Although she prided herself on being a well-mannered person, this situation made her want to curse. Was this even a fair battle? How was anyone supposed to stand a chance?
The referee glanced at the unconscious Herdier, which had been struck by three consecutive Moonblasts, and immediately declared Maki the winner.
Two more battles followed, both of which Maki's Cottonee won effortlessly. None of the opponents could find a way to counter its relentless onslaught of attacks. At this level of competition, Maki doubted anyone could come up with an effective strategy against Cottonee's aggressive offensive style.
"Hm… Fourteen-star ranking now. If I send Charmeleon into the next round, I should be able to push it even higher."
Maki checked the Pokémon League's official website on his phone. His BP points had reached 45, mainly due to completing League missions.
Since the Battle Arena had a daily match limit, Maki couldn't just spam battles with Cottonee and Charmeleon to farm BP. Otherwise, his points would be skyrocketing.
He wasn't planning to leave Celadon City so soon. After all, it was a rare chance to enjoy a big city. Might as well stay for a couple of days, relax, and have some fun.
When it came to entertainment in Celadon City, the Game Corner was undoubtedly the top attraction.
Of course, Maki had no intention of wasting money at his own family's establishment. The Game Corner had famously placed Dratini—a pseudo-legendary Pokémon—on its prize list to lure in customers, but in reality, almost no one had ever accumulated enough coins to claim it.
Buying game coins outright to exchange for a Dratini was ridiculously expensive. Team Rocket was likely hoping for some gullible fool to fall for it—easy profit for them.
Just as Maki was leaving the Battle Arena, planning to browse Celadon Department Store, his phone rang. It was Lance.
"Hey, Maki? I need a favor."
"What is it?"
"Well… I'm running low on the Pokéblocks you made for me. If you have time, could you make some more?" Lance asked, sounding slightly embarrassed.
Though he could provide his Dratini with decent-quality nutrition, it seemed Maki had spoiled it. Now, the little dragon refused to eat anything but his custom-made Pokéblocks.
"Sure, send me an address, and I'll ship them over."
Lance's Dratini still showed no signs of evolving. Given that it was a pseudo-legendary, its evolution cycle was far longer than that of regular Pokémon.
With Lance's level of dedication, if he were raising a Caterpie instead, it would've evolved into a Butterfree ages ago.
"Actually, I didn't just call about that," Lance admitted quickly, as if worried Maki would misunderstand. "Are you still in Saffron City?"
"I'm in Celadon City. Why?"
"Huh? How'd you end up there?" Lance sounded surprised. He had only left Saffron recently, and Maki had already moved on.
"Why? Don't tell me something's about to happen in Celadon City?"
Maki suddenly had a bad feeling. Lately, it seemed like trouble followed him wherever he went—like he was some sort of disaster magnet.
It had been the same back in Orange City. Just as he arrived, chaos ensued. Though, to be fair, that incident had landed his a valuable Plate fragment, so it wasn't all bad.
"Ah, no, actually, you got out at the right time. Saffron City is what's dangerous right now," Lance coughed before explaining.
"Oh? What's going on?" Maki asked, keeping his voice as neutral as possible.
"There have been numerous sightings of Team Rocket operatives in Saffron City lately. If you were still there, I was going to warn you to be careful."
Since Maki was already in Celadon City, Lance no longer seemed too concerned.
After chatting for a bit longer, Maki hastily ended the call.
What exactly is going on in Saffron City?
Maki frowned. When he had spoken to Sabrina yesterday, she hadn't mentioned anything unusual.
Without hesitation, Maki returned to the Pokémon Center and called Sabrina.
"Is something happening in Saffron City?" he asked directly.
Sabrina, who had initially been happy to receive Maki's call, furrowed her brows slightly, seemingly caught off guard by the question.
"Nothing out of the ordinary."
"But the Pokémon League has already noticed an increase in Team Rocket activity in Saffron. How is that 'nothing out of the ordinary'?" Maki pressed.
Sabrina remained silent for a moment.
"It's not a major issue. Similar activity is occurring in other cities as well. The League won't take special action just because of Saffron."
"What are you all hiding from me?"
"Team Rocket's operations in Kanto are shifting further underground. Some of their personnel are being sent to Hoenn and Sinnoh to establish a presence there," Sabrina admitted. She had no reason to hide things from Maki.
"Team Rocket is pulling back its forces?"
Maki froze, then fell silent for a few seconds as realization dawned on her.
He had a strong suspicion about what Team Rocket was planning—and why Giovanni hadn't personally informed him.
A withdrawal of forces meant Giovanni was reallocating resources for something even bigger.
At the same time, a legendary Pokémon was about to emerge—Mewtwo!
Maki had never supported Giovanni's research on Mewtwo. He knew that its power was beyond Team Rocket's control. In the original timeline, Team Rocket's downfall was closely tied to Mewtwo.
The Mewtwo project had consumed an enormous amount of Team Rocket's time and resources. The compromises and sacrifices made along the way were staggering. And in the end, what they created was an uncontrollable, self-aware monster—an utterly disastrous trade-off.
But on this matter, Giovanni had never listened to Maki's warnings.
"…Alright, I understand." Maki nodded before hanging up.
After ending the call, he decided to change his plans.
Next stop—Cerulean City!
In the games, Mewtwo was always found in Cerulean Cave, northwest of Cerulean City. That wasn't a coincidence.
Because the place of Mewtwo's origin was near there.
An isolated island in the northern sea of Cerulean City.
A research facility that was of critical importance to Team Rocket.
-----------------------
Want to read ahead of schedule?
Join here for advance chapters: PATREON.COM / PRIMALDEMON