Domino's breath caught in her throat.
She wanted to say something, but seeing Giovanni's cold, indifferent expression, she swallowed her words and simply replied, "Yes, sir."
Giovanni closed his eyes, his brow furrowed with irritation, "How's the situation in Alola progressing?"
Domino: "We've already tracked traces of Solgaleo and Lunala's movements. Faba of the Aether Foundation is currently pursuing them."
Giovanni: "Find them as soon as possible."
Only through them could they open an Ultra Wormhole, enter Ultra Space, reach Ultra Megalopolis, and awaken the being imprisoned there for a thousand years.
Domino nodded solemnly, "Understood!"
Giovanni rose from the metal bed, his voice flat and emotionless, "You go back first."
Domino blinked in surprise, "Aren't you coming back to Alola with me?"
A cruel smirk curled at the corner of Giovanni's lips, "The gift I prepared for the Kanto League hasn't been delivered yet."
Domino understood. She nodded and left the base without another word.
No one knew what Giovanni had planned...
...
Three days later, a horrific bombing rocked the League's headquarters.
Dragon-type Elite Lance, Ghost-type Elite Agatha, and Fighting-type Elite Bruno all vanished without a trace in the explosion.
Lorelei, who hadn't attended the meeting and was out on assignment, narrowly escaped. Standing before the smoldering ruins, she froze, completely lost...
...
Twenty-four hours later, news of the three Elite Fours' deaths spread across Kanto and Johto, sparking widespread mourning.
...
At the same time... In Sinnoh, Cyrus escaped prison, rallied the remaining Team Galactic remnants, launching a spree of Pokémon thefts.
In Hoenn, Maxie and Archie joined forces at Mt. Pyre, uncovering the key to awakening Groudon and Kyogre.
In Kalos, Lysandre found Zygarde, the guardian of the ecosystem, in a deep cave, defeated it through cunning tactics, and forced it to fragment into Cells scattered across Kalos...
~~~
Three days earlier…
Caleb sat on the sofa, watching with mild amusement as the man across from him slowly came to, "You're awake. How was your nap?"
Caitlin had mentioned this was the most influential among Unova's noble heads, his name was something like Jodan Mori?
Memories trickled back into Joden's mind. Recalling what had happened, his eyes instantly sharpened with suspicion.
"It was you," he said with certainty.
"Aren't you even curious why I brought you here?" Caleb asked casually.
Joden's mind raced through possibilities. Though inwardly shaken, he kept his expression calm, "You're from the Voltaire family."
Caleb raised an eyebrow in surprise, then shook his head.
"The Ashford family?"
Caleb shook his head again.
Joden guessed several more names, but kept missing the mark, leaving Caleb increasingly baffled.
'This man has a lot of enemies, huh?'
But the real issue wasn't that Joden couldn't guess right... it was that, in his worldview, the Unova League simply didn't have the power to oppose them. So naturally, he had ruled them out entirely.
Caleb didn't bother playing games. He recited the script Caitlin had prepared, "Jodan Mori, you've violated the League's Pokémon Smuggling Act. You're under arrest."
Joden didn't care about the mispronounced name, he focused on the accusation: 'How dare the League do this?! Don't they fear the Mori family manipulating the market and destabilizing the entire region?'
"Impossible!" Joden snapped, "You have no evidence! You have no authority to arrest me!"
Caleb gave a faint, knowing smile, "Oh? Is that so?"
After his initial shock, Joden had regained his composure. He sneered, "According to League law, no one may detain a civilian without cause. I demand to see my lawyer! I'll sue you!"
"Alright then," Caleb said, picking up a coffee cup from the coffee table and took a sip, frowned at the taste, and set it down, "Who said we're detaining you? I just invited you for a cup of coffee."
Joden clearly didn't believe him, "You just accused me of smuggling! That's slander!"
"Did I?" Caleb looked genuinely puzzled, "I don't remember saying that. Do you have any evidence to prove I said that?"
The words died in Joden's throat. He stared, momentarily speechless. After a long pause, he said arrogantly, "Five million. Let me go."
Caleb shook his head.
"Too little? How much did they pay you to kidnap me? I'll double it!"
Caleb just laughed. Without another word, he stood up, "You keep saying we're holding you captive, but that's not the case. You don't believe me? Feel free to step outside and see for yourself."
With that, he left the room.
Joden sat silently on the sofa for a while. When the hallway outside fell completely quiet, he quickly moved to the window and looked out.
He noticed they were in large three-story manor... one surrounded on all sides by endless, uninhabited mountains and dense forest.
Joden stared blankly at the view. He wasn't technically imprisoned. But there was no way he could leave either.
His Poké Balls were gone. Wild Pokémon wouldn't be nearly as obedient as trained ones.
Surviving alone out there was close to impossible.
Now fully calm, Joden reflected...
Reaching his position hadn't been easy. He always thought further ahead than most.
He recalled recent events… then he remembered what happened to the Yamamoto family.
The League had already moved against them.
And now they'd snatched him too, clearly to prevent the nobles from causing chaos in the power vacuum.
Joden had no idea where the League found someone capable of pulling off such an abduction.
At that moment, a chilling thought surfaced in his mind, unbidden: 'They're finished...'
...
When Caleb returned to Caitlin, she had already explained everything to Ash and his friends.
By now, Caleb had deactivated his the effects of his Substitution Glasses and changed back into his usual clothes.
Ash recognized him immediately. His face flushed with guilt, "Sorry for attacking you back there."
Caleb waved it off. He studied Ash carefully and noticed that any trace of the childish image from his Anime era had vanished. He had fully matured into a formidable Trainer...
"Did you go pick up Pidgeot?" Caleb suddenly asked.
Ash blinked in surprise, "How did you know?"
Caleb lied without missing a beat, "Professor Oak told me."
Ash nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I brought her back. She's here too. You wanna see her?"
Caleb declined. He was busy. After greeting Ash, he turned to Caitlin, "We can start the next phase now."
That was, to expose everything these nobles had done. Let the public and the law deliver the final judgment.
Caitlin nodded, and they quickly finalized the details.
Meanwhile, Ash, Iris, and Cilan stood to the side.
Iris cradled Axew and asked, "Ash, do you know him?"
Ash hummed softly, recalling his brief encounter with Caleb back in Johto, and all the legendary things he'd heard since.
With quiet admiration, he said, "He's a very incredible person."