Chapter 215: I Am a Loyal Follower of Boss Giovanni!
Giovanni opened the email.
Unlike the usual short and vague messages from Asahi, this one was packed with information.
Scanning the contents, Giovanni quickly realized—it was all intelligence on the Masked Army.
The more he read, the deeper his frown became.
It wasn't that the information was incorrect—quite the opposite. When cross-referenced with Team Rocket's own intelligence, the details matched perfectly, confirming its authenticity.
In fact, this report was even more comprehensive than what Team Rocket had gathered.
And that was the problem.
Was Asahi really helping him out of goodwill?
Giovanni instinctively suspected a hidden agenda. He scrolled to the bottom of the email.
The first line he saw was—
[Don't overthink it. No hidden agenda.]
"….."
Giovanni let out a cold snort.
Asahi had predicted his reaction.
Of course, Giovanni didn't believe a single word of it.
He kept reading.
[I know you don't believe me, but seriously, there's no scheme here.]
[I just think you might not be strong enough to defeat Pryce. To prevent you from losing too quickly—leaving no one to weaken the Masked Army for me—I decided to give you a hand.]
"….."
Giovanni clenched his fists.
He felt insulted.
Asahi wasn't even pretending—he was openly using Team Rocket as cannon fodder against the Masked Army.
However…
This time, Asahi had miscalculated.
Giovanni smirked.
He held the one thing Pryce needed most.
And all he wanted in return was his son.
If Pryce had any sense left, he would know what choice to make.
---
Azalea Town
Asahi walked over to Green. "The email's sent to Giovanni?"
For now, Green was handling all the administrative work for the Kanto division.
Aside from the final section (which Asahi wrote himself), the rest of the email was carefully compiled by Blue.
"It's sent… but don't you think you were too blunt? Aren't you worried Giovanni might team up with Pryce to take us down instead?" Green asked, unable to hide her concern.
After all, Giovanni was still the boss of Team Rocket. Asahi had been far too obvious about using him as a pawn.
Asahi waved a hand dismissively.
"That would only happen if the trade between him and Pryce went smoothly… But Silver is still with us."
Without Silver, what could Pryce even offer in exchange for the GS Ball?
A fight between them was inevitable.
Asahi glanced at Silver.
Even though he had only had Totodile for a few days, he had already bonded well with it.
Right now, Silver was commanding Totodile in a sparring match against Ethan's Cyndaquil.
Just as Asahi was about to walk over and offer some pointers, his communicator rang.
Answering the call, Sabrina's voice came through.
"Asahi, we've spotted the Masked Army—a large number of their trainers are entering Ilex Forest."
"Perfect. The other main character has finally arrived… Time for me to head out."
Leaving Green, Ethan, and Silver behind to coordinate with the main League forces, Asahi changed into a Team Rocket uniform.
With a simple swipe of his face, he disguised himself as a completely different person.
Then, he set off toward Ilex Forest to rendezvous with Sabrina, who was monitoring both sides.
---
Ilex Forest – West of Azalea Town
Normally, this forest was filled with Bug Catchers, eagerly waiting to challenge passing trainers—only to lose their lunch money.
But today…
The forest was eerily silent.
Asahi landed lightly on a tree branch, then patted Sabrina's back.
Using telepathic communication, he said—
[Gardevoir is the best Pokémon in the world: Are both sides in position?]
Sabrina had sensed Asahi's arrival long before he made contact.
But when she received his telepathic message, she was speechless.
[…You never change.]
She suspected that he did this on purpose, but sadly, she had no proof.
Bringing things back on topic, Sabrina handed him a binoculars and pointed toward the distance.
Asahi looked.
Sure enough—Giovanni and Pryce, the leaders of Kanto and Johto's biggest criminal organizations, were staring each other down at the shrine, their forces gathered on either side.
After a moment of thought, Asahi asked—
"Sabrina, you're very familiar with Team Rocket, right? Tell me—with this many Rocket members present, do you think they all know each other?"
[Of course not. What are you planning?]
Sabrina suddenly had a bad feeling.
She still vividly remembered Asahi's insane stunts back on New Island.
Now, he was wearing a Team Rocket uniform and acting strangely—this was clearly the start of something ridiculous.
[Relax…] Asahi assured her. [I'm not planning anything. I just want to make sure they actually start fighting. Think of it as an… insurance policy.]
Sabrina watched nervously as Asahi sneaked down from the treetops.
He casually blended into Team Rocket's ranks, pretending he had just returned from a bathroom break.
His movements were way too smooth—it was clear this wasn't his first time doing something like this.
He even glanced back at Sabrina and flashed an "OK" hand gesture.
"….."
Sabrina could only watch helplessly.
She wanted to drag him back, but it was too late—he was already deep inside Team Rocket's formation.
Sabrina consoled herself—Asahi was an Interpol executive, so he must know what he was doing.
Meanwhile, the tense standoff between Giovanni and Pryce continued.
Eventually, Giovanni broke the silence—his longing for his son finally overpowering his patience.
"Did you bring Silver?"
Pryce, his expression unreadable, calmly replied—
"I need to see the item first."
Without hesitation, Giovanni waved his hand.
A Team Rocket grunt dragged out Kurt, bound and gagged like a captive prisoner.
At the same time, Giovanni displayed the blueprints for the GS Ball.
Kurt, seeing Pryce, desperately tried to speak through his gag—but Pryce acted as if he hadn't heard him.
His eyes were locked on the GS Ball blueprints.
Only now did Pryce realize—
Kurt had already created a prototype.
If he had known earlier, why had he wasted so much effort gathering Ho-Oh and Lugia's feathers!?
Giovanni quickly withdrew the blueprints and asked—
"Where is Silver?"
At this, Pryce finally looked away from the GS Ball and met Giovanni's gaze.
"Silver… is not with me."
Giovanni's face instantly darkened.
Even now, Pryce was refusing to release his son?
Pryce continued, "Believe me or not, it's true—I kidnapped your son back then, but he is no longer in my hands."
"You think I'd believe that?" Giovanni's voice was ice-cold.
Was Pryce senile?
Did he think a slight strength advantage was enough to dictate the terms?
For a brief moment, Giovanni considered the possibility that Pryce was telling the truth.
But only for a moment.
Just as Giovanni was about to issue one final warning—
A loud voice suddenly rang out from within Team Rocket's ranks—
"Crush those Masked Army bastards! Save Young Master Silver for Boss Giovanni—promotion, salary raise, and a leadership position await!!"
Before anyone could react—
A Shadow Ball shot out from Team Rocket's ranks, exploding in the heart of the Masked Army formation.
BOOM!
The sudden attack instantly triggered the battle.
Seeing their side being attacked, the already-tense Masked Army members retaliated without hesitation, following Pryce's pre-battle orders to counterattack immediately.
Within seconds, a full-scale battle erupted—exactly as Asahi had intended.
Sabrina, watching from afar, was stunned.
She had just witnessed Asahi's disguised Rocket persona order Gengar to throw a Shadow Ball, officially starting the war—all while acting like a devoted Rocket loyalist.
"...Unbelievable."
This was classic Asahi.
Meanwhile, Asahi—now "just another Rocket grunt"—was "fighting bravely" against a Masked Army trainer.
Of course, the fight was…
So relaxed that he could casually chat with Sabrina through telepathy.
[Sabrina: Aren't you afraid of being caught?]
[Asahi: How could I? I am a loyal follower of Boss Giovanni!]
Sabrina: "….."
Only Asahi would dare to pull something like this.
At this moment, Giovanni also regained his composure.
Though this outcome was unexpected, now that things had escalated, there was nothing left to discuss.
This time, Giovanni chose to strike first.
With a subtle motion, he released a Poké Ball from his sleeve.
A dark blur streaked through the air—
Beedrill's twin stingers, glowing with a ghostly purple light, sliced through the sky in a deadly arc, aiming straight for Pryce.
Beedrill's movements were swift, precise, and ruthless.
Its twin needles shot straight for Pryce's throat — a single strike meant to kill!
Giovanni didn't hold back in the slightest.
Though the ambush was sudden, Pryce, with his wealth of battle experience, was far more seasoned than Giovanni. The moment Giovanni moved his hand behind his back, Ryuba was already on alert.
As Beedrill lunged at him, Pryce was prepared.
A light tap of his cane—
Swish!
An ice wall suddenly appeared between Pryce and Beedrill, halting its advance.
The Swinub in Pryce's arms shifted slightly, then slowly closed its mouth.
Clearly, the ice wall was Swinub's doing.
Giovanni's gaze darkened as he eyed Pryce's Swinub, a flash of wariness in his eyes.
But Giovanni wasn't unprepared either.
Without hesitation, he tossed another Poké Ball—
A deafening roar echoed out, accompanied by the sound of heavy footfalls. An Aggron, its body gleaming with a metallic sheen, charged forward and rammed into the ice wall blocking Pryce's path.
Heavy Slam!
Aggron barreled ahead, its sharp horn crashing directly into the ice wall.
The hastily summoned ice wall shattered into countless fragments upon impact.
Ice shards flew in all directions.
Aggron didn't lose momentum. Together with Beedrill — one attacking from the ground, the other from the air — they launched a pincer attack on Pryce.
Pryce didn't dare to underestimate the situation. Without hesitation, he released his second Pokémon.
A Delibird, its tail resembling a sack, appeared in the sky, its eyes flashing sharply as it locked onto Giovanni's Beedrill.
Meanwhile, Swinub wriggled free from Pryce's embrace and opened its mouth to release a chilling breath.
The freezing air instantly dropped the temperature, encasing half of Aggron's body in solid ice.
But Swinub's strength didn't overshadow Aggron's — the latter had a type advantage. With a forceful shake, Aggron shattered the ice encasing its armor, revealing the cold, steel plating beneath.
Seizing the moment while Swinub was preoccupied with Aggron, Giovanni deployed his third Pokémon.
"Nidoking, use Mega Horn!"
With a thunderous roar, Nidoking charged in, aligning with Aggron to form another pincer attack against Pryce!
The sheer force of the two rampaging Pokémon shook the nearby trees, their branches quivering under the intensity of the battle.
The surrounding trainers — both from Team Rocket and the Masked Corps — instinctively retreated, steering clear of the fierce clash between Giovanni and Pryce.
No one knew Giovannii's true strength better than his own subordinates.
Sure enough—
With a soft tap of his cane, Pryce gave his next command.
At his signal, Swinub's body suddenly gleamed with light, and an icy aura rapidly spread outward from its small frame.
A howling wind picked up. Snowflakes danced violently in the air—
Blizzard!
Yet, the ones most affected by the sudden blizzard weren't Nidoking and Aggron — it was Beedrill in the sky.
Caught in the storm, Beedrill's flight path wavered wildly. It couldn't evade Delibird's Ice Shard in time, resulting in a deep gash appearing across its wing.
The injury was serious — a wounded wing meant reduced speed and less maneuverability.
Giovanni's expression darkened. Still, after the defeat at Mahogany Gym last time, he had learned to stay composed.
So Pryce specialized in Ice-types? Fine.
Giovanni would fight ice with Pokémon immune to it!
"Cloyster!"
A flash of light revealed a Cloyster, its spiked shell clamped tightly shut, eyes cold and calculating.
Being part Ice-type, Cloyster remained unaffected by the blizzard, moving freely within the snowstorm.
Seeing Beedrill struggling against Delibird in the air—
Cloyster silently gathered energy.
Then—
"Cloyster, use Spike Cannon!"