"?"
Damian replied to Giovanni with a question mark.
For the first time, he felt like his old man's impression of him was way too fixed. He was telling the truth, after all.
What kind of image did he even have in Giovanni's mind?
His old man actually didn't believe him, and even said he was messing around?
"I'm telling the truth. One of those two really is your granddaughter."
Damian sent another message.
"?
This time, it was Giovanni's turn to send back a question mark.
As the saying goes, a father knows his son best. Giovanni knew Damian very well. Although Damian sometimes joked around, he wouldn't keep saying something like this over and over if it wasn't true.
Which meant Damian was telling the truth.
But the problem was...
Giovanni watched the video again, even zooming in on the two girls' faces during the battle.
No matter how he looked at them, they seemed more like twin girls. Of course, that wasn't the point.
Genetics were a strange thing, after all. It was normal for a daughter to resemble her mother.
Giovanni looked closely and quickly identified the girl with black-blue hair and a bandana. From her features and eyes, she did look a bit like Damian.
But the problem was... the age didn't fit!
Giovanni recognized the other one. That was Dawn, and he'd seen her before.
If this bandana girl were Damian and Dawn's child, how could she be this old?
Damn it, even steroid abuse couldn't explain that!
"Can't figure it out, huh, Dad? Akari came here by traveling through time from the future. She really is your granddaughter."
Damian replied with a smile.
The next second, Giovanni called.
"Where are you?"
Giovanni's normally mature, magnetic voice was now thick with surprise.
"Kalos, Dad. You're really that impatient?"
Damian teased.
"She's my granddaughter. Of course I've gotta meet her."
Giovanni replied without the slightest hesitation.
A granddaughter!
Giovanni never thought he'd get to hold his grand... oh, he'd get to see his granddaughter this soon!
"It's probably too late now. Time-space travel has a time limit. Let's wait for next time. There'll be other chances."
Damian chuckled. Kanto and Kalos were still pretty far apart, and Giovanni coming over by plane now would be too rushed.
By the time he got there, Akari might already have gone back to Hisui.
It wasn't like there was no way, either. He could just have Mischief Hoopa scoop Giovanni up.
But Damian felt there was no real need. Dawn probably still wasn't fully prepared yet, and Akari definitely knew Giovanni.
But if Akari got close to Giovanni, then Dawn, this "daughter-in-law," would definitely get nervous and at a loss in front of him. No need for that.
"..."
Giovanni frowned, a rare feeling of irritation and helplessness rising in him.
He really did want to meet Akari, his granddaughter, and have a proper talk with her.
"Alright, then we'll wait."
Giovanni said that. No matter what, this was truly a huge surprise for him.
It was a heaven-sent piece of good news!
"Has Groudon arrived yet?" Damian asked casually while watching the battle between Garchomp and Sneasler on the field.
He had already replied to Giovanni yesterday, and after hearing the situation, Giovanni had also breathed a sigh of relief.
"Not yet. No idea how long it'll take it to walk back."
Giovanni rubbed his temple with a headache. He had now truly experienced the downside of Pokémon that couldn't fly.
If it could fly, Groudon should be able to make it back to Kanto much faster.
But now it could only walk back step by step, and he had no idea how far Groudon had gotten.
"It'll probably get here by tomorrow at the latest."
Damian couldn't help but laugh.
"Hopefully."
Giovanni let out a soft sigh. All he could do was hope Groudon didn't have a poor sense of direction and wouldn't go wandering off.
But it probably wouldn't. After all, he and Groudon got along well, and it was very familiar with his aura, so it should be able to sense him.
"Right, the stuff on the Kalos side should be settled by now too, right?"
Giovanni seemed to remember something and asked Damian.
"Pretty much no problem now. Why?"
Damian nodded. Since Team Flare had been wiped out, the Kalos region really had no more obstacles.
After all, even the Kalos League's official website was still posting an announcement praising Team Rocket for bravely helping deal with the evil organization Team Flare.
"My time to challenge the Elite Four is almost here."
"How can it be this soon?"
Damian was a little stunned. There were still more than two months until the League conference, and Giovanni was already going to start his Elite Four challenge?
"The Elite Four assessment for Gym Leaders is quite different from the normal process, and Goodshow also specifically gave me some perks. It's just a convenience."
Giovanni chuckled, the curve of his lips carrying a deeper meaning.
This was actually also Goodshow's way of showing goodwill. After all, Giovanni, who had obtained Groudon, was definitely incredibly strong.
Especially with the recognition of Champions like Leon and Cynthia.
If Giovanni used Groudon in this challenge, Goodshow thought Lance might not even be Giovanni's opponent.
In other words, Giovanni might become the new Kanto Elite Four Champion.
"So that's it, Dad. What do you mean?"
Damian raised a brow.
"You're not coming to see your old man reach the top of Kanto?"
Giovanni smiled faintly, looking at Damian with genuine interest.
He did not believe Damian would pass up a chance to watch the show.
"Hah, of course I'm coming to watch in person. I'll bring your daughter-in-law with me."
Damian grinned. How could he miss Giovanni taking the throne as Kanto Champion?
"Also, Dad, I recently made a trip to Hisui and caught some Ursaluna that are almost extinct in modern times. Do you want to take a look?"
Damian suddenly remembered.
"There's even one that's Champion-tier. You could train it for the main roster. Ursaluna is Ground/Normal type, and it's pretty strong."
Damian added that last bit.
"Ursaluna?"
Giovanni raised a brow. And what did his all-capable son just say? He went to Hisui?
Of course Giovanni knew Hisui was the ancient Sinnoh Region. Looks like Damian was starting to get in touch with the temporal side of things.
As expected of his son.
"Alright, send it over then."
Giovanni smiled and nodded. Since Damian said Ursaluna was very strong, Giovanni naturally trusted that.
If it really had training value, he could train it into a top-tier main roster member.
"Okay, I won't chat anymore then. I'm watching my wife and daughter fight over here."
After saying that, Damian hung up, leaving Giovanni somewhere else with a mix of laughter and tears.
What the hell did he mean, watching his wife and daughter fight? Giovanni really had to admire Damian's way with words.
And at this moment on the field, the battle had indeed reached a critical point.
Dawn's brows were tightly knit as she looked uncertainly at Garchomp, who was lying on the ground fast asleep.
"How did this happen?"
That's right, Garchomp had actually fallen asleep!
But the Sneasler on the other side had not used moves like Hypnosis. The two Pokémon had clearly been exchanging blows the entire time.
The only possibility was that Sneasler had hit Garchomp with its last move: Dire Claw!
"Looks like you caught on, Mom. Yep, it was Sneasler's Dire Claw."
Akari's unforgettable crescent-moon eyes appeared again.
Sneasler stood in front of the sleeping Garchomp, its expression wicked, raising the long, sharp black-and-red claws on its right hand and licking them with its tongue.
"Sneasler's Dire Claw has a chance to poison, paralyze, or put the opponent to sleep when it hits. Looks like Garchomp was unlucky."
Hearing Akari's explanation, not only Dawn, but also Caitlin and Serena, who were watching the battle, frowned.
This move... was a little too strong!
Sneasler itself was already very strong. It had been trading close combat blows with Garchomp the whole time, and relying on its nimble, swift movements and strength no weaker than Garchomp's, the two had been evenly matched.
And with Dire Claw having such powerful "infectious" potential, its power was no joke either!
Now Garchomp was asleep, and until it woke up, it could only lie there motionless, unless it used the move Sleep Talk.
But Sleep Talk was way too random, and Garchomp knew a lot of moves. What if it randomly picked something like Sandstorm or another non-offensive move?
"This kind of status effect is a pain no matter which one it is. This Pokémon's a bit tricky."
Serena thought about how she'd deal with this Sneasler if she were the one facing it.
"Usually, when Dire Claw lands, it's most likely poison. Dawn's just a little unlucky."
Damian walked over and shook his head. He had just been on the phone, so he had naturally moved a bit away from Caitlin and the other girl.
"Akari's Sneasler should definitely have the Poison Touch ability."
"Poison Touch ability?"
Serena's expression changed slightly.
Poison Touch ability: as long as a contact move is used, there's a chance to poison the opponent.
And from what Damian had just said, Sneasler's Dire Claw and Poison Touch ability probably didn't share the same trigger rate.
That was a little terrifying.
As long as Dire Claw hit the opponent, Poison Touch could trigger poison. Even if Poison Touch didn't activate, there was still Dire Claw's random chance to poison, paralyze, or put the target to sleep waiting on top of that!
This Sneasler was basically a walking "source of infection"!
"So I said Dawn's a bit unlucky. She didn't get poisoned; she got sleep instead."
Damian shrugged.
With Poison Touch / Dire Claw's one-in-three poison chance, poisoning was naturally more likely.
And honestly, sleep was way more troublesome than poison or paralysis.
Poison at least let you do everything you could to try and beat the opponent before you "died from the poison," or trade blows to the bitter end and fight for a chance for the rest of your main roster.
Paralysis made a Pokémon much slower and caused occasional body lock-ups, but it was still a lot better than the pure helplessness of sleep.
To be honest, in some ways, Dawn was at a big disadvantage in this battle, because she really didn't know much about the Hisui Pokémon Akari used.
Even though Akari would tell Dawn her Pokémon's attributes, just one attribute definitely wasn't enough.
So this battle looked fair, but in terms of Pokémon info, Dawn was still at a disadvantage.
"Dawn probably isn't beating Akari today." Damian had confirmed that much.
Akari's strength really was eye-catching. People unfamiliar with her would probably never believe Akari had only been out journeying for four months.
And the following battle really did go as Damian expected. Dawn was strong, but Akari was no weaker at all.
Plus, with the power of Hisui Pokémon, Akari still beat Dawn in the end.
Looking at Entei, who had fallen beneath Hisui Samurott's Razor Shell on the other side, Dawn looked a little dazed.
She had originally wanted to use this chance to guide Akari a bit, since the other girl was her daughter from the future.
But now it looked like...
As the loser, as the damn mother herself, she was the one who should be guided...
Akari... had she already surpassed her? Her strength really was something she could achieve just by journeying for four months.
That shouldn't be scientifically possible!
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