"No, absolutely not. Even if its emotions are stable, the virus inside it is highly active. Can you guarantee you won't suffer even a single injury?" Blaine immediately objected.
This virus was highly contagious—far too dangerous to take risks with. Lance was an invaluable member of the League and couldn't be put in harm's way.
Lance wasn't reckless. A moment's reflection made him realize his request was unreasonable, so he didn't push further.
"Senior Blaine, about what President Goodshow mentioned—how is that progressing?" Lance changed the subject.
At the mention of this, Blaine's expression darkened. "Let's not bring that up again. I was neutral at first, but now I'm firmly against it."
Lance frowned. Just a few days ago, Blaine had given an ambiguous response—why the sudden strong opposition?
Blaine realized his words had been too harsh and softened his tone. "President Goodshow wants to modify the virus into a controllable weapon. I understand why—after all, the League must constantly push its military capabilities to maintain its position and suppress the dark forces out there. But this virus is different."
He sighed.
A virus capable of drastically enhancing a Pokémon's vitality and combat prowess—what organization wouldn't be tempted by that? He was certain that every major faction in the world had already set their sights on it, including the Pokémon League.
But this virus wasn't an ordinary weapon, something humans could fully control. If it spiraled out of control during use, it could trigger a full-scale global crisis. That was why, after researching its extreme infectiousness, he had joined the radical faction advocating for its total eradication.
He had no intention of following Goodshow's order to weaponize it.
Seeing Blaine's firm stance, Lance didn't try to persuade him.
A weaponized version would certainly be useful—but an uncontrollable weapon was worse than no weapon at all.
After all, as the Champion, he was already among the world's strongest fighters. He had no need for the ambitions of politicians.
Just then, his communicator buzzed—it was a video message from Siebold, one of the Elite Four.
Lance opened it. The footage was from the Vermilion City Gym—an official battle between Lt. Surge and Volkner.
It was a 3-on-3 match, both sides using Electric-type Pokémon. It should have been an intense clash of titans, but the battle lasted less than three minutes—ending in Lt. Surge's total defeat.
Judging from Volkner's Jolteon, Pikachu, and Luxray, which displayed overwhelming power, he was already at an Elite Four-level standard. And that didn't even include his strongest Pokémon, Electivire.
"Heh, looks like Volkner is dead set on securing the Elite Four position this time." Lance chuckled.
This battle, on the surface, was just a showdown between Electric-type Gym Leaders—but in reality, it was Volkner's way of making his declaration to the League and his competitors.
"Flint, you're good friends with Volkner, right?" Lance turned to Flint, who was lazily scrolling through his phone.
"Yeah." At the mention of Volkner, Flint immediately perked up. "Back in Sinnoh, we were called the 'Fire and Thunder Duo.' His strength is definitely on par with mine."
"What do you think about his bid for the Kanto Elite Four?" Lance asked.
"He's been strong enough for a while now. But if he's moving to Kanto, I'd bet it's for… heh heh heh…" Flint trailed off, laughing meaningfully.
Lance shook his head. He knew exactly what Flint was implying.
As Kanto's Champion, he was well aware of the situation surrounding Kanto's Elite Four candidates.
Volkner and Jasmine's relationship wasn't exactly a secret…
"This young man… he's quite something." Blaine sighed.
Though he was merely the Gym Leader of Cinnabar Island, he had once been among the earliest Elite Four members. Watching the younger generation rise filled him with a sense of pride.
Just then, a mutated Dragonite, quietly sitting inside a containment field, suddenly stood up, its expression turning serious.
"What's wrong?" Lance immediately noticed and ordered everyone to be on alert.
However, Dragonite only stared intently in a certain direction, making no aggressive moves.
"A powerful lifeform is approaching," Blaine said, glancing at the sonar map on the wall. A red dot was moving toward them at an astonishing speed—so fast that the radar's response was flickering.
"Come out, Infernape." Flint released his partner and stepped outside the research facility with Lance, facing the unknown approaching entity.
In the sky, a small green silhouette flickered.
In an instant, it teleported right before them.
"Celebi?" Everyone recognized the Mythical Pokémon.
"It's me. I am Anabel." A telepathic voice resonated in their minds.
"Anabel…" Lance and Blaine exchanged glances in shock.
Because the situation was urgent, Anabel didn't waste any time and quickly explained her recent experiences to the group.
"This must be reported to the League immediately," Lance said, deep in thought after hearing Anabel's account.
By combining the information from Lugia with what Future Ash had revealed, they had essentially pieced together the origin of the virus.
It was a virus introduced from another dimension by an unknown high-ranking entity. This virus possessed its own intelligence and could control anything it infected—humans, Pokémon, and even Legendary Pokémon.
Right now, just from what Anabel could sense, more than five Pokémon of King-level strength had already been infected, and the number of Leader-tier Pokémon was even higher.
As for humans, the number of infected individuals in Kanto had already exceeded several hundred and was growing exponentially.
"You can sense every infected human and Pokémon?" Blaine asked.
"Yes." Anabel nodded. "The source of the virus once issued a forced command that prevented me from revealing any information about it, but Lugia helped suppress that control. That's why I can inform you now."
"Then why did you come here after returning from the ocean instead of heading straight to the League?" Flint questioned.
"Because I sensed the same presence as mine on this island—there's a fully infected King-level Pokémon here," Anabel replied.
Blaine and the others exchanged glances before turning their eyes toward the Dragonite confined behind the high-intensity isolation glass.
Dragonite sat there, gazing at them with a calm, indifferent expression.
Lugia?
Lucius had already concluded his battle against Lt. Surge with overwhelming dominance, seizing the opportunity for an impromptu fan interaction to boost his popularity.
Now, he sat in his hotel room, silently monitoring Team Rocket and the Syndicate's underground excavation efforts, along with Anabel, who was practically in a blackout state.
Anabel was the first infected individual to show resistance against the Emperor Strain's pheromone control. At this point, he could only intermittently sense her location, and this anomaly intrigued Lucius greatly—he wanted to understand why.
Only by understanding the cause could he develop a countermeasure.
Just as he was contemplating his next move, Anabel unexpectedly arrived at Cinnabar Island. As soon as Dragonite sensed the presence of a Legendary Pokémon, Lucius immediately activated Shared Vision with Dragonite, allowing him to witness Anabel's conversation with Blaine, Lance, and the others.
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