come with me to the Hoenn region after some time. There's something we need to do."
Giovanni's voice came from the other end of the phone.
Mewtwo fell silent, then asked back, "What are you trying to do now? Aren't you afraid the local League will discover you?"
These days, Mewtwo had been aware of Giovanni's actions.
It was afraid that Giovanni would suddenly do something and accidentally get caught red-handed by the League.
"That's why I'm calling you to come with me this time. What, don't you wholeheartedly want to turn the tables? This time, there's a chance it will let you understand what it means to turn the tables. Even after I say that, are you still not coming with me?"
"Heh. I'll go."
"Good. I knew you would come with me. I'll call you again after some time."
After Giovanni finished speaking, he hung up.
"Lord Mewtwo, these are the recent ocean-current monitoring data from the Orange Islands."
Dr. Namba quickly walked over and presented the materials.
"According to the current trend, our plan to capture a top-tier Legendary will soon be ready to put into action."
Mewtwo took the report and flipped through it carefully. The chart clearly showed that the ocean-current paths were forming a special spiral structure.
But Mewtwo could not understand what was written on it.
It only knew that it seemed profound.
That was all.
At this moment, Colress strolled over and lightly tapped the current chart on the report with his fingertip.
"Look at the curvature changes in this path. It is completely different from naturally formed ocean currents. Its fluid dynamics clearly show signs of interference from biological energy."
"The only beings capable of possessing such immense power, aside from the Hoenn region's top-tier Legendary Kyogre, would be the Johto region's top-tier Legendary, Lugia."
"Furthermore, Lugia is a Pokémon that frequently appears before humans. Aside from it, I don't think any other Pokémon could accomplish this."
"So, what ideas do you have about capturing Lugia?"
Mewtwo looked at the two scientists.
"Hmm. If possible, I think it would be best to directly capture it with a Poké Ball. But ordinary Poké Balls on the market don't seem capable of that at all."
"What about this?"
As it spoke, Mewtwo took out a Poké Ball.
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