In the Reverse World, Axel stood atop Gyarados with Cynthia and James, frowning as he watched the fleeing Giratina ahead.
That Reverse Dragon had a "Guardian of the Aurient" entry similar to Rayquaza's.
After entering the Reverse World, all of Giratina's attributes had received a massive overall boost.
Especially its speed, it faintly surpassed even Gyarados, who had mastered spatial movement and was stacked with six Dragon Dances.
Now, except for Gardevoir and Gyarados, the two who could teleport, and the ultra-fast Rayquaza and Garchomp, Axel had recalled all the other Pokémon into their balls.
The entire Reverse World was eerily quiet, broken only by the sound of them shattering mirror-like barriers as they chased.
"Cynthia, I'm not too familiar with Sinnoh's geography, can you tell where Giratina's heading?"
Axel sounded a little worried. His backup, Giovanni, and the unchained Palkia were both still with the League. If Giratina was heading toward Lily of the Valley Island right now, then everything would depend on Ash.
'But… is this version of Ash really up to it?'
The Ash of his past life had traveled for years, but the Ash of this world, maybe because of Red's influence, had reached the Sinnoh region in less than a year.
"It's most likely heading toward Lily of the Valley Island or the coastal area," Cynthia quickly determined after a short judgment.
Her tone was urgent, the ones guarding Lily of the Valley Island right now were Lucian and Aaron.
Neither of them had the advantage in strength or typing when facing Giratina.
Aaron aside, Lucian's battle skill was fine, but his strategy style was a "space team."
Playing space tricks in front of Giratina?
Cynthia felt that Lucian really wasn't at that level yet.
"Axel!", Suddenly, James' eyes lit up beside him, and he patted Axel's shoulder.
"Meowth just sent word, Boss Gio-uh, Gym Leader Giovanni has arrived at Lily of the Valley Island."
Axel froze, "How did you even send messages here?"
James raised an old brick-sized cell phone in his hand, "By text, of course."
Axel, Cynthia: "???"
Their Rotom Dexes and Champion communication devices couldn't send a single signal in the Reverse World, how could that phone work?
Seeing Axel's confusion, James scratched his head awkwardly.
"Ever since you blasted us off in Aurient, the three of us have been getting knocked around all over the regions."
"Later, the long-distance call fees got too expensive, so Meowth built a private signal tower for us. We were just trying to dodge the phone bill…"
Axel and Cynthia exchanged a look, both dumbfounded.
'These idiots actually created a signal tower that not even Giratina's distortion could interfere with… just to avoid phone charges?'
Axel couldn't help feeling a bit of a headache. These so-called villains, whenever they weren't doing villain stuff, their random inventions actually worked.
'Looks like I'll really need to study that "Technological Creation" entry in my tag archive sometime.'
He'd always thought science was worthless in the Pokémon world, but seeing Meowth's work… that was seriously impressive.
"Since Gym Leader Giovanni's already there, Giratina shouldn't be able to make too much trouble."
"Gyarados, Rayquaza, let's drive it toward him."
"ROOOAR!"
The Pokémon around Axel nodded in unison and continued their pursuit of Giratina.
———
"Huh? Gym Leader Giovanni!"
Just after finishing a match, Ash picked up Pikachu, looking delighted to see Giovanni suddenly appear.
He had battled Giovanni back in Kanto and even received guidance from him, so the impression was deep.
Though the two weren't exactly close, Giovanni was a good man, after defeating Gary, he'd even gone easy on Ash.
"You?", Giovanni looked a bit surprised too. He remembered Ash well, Red's younger brother.
But unlike Red, Ash was of the "bonding" type. Not much for tactics, focusing instead on nurturing bonds with Pokémon to unleash their unbelievable power.
And Ash was a particularly gifted one among those bond trainers. The more desperate the situation, the stronger he became.
Back then, Giovanni had deliberately gone easy to avoid any unstable reaction from Mewtwo.
"Didn't expect Red's little brother to come to Sinnoh. Come to think of it, I even thought about making him my successor back then."
"Ha-ha~", Ash scratched the back of his head, speaking in his usual casual, cheerful way, tinged with pride.
"My brother really is amazing!"
"But, Gym Leader Giovanni, what brings you here? Gym Leaders should be really busy, right?"
Giovanni's gaze swept into the distance, past a bewildered Liu Bo, then lingered on Jessie and Meowth, who were staring at him with fervent excitement.
He said calmly, "Someone prophesied a disaster would happen here, so I came to save a few people."
"And by the way… to show a couple of losers what a real boss looks like."
"???"
Three question marks popped above Ash's head. He was about to ask more when suddenly, a dark energy swept over the entire island.
A massive gate appeared in the sky, and Giratina forced its way out without hesitation. The power of distortion surged, sealing the gate tightly shut.
Now, even it wouldn't be able to open that gate again within five minutes.
["Black Rayquaza, and that weird Gyarados… you two can just stay obediently inside!"]
Giratina roared furiously, tossing aside the Malamar it held in its claws.
["In a moment, I'll defeat all these people, you hypnotize them and make them my minions."]
["When Black Rayquaza shows up, we'll strike together."]
"Ma… mal…", Malamar nodded weakly, its sly eyes filled with fear toward Giratina.
Just as Giratina was about to attack, two voices suddenly rang out at the same time.
"Controlling Pokémon? Who gave you the guts to try that?"
"Heh… I'd like to see who dares lay hands on my people."
Giratina instinctively glanced down at the crowd, immediately locking onto the two speakers.
One was sitting in a wheelchair, accompanied by a Piloswine and a Delibird, a white-haired old man leaning on a cane.
The other looked a bit healthier, a middle-aged man in a Zhongshan suit, steady and composed.
But beside him were only a Beedrill and a strange, armored Pokémon.
Giratina's mouth twisted into a sneer, it almost laughed out loud in disbelief.
'An old man and a grown-up bug-catching kid…'
'You dare talk to me like that? What league do you think you're in?'
Almost without a thought, Giratina turned into a ghostly shadow, vanishing midair as it launched its signature move, Shadow Dive.
Since those two were so arrogant, it might as well start with them.
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