"Oh?"
Giovanni stroked the Persian curled up in his lap.
"Aside from Red, were there other locations that weren't targeted by the Kanto League?"
This operation had been swift and decisive.
In Giovanni's view, Lance couldn't have been the mastermind behind it.
Red?
Not him either.
Ever since retreating to Mt. Silver, Red had become detached from worldly affairs.
As for the Gym Leaders and Elite Four members of Kanto, the only person who seemed remotely capable was Agatha.
But she was already getting old.
Surely she had long since lost interest in organizing something on this scale.
That left only one possibility.
Blue.
As a Pokémon Breeder, Blue treasured Pokémon deeply, so his involvement wasn't impossible.
The problem was that he shouldn't have had the ability to pull something like this off.
As Matori opened a video file in front of him, Giovanni's eyes narrowed.
The footage showed a pink-haired young man standing beside a figure dressed in a white robe.
Judging by the build, the robed figure appeared to be male.
Standing next to them was...
A Gardevoir?
Was that really a Gardevoir?
Giovanni muttered to himself.
"Most shiny Gardevoir are blue, aren't they?"
Yet the Gardevoir before him was completely different.
Its jet-black gown.
Its proud and noble posture.
The crimson glow burning within its eyes.
Everything about it screamed that it was no ordinary Gardevoir.
"That's right. These two individuals and that Gardevoir were responsible."
Matori adjusted her glasses and took a deep breath.
"The pink-haired one possesses terrifying psychic power. He was able to hypnotize nearly every Pokémon on the island, along with all the researchers, in an instant."
"And that Gardevoir..."
Her voice became more serious.
"It's just as powerful as before. Its strength isn't inferior to Mewtwo's when Mewtwo escaped."
"A human with psychic abilities on that level?"
Giovanni raised an eyebrow.
He intended to keep watching.
But suddenly, the video began to flicker, dissolving into static.
Before the image returned, Giovanni spoke calmly.
"That's not a human."
"That's Mewtwo."
"It has to be."
When the footage resumed, the scene had already shifted to another laboratory.
The same pattern repeated.
The second facility.
The third.
The fourth.
The fifth.
Within only ten minutes, they had appeared at five separate research facilities.
The efficiency left Giovanni staring in disbelief.
He acknowledged that the Gardevoir was extraordinarily powerful.
After all, he had personally witnessed Mewtwo's strength.
But these laboratories were scattered across the sea.
Some were over a hundred kilometers apart.
The two farthest facilities were separated by more than five hundred kilometers.
Five hundred kilometers!
Even Lance's Dragonite couldn't travel that distance in just a few minutes.
Right?
Giovanni wasn't the only one stunned.
Matori, who had been watching beside him, had also fallen silent.
"Matori."
"Yes, Boss?"
"What do you think?"
"Matori... doesn't know."
She hesitated before answering.
"I can't imagine what kind of Psychic-type Pokémon could possess power on this level."
After a moment, she offered another theory.
"Perhaps they have another Pokémon capable of traveling through space. I've heard legends from the Sinnoh region about a god who governs space..."
Then she quickly moved on to another matter.
"Boss, several of our people inside the Kanto League are asking how we're supposed to respond."
Giovanni picked up a cigar and clipped the end.
"Forget it."
He lit it slowly.
"There's no point retaliating now. Lance put too much effort into this operation."
"Tell everyone to focus on protecting themselves."
His expression darkened further.
The destruction of the laboratories didn't truly pain him.
What bothered him was the scale of the fallout.
The incident had exploded across nearly the entire Kanto region.
From this point onward, Team Rocket's influence in Kanto would likely shrink dramatically.
Not to mention the enormous financial losses.
The organization's reputation had been dragged through the mud.
After taking a long drag from his cigar, Giovanni issued another order.
"Tell everyone to keep their heads down."
"Especially now."
"I don't want to hear about anyone causing trouble during this period."
"Understood, Boss."
Matori nodded obediently.
Then she asked:
"What about the people from the video? Should we investigate them?"
Giovanni's hand paused.
He tapped the desk thoughtfully.
A long silence followed.
Finally, he spoke.
"Investigate them."
"But only within Kanto."
"As for the other regions, leave them alone."
"Understood!"
...
The entire operation had gone far more smoothly than Lin Feng had expected.
Perhaps everything happened too quickly for Team Rocket to react.
Or perhaps experience had made the process increasingly efficient.
Either way, by the time he returned to the first research facility, neither the Kanto League nor Team Rocket reinforcements had arrived.
Salamence and Dragonite remained on guard over the island.
The researchers and Team Rocket personnel were still there.
None had escaped.
They sat huddled together under the watchful eyes of the two Dragon-types.
Fear and shock filled their faces, as though they had just experienced something straight out of a nightmare.
Lin Feng, Gardevoir, and Mewtwo descended from the sky and landed nearby.
Salamence's eyes were bloodshot.
Dragonite looked as though it wanted to say something but couldn't find the words.
Lin Feng placed a hand on Salamence.
Instantly, he understood everything Salamence had done.
Hyper Beam.
Dragon Claw.
Dragon Rush.
And countless other attacks.
Every strike had been devastating.
Walls had collapsed.
Machines had been reduced to scrap.
Research equipment had been shattered beyond repair.
Yet every attack had deliberately avoided the captured researchers and Team Rocket personnel.
Not a single blow had landed on them.
Through their connection, Lin Feng could feel Salamence's rage.
But he could also feel its hesitation.
Salamence had been afraid of going too far.
Afraid of creating trouble for Lin Feng.
More importantly, Salamence now understood something.
The true source of its suffering wasn't these researchers.
Nor was it these ordinary employees.
The real culprits were the people who had ordered the hunts.
The ones who demanded the results.
The ones who profited from the capture and exploitation of Pokémon.
Because of them, countless Pokémon had been dragged into cages and laboratories.
Lin Feng said nothing.
He simply patted Salamence's back.
From where he stood, he could already see Pidgeot flying overhead.
Speedboats were appearing on the horizon.
The Kanto League's rescue teams had arrived.
"Roar!"
Salamence looked down at the terrified humans beneath its claws.
Their faces held nothing but fear.
Countless times in its nightmares, it had imagined tearing them apart.
But now...
That impulse was fading away.
If it truly wanted revenge, all it needed was one swipe.
Just one.
Yet if these people were captured and brought to justice, their futures likely wouldn't be pleasant either.
"Roar!"
Salamence turned and looked at Lin Feng.
Lin Feng immediately understood.
"It's time to go home."
He patted Salamence once more before climbing onto its back.
With Mewtwo and Gardevoir following behind, Salamence took flight and headed toward the far side of the island.
Moments later, they plunged beneath the ocean's surface and entered the Distortion World.
Leaving behind a waiting Giratina.
A very frustrated Giratina.
After all...
From beginning to end, it felt like it hadn't actually done anything at all.
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