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Chapter 189: He’s Giovanni’s Son
🕑 Added 2025-02-26 13:11:42 +0000 UTCChapter 189: He’s Giovanni’s Son
“Nidoking, Earthquake!”
With Sneasel’s movements restricted, it was the perfect moment to strike.
At Gary’s command, Nidoking let out a roar and stomped the ground hard.
Even Asahi, watching from the sidelines, could feel the entire gym tremble.
He raised an eyebrow—Gary’s Nidoking had improved significantly.
If Earth Power showcased Gary’s tactical growth, then Earthquake was a clear sign of his raw strength increasing as well.
On the battlefield, Sneasel instantly realized the danger.
Before the shockwave could reach it, Sneasel stepped on a boulder and leapt into the air, narrowly avoiding the tremors.
Midair, Sneasel adjusted its posture and dived toward Nidoking, its claws glowing silver.
“Metal Claw!”
With the momentum from its descent, Sneasel slashed down at Nidoking with full force.
Surprisingly, Gary didn’t command Nidoking to dodge.
Sneasel’s Metal Claw struck Nidoking’s arm.
But something felt off.
Both Silver and Sneasel sensed it—something was wrong.
Then, a grin appeared on Nidoking’s face.
Bad news.
Just as the thought crossed Silver’s mind, Nidoking clenched its free fist tightly and swung with full force—
Counter!
Boom!
The punch landed squarely on Sneasel!
The massive fist smashed into Sneasel’s face, leaving it momentarily dazed.
Even worse, a faint purple hue spread across Sneasel’s face.
It had been poisoned by Nidoking’s Poison Point ability.
The fragile balance it had been maintaining shattered instantly.
As it landed, Sneasel dropped to one knee, panting heavily, looking as if the slightest breeze could topple it over.
Its energy was completely drained—it was standing purely on willpower.
Gary didn’t launch another attack.
After all, they were colleagues. Since the match was clearly decided, there was no need to push further.
Silver realized this as well.
He whispered a quiet “thank you,” then took out an Antidote and administered it to Sneasel before recalling it into its Poké Ball.
Not even able to defeat a substitute Gym Leader like Gary, Silver now fully grasped the massive gap between himself and that man.
Asahi, who had been watching the whole match, wasn’t surprised.
After being trained by Sabrina, Liza, and Agatha—on top of an entire week of acting as a temporary Gym Leader—if Gary still couldn’t beat Silver, that would have been shocking.
At the end of the day, Silver had only just begun his journey as a Trainer and only had a single Pokémon.
Walking over, Asahi patted Silver on the shoulder and offered a few words of encouragement.
Then, glancing at the battlefield—which was once again in ruins from Earthquake—he turned to Gary with an amused expression.
“You know, when I got here, the field was already a wreck from Earthquake. And now it’s like this again… Don’t tell me you’ve been deliberately wrecking the field so you can slack off while it gets repaired?” Asahi said.
Hiss—
He saw through it! As expected of Asahi!
Gary was inwardly shaken.
Asahi clicked his tongue. “Relax, no need for that guilty look. I figured out that trick years ago.”
“If you really feel overwhelmed, just set up a preliminary round outside the Gym. Have challengers compete among themselves first and only let a few through each day.”
Gary hesitated. “But what about the League…?”
Asahi gave him a strange look. “The League is our people. What are you afraid of?”
“Your grandpa is Professor Oak, your superior is me, and I have a good relationship with all of the Elite Four… As long as you don’t blatantly slack off, filtering challengers with a fair pre-battle tournament is completely fine.”
Gary froze.
Oh, right!
After being PUA’d by Asahi for so long, he had almost forgotten that the League was run by their own people.
This was Asahi’s fault.
In his mind, Gary quickly justified his previous oversight.
Had Asahi known Gary was mentally blaming him, he would’ve definitely given him a debuff instead.
“I’ll be taking Silver with me. Viridian Gym is in your hands,” Asahi said, waving as he left.
Watching Asahi disappear, Gary let out a deep breath.
Finally, I can slack off!
He immediately called the Gym staff over and instructed them to implement a preliminary challenge system.
Just as they were about to leave to prepare, Gary suddenly remembered something and called them back.
“Oh, right—if some idiot wearing a League-limited edition commemorative cap shows up with a Pikachu, let him through without making him qualify.”
Even though it had been a long time since they last met, Gary clearly still had Ash on his mind.
—
“Are we heading back now?”
Walking through the streets of Viridian City, Silver—his red hair now dyed black—asked.
After spending the past two days at the estate, Silver had keenly noticed that Asahi’s relationship with his sister was not just a simple superior-subordinate dynamic.
Coupled with the way Asahi had spoken to him that day, Silver now felt noticeably less restrained around him.
“No, since we’re already out, let’s make a trip to Indigo Plateau,” Asahi said.
Lance had previously tasked him with inspecting the Gyms. Aside from Cerulean Gym, which needed a re-evaluation, he had completed the job.
Last time, he had been in a rush when meeting Lance at Viridian Gym and forgot to finalize the report. He might as well handle it now.
Instead of taking a taxi—since Team Rocket might be running some of them—Asahi and Silver rode Salamence to Indigo Plateau.
Indigo Plateau
Nothing had changed since Asahi’s last visit. The city remained untouched by the chaos brewing in Kanto and Johto.
Leading Silver, Asahi effortlessly navigated his way to Lance’s office. After showing his credentials, they were allowed in without issue.
Knocking before entering, they found Lance engrossed in paperwork.
Seeing Asahi, Lance was both surprised and confused. “Asahi? Why are you here? Did something happen with Team Rocket or the Masked Army?”
“…The way you say that makes me sound like a walking disaster,” Asahi complained.
Silence filled the room for a moment.
“….”
“…Ahem, well, this visit isn’t about Team Rocket or the Masked Army.”
Last time, he had stirred up trouble, leaving both Giovanni and Pryce busy preparing for war. They had no time for mischief right now.
Lance was puzzled. “Then…?”
Asahi waved a USB drive. “The Gym assessments you asked me to conduct—everything’s recorded here. Some parts are videos, and for the ones I couldn’t record, I wrote reports.”
Well… technically, Leaf wrote them.
But if you rounded up, it was still his work.
Hearing this, Lance suddenly looked a bit awkward. “Oh… about that… I kinda forgot to tell you. After you exposed Giovanni’s identity, the League Council automatically considered the assessment complete.”
Asahi: “….?”
It was already over, and you didn’t tell me? Green spent days writing reports and making PPTs for nothing?!
Lance realized his mistake. He had been so busy that he never got around to notifying Asahi.
Trying to salvage the situation, an idea struck him. “How about this—why not handle Johto’s Gym assessments too? Then you can report everything together.”
Asahi gave him a long, deadpan stare.
“You think I look like an idiot?”
“…Ahem.”
Lance coughed awkwardly, trying to mask his embarrassment.
After thinking for a moment, Asahi said, “I’m not doing the Gym assessments, but the title might be useful.”
“Title?” Lance blinked.
“You know I’m planning to take down Team Rocket and the Masked Army, right? My forces alone aren’t enough, and aside from Bruno, you Elite Four are all tied up in Kanto. I’ll need to rely on Johto’s Gym Leaders.”
Lance immediately understood. “So you’re saying…?”
“Using Gym assessments as a reason to connect with them.”
Lance had no reason to refuse.
Aside from rooting out spies, the Johto Gym inspections weren’t particularly important. Unlike Kanto, where the Gyms had completely deteriorated, Johto’s still had some standards.
As for finding moles… that was exactly the kind of job Asahi excelled at.
Even if his stated goal was merely to rally the Gym Leaders against Team Rocket and the Masked Army, Lance was confident that if any of them were compromised, Asahi would sniff them out.
“If you’re unsure who to trust, go to Ecruteak City and find my cousin, Clair,” Lance suggested.
After dealing with two Gym Leaders who were Team Rocket admins and one who was their boss, Lance had become highly skeptical of Johto’s Gym Leaders.
His cousin was the only one he could vouch for.
Asahi chuckled at Lance’s concern, showing no sign of pressure.
With business concluded, Lance finally turned his attention to Silver.
Curious, he asked, “A new recruit? I don’t recall seeing him before.”
“This is the Silver I asked you to find,” Asahi replied.
“Hm? But wasn’t he supposed to have red—”
Lance paused, confused.
Asahi casually bent down to pick up a fallen document and said, “I had him disguise himself. It wouldn’t be good if Giovanni found out.”
“Giovanni? What does dyeing his hair have to do with—” Lance trailed off.
Asahi smirked.
“He’s Giovanni’s son.”
