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Chapter 206: 'Beware of Asahi’s Schemes'—Banned from the Chat
🕑 Added 2025-03-03 15:22:13 +0000 UTCChapter 206: 'Beware of Asahi’s Schemes'—Banned from the Chat
When Asahi assigned him to mentor a newcomer, Silver’s first instinct was to refuse.
This guy looked like a complete airhead. Partnering up with him was more likely to cause trouble than help.
But Ethan didn't notice Silver’s reluctance at all.
Excitedly, he nudged Silver. "So you’re Silver? Guess we're colleagues now! I’ll teach you how to play billiards and card games!"
"Oh, and this is Explosion Taro. Say hi to our new teammate!"
Silver: "..."
Watching Ethan, Silver had a bad feeling that his professional career would be far from peaceful.
But since Asahi had assigned the task, he had no choice but to put up with it.
"Right, almost forgot to add you to the chat group." Asahi invited Ethan to the team chat.
[Notification: 'Ethan' has joined the 'Anti-Rocket & Masked Army Operations Team']
The group's 24/7 chatterbox, Gary, immediately sent a message.
"Beware of Asahi’s schemes": 【Welcome, new member! Please carefully read these rules:】
【1. Don't trust anything Asahi says.】
【2. Be wary of any offers from Asahi.】
【3. If you can’t resist an offer, prepare for the worst.】
[System: 'Beware of Asahi’s Schemes' has been muted by 'Gardevoir Is the Best']
'Jigglypuff Is the Cutest': "Gary, you're messing with Asahi again."
'Psychic Beauty': "(laughs)"
'Silver': "Moment of silence.jpg"
'Ethan Taro': "What’s going on…? (confused)"
'Gardevoir Is the Best': "That’s just Gary. He’s been under too much stress lately, don’t mind him. He’ll be fine after a while."
'Ethan Taro': "(Oh, I see)"
---
With Ethan receiving his starter Pokémon, the situation in New Bark Town was temporarily settled.
The ever-energetic Ethan and the perpetually indifferent Silver left together.
Their task, assigned by Asahi, was to investigate the movements of Team Rocket and the Masked Army’s grunts and report back at any time.
"With their completely opposite personalities, will they really get along?" Sabrina asked curiously.
Green thought for a moment. "They should. Silver may seem cold, but he’s actually quite kind."
Asahi was even more confident than Green and didn’t worry in the slightest.
"Trust me, they’ll be the perfect partners."
No one was more suited to be Silver’s partner than Ethan. With just a little teamwork training, the two of them would undoubtedly develop synergy where one plus one was greater than two.
"So, do we proceed with our original plan?" Sabrina asked.
According to the previous plan, she was supposed to head to Goldenrod City and meet with Whitney at the Goldenrod Gym.
Asahi nodded, then shook his head, confusing Sabrina. "We just got new intel from Ethan, so we need to make some adjustments."
"You mean Team Rocket mobilizing forces near Azalea Town?" Sabrina recalled the intelligence she had seen.
As a former Rocket Executive, she was well aware of their operational style.
For a task force to be reassigned before even completing their current mission, there was only one explanation—
The new mission had a very high priority.
She shared her analysis with Asahi.
Asahi agreed. "That's right. Team Rocket must have discovered something that the Masked Army was trying to keep hidden."
Others might not know Pryce’s secret, but he certainly did.
The shrine in Ilex Forest, dedicated to the 'Forest Guardian' Celebi, was Pryce’s biggest weakness.
Hearing Asahi’s words, Green also recalled something—how, back when she was in the Masked Army, the Masked Man would always enter a weakened state during a full moon.
Looking back now, it was highly likely that this had something to do with Celebi.
Asahi concluded, "Our priority remains the same—we need to establish contact with the Gym Leaders. But we need to be faster. We have to complete the coordination across Johto before Team Rocket and the Masked Army engage in all-out war."
---
Mahogany Gym
Pryce lay on a hospital bed, bandages wrapped around his body. He claimed he needed rest and had just dismissed another group of concerned League officials.
The moment he was alone, the kind yet troubled expression on his face vanished, replaced by cold indifference and even a hint of gritted-teeth rage.
"Team Rocket... Giovanni."
To be honest, before Mahogany Gym was attacked, Pryce had thought his disguise was flawless.
But Giovanni's surprise attack had caught him off guard.
He had never imagined that the day would come when someone would storm his home.
Actually, if Giovanni had come with proof, Pryce might have admitted defeat—after all, that would mean his disguise wasn't good enough.
But the reason Giovanni attacked him was simply because he and the Masked Man were both Ice-type Pokémon specialists?
Did Team Rocket not care about actual evidence?!
The sheer absurdity of it made Pryce feel like he had swallowed a bug.
To make things worse, Giovanni had even demanded he hand over Silver, saying,
"Give us Silver, and we'll temporarily cease hostilities with the Masked Army to deal with the League together."
Yes, he had kidnapped Silver once before, but that was years ago!
Who knew where that kid had run off to by now?!
But when he saw Giovanni’s uncompromising expression, Pryce knew—this wasn't going to end peacefully.
He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
No matter what, he had repelled Team Rocket’s attack. Sure, half of the Gym had been destroyed in the process, and now he had to pretend to be critically injured to avoid excessive League scrutiny…
But still. He had won.
"Time to speed up the plan."
After years of research, he had finally found the missing key to capturing Celebi—the GS Ball.
Its crafting method was in the hands of his old acquaintance, Kurt, which wouldn’t be too difficult to obtain.
However, the two key ingredients for its creation—the Rainbow Wing and the Silver Wing—had been stolen by Green when she escaped with Silver.
Green’s whereabouts were unknown.
If he wanted those feathers, his only option was to capture Ho-Oh and Lugia again…
"Ho-Oh, Lugia... We meet again."
Pryce’s eyes darkened.
Just as he was about to set off to hunt them down, his communicator chimed with a new message.
[Itsuki: Boss, Team Rocket is deploying a large-scale search operation around Azalea Town. Awaiting orders.]
Pryce's face stiffened.
He was getting raided?!
---
