Why on earth had Malfoy gone to the Lestrange family vault?It didn't take a genius to guess—the Horcrux hidden inside must have already been taken. And according to what Riddle learned from the goblins, Malfoy had gone there with Bellatrix. What's more, the one who gave that order… was Voldemort himself!
Could he be suspecting that the Horcruxes were destroyed too?Riddle pondered on what "he himself" might have been thinking back then.
After Voldemort's resurrection, perhaps he too had tried to verify the status of his Horcruxes. That must have been why he retrieved the Cup. But now, the Cup's whereabouts were again a mystery. Riddle didn't know if it had ultimately been destroyed, or if Voldemort had simply hidden it somewhere else.
Still, he had a rather effortless—and safe—approach: if he couldn't find it, he would simply assume it was gone.
By now, Riddle had more or less given up on the Horcruxes. He decided to devote himself entirely to Pokémon. But Team Rocket had almost no foothold in Britain, so he would have to leave the country first.
Team Rocket's headquarters, after all, were established by Charles in Nihon.
The magical community of Nihon wasn't particularly powerful on the global stage, so basing operations there was less risky. Moreover, Charles had done it so he could constantly monitor the development of Pokémon manga, anime, and games—just in case something unexpected happened.
By the time the new school year began, the Pokémon manga had already started gaining popularity across Britain.
On Dudley's birthday, Harry had seen him receive a Pokémon manga volume as a gift. Now, the anime adaptation was already underway—the refined art and storyline had made Pokémon immensely popular all over the world.
Riddle was ready. He had already decided to leave Britain for a long time.
He had plenty of time now anyway. This body had been resurrected from a Horcrux, which meant that he could only be killed—time itself no longer affected him. To Riddle, this method was far more elegant than the Philosopher's Stone.
So, as long as he could stay hidden, there was always a chance to rise again.
Conversely, if he died now, it would mean the Horcrux itself was destroyed. Not only would this body perish, but even his original self would lose immortality.
"I must be careful," he muttered.
Even so, in order to leave Britain under a legitimate identity and infiltrate Nihon, Riddle had killed an innocent man.
A Japanese-born Brit named Sasaki Kojirō.
Riddle assumed Kojirō's identity, traveled to Nihon, and through a few underworld connections, managed to get himself a way into Team Rocket. Yet, his disguise only earned him a minor role—he hadn't even met Giovanni.
He hadn't even been assigned a Pokémon—he was merely a peripheral recruit.
"Sansan, I really want to get a Pokémon. How can I get one right away?" Riddle asked the low-ranking grunt who had brought him into Team Rocket.
Sansan was a low-level member himself, but he had joined earlier, so he'd at least been given a Rattata.
"Well, if you stay long enough, you'll get one in due time," Sansan said.
"But that means I'll just end up with a weak Pokémon, right?" Riddle frowned. He wanted something stronger—something with real power.
"What's weak or strong? Even a Raticate can be powerful if you raise it well!" Sansan snapped, clearly annoyed. "Besides, for grunts like us, that's already good enough. Even if you get a rare Pokémon, do you even have the skill to raise it properly?"
Riddle didn't answer, but his expression said it all—he clearly hadn't listened to his senior's advice.
Sansan sighed. "If you really want a powerful Pokémon, you could apply for front-line duty. But I'll warn you now—it's no joke. Team Rocket's on the front lines against the Ministries of Magic all over the world. The Aurors out there won't show us mercy!"
At that, Riddle's eyes lit up.
Fight against the Ministry of Magic?That was his specialty.
He was the one who had nearly destroyed the British Ministry of Magic, after all.
"Who do I apply to?" he asked eagerly.
"You're serious? You actually want to go to the front line?" Sansan looked at him as if he had a death wish. Seeing Riddle's determined expression, he finally gave in. "Fine, fine. Go get a form, fill it out, and hand it to Instructor Viper. But you'll have to undergo special training first. And trust me—once you see how hellish that training is, you'll regret it."
But Riddle was undeterred.
Instructor Viper?He'd like to see who the real viper was here.
Hogwarts
Ever since Colin's petrification, everyone realized that the earlier attacks hadn't been some prank. The Chamber of Secrets… might truly have been opened.
But no one could figure out how—how anyone could dare do such a thing under the very noses of the two greatest wizards in the world.
"Could it be Voldemort?" Harry asked. The four of them were crammed into the girls' bathroom on the third floor, and Moaning Myrtle was rather displeased at them occupying her stall—especially since none of them were handsome boys.
"But Voldemort's already dead," said Neville, who had since become part of their little group. He shared a dorm with Harry and Ron, and he got along quite well with Hermione.
"Right, people think he's dead—but maybe he's not," Harry said thoughtfully. "Just like eleven years ago—he was defeated, not destroyed. Last year, he came to Hogwarts, remember? Maybe he's back again this year."
"Listen to yourself—you make him sound like Father Christmas," Ron muttered. "Don't be daft, Harry. Remember? Professor Charles beat him!"
"But he didn't kill him, right?"
"Yeah, but Giovanni—Team Rocket's boss—he did. Professor Charles said his Pokémon were unbelievably strong," Hermione interjected, disagreeing with Harry's theory.
"Maybe his Pokémon were strong," Harry countered, "but Giovanni isn't a wizard. He wouldn't understand the kind of magic Voldemort uses."
The others fell silent. They had to admit—Harry had a point. Especially Ron, who felt the old fear he'd struggled to forget slowly creeping back.
"Vol—uh, I mean… You-Know-Who—"
"Ron!"
"I know, I know! But shouldn't we be careful?" Ron said nervously. "If Harry's right, we shouldn't say the name."
"There's nothing to fear, Ron," Harry said confidently. "Professor Charles is at Hogwarts! Even if Voldemort's really back, he can only skulk in the shadows—like a rat in the sewers."
"Fine, fine. Let's just call him—what, 'noseless shiny-head' or something?" Ron took a deep breath. "If he's alive, the professors will handle it, yeah? No need for us to panic."
"But what if the professors don't know?" Harry pressed, his eyes burning with conviction. "Maybe we're the only ones who can stop him. We did it once before, didn't we?"
"You did," Ron corrected. "I didn't even see his face."
"I couldn't have done it without you," Harry insisted—and it was true. Without Ron and Hermione, he would've failed long ago. "Remember how you won that wizard's chess match? And how we fought that Houndoom? Now our Pokémon are stronger, and we've got Neville with us too! There's nothing to fear."
Harry's confidence was infectious.
Voldemort might be terrifying, but Harry knew Voldemort couldn't touch him—that was his ultimate shield.
"Unless you're scared to fight him," Harry teased.
"I'm not scared!" Neville blurted out. "If he shows up, I'll slice him in two!"
"I'm not scared either," Hermione said firmly.
All eyes turned to Ron.
Ron swallowed hard under their gaze. "I'm not scared… Okay, maybe a little. But I'm not backing down! I trust in Lightwheel and Inferno!"
"That's the spirit!" Harry grinned. "So, I've got two Pokémon now. Ron, you left Roundy at home, so you've also got two. Neville's got two, and Hermione has four. With all these partners, and Voldemort weakened, we can beat him if we find him!"
"But we should still prepare," Hermione said thoughtfully. "I've been training hard this term—our Pokémon's levels shouldn't be too far apart now. But I still want my Pikachu to evolve into Raichu. That'll boost our odds."
She was still dedicated to textbook evolution methods—it was one of the fastest ways to grow stronger. And she had already discussed it with her Pikachu, who agreed. During the previous year's trials, Pikachu hadn't been able to help much against Houndoom, and it had felt guilty ever since.
"But you won't find a Thunder Stone," Ron pointed out.
"I think," Neville said suddenly, "we should teach all our Pokémon Protect. It can block the Killing Curse, and most Pokémon can learn it. We could ask Professor Charles—or Professor Kukui—for training materials."
"Good idea, Neville!"
So that week, during club time, Harry and the others asked Professor Kukui for a disk that contained the technique data for Protect.Meanwhile, Hermione found a private moment to visit Charles.
"Professor…" she began hesitantly.
"What's wrong, Hermione?" Charles asked. He was at that moment studying data on Mewtwo replication—or rather, Pokémon cloning.
The system had provided complete data, meaning he could already perform perfect cloning without needing live test subjects. It fascinated him greatly.
A cloned Pokémon wasn't necessarily stronger than its original, but incorporating genes from other species could alter its abilities.
For example, fusing additional Dragon-type genes into a cloned Charizard could make it a pure Fire/Dragon type. The base stats might remain the same, but its attack patterns and abilities would change—perhaps even expanding its movepool.
When Hermione entered, Charles immediately closed his files.
"I wanted to ask… if I promise to get first place in the final exams, could you give me a Thunder Stone now?" she asked, blushing.
She felt the request was a bit presumptuous—but she was confident in her grades.
"Planning to evolve your Pikachu into Raichu?"
"Mm-hmm! Pikachu and I talked about it—it wants to become stronger through evolution!" Hermione nodded earnestly.
Charles understood her reasoning. Evolution was, by nature, the embodiment of growth and strength. In most cases, it was a good thing—and Raichu certainly wasn't like Slaking, whose evolution came with a crippling ability.
"Trying to cash in your reward early, Miss Granger? I can't allow that," Charles chuckled. "No matter how confident you are, you can't claim first place until the results are official."
In truth, she almost certainly would be first. But as a teacher, Charles couldn't hand out rewards early—it wouldn't be fair to the others.
Still, since both Hermione and her Pikachu wanted this, helping her wasn't out of the question. Evolution stones were hardly rare to him anymore.
After all, since discovering the Ultra Wormhole leading to Alola, he had access to all the evolution stone mines he wanted.
However—
"Did you know, Miss Granger," he said with a smile, "that Raichu actually has two different forms?"
"Two forms? You mean male and female differences? My Pikachu's a girl, so its tail is a bit different, yes."
But Charles shook his head, conjuring two illustrations.
One depicted the familiar Raichu from her textbooks—brown fur, a fierce and agile body, a long powerful tail.The other was something she'd never seen before.
This Raichu had deeper brown fur, white hands and feet, a rounder body, and smooth yellow ears that curled at the tips. Its eyes faded from blue to amber, its nose was pale, and the yellow of its electric sacs and tail tip glowed brightly.Its tail had grown longer, shaped almost like a surfboard.
And most astonishingly—it could ride its own tail like one.
That was a Raichu too?
(End of Chapter)