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Chapter 166: Giovanni’s Gambit
🕑 Added 2025-02-20 12:28:32 +0000 UTCChapter 166: Giovanni’s Gambit
As Gardevoir’s attack surged forward, Beedrill immediately rushed in front of Giovanni.
With Protect, it formed a shimmering barrier to block the combined attack from both Gardevoir and Mewtwo.
Under the immense psychic pressure, the barrier trembled, straining under the force.
Seeing this, Mewtwo hurled its Aura Sphere forward.
The instant it collided with the barrier—
BOOM!
A violent explosion engulfed Beedrill and Giovanni in a cloud of smoke and fire.
Watching the explosion swallow them, Asahi raised an eyebrow.
Could Giovanni really be taken out this easily?
[Gardevoir, stay on guard!]
Asahi’s mental command had barely reached Gardevoir when—
WHOOSH!
A figure suddenly shot out from the ground beneath Mewtwo’s feet.
It was none other than Golem, its body covered in cracks and wounds from its previous battle with Gardevoir.
Mewtwo had not expected such an attack.
As Golem lunged at it with wild eyes, Giovanni’s cold voice rang out.
“Explosion!”
Midair, Golem’s already fractured body began to glow intensely, radiating blinding light from its cracks.
Mewtwo immediately tried to dodge, but—
It was too close.
It only had enough time to form a weak psychic shield—
BOOM!
A massive explosion erupted, completely engulfing Mewtwo in flames.
Hit directly by Golem’s Explosion, Mewtwo suffered severe damage.
The poison in its body worsened, and as the smoke cleared, Mewtwo lay collapsed on the ground, struggling to move.
It tried to activate Recover, but—
Its body wouldn’t respond.
The battle had drained everything from it.
Seeing Mewtwo completely weakened, Giovanni finally smiled.
His fake retreat had actually been a trap—sacrificing Golem to cripple Mewtwo.
Now, with Mewtwo barely able to move, everything was falling into place.
Aside from Asahi, everyone had fallen for it.
But that didn’t matter anymore—Mewtwo had been neutralized.
At Giovanni’s command, his injured Pokémon launched a final attack to hold off Asahi’s team.
Beedrill, despite its injuries, charged at Gardevoir.
Aggron intercepted Mew.
Nidoking unleashed Earthquake, further devastating the battlefield.
Dugtrio fired three-elemental beams at Salamence, preventing Asahi from interfering.
With all of Asahi’s Pokémon distracted, Persian lunged at Mewtwo, holding a Master Ball in its mouth.
To Giovanni—
Losing New Island?
It didn’t matter. He could rebuild.
His captured subordinates?
He could bail them out—or even break them out.
His exposed identity?
Losing his Gym Leader status meant nothing.
As long as he captured Mewtwo, everything would be worth it.
His eyes burned with determination as he watched the Master Ball move toward Mewtwo.
At that moment, Blaine’s voice came through Asahi’s earpiece.
[Do you want me to intervene?!]
Blaine had been hiding in the rubble as Asahi had instructed, but seeing Mewtwo about to be captured, he couldn’t hold back any longer.
But to his surprise—
[Not yet… Just watch.]
Asahi remained completely calm, standing atop Salamence while countering Dugtrio’s attack.
Blaine was shocked.
Did Asahi have another trick up his sleeve?!
At that moment—
A shadow flickered near Mewtwo.
It was Gengar, peeking out from the darkness with a mischievous grin.
At first, Giovanni ignored it.
Asahi’s Gengar wasn’t even Elite-level, and its Ghost-type moves were ineffective against Persian.
But then—
Gengar did something unexpected.
Instead of attacking, it reached into its own mouth—as if searching for something inside its stomach.
After fumbling around, its eyes lit up.
"Genga!"
With a quick motion, Gengar pulled out a massive suit of armor and threw it at Mewtwo.
“What is that…?”
Though the design was slightly different, Giovanni recognized it immediately—
It was strikingly similar to the M1 Restraint Armor Team Rocket had designed for Mewtwo.
Realizing what it could mean, Giovanni’s face changed dramatically.
He tried to give a command, but—
It was too late.
The M2 Restraint Armor—originally designed by Team Rocket—activated in midair.
Before Persian could reach Mewtwo, the armor locked onto its target.
With a series of metallic clanks, the armor completely encased Mewtwo.
Persian, still following orders, slammed the Master Ball against the armor—
Thud.
Nothing happened.
Persian froze, confused.
But the armor, having been struck, now fully activated.
BEEP!
[Mewtwo detected. Administering Antidote…]
[Mewtwo in weakened state. Administering Hyper Potion…]
Liquid medicine flowed into Mewtwo’s body.
Feeling its strength returning, Mewtwo’s eyes snapped open.
With a surge of psychic energy, Persian was blasted away.
Mewtwo flexed its fingers, feeling power coursing through its body once more.
Turning toward Giovanni, its eyes burned with fury.
“Giovanni…”
Giovanni didn’t respond.
Having his plan foiled twice by Asahi, he sighed internally.
He knew—his time was up.
With one last look at Asahi, Giovanni murmured:
“We’ll meet again.”
Then, releasing Weezing, he engulfed the battlefield in thick smog and vanished.
Moments later, Crobat emerged from the smoke, carrying Giovanni away.
Watching him flee, Asahi smirked.
“Until next time, Giovanni.”
Mewtwo let out a sigh of relief, taking one last glance at Mew before collapsing onto the ground.
This battle had drained far too much of its energy.
Even after using Recover and receiving potions, Mewtwo couldn’t hold on any longer.
“Mew!”
Mew flew over to Mewtwo, sighing in relief after confirming that it was okay.
Meanwhile, Giovanni had been struck by Mewtwo’s Shadow Ball and sent plunging into the sea. However, Asahi didn’t feel the slightest bit of relief—instead, he frowned.
Just moments ago, Gardevoir had informed him that while his attention was drawn to Crobat, she had sensed a teleportation energy fluctuation from within the smokescreen.
“We got tricked…?” Asahi muttered, brows furrowing.
He had clearly sensed Giovanni’s Aura near Crobat, so how had he managed to deceive Asahi’s Aura Sense?
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t figure it out.
Mew used Psychic to lift Mewtwo and bring it over to Asahi.
At that moment, Blaine emerged, and in the distance, Sabrina and Green arrived as well.
Asahi posed the question to the group.
While Blaine and Sabrina were still deep in thought, Green suddenly raised a finger and hesitantly suggested, “Isn’t it possible that the Teleport in the smokescreen was just a diversion, and the one hit by the Shadow Ball was actually Giovanni?”
Everyone: “…!?”
---
Bringing Lugia Jr. and Gardevoir, Asahi searched the area where Giovanni had fallen into the sea multiple times—but found nothing.
If Green’s guess was correct, there were only two possibilities:
1. Giovanni had been swallowed whole by a passing Water-type Pokémon—perhaps a Gyarados—leaving no trace behind.
2. He had remained conscious after falling and had already escaped the waters around New Island.
Sigh…
Asahi let out a sigh. Maybe he and Giovanni just weren’t meant to be.
Such a pity… If he had actually captured Giovanni, Asahi figured the Pokémon League would at least reward him with an Elite Four position—maybe even consider him for Champion.
By the time Asahi returned to New Island, Team Rocket had already been completely wiped out by Lorelei, Sabrina, Blaine, and Green.
With Sabrina and Blaine leading the way, every possible hiding spot on the island had been thoroughly searched, uncovering numerous Rocket members.
“The cleanup is complete.
In total: 73 scientists, 1 high-ranking officer, 1 squad captain, 7 team leaders, and 327 elite and regular Rocket members have been captured. Some managed to escape into the sea, but everyone else has been apprehended.” Green handed the final report to Asahi.
Naturally, not all of Team Rocket’s forces were mindless fools—many had jumped into the ocean to flee the moment they realized things were turning south. As a result, only about half of New Island’s stationed forces had actually been captured.
“Good work.” Asahi took the report from Green, then turned toward Lorelei, whose stockings were already torn from battle, and sincerely thanked her. “We couldn’t have done this without you, Lorelei.”
Without Lorelei’s presence, today’s events wouldn’t have ended so cleanly.
Had she not been here, even if Sabrina had backstabbed Team Rocket, Asahi would likely have had no choice but to retreat with Mew and Mewtwo.
“Hard work… yeah, you could say that.” Lorelei sighed.
“No one told me before coming here that I’d be raiding a full-scale Team Rocket base—let alone that I’d run into the Rocket Boss and a Legendary Pokémon…” Her gaze lingered on Mew, who was lazily lounging on Asahi’s shoulder.
Asahi awkwardly coughed and explained, “That was necessary for secrecy… You know how the League’s situation is right now.”
Lorelei nodded, accepting the answer.
The League’s internal issues had existed for years—as someone who had been an Elite Four member for so long, she understood this better than anyone.
“So, what’s your next move?” she asked. “How do you plan to handle Giovanni being the Rocket Boss?”
This revelation was a massive scandal.
With three Gym Leaders now confirmed as Team Rocket members, the League not only had to find replacements but also repair its public image.
Hearing this, Asahi simply shrugged. “I’m just a regular International Police officer. This kind of cleanup work should be left to the professionals.”
A “regular” International Police officer…
Hearing Asahi’s words, Lorelei, Blaine, Sabrina, and Green all fell silent.
They looked around.
…Was this really something a “regular” officer could do?
Unfazed by their incredulous stares, Asahi continued, “Besides, no matter how much of a mess this is, it’s still easier than fighting Team Rocket.”
Lorelei nodded. That was true.
Even though Giovanni had escaped, Team Rocket had suffered a critical blow—for the next few years, they would definitely lay low.
Thinking of this, Lorelei adjusted her glasses and suddenly smirked mischievously.
“Actually, I just remembered—I still have unfinished business at the Sevii Islands. I’ll leave all the cleanup to Lance.”
“He’s been aiming for the Champion title lately, so I won’t steal this credit from him.”
“……”
Hearing this, Asahi silently mourned for Lance for three seconds.
But as long as he didn’t have to deal with it, that was all that mattered.
Without hesitation, Asahi responded, “Then take care, Lorelei.
Lance is already at Indigo Plateau—it’s closest to Viridian Gym, so it’s only fitting that he handles its cleanup.”
With just a few words, the two of them dumped the entire problem on Lance.
Meanwhile, at Indigo Plateau…
Lance, who was reviewing the League’s budget, suddenly sneezed.
Rubbing his nose, he muttered, “Am I catching a cold from all this overtime?”
Then, his thoughts drifted.
“Asahi should be taking down a Rocket base about now… With Lorelei there, it should be fine, right?”
“…Maybe I should call and check.”
After a brief pause, Lance picked up his phone and dialed Asahi’s number.
Later, every time Lance found himself buried in endless cleanup work, he would regret that decision immensely.
---
By the time they had wrapped up operations on New Island and handed the captured Rockets over to League prosecutors, it was already evening.
Most of Team Rocket’s forces were handed over to the League, but Matori, the most important captive, was personally handed over to Sabrina.
Asahi planned to take her back to a safe house in Saffron City.
---
