Chapter no.185 Team Rocket's Activity

" Pikachu , please stop eating that ketchup."
" Chu Pikachu."
The first two weeks of June and had come and gone, and now, a day later after Cynthia had left for Sinnoh, Austin found himself, in a T-shirt and shorts, standing on the shore, looking at the vast sea around, one that connected the solitary Birth Island to the rest of the world, and importantly, his destination, Vermillion Harbour.
His training session with Cynthia and her actions of trying to help him left a great impact on Austin's mind.
The very morning when Cynthia left, he had suddenly felt something he had never really felt before.
He missed her.
And that's when he realized something that left him horrified , he was falling for her. He liked talking with her for hours on end ,this wasn't just some crush like with Jane he wanted to spend more time with her. He enjoyed those strolls they had , those strategies they discussed and even though he didn't know why but he missed those small arguments they had. And most of all ,she liked him too if those hints she was dropping were anything to go by.
Austin pinched the bridge of his eyebrows because he knew that it wasn't going to be possible. He was trying to get back to his own world and pursuing any kind of relationship wasn't on the table.
Placing a hand on the small casket of Raticate beside him , Austin with a melancholic look in his eyes thought,' My life has truly become something else.'
( ~ Ting ~ )
Looking at his Pokedex , Austin took a deep breath as he received the notification that a trainer will be waiting for him at the Vermilion Harbour to teleport him to lavender town.
' Never did I expect that a service for teleportation would exist.'
Austin thought as he remembered Cynthia's last words before she left.
' You are going to call me up every week on that number. Is that clear, Mister? '
" I wonder if she arrived in Sinnoh."
Over the last few days, he had extensively trained, both himself and his pokémon. There had no new moves to learn, only old ones to perfect. After a week of learning new skills and battle-technique from Champion-level pokémon, it was time to implement them and put them in order. Older and basic-level moves had to be permanently replaced with advanced and more powerful ones. There was no point in learning a hundred moves, but mastering a few to absolute perfection.
That had been the goal.
And be sure of it. It hadn't been easy. In fact, it had been Hell with a Capital H for some of the members of his team- Wortortle and Shedninja being the most distinct. While Wortortle was getting used to his new body and power ,Shedninja was something else as he wouldn't do anything until he outright asked him to and he would do that task for hours on end without a single break in between which left Austin with an anxious look.
Wortortle had to battle a few times with the others to get a hang of his new body but it was coming along.
Scizor had been literally beaten to death by Charmeleon, who in turn, had been knocked out more times than he could count. Pikachu had run Ninjask to his afterlife and back, uncompromising and firm, until the ninja pokemon had gotten used to flying. Said Rodent himself, had also been run ragged by a rather authoritarian Clefairy, teaching him the art of Play Rough , something that Pikachu had been having a lot of trouble with.
Crabby and Buttterfree had made remarkable growth and were now ready to learn better techniques, and on their way to versatility. Bulbasaur, Pidgeot and Fearow were already there, something that had made Austin work out on the next set of combo moves that he needed to work them on
Charmeleon had finally mastered Draco Meteor, and though he wasn't as… natural with it like Garchomp, he had persevered, and was now one of the strongest offensive battlers on his team, on par with the likes of Pikachu and Scizor .
His hand almost subconsciously reached for the tear-drop ornament that he wore inside his shirt, caressing the crystalline object that had been her gift to him. He had faced her in exactly twenty-six battles, and each and every time, she had wiped the floor with him using nothing but sheer tactical manoeuvres. Every night, after dinner, Austin had meticulously studied and noted down the inferences from the day's battles, the techniques she had used, the modulations she made, the mistakes he had committed—everything. During his training, he had done his absolute best to incorporate those inferences into his own battling style which resulted in the win against Garchomp even though she was holding back.
And now… Kanto was waiting for him. His friends were waiting for him.
He had Professor Oak assure them that he was fine but now he was ready to face them and deliver the news of Raticate's death.
[ Meanwhile at Indigo Plateau.]
By tradition, a meeting of the Elite Four and the Gym Leaders was held twice a year, the first being just after the day the registrations for the upcoming Indigo Conference had finished, which was usually sometime in the middle of February, and the next being just after the Celebrations party held in honour of the new winner and the Top-4. This one was usually in the last week of March, after which, the declaration of results for the Trainer Certification was released out. Today's meeting however, was more of a special session, one that was being presided by the Champion (a rare thing) and not related to the Indigo Conference at all.
Inside the large, stone-walled conference room, seated across two concentric U-shaped tables, were the Gym leaders and the Elite Four, the latter seated up front, facing the elevated podium upon which Lance stood, with a sprawling table behind him.
"As you well know, the SS. Anne event has hit Kanto hard, with several questions raised over our administration and security, especially with this…" Lance paused, "... Mewtwo business."
"But we haven't detected any Team Rocket activity ever since then." Erica, the Gym leader of Celadon city, spoke up. Erica was a black-haired woman, in her early twenties, who always dressed in Japanese kimono and professionalized in grass-type pokémon. She also owned a grass-type nursery close to Pallet, but that was a story for another day.
"You are right, we didn't. At least, not in Kanto at least." It was Steven Stone, who answered the impending question. "However, we have received… intelligence about a large scale Team Rocket attack on the outskirts of Mirage Island, in Hoenn."
One of the most higher ups of the Indigo Plateau whose authority rivaled the Elite four, Giovanni, the former Viridian city gym leader posed. "I wasn't informed that Team Rocket has been active outside of Kanto."
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[ 𝐎𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡 ]
𝗜𝗻 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗮𝘁, 𝗮 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗽𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝗵𝗮𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿. 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿, 𝗱𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗮𝘁. 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝘄𝗹 𝘂𝗽 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀, 𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗲𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀, 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗼𝘄𝘀 - 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗯𝗹𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗼. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 – 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗽𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗻, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗮 𝗺𝗮𝗻. 𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗴𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗞𝗼𝗴𝗮 𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗷𝗮 𝗼𝗳 𝗙𝘂𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗮 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗮 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗹𝗲'𝘀 𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗼𝗺 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗮 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗳𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝘆 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱. 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗹𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱, 𝘀𝗼 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗻𝗲'𝘀 𝗰𝗲𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱-𝗯𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗰𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿.