Chapter 219
Asahi dragged Pryce out of the time rift, the portal slowly closing behind them now that Celebi's energy was gone.
The once dazzling tunnel of time reverted back into an ordinary, unassuming shrine.
"Finally… out of there."
Breathing in the crisp, cold air outside, Asahi felt a wave of relief wash over him.
Even though he had the GS Ball, the protection of the Rainbow and Silver Wings, and had captured Celebi—he still didn't want to stay in the time rift any longer than necessary.
The power of time was something he barely understood, and the unknown always carried risk.
One wrong move, and who knew what could happen?
Asahi glanced around.
The battle outside was over.
Shigeru was suspended in mid-air by Sabrina's psychic powers—his Xatu, completely overpowered by Alakazam's mental assault, lay unconscious on the ground.
Nearby, Amara sat atop her Steelix, tightly binding Lila. Lila's Umbreon, meanwhile, was pinned to the snow by Asahi's own Eevee, who was giving it a merciless thrashing.
It seemed Umbreon had taken some prior damage—making it no match for Eevee now.
Seeing the two Eevee locked in combat, Asahi instinctively pulled out his phone.
Snap!
Hearing the camera click, Eevee turned its head. The moment it spotted Asahi, its face lit up with joy—it immediately abandoned Umbreon and leapt toward him.
And then—
Thud!
With a dramatic flop, Eevee landed face-first into the snow, disappearing completely beneath the surface.
A corner of Asahi's mouth twitched.
Reaching down, he grabbed his short-legged Eevee by the scruff and shook the snow off its fur.
By now, the others had noticed Asahi—and the handcuffed Pryce beside him.
"We did it…"
Green stared at Pryce, a wave of overwhelming emotion crashing over her—she felt like she might cry.
Even Silver, who seemed calm on the surface, couldn't stop his hands from trembling ever so slightly.
Bruno, taking in the sight of Asahi capturing Pryce without a scratch, couldn't help but ask, "Asahi, just how strong are you now?"
They had all seen Pryce defeat Giovanni firsthand.
Asahi shrugged, modestly saying, "It was a bit tricky… plus, Giovanni had already worn down Pryce's Piloswine and Delibird."
If Giovanni hadn't weakened Pryce's team, taking him down wouldn't have been so easy.
But speaking of Giovanni…
Asahi glanced left and right, his brow furrowing. "Where's Giovanni?"
He was just here when Asahi entered the time rift—so why was he gone now?
At Asahi's question, Bruno coughed awkwardly. "Uh… sorry, Asahi. He… escaped."
Bruno's voice was laced with embarrassment.
This operation was supposed to be flawless—a clean sweep of both Team Rocket and the Masked Man's forces. Kanto and Johto would have become the safest regions in the world.
But because of Bruno's mistake, Giovanni got away.
Bruno quickly explained how Giovanni had called in a battle airship for extraction.
After hearing the full story, Asahi fell silent for a moment before sighing.
"It's not your fault. Honestly… I didn't see that coming either."
An airship hidden in the sky—no wonder Giovanni had been so confident when threatening Pryce. His escape plan had been ready from the start.
Typical Giovanni.
It just went to show how deep Team Rocket's resources ran.
Eradicating Team Rocket wasn't going to happen overnight.
Still… the operation had yielded significant results.
Asahi's gaze shifted to the captured Masked Man commanders—Shigeru, Lila, Sham, and Karen—as well as the disgruntled Lance and the frozen-solid Lambda.
(Having hard time finding the commanders names.But just forget about them. They are not as important as team rocket ones, who will appear more.)
Not a single Masked Man member escaped.
Team Rocket lost two of their four generals, and with the grunts outside captured as well, the Johto branch of Team Rocket had taken a massive blow.
For the foreseeable future, Team Rocket wouldn't have the strength to cause any more trouble.
Using Aura, Asahi briefly checked Lambda's condition. "He's still alive—get him medical attention."
"As for the rest… detain them for now. We'll deal with them later."
"For now—let's celebrate at the hotel."
After days of high-intensity work dealing with the Masked Man, Asahi figured they deserved a little reward.
Before anyone else could react, a Poké Ball at Asahi's waist suddenly popped open.
With a roar, his Salamence appeared, looking far too excited.
Asahi: "…"
It hadn't come out during the battle—but the moment food was mentioned, it showed up immediately.
Typical.
Still—before anything else—there was someone Asahi needed to inform.
He pulled out his phone.
"…That's the situation. Thanks for your support, Lance."
Though Lance hadn't been there in person, his efforts in rallying League trainers and prosecutors had played a crucial role.
Without their help, they might have won the battle—but they wouldn't have wiped out Team Rocket's outer forces.
"The real MVP was you," Lance replied. "But… letting Giovanni escape is a shame."
Giovanni was the glue holding Team Rocket together. Without him, the organization would crumble.
But as long as Giovanni lived—Team Rocket would never truly fall.
"It's not entirely a bad thing," Asahi said thoughtfully. "At least this way… Team Rocket's still a manageable threat."
Better the devil you know than the devil you don't.
Lance thought for a moment and felt that Asahi might have a point…
After discussing all this, Lance asked again, "What are you planning to do with Pryce and the Masked Army?"
Due to the recent surge of captured Team Rocket members, the League's prisons were under considerable strain.
Although a batch of Team Rocket members had been bailed out earlier, the prisons were still overcrowded.
Hearing this, Asahi spread his hands helplessly. "I can't do much about that. You handle the regular members and the officers… As for Pryce, I'll take him back to the Kanto branch and personally oversee his imprisonment."
It wasn't that he didn't trust the League… Okay, fine, he didn't trust the security of the League's prisons.
If Pryce somehow escaped one day, that would be a real headache.
Lance had no objections, but he still reminded Asahi of one thing: "About those Masked Army officers — since they were all kidnapped by Pryce as children, convicting them might be tricky."
He was referring to Carr, Orm, Rika, and Sham.
(Again name change. I don't know who is who. The switch between Japanese and English, while mixing them together...)
They had been taken by Pryce at a young age. Legally speaking, they could also be seen as victims forced into crime.
"We'll follow the League's laws on this." As an enforcer of the law, Asahi naturally upheld the League's regulations.
Besides… with the Masked Army disbanded, Asahi didn't really care what happened to those officers.
After all, according to the original storyline, Carr and Rika would later go on to become Elite Four members…
Hearing Asahi's stance, Lance nodded. He was merely giving a heads-up. If Asahi wanted to push for their conviction, he would have to gather substantial evidence.
Since Asahi didn't seem interested in that, it didn't matter anymore.
"Shall I notify the media now and report this? With the Indigo Conference approaching, this success can serve as proof that Kanto is becoming safer." This was actually a pleasant surprise for Lance.
He was in charge of organizing this year's Indigo Conference. If it went off without a hitch, his promotion to Champion would be practically guaranteed.
From this angle, Asahi had done him a huge favor.
Asahi didn't really mind… but just as he was about to respond, a thought suddenly crossed his mind.
He gave Lance a slight smile. "Let's wait two days. I have a little something to take care of."
…
Goldenrod City — Silph Co. Hotel
In the event hall sponsored by Silph Co.'s president, a banquet was being held to celebrate the victory against Team Rocket and the Masked Army.
Click.
Asahi snapped a photo of his Salamence devouring food and his Eevee smearing cake all over its face, then posted it to his social media.
[Gardevoir Best Girl]: Celebrating the great success of the operation against the Masked Army and Team Rocket!
The moment the post went up, Asahi received a flood of likes.
Lance: [Like]
Bruno: [Like]
Lorelei: [A banquet? Why wasn't there one after the New Island incident… (smile)]
Asahi smacked his forehead. Right — there wasn't a celebration after the New Island incident. He had been too busy helping Mr. Fuji treat his arm.
Reply to Lorelei: [Ah… I'll make it up to you when I visit the Sevii Islands next time?]
Lorelei: [I'll remember that~]
Posting on social media had somehow gotten him roped into buying dinner.
Asahi sighed. Just as he was about to close the app, he received a message from Gary.
[Next Time I Won't Dare, Please Unban Me]: ??? There's a banquet? Another operation? When did this happen? Why didn't I know about it?!
[Gardevoir Best Girl]: Hm? Didn't I tell you?
Asahi was puzzled. He was sure he had mentioned it to Gary.
**[Next Time I Won't Dare, Please Unban Me]: When did you ever tell me… (speechless)]
Scrolling through his chat history with Gary, Asahi realized most of it was Gary begging him to lift his chat ban.
[Gardevoir Best Girl]: Alright… my bad…
[Next Time I Won't Dare, Please Unban Me]: So… can you unban me now? (pleading)
Gary was quick to seize the opportunity.
Seeing his message, Asahi did a quick mental count — Gary had been banned for five days. Judging by the sheer volume of remorseful DMs he had sent, he seemed to have reflected deeply on his mistake.
[Gardevoir Best Girl]: Fine…
[System Notice]: "Next Time I Won't Dare, Please Unban Me" has been unbanned.
[System Notice]: "Next Time I Won't Dare, Please Unban Me" has changed their name to "Young Master Gary Is Back in Style."
[Young Master Gary Is Back in Style]: I'm back, everyone!
[Young Master Gary Is Back in Style]: @Everyone — Celebrate! Rejoice!
[Gardevoir Best Girl]: …
[Jigglypuff Is the Cutest]: …
[Silver]: …
[Ethan]: Is this really Gary?
[Cinnabar Island Riddle Master]: Yep, it's him…
[Psychic Girl]: @Gardevoir Best Girl — can you lock him up again?
The chat had grown chaotic the moment Gary returned.
Even Asahi wondered if freeing him was a mistake.
Still, he held back.
He figured Gary deserved a couple of days to enjoy his freedom — he wasn't a tyrant, after all.
That said, Asahi decided that to keep Gary's ego in check, he'd need to challenge him to a battle soon — a gentle reminder of his actual standing in the group.
Having made up his mind, Asahi opened his streaming app.
…
For Kiki, today was yet another great day.
Thanks to the attention from two previous high-profile incidents, Kiki had become a fairly popular streamer on her platform.
Every time she saw her steadily growing viewer count, she couldn't help but think back to that morning when the user "Slaking of in work" dropped a massive donation.
Though her audience often joked about her being a "Gym Leader Curse," Kiki was still grateful to that generous viewer.
Of course, she hoped there wouldn't be any more Gym Leader scandals — losing a bit of popularity was a small price to pay for her peace of mind.
At least then, when she attended Paldea's Gym Leader gatherings, she wouldn't be the butt of every joke.
Shaking off those thoughts, Kiki struck a pose and started her stream.
"Good morning, afternoon, and evening, everyone! Welcome to Kiki's livestream!"
"Today's stream is the classic Q&A session. I had my Bellibolt randomly pick 20 audience questions yesterday, and I'll be answering them one by one."
"First up, a question from a viewer named 'Adorable Glameow': 'Does Paldea have Pokémon Contests?'"
"Paldea doesn't currently hold Contests — they're only in Hoenn for now. But I've heard from a friend that Sinnoh is considering introducing them. If you're interested, keep an eye out for updates!"
"Next, from 'Working Hard in Alola': 'Any tips for getting rich overnight?'"
"Kiki advises everyone not to fall for 'get rich quick' schemes… beware of online scams, and stay on the right side of the law."
"The third question is from an anonymous user: 'I got muted in my work chat for speaking the truth. Any tips for passive-aggressively responding to my boss?'"
"Uh… I'm really not sure how to help with that."
Asahi entered the stream just in time to hear the last question — and it sounded weirdly familiar…
It was suspiciously Gary-like.
Did Gary watch livestreams?
Asahi wasn't sure.
But since the user was anonymous, there was no way to confirm.
He made a mental note to subtly question Gary about it later. If it really was him… oh, he'd have plans.
With a smirk, Asahi opened his wallet and gifted Kiki a "Commander" status in her stream — a customary move after a major takedown.
Besides… thanks to recent profits from Devon Corp's Pokéblock dividends, money wasn't exactly tight.
For Asahi, splurging on a Commander badge was just pocket change.
Kiki was still focused on answering questions and didn't notice at first.
It wasn't until the small Magnet headpiece on her head started spinning wildly, accompanied by the signature "bilibili" sound effect, that she looked up in shock.
"Did someone just purchase a Commander?"
According to her stream setup, this special effect only triggered when someone bought a Commander badge.
Though Kiki had gained some popularity, she had plenty of Captains supporting her — but a Commander? Not a single one until now.
After all, most viewers these days were pretty rational with their spending.
Today marked her very first Commander!
Excited, Kiki didn't notice the flood of comments on the screen. She went straight to the gift list, planning to carefully memorize the name of her first Commander — a milestone in her streaming career.
And then…
Seeing the familiar username, Kiki's hand, still gripping her mouse, froze.
"S-Slaking of in work?"
Kiki's eyes widened.
The chat exploded, with viewers scrambling to check Kanto's news sites, expecting a big story.
But they found nothing.
"No major news… did the big shot just feel like buying a Commander badge?"
"Nothing here either."
"+1."
Kiki, bracing herself to be labeled the "Gym Leader Curse" once again, paused.
Was it really just a casual gift?
Just to be sure, she opened the Kanto news site herself — there were no reports about a Gym Leader being arrested.
She let out a long sigh of relief.
If another Gym Leader had been exposed, her reputation would have been sealed for good, and she'd have had a sleepless night.
Just as Kiki was about to relax, a sudden comment flashed across the screen.
"Check the Johto region!"
"?"
An ominous feeling crept over Kiki as she instinctively clicked on the Johto news link, prominently displayed on Kanto's site.
A bold headline immediately filled the screen:
[Mahogany Town Gym Leader Pryce Confirmed as the Leader of the 'Masked Army,' Recently Apprehended!]
Kiki's vision went dark.