If I see this book reached the milestone like 500, 1000... I will give you extra chapter guys.
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On the other side, in the Kanto region.
The Indigo League headquarters and the Indigo Stadium, originally located atop the Indigo Plateau, were destroyed during the previous three-way battle between the League, Team Shadow, and Team Rocket.
Currently, the Indigo League is accelerating its reconstruction efforts.
In the meantime, Goodshow has temporarily moved his office to a luxury hotel in Viridian City, the closest city to the Indigo Plateau.
"Chairman, yesterday, the president of Silph Co., stated in an interview that the current situation in the Kanto region is making him uneasy. He mentioned that if effective measures are not taken, he might consider relocating the company headquarters to another region."
Erika, the leader of the Kanto Gym Leaders, reported this to Goodshow.
A few days ago, Professor Oak also mentioned to Stephen that Team Rocket's primary base of operations is in Kanto. Adding to that, the entire world has now witnessed the immense power that Team Rocket possesses, which has left the general public—especially residents of the Kanto region—feeling deeply unsettled.
Many families have even chosen to relocate entirely. Of course, only a minority of families have the financial means to do so, but the atmosphere of unease now pervades the skies over Kanto.
Moreover, numerous businesses, led by Silph Co., have expressed dissatisfaction.
It's not just corporate giants like Silph; many real estate developers have also lamented that property prices in the Kanto region are plummeting because of the situation!
Goodshow must come up with a way to stabilize public sentiment.
Knock, knock—!
At this moment, there was a knock on the door.
A middle-aged man's voice came from outside:
"Chairman~ May I come in?"
Hearing this lazy tone, Goodshow immediately guessed who it was.
"Come in, Nanu."
The door opened, and in walked Nanu, the Island Kahuna of Ula'ula Island in Alola, who had recently declined the offer to become an Alola League Gym Leader.
However, even among Alolans, very few knew that Nanu also held the title of Ace International Police Officer.
"Chairman, I'll take my leave now."
Erika bowed slightly to Goodshow before quickly leaving.
Once the room was down to just the two of them, Nanu clicked his tongue and reported:
"Chairman, regarding Joker…"
Goodshow shook his head.
"No need to report on Joker. The whole world already knows his identity."
Goodshow let out a long sigh, reminiscent of Sarutobi Hiruzen.
If he had known earlier that Joker joined Team Rocket for that reason, he wouldn't have allowed those senators to heap baseless accusations on Joker during the attack on the Olivine Gym.
Instead, he should have investigated Altair first.
Seeing Goodshow's current state of regret, Nanu hesitated to speak.
Truth be told, he always found the brotherly relationship between Dr. Stephen and Joker a bit odd.
But when it came to pinpointing why it felt odd, Nanu couldn't articulate it—it was just his intuition as a top-tier detective.
"Oh, right. Since you're here, let me ask you: if the League wants to regain the trust of the public, especially the trust of Kanto's residents, what would be the best approach?"
At this point, Goodshow was more concerned about restoring public confidence in the League than anything related to Joker.
He even suspected that if moving costs weren't so high, half of Kanto's population might have relocated by now.
Even Oak had betrayed their friendship and sent his grandchildren to Alola!
Nanu stroked his chin and said, "Well, the simplest way would be to have Kanto's new Champion show off their skills and demonstrate to the world that they have the strength to protect Kanto…"
Why weren't people in Alola or Galar worried?
It was because Dr. Stephen and the Sword and Shield Pokemons were stationed there.
If Lance could demonstrate his strength, the citizens of Kanto would naturally feel reassured.
However, Nanu was curious—would those two legendary dogs care about human conflicts?
"But the problem is… sigh, if only Rayquaza were here…"
Goodshow sighed in frustration.
Although he had reluctantly decided to push Lance into the position of the new Champion, it still felt like a stretch.
After all, the entire world knew that Lance's strength had significantly declined after losing his ace Dragonite.
If only the Rayquaza captured by Devon Corporation earlier were still around!
If Lance could command that Rayquaza, there'd be no need to fear Team Rocket!
But alas, Rayquaza had escaped.
"Chairman, what are you talking about? Rayquaza?"
Nanu frowned and asked.
"Oh, nothing. You've worked hard these past two years. Go back to Alola and take a good rest."
Goodshow waved him off.
Nanu left the hotel, but he couldn't shake his concerns about the Joker situation.
He felt that something was seriously amiss.
After sitting on a public bench for a long time, Nanu decided to investigate the matter himself.
First, he planned to meet with the participants of the Indigo Battle to see if he could uncover any unknown details from them.
...
Meanwhile, after Nanu left, Goodshow's assistant entered and reported:
"Chairman, Professor Kukui from Alola requests a meeting with you."
...
...
In the underground laboratory of the Aether Paradise in Alola, Stephen sat in the center of the research room. Beside him, two Latias were playfully wrestling with each other.
On the projection screen opposite him, Giovanni, who was far away in Kanto, observed the scene with interest.
["Has the purification been successful, Stephen?"] Giovanni asked with a pleasant surprise.
The Latias, which had previously been vicious and violent during the battle on the Indigo Plateau, now seemed incredibly lively and cheerful. Most notably, there was no longer any ominous dark aura emanating from its body.
"Yes, but it took a lot of effort. I developed a purification device, though it takes an enormous amount of time to purify even one Shadow Pokémon," Stephen explained, pointing to the massive equipment behind him.
At the center of the machine, a Shadow Latios writhed in pain as it underwent purification.
This was the Purification Chamber developed by Stephen, a device capable of restoring Shadow Pokémon to their normal state. However, the process was painfully slow.
Latias was the first Shadow Pokémon to be successfully purified.
Giovanni nodded in approval. Team Rocket had also confiscated some Shadow Pokémon from Caishen. However, research conducted by Blaine, Fuji, and others revealed that the Shadowification process, which temporarily enhanced Pokémon at the cost of their life force, was a failure with far more drawbacks than benefits.
Giovanni had no intention of using such a process. While he was ruthless toward outsiders, he couldn't bring himself to sacrifice his own Pokémon's lives for temporary power. After all, he genuinely cared about his Pokémon partners.
Stephen suddenly remembered something and asked, "By the way, Uncle, how's the Mewtwo Project coming along?"
["Everything is on track,"] Giovanni replied. ["If things proceed smoothly, it should be completed in two years."]
"Should we try integrating the dark power into it?" Stephen suggested.
Giovanni's pupils shrank sharply at the suggestion, and he fell into a contemplative silence.
Seeing his reaction, Stephen could tell Giovanni was tempted.
["But… doesn't the dark power erode the life force of Pokémon?"] Giovanni asked. He intended for Mewtwo to become his ultimate trump card and was hesitant to use a method that might weaken it.
"There is one exception among Shadow Pokémon," Stephen pointed out, and Giovanni immediately understood.
["You mean Dark Lugia?!"] Giovanni exclaimed.
Stephen nodded. "From what I learned from Dark Lugia, it was infused with dark power from a very young age and has now fully integrated with it. Mewtwo is currently little more than an embryo—essentially just a cluster of cells. If we infuse the dark power at this stage…"
Giovanni's eyes lit up with excitement as he listened. ["As expected of you, Stephen. If that's the case, Mewtwo's power could reach even greater heights!"]
At that moment, the phone on Giovanni's desk suddenly rang.
Matori quickly stepped forward to answer it.
"Hello?" she said, but her face turned pale within seconds.
"Giovanni-sama, it's Pryce," Matori whispered nervously.
Both Giovanni's and Stephen's expressions changed.
Giovanni immediately pressed the speakerphone button.
Only a select few knew the number to Giovanni's office phone, and whenever it rang, it was never a trivial matter. However, Giovanni hadn't expected that old monster to be the one calling.
["Giovanni, connect me to that boy, Stephen,"] Pryce's hoarse voice came through.
"I'm here, Pryce," Stephen replied.
The old man's tone was more sinister than usual, which made Stephen uneasy.
["I need information on Celebi. Now,"] Pryce demanded.
Though they couldn't see Pryce's expression, his tone was enough for both Giovanni and Stephen to imagine him gritting his teeth in anger.
Giovanni frowned deeply. What had caused this old man to suddenly lose his temper?
He motioned for Stephen to remain calm and responded, "That's quite sudden. Care to explain why you're in such a hurry? Could it be that your body is failing you, old man?"
["I have no interest in your nonsense!"] Pryce roared, and Giovanni immediately dropped the sarcastic tone.
["The Dark Pokéballs—those should be able to control Celebi's mind. Figure out how to get me one, along with Celebi's whereabouts,"] Pryce demanded coldly.
"That's not so easy, old man," Stephen interjected. "After the Indigo Plateau battle, all Dark Pokéballs were surrendered to the Pokémon League and destroyed under Chairman Damalanche's orders. Not a single one remains in existence."
Team Rocket had indeed once possessed a few Dark Pokéballs, but both Stephen and Giovanni deemed them too dangerous and had them destroyed to prevent anyone in their organization from misusing them.
Now, there truly wasn't a single Dark Pokéball left in the world.
["Don't give me that crap. With your brains, boy, the method of making them must still be in your head!"] Pryce's tone grew even more violent.
["You have one month. I want a Dark Pokéball and information on Celebi. If you fail to deliver, be prepared for your identities to appear on the front pages of every major news outlet!"]
"Threatening us?" Giovanni's gaze turned icy, and Stephen's expression also darkened.
["So what if I am?"] Pryce retorted coldly.
For a moment, the three most powerful Trainers in the world fell into a tense silence.
Matori, the only bystander, was now sweating profusely, as though a broken faucet were leaking water from her head. Even the two Latias, who had been playing, sensed the heavy atmosphere and fell silent.
"Creating another Dark Pokéball isn't an issue, but no one can guarantee information on Celebi," Stephen finally spoke.
After all, Celebi, like Mew, was an elusive Pokémon. Who knew where it might appear?
In fact, unlike Mew, Celebi might even travel to different timelines. It was entirely possible that there wasn't even a Celebi in this timeline. How could they promise to track it down within a month?
["That's not my problem. If you can't do it, prepare for your identities to be exposed to the world!"]
With that, Pryce slammed the phone down.
Beep… Beep… Beep…
The dial tone echoed in the room. Giovanni's face was filled with anger. "What the hell is wrong with that old bastard?!"
Stephen, on the other hand, fell into deep thought, trying to deduce why Pryce had suddenly become so irritable.
Giovanni, still fuming, continued to rant. "Not long ago, we gave him a Dark Lugia feather at his request. I thought that would keep him quiet for a while. Why's he already acting up again?!"
Hearing this, Stephen suddenly had a revelation.
The Dark Lugia feather!
Yes, shortly after the Indigo Plateau battle, Giovanni had contacted Stephen, saying that Pryce had requested a Dark Lugia feather.
At the time, Stephen had already guessed Pryce's intentions—to create a GS Ball capable of sealing Celebi's powers.
In the original manga, Pryce used this exact method to trap Celebi.
However, achieving that goal would still take approximately five years.
Wait a second!
At this moment, Stephen suddenly realized why Pryce was so irritable today.
Nine times out of ten, it was because the silver feather and rainbow feather had been stolen.
In the original story, when Pryce discovered the theft, he was understandably furious. However, apart from capturing Ho-Oh and Lugia again, he didn't have any other solutions.
But now, things were different.
Pryce had learned about the existence of the Dark Pokéball.
To be honest, that thing was much more convenient than the GS Ball.
The GS Ball could only prevent Celebi from using its abilities inside the ball, while the Dark Pokéball could directly control a Pokémon's mind.
Currently, under Goodshow's orders, all Dark Pokéballs had been destroyed.
But Pryce was convinced that Stephen was capable of recreating them.
As for tracing Celebi, that would require utilizing Team Rocket's intelligence network.
["Stephen, what do you think we should do?"]
Giovanni, after cursing for a while, gradually calmed down and turned to Stephen for advice.
"Honestly, I don't have any confidence in gathering information on Celebi within a month."
Stephen didn't look particularly optimistic either.
It was obvious that Pryce was venting his frustrations over the stolen feathers on Stephen and Giovanni.
In the original story, Pryce had no choice but to swallow his pride and deal with it.
But now, he had a second option—threatening Stephen and Giovanni.
"Then..."
Giovanni made a hand gesture mimicking a knife slicing.
The meaning was clear.
Even though Giovanni didn't yet know that Pryce was the one who had kidnapped his son, after this incident, he decided that Pryce couldn't be allowed to live.
This guy was like a ticking time bomb—no one knew when he might explode.
"For now, let's hold off. I'll go check with someone first."
Stephen hung up the call with Giovanni and left Aether Paradise, heading to the Space Research Institute located on Akala Island.
Upon entering the research institute, Stephen noticed that everyone was having lunch.
Burnet and Sonia were sitting across from each other. Though they hadn't known each other for long, the two seemed to get along quite well.
Burnet used a fork to pick up some salad. "Hey, hey, Sonia-chan, let me tell you something. Kukui told me that several regional league chairmans have agreed to host a friendship tournament together. Leon should be attending too. When the time comes, I'll save you a front-row ticket!"
"No thanks, I don't want to watch."
Just thinking about Leon's indifferent attitude on the plane last time made Sonia furious.
"Dr. Stephen, what brings you here?"
At this moment, a researcher noticed Stephen. The researcher seemed a bit nervous but mostly looked at Stephen with admiration and respect.
"I'm curious about the research on Ultra Beasts."
Stephen waved at Burnet and Sonia, then sat down between them.
Out of the corner of his eye, he couldn't help but glance at the yellow-furred rodent sitting at the table. Wearing wired headphones, it was tapping away on a Pokédex controller, engrossed in playing Pokédex game.
"Pika~"
The bootleg yellow rodent didn't even glance at Stephen, only opening its mouth slightly to make a sound.
Seeing this, Sonia grabbed a piece of sliced Pecha Berry from a fruit plate and fed it to the yellow rodent.
Stephen: …
This thing was completely useless now!
"Sonia, how about taking a walk after lunch?"
After casually eating a few bites of the institute's staff meal, Stephen extended an invitation to Sonia.
Of course, Stephen's intentions weren't romantic—he wanted to use this opportunity to chat with a certain lazy legendary Pokémon.
"Huh!?"
Burnet's eyes lit up instantly.
Could it be... that Dr. Stephen had feelings for Sonia!?
Recently, rumors about Dr. Stephen being romantically linked with Morgan, Lorelei, and Nessa had been swirling everywhere. Who would've thought that Sonia would be the one to win in the end!?
Sonia was stunned too.
W-What does he want?
…
Originally, Sonia wanted to politely decline, but Burnet, with a matchmaker-like gleam in her eyes, immediately gave Sonia half a day off and practically pushed her out of the institute.
"Let's just walk around for now."
After leaving the research institute, Stephen suggested.
"Um… okay, I guess."
Hugging the lazy rodent, Sonia avoided looking directly at Stephen and murmured nervously.
Before long, Stephen managed to extract some information from the lazy rodent through telepathy.
Although Mew was reluctant, saying, "It's all your fault, or I'd have already reached that shrine!"
Under Stephen's threat of "I'll make sure no one makes games for you again," it obediently spilled the beans—
["I can't find Celebi, okay~"]
Although both were mischievous legendary Pokémon, Mew didn't have any special tracking abilities. It usually wandered around the world, running into other legendary Pokémon purely by chance.
Unless it was a legendary Pokémon with a fixed habitat, like the Sword and Shield siblings in Slumbering Weald or Kyurem in the Giant Chasm, Mew couldn't locate them immediately.
For others, it was out of its reach.
What's more, Celebi's mischievous nature was even stronger than Mew's—it could slip into other timelines entirely.
After parting ways with Sonia, Stephen immediately called Giovanni.
"I've got nothing on my end either."
Hearing this, Giovanni took a deep breath on the other end of the line.
["Then we'll have to figure out a way to get rid of that old man."]
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