Chapter 98 Catching a Pin Missile Barehanded, Dude, You're Really Brave!
Viridian City.
A city shrouded in darkness.
During the day, the city is bustling like any other, but at night, it becomes eerily quiet, with few trainers seen on the streets.
The entire town is strangely quiet.
Since the explosion in Saffron City, Team Rocket has frequently appeared there, but not often, posing little threat to the League, only acting periodically.
Even Elite Four member Lorelei finds it annoying, sometimes directly freezing Team Rocket members with her Pokémon, turning them into ice sculptures and placing them near the Saffron City Department Store.
Even so, it cannot stop Team Rocket's encroachment; the frozen Team Rocket members are completely gone by the next day.
All of this was naturally orchestrated by Giovanni, who was far away in Saffron City, deep within Viridian City.
"Champion-level strength, interesting... I didn't expect the League to be so well-hidden. The Pokémon Lance used are really interesting."
Giovanni sat on the leather sofa, his eyes filled with desire, mixed with a hint of interest—interest in the Kanto League.
So many years had passed, and Giovanni still thought the League was the same as before, unable to produce a single Champion-level trainer. After the previous operation, Giovanni clearly understood the League's current strength.
However...
Lance's use of Viridian Power, in Giovanni's opinion, wasn't powerful enough.
At least not to the level he had mastered.
"Viridian Power, only used to enhance the power of Dragon-type Pokémon, naive... He ultimately didn't unleash the true power of Viridian Power."
Giovanni held a Poké Ball in his hand. The Pokémon inside was the one he had raised from childhood, the foundation for his direct attack on the League.
Viridian Power wasn't just about healing and strengthening Pokémon; most importantly, it possessed the power to slay gods, capable of defeating legendary Pokémon.
For example, legendary Pokémon like Lugia and Ho-Oh can only achieve this by pushing the power of Viridian to its limit, while the Dragonite used by Lance clearly doesn't possess such terrifying abilities.
"Boss Giovanni."
A knock came at the door, followed by a sound.
"Come in."
Giovanni placed the Poké Ball on the table, turned around, and leaned back against it, wanting to hear about the League's recent activities.
"Boss Giovanni, someone from the Hoenn League has come." The person who arrived was none other than Apollo, his eyes showing a hint of seriousness. "That person is the Hoenn League Champion, Steven Shivgeny!"
Upon hearing this, a glint flashed in Giovanni's eyes. Interesting; even the Hoenn League has sent someone, and a Champion at that.
The Kanto region is already chaotic enough; if trainers from other regions were to enter, it would only make the situation more chaotic, because Steven's presence has disrupted the balance of chaos in Kanto.
"Just left Viridian City, judging by the direction, they're heading towards Indigo Plateau. Why don't we go over there..."
Apollo's intention was clear: to create some trouble for Steven.
Steven was indeed a Champion, but even Champions are human. As long as he didn't use a Champion-level Pokémon, Apollo had many ways to prevent Steven from reaching Indigo Plateau.
Of course, this still required Giovanni's approval, since he had failed twice before, and failed miserably, returning in a sorry state each time.
This had made Apollo a laughingstock among Team Rocket's executives.
He didn't want to be ridiculed forever, and Steven's appearance offered Apollo some chance to atone for his mistakes. Image Ads by PubRevAds by PubRev
"It's just a champion, don't worry about it." Giovanni slowly shook his head.
The Kanto Elite Four all possess Champion-level strength, so adding another champion wouldn't significantly impact the overall situation.
Besides, he had already obtained what he wanted; now all that was missing was for that Pokémon to revive.
The Master Ball's restraint wasn't enough; he needed to create an armor that could limit the opponent's strength. Once that Pokémon adapted to that power, it could crush the entire Kanto League and even the world.
Without Lance's mastery of god-slaying power, he couldn't fight against a 'god'! "Have you found any news about Silver...?"
Giovanni remained silent for a long time before finally mentioning his son.
Silver, his long-lost son, had only been found to be in the Johto region after Giovanni's investigation. He couldn't be sure who had him.
He also sensed that Team Rocket in the Johto region was being manipulated by a mysterious force, causing considerable resistance to the actions of his officers sent to the region. They
still hadn't found any trace of the three legendary beasts.
"Boss... I will do my best to find him, please rest assured."
Apollo's tone was solemn. He had also been to the Johto region.
He had searched almost every town in the Johto region, but there was no news of Silver. The masked man from back then had also disappeared without a trace.
It was as if he had never existed. Silver had been missing for a long time, and Apollo could only bite the bullet and search. As for Silver's appearance, he could only identify him through childhood photos.
"No need." Giovanni waved his hand. As long as he had mastered 'God,' he would naturally have a way to find Silver. The masked man who kidnapped Silver back then was very likely the same person behind the scenes who controlled Team Rocket in the Johto region.
Daring to infiltrate Team Rocket's ranks alone was enough to confirm the masked man's previous identity.
"Boss Giovanni, about Sabrina..." Apollo couldn't help but mention Sabrina.
Sabrina, who was once one of the three executives of Team Rocket, was now on the side of the League.
Sabrina had also obtained a lot of information about Team Rocket. Apollo always adhered to one principle regarding traitors: secretly eliminate them.
"Don't worry about Sabrina."
"Her leaving Team Rocket was inevitable."
Giovanni slowly shook his head. Sabrina joining Team Rocket was an accident in itself. Lt.
Surge and Kiku joining Team Rocket were within Giovanni's expectations, but as for Sabrina… Giovanni had never met her; she joined voluntarily and made a request. Sabrina
leaving voluntarily wouldn't surprise Giovanni.
The only thing that surprised him was the Gym Leader of Macha.
A little-known Gym Leader who could defeat Apollo and Lance, possessing Elite Four-level strength yet not among the eight major Gym Leaders—it was truly strange.
Sabrina and the other Gym Leader were childhood friends.
"Have Fuji speed up the treatment of that Pokémon, and also give the Master Ball materials to Blaine. That old guy knows how to research Poké Balls."
Giovanni took out the materials he had previously obtained from Silph Company and casually tossed them onto the table.
A Master Ball is a good thing, a good thing that can restrain a god.
Giovanni would never have enough of something this good.
"Understood, Boss Giovanni!"
...
The next day.
Bai Yu groggily got out of bed, yawning.
After brushing his teeth and washing his face, he was about to buy some breakfast when he heard a commotion outside.
Stepping out of his room, Bai Yu saw the stands filled with trainers.
One trainer was leaning against the wall, seemingly waiting for a battle.
Before Bai Yu could figure out what was happening, the receptionist rushed over.
"Gym Leader, these are all challengers. They came in as soon as I opened the door."
"They kept saying this is the gym the champion challenged, but it doesn't look very impressive..."
The receptionist chattered on about the challengers' words, their meaning clear: they thought the gym was too weak to be challenged by a champion.
Yesterday, only Blue Green watched his match against Daigo.
That idiot Blue Green was just arrogant; he wouldn't blindly upload videos to the Pokédex.
As for Sabrina, needless to say, she wasn't very interested in those things. She just browsed the Pokédex and looked at the movies and such. Bai Yu had heard more than once about Sabrina's plans to enter the entertainment industry.
"It must be that simpleton. He's had a bit of free time lately, so he's looking for some fun. I just don't know how many people on the field will allow him to use his main strength."
Bai Yu looked at the referee on the field, who seemed a little flustered, with a hint of excitement mixed with his panic—clearly the referee's doing.
This was good; with so many more challengers, it wouldn't be like yesterday, where he only had an interesting match with Daigo, and the rest of the battles were just one-sided massacres.
"Hello everyone, I'm Bai Yu, the Gym Leader of this Gym,"
Bai Yu said with a smile as he walked into the arena and looked at the surrounding audience.
"He's the Gym Leader who fought the Champion. He looks so young, much more handsome than in the photos."
"Yeah, I heard he fought Steven to a standstill, but ultimately lost."
"Lost? Didn't they say he defeated Steven by a narrow margin? And he even used Steven's favorite Steel-type Pokémon, winning by a tiny advantage."
"What nonsense. Didn't the Gym Leader absolutely crush Steven?"
"Right, right, I heard that too. The Gym Leader used a Shiny Metagross, even stronger than Steven's, and killed Steven's Shiny Metagross with one slap." "
..."
The audience kept discussing, and Bai Yu also heard some rumors, his lips twitching.
What did they mean by killing Steven with one slap, making Steven kneel on the ground and beg...
How could such a thing happen? He wasn't Team Rocket, why would he do such an evil thing, and even say such outrageous things as pinning him to the ground and making him beg for mercy?
"That sounds pretty cool. I suggest you talk more; who doesn't appreciate a lot of praise?" "So you're the gym leader of that...dojo?"
"I'm Shuji, the Karate King! I've been traveling since the Fighting Dojo, and this is the first time I've heard of such an arrogant gym leader. Today, I want to see just how strong the trainer who defeated Mr. Daigo really is!"
The middle-aged man, wearing a red karate uniform and a black belt, looked simple and honest, but his eyes held a hint of fighting spirit.
He started as an apprentice at the Goldenrod City Fighting Dojo, then traveled, defeating countless trainers, even participating in last year's Indigo League and achieving a top-four finish.
Afterward, he continued to travel and train, all to challenge the Kanto Elite Four.
Yesterday, he actually saw in the Pokédex that someone could defeat a champion head-on, even a small gym leader from Kanto, which piqued his interest, and Shuji immediately came to Macha City.
Shuji wanted to see if the Gym Leader who could defeat the Champion in a head-on battle was really as strong as the Pokédex boasted.
"Then let's have a Gym battle, referee."
The referee's legs were trembling.
Even someone who frequented the eight Gyms for years had never seen so many people gathered in a Gym as spectators. There were just too many people, and the noise made him feel like he was the head referee of the Indigo League.
Bai Yu couldn't help but find it amusing. This guy was the cause of all this trouble.
Now, this guy was the one who was scared.
"Okay, Gym Leader!"
The referee took a deep breath and nodded.
"Now, let's begin the Gym battle with the Macha Badge as the stake. The challenger is Shuji, a trainer from Goldenrod City."
"The battle rules are 2 vs 2. Gym Leader Bai Yu goes first. As the Gym Leader, you cannot switch Pokémon during the battle. The battle ends when one side's Pokémon is completely unable to battle."
After announcing the rules, the referee left the arena.
Bai Yu didn't think much of it and threw the Poké Ball in front of him.
"It's your turn, Toxapex."
No matter how strong the opponent, sending out Toxapex first is always a good idea.
Besides, a trainer wearing a karate uniform is obviously using a Pokémon.
"Hmph! Pretending to be mysterious!"
Shuji snorted coldly; he naturally hadn't seen this Pokémon before.
However, all Pokémon were nothing compared to his Machamp.
"Let him see the romance of a man, go, my Machamp!"
Shuji threw the Poké Ball forward.
A flash of white light appeared, revealing a humanoid shape with four arms, a gold belt around its waist, and black patterns resembling briefs on its body, looking exceptionally strong.
"It really is Machamp."
"Fighting-type Pokémon aren't common in the Kanto region."
"Even Shiba loves Machamp; as the King of Karate, he naturally uses this Pokémon in battle."
Bai Yu looked at the Machamp on the field; it seemed to be well-trained, much stronger than the trainers he had encountered before, its strength comparable to the four giants of Rainbow City.
"Pin Missile," Bai Yu said calmly.
The spikes on Toxapex's body emitted a green light and instantly flew out.
A dense barrage of pin missiles streaked towards them at incredible speed.
In Shuji's eyes, such a dense attack offered no room for dodge.
He had no choice but to use that move…
"Hmph~ Child's play, Machamp uses Brick Break."
Shuji sneered. As long as he was faster than the pin missiles, he could inflict significant damage on Machamp.
Machamp's four arms glowed simultaneously, swinging rapidly forward.
Fighting-type Brick Break.
The pin missiles continued to strike, and Machamp's swinging speed increased continuously.
All anyone saw was the falling pins, Machamp maintaining a confident expression.
"Nothing special."
As the pin missiles slowly disappeared, Shuji slightly raised his head and said with unusual confidence.
Back at the Indigo League, he had intensified his training because Machamp's speed wasn't fast enough, specifically to counter this dense barrage of attacks.
Let alone missiles, even water cannons can be shattered by Super Strength's tile-breaking ability.
Things weren't as simple as they seemed. Machamp's hands, shoulders, and face were covered in spikes. While Machamp's Brick Break speed was indeed fast, it couldn't withstand the sheer number of Pin Missiles released by Toxapex.
Without the boost from Shadow Clone, trying to block them with speed was a pipe dream.
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(End of Chapter)