For Johto Champion Lance, a typical day begins with fighting crime.
At dawn, deep within the Sycamore Forest, a group of Pokémon hunters let out terrified screams: "D-Dragon-type Champion?!"
Dragonite flapped its mighty wings, and with a gust of freezing wind, the ten-plus poachers were instantly encased in ice.
The police officers arrived at the scene shortly after, taking over the arrests while gazing in awe at the red-haired man in his flowing cape.
"…Just doing my duty," Lance replied coolly.
Watching him soar away on Dragonite, one officer muttered in admiration, "Cracking down on crime across regions, day and night… That's Lance for you."
Another officer whispered hesitantly, "But… I heard that back in the day, Lance himself was involved with a crime syndicate?"
The sharp-eyed, blue-haired man in a loose cardigan leading the team swept his gaze over them. The whispering officer immediately fell silent.
"Take them into custody," Silver ordered coldly.
"Yes, sir!"
Silver looked up at the sky, but Lance had already disappeared from view.
Lance… It was his almost obsessive sense of justice that once led him to oppose the entire Pokémon League.
Now, after having calmed his reckless nature, he had only become even stronger.
Silver withdrew his gaze and shook his head, thinking about Team Rocket's remnants, which were growing bolder.
"All units, regroup!" he commanded.
Lance flew through the sky on Dragonite, clouds rushing past him.
Suddenly, his earpiece beeped.
Lance answered in his usual calm voice, "Lance speaking."
"Lance, did you watch Teacher Lu's new video?" Red asked, chuckling.
"…I've been busy. Is it another Champion-level strategy?"
"No, it's a self-developed strategy by Teacher Lu."
Lance's expression shifted slightly.
"…A self-developed one?"
"Yep."
Red smirked. "Blue and I discussed it. It's not that practical in official tournaments… But in wild battles? It's terrifyingly effective."
"…I see. I'll take a look."
Landing in a quiet hot spring town, Lance pulled up the video, his expression gradually turning serious.
"…I get it now."
He watched Arcanine roaring majestically on the battlefield and muttered, "No wonder Red took the time to tell me about this…"
---
Meanwhile – Team Rocket's Headquarters
The room was dimly lit, the spotlight shining on a man in a beige suit.
A virtual screen unfolded before him, and one glance was enough for Matori to realize—this was Giovanni's "day off."
(If he wears beige, he's on break. If he wears black, it's business.)
"My apologies for disturbing you."
Matori was about to disconnect, but Giovanni stopped her.
"…His new strategy," Giovanni said in a low voice, "is quite interesting."
Matori fell silent.
Although Teacher Lu was technically a Rocket Executive, no one knew his true motives.
And this time, he had specifically developed a battle strategy focused on Arcanine—
It's as if he's deliberately mocking Giovanni.
After all, not even Team Rocket could mess with Officer Jenny's domain over Growlithe resources.
"…Matori," Giovanni said, stroking the Persian on his lap. The red gemstone on its forehead glowed faintly.
"Clever people know how to hide themselves. But that doesn't mean they don't have a temper."
"…I don't quite understand, sir."
"He's protesting against my last decision."
Giovanni smirked.
"He's telling me: 'I can work for Team Rocket, but I can just as easily side with the League.'"
"But… he already accepted the Executive Badge!"
"Long sleeves dance gracefully; the wise bide their time," Giovanni said plainly. "This is how a smart person operates."
Matori was silent.
"Only the strong have the right to choose, Matori."
Giovanni slowly turned the ruby ring on his finger and said calmly,
"I am the leader of Team Rocket—not because I founded it, but because I am stronger than anyone else."
"I lost to Red… not because of justice, but because he was stronger than me. Do you understand?"
Matori's hands clenched at her sides, cold sweat dripping down her forehead.
"…Regardless."
Giovanni stood up and coughed lightly.
"Have all members remain on high alert."
"And give him higher clearance… I, Giovanni, always keep my word."
"…Understood."
After a pause, Matori added, "One more thing, sir… We've found traces of Young Master Silver in Johto."
Giovanni's back stiffened slightly.
So after all this time, with Team Rocket's Johto division working tirelessly, they finally found him…
"Shall we dispatch people to retrieve him?" Matori asked.
"…No need."
Giovanni's shoulders seemed to sag slightly, and his voice softened with a rare warmth.
"…Just take more photos of him."
"Be careful of Officer Jenny… Stay safe."
"…Yes, sir."
---
The Rise of [Teacher Lu Teaches You Battle 09: The Beat Up Strategy]
This new video marked yet another milestone for Teacher Lu.
Last time, he analyzed Champion-level Trick Room strats—This time, he CREATED HIS OWN?!
"This guy is scary as hell."
"Wait, is Teacher Lu a high-ranking officer in law enforcement?!"
"Who in a normal household randomly studies Arcanine like this?"
"Oh, I get it now. Time to start training my Growlithe!"
Growlithe was an extremely rare resource, primarily controlled by the Officer Jenny lineage.
Of course, the rich could afford one—like James' family or Landlord Sister Liu…
Lu Ye, being a perfectionist, clicked open his inbox.
"Teacher Lu! Thank you so much! Can I have your home address?"
"This strategy is AMAZING! So many Pokémon can learn Beat Up, and it's skyrocketing police response efficiency!"
"Teacher Lu! I'm an Officer Jenny from Alola… We only have Gumshoos here. Can you optimize this for us? o(╥﹏╥)o"
Looking at the countless green-haired, uniformed beauties, Lu Ye… couldn't tell which region they were from.
"…Even Officer Jennys are this unprofessional?" he muttered.
Never in his wildest dreams did he expect this strategy to raise his reputation among Officer Jennys.
But having learned from his experience with Nurse Joys, Lu Ye quickly calmed down.
"It's just a game," he shrugged with a chuckle.
"…It's not like this strategy is actually going to get adopted in real life, right?"
---
Meanwhile – Lance's Investigation
Lance thoroughly studied the Beat Up strategy, filling an entire notebook with notes.
"Turning a strategy into an easy-to-understand in-game demonstration…"
Lance murmured, "Teacher Lu really put in the effort."
The key takeaways from the Beat Up strategy—Arcanine with Justified isn't practical in tournaments.
But in the wild… having multiple Pokémon use weak attacks to power it up? The buffs are INSANE.
Perhaps others had discovered this concept before, But Teacher Lu was the one who structured it into a system.
Lance squinted and issued an order to Silver in Ecruteak City.
"A new testing ground in Ecruteak City?" Silver asked, surprised. "Which senior Trainer developed this strategy?"
Lance furrowed his brows.
"…A Trainer with unwavering conviction."
Seeing Lu Ye's Pokémon, Lance could tell—
He was walking the path to becoming a legendary Trainer.
Silver hesitated for a moment.
To receive such high praise from Lance…
Maybe Team Rocket really could be eradicated from Johto.
With renewed determination, Silver saluted and said, "Leave it to me, Sir Lance!"
---
Meanwhile, Lu Ye, after losing 5,000,000 Pokedollars to Steven, let out a long sigh: "…I'm already a broke millionaire, and NOW they tell me school's starting?!"