Joker, who witnessed the scene, was equally stunned.
Using Aptx4869 on Lance was something Giovanni had mentioned before.
Although many years had passed, he still remembered it. After all, playing out a Detective Conan-style plot on the biggest show-off in the Pokémon world seemed pretty interesting.
But what shocked Joker was…
Giovanni used that thing on Lance's Dragonite.
However, upon further thought, it didn't seem unreasonable.
After all, the reason Aptx4869 had such a significant impact on Conan/Shinichi was mainly because of Ran Mouri's presence.
So, the theory proposed by many readers in past lives—that Ran Mouri, as someone who couldn't enter the main storyline, was unnecessary—was a bit flawed.
Because if it weren't for the concern of Ran being taken away, Conan probably wouldn't have been so desperate to search for the Black Organization's information and obtain the antidote.
But Lance didn't have those concerns.
Even if his body changed from 20 years old to 10 years old, he would still continue being a Trainer and investigator as usual.
Although he had a childhood friend, Lorelei, he wasn't interested in her in that way.
Or rather, for Lance, this Dragonite, who had grown up with him throughout his entire childhood, was his "Ran Mouri."
And now, the situation wasn't as simple as Dragonite just getting smaller.
It was as if Dragonite's ten years of effort—or rather, ten years of intense training and accomplishments—were all destroyed in an instant!
Lance, holding the unconscious Dratini in his arms, stared blankly and fell into silence.
The memories of the past ten years spent with Dragonite flashed before his eyes like a slideshow.
No one knew how long it lasted, but suddenly, Lance looked up.
His red hair flared, veins bulged on his forehead, and all his emotions condensed into one sentence:
"I'll kill you!!!"
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that if Lance had Saiyan blood, he could transform right now.
Whoosh!! Whoosh!!
The sound of flames igniting and burning echoed from high above.
The two Dragonairs in Lance's team simultaneously used Dragon Rush and descended with an imposing momentum!
However, under the brim of his fedora, Giovanni's gaze looked as if he was watching children play house.
"Is this supposed to be funny?"
In an instant, Beedrill, like a master swordsman wielding twin blades, raised its sharp stingers.
The stingers thrust forward in a piercing motion, one to the left and one to the right!
Immediately, an astonishing scene unfolded.
Despite it being a two-on-one situation—and Beedrill being in the unfavorable lower position—it forcefully pushed back the two Dragonairs' Dragon Rush and sent them flying backward!
In truth, it wasn't surprising.
The two Dragonairs in Lance's team were positioned as support Pokémon.
Although they had the battle strength of Elite Four-level Pokémon, which for most Trainers could only be admired from afar, their opponent was Giovanni's Beedrill.
"Support Lance!"
Goodshow shouted.
Without Dragonite, Lance couldn't possibly stand a chance against his opponent.
Let alone the fact that Lance had lost his composure.
After all, the idea that anger makes you stronger only applies to Saiyans.
For ordinary people, especially Trainers, losing your cool only makes you weaker.
"Machamp!"
With a shout from Bruno, a Machamp charged forward.
Its right fist burned with flames as it swung toward Beedrill.
Fire Punch!
Feeling the searing heat it despised, Beedrill exerted force, knocking back the two Dragonairs.
Its right arm stinger gleamed with poison as it fiercely met the Fire Punch.
Poison Jab!
In the brief moment of their clash, a Haunter flew in from the other side.
Its hands passed under Lance's arms from behind and lifted him, clearly trying to remove him from the battlefield.
"Let me go! I'm going to kill him!"
Lance struggled furiously, shouting.
Giovanni, as if watching a clown perform, laughed and said:
"Look, he doesn't even appreciate the gesture~"
Although Lance had a hot temper, he wasn't someone easily provoked.
But today, Giovanni's move was truly despicable.
It was like dancing on Lance's landmine.
The effect was no less than telling Uchiha Obito, "Rin never loved you."
"Ugh!"
At that moment, Machamp let out a painful cry as it was forced back by Beedrill.
Beedrill's compound eyes turned, locking onto Lance once again.
"Let's cut off an arm first," Giovanni thought to himself.
At this moment, Giovanni wasn't in a hurry to kill Lance.
Turning Lance's ace Dragonite into a Dratini was already interesting enough.
Giovanni wanted to see what kind of impact this would have on Lance.
But taking one of his arms shouldn't be a problem, right?
"Hey, old man, watch your back," Joker suddenly called out.
Giovanni's expression under his collar shifted slightly.
Looking down, he saw a semi-transparent ghostly hand emerging from the shadow between his feet.
Beedrill swiftly twisted its stance, sweeping its sharp stinger toward the ghostly hand.
The ghostly hand quickly retracted into the shadow.
That move…
Giovanni narrowed his eyes and looked into the distance at Agatha.
Sure enough, a Gengar floated out from behind her.
Meanwhile, Haunter took the opportunity to strike Lance's neck, rendering him unconscious, and quickly floated past Agatha with him.
"Damn old hag," Giovanni muttered in annoyance.
As the leader of Team Rocket, Giovanni could only use Beedrill in this situation.
Even though using Ground-type Pokémon wouldn't necessarily make the League suspect him, the problem was that his battle style with Ground-types had already been thoroughly studied by countless people.
If he used them, it would be too easy to expose his identity.
"Lance's Dragonite was… Damn Team Rocket! How many ridiculous, nation-wrecking things have they invented!?"
Goodshow, usually known for his kindly demeanor, couldn't help but curse.
From the weird mechanical arm that could forcefully capture Pokémon with trainers, to this device that could forcibly reverse a Pokémon's evolution—it was maddening.
What made it worse was that Goodshow noticed how even future stars like Wallace and Diantha, or veterans like Agatha and Alder, were now hesitant.
After all, what happened to Lance's Dragonite was too terrifying.
No one wanted their own Pokémon to be set back ten years overnight!
"Everyone, don't be afraid. Just charge forward!"
Giovanni said with a smile:
"Aptx4869 has already been used on Lance's Pokemon. My Beedrill no longer has the power to make Pokémon revert to their earlier forms."
Yet, even though Giovanni said this himself, it still did little to bolster the confidence of the League's trainers.
After all, who knows if the enemy's words are true or not?
"What are you trying to do?"
At this moment, Sird had already stepped forward with Darkrai, standing firmly in front of Cynthia to prevent her from approaching the rear, where Dr. Stephen was located.
"Darkrai… Even though Tobias couldn't fully utilize your potential, that doesn't mean you should serve the Team Rockets—these criminals who threaten peace!"
Cynthia bit her pink lips tightly, her gaze complicated as she looked at the Darkrai before her—a Pokémon that had defeated her and her team numerous times when she was young.
"Trying to talk your way out of a fight because you can't win?"
Sird licked her lips with her tongue, eerily resembling Orochimaru when he tempted Sasuke. "Stop dreaming. Darkrai has already lost all hope in that pathetic childhood friend of yours. Not to mention, it was that same person who willingly handed Darkrai over to me back in Hoenn."
"Alright, now disappear."
As soon as Sird finished speaking, Darkrai placed its palms together, and in the blink of an eye, a deep, dark sphere began to form.
Having faced this Darkrai countless times, how could Cynthia not recognize what this move was?
Darkrai's signature move—Dark Void!
"Dr. Stephen!"
Feeling the immense pressure emanating from the dark sphere, Diantha frowned deeply.
Boom!
At that moment, a deafening thunderclap erupted from the left side of the battlefield.
Diantha turned her head to look.
A bolt of lightning descended from the heavens, striking the shadow-corrupted Moltres that had been assisting the enemy's escape.
Even amidst the cacophony of moves exploding across the battlefield, this particular thunderclap stood out.
Looking down, the source of the lightning was revealed to be…
A mutated Raikou!
Its neck resembled the tall, elongated shape of an Alolan Exeggutor, while its thick, storm-cloud-like mane obscured the lower half of its face.
The next moment, an Ultra Ball was thrown, striking the falling Moltres.
Buzz~ Buzz~ Buzz~
The Poké Ball containing Moltres shook violently for two seconds before falling into the mechanical palm of a robotic hand below.
Click!
At the same moment, it landed, the button at the center of the Ultra Ball emitted a sound, signaling a successful capture.
Moltres, captured by Joker!
"As expected of our King. Capturing a Legendary Pokémon is second nature to him."
Sird's lips curled into a grin, her voice once again taking on that peculiar eunuch-like tone.
"How interesting, how truly interesting! Working with these people is so much fun!"
In an instant, the situation had turned utterly dire.
Looking at Dr. Stephen, who was guarded by Bewear and being healed by two Psychic-type Pokémon, Diantha cried out as if she were a child calling for a hero to appear:
"Help us, Dr. Stephen!!!"
Diantha's desperate plea seemed to awaken the memories of everyone on the League's side.
One by one, they turned to look at the man at the edge of the battlefield.
After landing the final blow on Shadow Lugia, everyone saw that Bewear's condition was utterly depleted.
As such, they all subconsciously assumed that Dr. Stephen was no longer capable of participating in the battle.
But now, they realized that the plump boy named Will had arrived at the battlefield, summoning two Psychic-type Pokémon to provide emergency treatment for the impossibly strong Bewear.
More importantly, there was another Pokémon—Zamazenta!
"Brother Stephen is going in again!"
Gary shouted in excitement.
"Are Gardevoir and Slowbro using Heal Pulse on Bewear? That's just emergency treatment. After such a high-intensity battle, it would take days of rest to recover."
Blue frowned.
In the Pokémon world, healing moves were somewhat similar to medical ninjutsu in the Naruto world.
They were effective for emergency treatment on the battlefield but insufficient for full recovery after such heavy damage.
More importantly, time was of the essence.
"It's fine! Dr, Stephen has Zamazenta now!"
Daisy declared confidently.
Delia sighed deeply. "That boy, Dr. Stephen, just fought such an intense battle for us, and now he's going in again… Sigh, we adults should be ashamed."
"Don't worry, Mom. I'll become a Pokémon Master, and then I'll protect everyone too!"
Ash clenched his fists and shouted.
"Pika Pika!"
The Pikachu on his shoulder raised its tiny arms in agreement.
It was clear that the bond between the two had fully transformed at this point.
Dr. Stephen (Zoroark) stood frozen, staring at Joker with an expression that clearly said, ["Master, this isn't how the script was supposed to go!"]
However, to the rest of the world, this look represented something else entirely:
["The moment a trainer locks eyes with another, it signals the start of a battle!"]
Was it about to begin?
Dr. Stephen versus Joker!
This wasn't just the strongest battle in the Pokémon continent—it was the strongest battle in all of history!
Joker felt his head spinning.
In his original plan, Dr. Stephen and Bewear would weaken Shadow Lugia until it was nearly defeated. Joker would then step in and use the capture device to claim it.
There were two reasons for this.
First, only Bewear had the strength to face a full-health Shadow Lugia head-on. Even Umbreon would struggle.
Second, the capture device was inherently sinister. Using it with his public identity would inevitably invite unnecessary criticism.
Although Stephen didn't care much about others' opinions—certainly not to the extent of someone like Konoha's White Fang—it was always better to avoid trouble if possible.
Initially, everything went smoothly.
Bewear successfully dealt 80% of Shadow Lugia's health, and Bewear itself was no longer able to fight.
This meant Stephen and Bewear could exit the stage gracefully, leaving Joker and his team—including Umbreon—to clean up the remaining 20% and secure the capture.
But then, Mew brought Zamazenta into the mix.
With one Behemoth Bash, Zamazenta took out the last bit of Shadow Lugia's health that Joker was supposed to claim.
While this made it easier for Joker to capture Shadow Lugia, it also created an unexpected problem.
Now that Zamazenta was here, Dr. Stephen still had a powerhouse on his side.
How could he not go in again?
Looking at the battle-hungry gaze Dr. Stephen was giving him, Joker couldn't help but massage his temples.
Plans never survive contact with reality.
"This is… an unexpected turn of events."
As one of the few people in Team Rocket who knew the secret—that Dr. Stephen and Joker were the same person—Sird couldn't decide whether to feel conflicted or excited.
The situation had spiraled completely out of control.
So, how will you handle this, my king?
"Hey! This isn't fair! The doctor just fought such an intense battle, and now you want him to help again?"
Sonia couldn't hold back her frustration.
He had just helped them defeat Shadow Lugia, and now they wanted him to step in again.
Wasn't that too greedy?!
Lorelei also showed a trace of reluctance on her face. Indeed, it felt like the League had gone too far this time.
Although it wasn't the trainers themselves fighting directly, the intense life-or-death battles would still have a significant impact on their mental state.
"I'm sorry, Stephen-kun,"
Goodshow stepped forward and bowed deeply toward the distant Dr. Stephen.
"At this moment, we can only rely on you."
At this moment, Dr. Stephen carried the hope of the entire world.
But Dr. Stephen's feelings at this moment were extremely complicated.
This wasn't how the script was supposed to go in the first place!
At this time, Dr, Stephen noticed Joker nodding almost imperceptibly.
In an instant, Dr. Stephen felt his suspended heart finally settle.
Under the worried gazes of Sonia and Lorelei, he slowly stood up.
Beside him, Zamazenta blinked twice and, noticing the look in Bewear's eyes as it lay on the ground, quickly followed suit.
For a moment, the regions across the Pokémon continent erupted into thunderous cheers.
At this moment, the dark aura stirred up by Shadow Lugia had completely dissipated, and the increasingly radiant sunlight poured down, casting a layer of golden light across Dr. Stephen's entire back.
In an instant, countless young girls and media outlets began taking screenshots.
Editors of major news outlets started writing the headline for tomorrow's front page:
["The Savior of the Pokémon League."]