He left Jessie and James with Regice, and gave them the Ekans.
Then he also gave them some basic supplies, some introductory books on Pokémon training, and the book he got from Gu Hai, which detailed his training methods for Arbok and Ekans. This was the highest level of training for Arbok among all of Aoki's opponents.
However, as novices in wilderness survival, Aoki provided them with three days' worth of food for three people, so they wouldn't starve to death.
What kind of life they would lead ultimately depended on their own abilities and skills.
Aoki had given them food, supplies, Pokémon, and knowledge. If they still couldn't make something of themselves, it only meant they weren't cut out for it.
In that case, the only thing Aoki could offer them was a stable life. Otherwise, they might actually make a name for themselves in Team Rocket or Team Sky, at least they wouldn't spend their entire encounters with Ash demonstrating Team Rocket's incompetence.
Originally, Aoki thought the two might be beyond help, but after witnessing their choice when faced with Yamato and Kosaburo's bullying, he made this decision: to give them a real chance to prove themselves.
Aoki had already instructed Regice to let them cause trouble on the island, but not to let them leave.
With Regice's strength, let alone Jessie and James surviving on the island for three months, even if that time was doubled, it wouldn't cause Regice any trouble.
After abandoning these two burdens that Giovanni had forced upon him, Aoki left on Salamence.
He flew straight towards the Kanto region.
He crossed most of the Johto region and flew over Mt. Silver.
With Aoki's identity as an Elite Four member of the Alliance, he could go to most places, even on Mt. Silver.
Only those confidential locations of the Kanto Alliance, or rather the main Alliance headquarters, were off-limits. Wherever Aoki went, everyone would at least respectfully address him as Elite Four Sandstorm, or Elite Four Aoki.
The stir Aoki and Black Envoy caused in the Hoenn region recently, after extensive promotion by numerous fans online, caused Aoki's popularity to skyrocket throughout the entire Alliance.
Coupled with his increasingly handsome face, he attracted countless fangirls.
Aoki proceeded without hiding his tracks, so by the time he arrived in front of the Kanto Alliance building, two people were already waiting for him.
They were two old acquaintances.
Lance, still dressed flamboyantly, and Lorelei, standing there with a cold, expressionless face.
Seeing Aoki jump from Salamence's back to the ground, Lance's gaze first lingered on Salamence for a while, his eyes filled with intense surprise, then he spread his arms and went to hug Aoki.
"It's really been a long time since we last met! Don't you think? Elite Four Sandstorm, who only attracts female fans?" Lance laughed loudly, his words full of teasing.
Aoki playfully punched him hard twice on the back.
"Tsk, don't even say it, if I didn't see you on TV so often, I wouldn't even recognize you. Did you find some secret to becoming more handsome?" Lance and Aoki punched each other, but his mouth didn't stop.
Aoki expressed that he didn't want to bother with this person who seemed cool but was actually a chatterbox at heart.
Then, passing the questioning Lance, he saw Lorelei behind him. Aoki's smile widened, and he also spread his arms like Lance and walked towards Lorelei, "Lorelei, it's been a long time since we last met."
Lorelei, who usually didn't like physical contact with others, was a bit flustered by Aoki's embrace.
Aoki's face showed a playful smile, and he changed the hug to a handshake, extending a hand and saying with a laugh, "Haha, you're still the same. Just kidding with you."
Although Lorelei didn't usually communicate much with Aoki, they did have a few exchanges during the Sinnoh League tournament.
Aoki admitted he was a very calculating person. At that time, Lorelei was even less talkative than now, but Aoki specifically chose knowledge related to the Pokémon she trained as an entry point, calling it "mutual exchange and learning."
Therefore, Lorelei always had a good impression of Aoki.
In addition, with the internet full of Aoki's fanatical followers and baseless praise recently, Lorelei, who had just become an Elite Four member and was assigned to network management, naturally had an increasingly good impression of Aoki.
"Long time no see, Aoki," Lorelei said faintly, a slight smile appearing on her lips.
At this moment, Lance, who had just walked over, saw Aoki and Lorelei chatting happily, and even Lorelei, whom he once thought couldn't smile, actually had a smile on her face. This didn't just surprise him, it shocked him.
Then, led by Lorelei, Aoki walked into the Alliance building.
Along the way, Lance still followed Aoki, asking him how to get Lorelei to let go of her resentment towards him.
He finally understood how Bruno felt back then.
When he first became an Elite Four member, he constantly challenged Bruno. Although Bruno won every time, it still made him feel incredibly pained.
Now he was like Bruno back then, being constantly challenged by Lorelei, who was ranked fourth. However, the difference was that it was easy for Bruno to win against him, but it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to win against Lorelei.
Aoki looked at Lance with a very pitiful expression, then very sincerely told him, "Lose to her, of course, don't intentionally lose to her. When you truly lose to her, or when she finds a way to deal with you."
Hearing Aoki's words, Lance's eyes widened.
If he were to intentionally lose to Lorelei, that would be one thing, but to lose to Lorelei when he was giving his all, regardless of whether this would truly earn Lorelei's forgiveness, as a man dedicated to becoming the Kanto Champion, Lance was inherently proud and truly could not accept or acknowledge this fact.
Of course, Lance also knew that with Lorelei's pride, she would certainly not accept his intentional defeat, and she would definitely be able to tell from the battle whether Lance had held back.
If Lorelei knew that Lance had held back and intentionally lost to her, then that knot would probably never be untied.
Actually, there was an even simpler and more direct solution: marry her!
Led by Lorelei, the three walked into a conference room.
The other two Elite Four members of the Kanto region were already seated there: Ghost-type Elite Four Agatha and Fighting-type Elite Four Bruno.
The management system of the Kanto region was different from that of the Hoenn region.
In the Hoenn region, because both the previous Chairman and Champion were Adams, all matters of the Alliance were discussed and decided by everyone together.
However, in the Kanto region, because the Champion position had been vacant for a long time, matters concerning the Elite Four were discussed and decided by the four of them.
To make better decisions, Agatha, as the first Elite Four member, had two votes.