"Please wait!! Please, just wait a little longer, I beg you. I already made a promise with Ash earlier, he said he would definitely give it his all to battle me. So please, wait a little longer. I believe he'll make it here in time," Ritchie pleaded.
As his words fell, not only the audience but even the announcer spoke in astonishment:
"Contestant Ritchie is actually requesting to wait for Contestant Ash! What will the referee decide to do?"
"He really is a good person," Terrance shook his head with a smile as he watched Ritchie's actions. Giving up such a great chance to advance just to wait for his opponent...
He truly is a remarkable Trainer.
"Yeah, Ritchie's a nice guy," Troy nodded.
Because of Ritchie's request, the referee, considering the audience's mood, decided that they could wait at most another ten minutes.
Ten minutes…
As time passed, those who were worried about Ash began to grow even more anxious.
When the ten-minute limit was almost up, Ash still hadn't appeared.
"Beedrill, could you please fly outside the stadium and look for Ash?" Just as the referee stepped forward again, ready to announce the result, Troy took out a Poké Ball, intending to release Beedrill. But Terrance stopped him. "No need."
"Ash is already here."
Sure enough, just one second before the referee could announce the result, a loud shout came from the sky.
"Wait! I'm here! I'm so sorry I'm late…"
Seeing the huge Meowth-shaped hot air balloon Ash was riding in, the corner of Terrance's mouth twitched. Of course.
Even during such an important match, Ash still had to get caught up in a scuffle with Team Rocket before he could finally battle.
"But that entrance with the hot air balloon, that's actually pretty cool…" Troy's eyes sparkled.
"Alright, now we can finally have a proper match," Terrance said slowly. But just then, his phone suddenly rang.
After reading the contents, Terrance's expression changed. He immediately turned to Troy. "I have something urgent to take care of. Stay here and finish watching the match. I'll leave the Rotom Pokédex here with you."
"Got it."
It was the first time Troy had ever seen Terrance look so serious. Startled, he nodded quickly, though confusion filled his mind. The battle between Ash and Ritchie was about to start, what could be so important that Mr. Gym Leader had to leave right now?
After giving his instructions to Troy, Terrance quickly left Indigo Stadium and contacted Jade Joy and the others.
"Can you track Carter and other's location?"
"No. The signal seems to have been jammed right after we received the message," Jade Joy said, shaking her head.
"What kind of mission could be so secretive? If it's just an escort operation to relocate some researchers, do they really need such a large-scale deployment? It seems the situation on Team Rocket's side must be quite serious."
During the Indigo Plateau Conference, most of Kanto's top fighters were gathered at Indigo Plateau. Despite this, Team Rocket was putting such high importance on this mission, indicating that this mission is crucial for them. After thinking for a moment, Terrance decided it was necessary to go there himself; he might even make a major discovery.
"We can't lock onto their position, what should we do?" Jade Joy's tone grew tense as her fingers clacked rapidly on the keyboard, trying over and over to trace Mismagius and the others' signals. But right now, even her Porygon couldn't break through the network barriers. Team Rocket's jamming methods had completely restricted her abilities.
"It's alright. Leave it to me," Terrance said.
Team Rocket's counter-intelligence measures were far more advanced than Terrance had expected. After all, their side even had an insider assisting them. Yet despite that, they still couldn't pinpoint their location and had lost contact with Mismagius. This stirred Terrance's curiosity, and gave him an undeniable reason to go in person.
Even without Jade Joy's tracking support, Terrance wasn't worried. He still had another way to determine Mismagius and the others' location.
That was through Kirlia. As someone who has the Fairy Mark, Terrance could establish a telepathy-like connection with Fairy-type Pokémon. Even over great distances, he could faintly sense Kirlia's position.
Although the current sensation was very faint, the closer he got, the clearer that sense would become.
Once he closed the distance enough, he would be able to establish full telepathy with Kirlia, and from there, pinpoint their whereabouts precisely.
…
…
Pomeg Island, once the homeland of a people known for their unique customs.
But after a natural disaster, the island's human inhabitants were wiped out, along with its Pokémon population. It became uninhabitable for any form of life.
As time passed, the island turned into a deserted island. With no resources to exploit, no one had any reason to visit it.
However, unbeknownst to anyone, at the island's center stood a secret, hidden prison.
Now known as Prison Island, it had been named by none other than the largest criminal organization across the Kanto and Johto region - Team Rocket.
This island imprisoned former Team Rocket scientists who had betrayed the organization, as well as the kidnapped elite individuals from various fields.
Every year, Team Rocket used brainwashing, coercion, and manipulation to recruit scientific talent from this place into their ranks. In fact, nearly half of Team Rocket's research personnel originated from Prison Island.
Even so, brainwashing wasn't an easy process, not even with the help of Psychic-type Pokémon. So, over time, the island evolved into a site where Team Rocket extracted professional knowledge through interrogation from them.
Much of Team Rocket's advanced technology had been obtained by using Psychic-type's Hypnosis to extract information from these captives.
For this reason, Prison Island was of immeasurable importance to Team Rocket. And now that there was a risk of its discovery, Giovanni sat in headquarters, his expression darkening as he listened to his secretary, Matori, report.
"We've successfully gathered elite forces from various branches. However, according to intel from our spies, the League has dispatched one of the Elite Four to lead the search operation. With just our current manpower, I'm afraid—"
"Why was the location of Prison Island exposed? Has that been determined?"
"I do not know, sir."
Giovanni's grip tightened on the armrest of his chair, his eyes cold. To him, Prison Island's existence was even more important than Mewtwo. A Mewtwo could always be recreated, but if the people and technology of Prison Island were lost, Team Rocket's losses would be immeasurable.
And worse, if those captives were released, the consequences would be catastrophic. The island's prisoners were all top minds from their respective fields. If they joined forces to denounce Team Rocket, the organization's future operations would face severe constraints.
"I'll go see for myself," Giovanni said in a low, determined voice as he stood. For the knowledge contained in those scientists' minds, he could not allow the League to gain anything from this.
TN: Hey guys, I've picked up a new One Piece novel. You can search it: One Piece: The Undying King.
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