Inside the cabin of the Saint-Tiannu.
A group of crew members huddled together, each holding a black Poké Ball.
They stared at the middle-aged man in the captain's uniform, looking quite well-dressed.
This time, the Saint-Tiannu had attracted many politicians, as well as some formidable trainers. The money they could make by capturing and selling the Pokémon would be no less than the value of the artificial Pokémon materials obtained during the Macha City operation.
"Boss, what's our plan for this operation?"
One of the crew members couldn't wait any longer and walked towards the captain.
His face was grim. This was a rare opportunity; he had even heard that several Gym Leaders were on board the Saint-Tiannu.
Those Gym Leaders' Pokémon were incredibly valuable, and they didn't want to miss this once-in-a-lifetime chance.
"Wait—"
The middle-aged man remained silent for a long time before slowly uttering a single word.
His eyes were tightly closed, his heart filled with conflict. Deep down, he knew this action was unwise. He also wanted to participate in the Gym Leader competition, and being alone, controlling all the trainers on the ship would be incredibly difficult.
Furthermore, he hadn't received orders from above. The Saint-Tannu still held some value for them, and he couldn't destroy the Saint-Tannu, built by Team Rocket, for his own selfish desires.
The Saint-Tannu was built to consolidate the power and influence of the Kanto region, making them work for Team Rocket.
These so-called elites had contributed significantly to Team Rocket's
enduring success in Kanto. Of course, besides these elites, Team Rocket's ability to maintain a balance of power with the League for so long was primarily due to Giovanni's own strength and extraordinary charisma, attracting many powerful trainers to follow him.
As everyone waited, the Pokédex in the captain's hand flashed.
The captain opened the Pokédex and received some information.
"An unmanned power plant."
The muscular man remained silent for a long time, then his eyes burned with fervor.
After gathering intelligence for so long, he finally found that Pokémon.
The Pokémon most suitable for him.
It was also his capital to fight against the Elite Four.
As long as he obtained that Pokémon, he wouldn't be at a disadvantage even against Lance.
Among the three executives, he was the first to find one of those three Pokémon.
"Ignore those trainers on the St. Te Anu this time."
"Our target this time is the unmanned power plant." The captain said calmly.
Hearing this, the crew members exchanged glances and left the cabin to return to their posts.
They had been adrift on the ship for some time, and finally, they were given a suitable task.
If they continued to drift, they would doubt that they were even part of Team Rocket.
"Unmanned power plant." The muscular man slowly raised his head, "I hope that Pokémon won't disappoint me. Whether I can climb to a higher position depends entirely on the strength of that Pokémon."
He didn't want to miss such an opportunity.
As for the Pokémon in the hands of the powerful, they were nothing in his eyes.
Unless it was a pseudo-legendary Pokémon, he felt that even if he gave those Pokémon to Giovanni, they wouldn't receive much praise.
Giovanni needed valuable Pokémon, not a bunch of useless, seemingly ordinary trash Pokémon. Those trash Pokémon would fetch a much lower price if sold.
"Gym Leader Tournament, the League only knows how to play this boring trick."
After saying this, the muscular man took off his clothes, put on a vest, and removed his mask, giving him a more masculine appearance.
Leaving the captain's cabin, he acted as if nothing had happened.
Now he was Lt. Surge, the Gym Leader of Vermilion City, one of the eight major gymnastics in Kanto. He
was ordered by the League to participate in the Gym Leader Tournament.
... In
the ship's main hall.
On a battle arena.
"These two don't look very old, but they're so strong!"
"That Weavile, it's the first time I've seen a Weavile in the Kanto region."
"That Blastoise is also good, completely suppressing the opponent's attack."
The previously lively battle had been abruptly ended by the surrounding noise, and everyone
gathered around a battle arena, watching the fight unfold before them.
Blastoise vs. Weavile.
Both Pokémon have good growth potential, and in the hands of highly talented trainers, they can unleash tremendous power.
It's surprising to see this type of competition on the St. Te Anu.
But Bai Yu seems to have seen these two Pokémon somewhere before.
"Let's go take a look," Bai Yu said, looking at Sabrina beside him.
Sabrina nodded slightly and walked towards the arena.
Bai Yu quickly spotted the two in the arena through the crowd.
It was Gary from Pallet Town, and Shinji from the Sinnoh region.
These two had left Martha City long ago.
How did they suddenly reappear on the St. Te Anu?
Bai Yu was somewhat taken aback. The previous battle had been over for several days.
Judging by their progress, they should be at the fifth or even sixth gym by now.
Judging by the time, they should be almost at Cinnabar Island.
After challenging the Cinnabar Gym, only the Viridian Gym remained to be challenged.
How could they be here?
Could Blaine still be with Team Rocket? Bai Yu also recalled the recent closure of the Cinnabar City Gym. It was said that Blaine didn't want to continue as Gym Leader and simply shut it down.
Considering Team Rocket's appearance in Martha City earlier, the timing of the two events was quite close; Bai Yu simply couldn't believe there was no connection.
That old guy Blaine...
he was one of the key contributors to Team Rocket's research into Mewtwo. Besides Professor Fuji, Blaine was one of the researchers who contributed the most. "With your strength, you'll never beat the Martha City Gym Leader in
your entire life!" Xiao Mao couldn't help but mock. During this time, he had been constantly improving his strength, sending the sports cars and cheerleaders back to Pallet Town. He spent the entire journey battling.
He crushed every Gym he encountered in the towns he passed through with absolute power. Even among the eight Gyms, he obtained six Gym Badges. Even the Poison-type Poison Master, Kikko, was defeated head-on by his Blastoise.
Now he was fully prepared to return to Martha City and challenge the Gym Leader who had defeated him!
"Your Blastoise isn't good enough!" Shinji said expressionlessly. "You can't even beat me. Even if you go to Macha City and challenge that guy, you'll still be the loser!"
The Weavile on the field was not at a disadvantage at all.
It could calmly handle any attack from Blastoise.
"They challenged your gym before?" Sabrina's eyes showed a hint of interest.
She had seen these two when she was still at the Goldenrod Gym.
These two were quite strong, and as the gym leader, she didn't use her main Pokémon.
Sabrina wasn't very enthusiastic about gym battles
. These two had easily won their gym battles.
"They came once about two weeks ago." "However, that match was quite interesting." Hearing Bai Yu say this, Sabrina guessed something.
Combined with the matches she had seen recently.
Why did they have to challenge Bai Yu of all people?
No wonder their fighting spirit was so high in the subsequent gym battles.
The emotional part is with you.
Bai Yu was unaware of Sabrina's inner thoughts.
Bai Yu just wanted to see how far these two would go.
Both were future rivals for Ash. Judging by their development, Gary and Paul were roughly equal in strength, and both had appeared in the Galar region, helping Ash overcome some difficulties.
One caught the legendary Pokémon Regidrago in Galar.
The other helped Ash train in Galar, using the main Pokémon of the champions at the time.
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(End of Chapter)