Crown City had changed dramatically over the past two decades. Twenty years ago, it had been little more than a modest town—quiet, green, and largely unremarkable. Now it was a sprawling metropolis, its skyline bristling with modern high-rises, its streets lined with surveillance cameras and digital billboards. The city had grown wealthy, much of that wealth flowing from the corporate empire of one man: Grings Kodai.
Gary had spent the flight from Lake Verity working through the details of Kodai's plan in his head, assembling everything he remembered from the movie timeline into a coherent picture.
The challenge Kodai faced was logistical. Crown City's modern infrastructure—the security cameras on every corner, the police presence, the sheer density of people—made it nearly impossible to reach the Time Ripple discreetly. If Kodai simply walked into the city and started searching for Celebi, he'd attract immediate attention. A media mogul of his profile couldn't sneeze in public without it making the evening news.
So Kodai had devised an elaborate scheme.
He planned to use the Pokémon World Cup—a high-profile sporting event—as cover to enter Crown City under the guise of legitimate business. While the city's attention was focused on the tournament, he would quietly deploy a network of holographic projection devices throughout the urban area.
The key to his plan was a Zoroark—a Dark-type Pokémon with the Ability to create stunningly realistic illusions. Kodai would force Zoroark to use its powers to project illusory images of the three Legendary Beasts—Raikou, Entei, and Suicune—rampaging through Crown City. The fake Legendary Beasts would cause citywide panic, driving the population to evacuate. With the streets emptied and the authorities distracted, Kodai would have a clear path to the Time Ripple.
The real Legendary Beasts—the shiny ones that serve as Crown City's guardians—will eventually show up to defend their territory, Gary thought. And Celebi will appear at the Time Ripple's location. That's when things get complicated. And that's when I need to be ready.
However, Gary had to be careful about how he intervened. Kodai could see the future. His precognitive visions were fading, yes—weaker and less reliable than they'd been twenty years ago—but they weren't gone entirely. If Gary acted too aggressively or too early, Kodai might glimpse his interference in a vision and adjust his plans accordingly. Or worse, Kodai might see Gary as a direct threat and take preemptive action.
He could hire people to deal with me, Gary considered. Kodai wasn't a strong trainer himself, and the bodyguards on his payroll were only Quasi-Elite level at best. But money could buy more dangerous things. There were plenty of trainers with Elite-level strength who operated outside the League's jurisdiction—mercenaries and criminals who lingered at the edges of the law, willing to do unsavory work for the right price.
Gary wasn't afraid. His team could handle anything Kodai threw at him. But unnecessary complications were still complications, and the smartest approach was to stay off Kodai's radar until the critical moment.
I'll position myself in Crown City ahead of time, he decided. But I won't make a move until the events are already in motion. Once Kodai commits to his plan and the chaos begins, his future-sight won't help him—things will be moving too fast for him to adjust.
He remembered from the movie that the Time Ripple's location was in one of Crown City's public gardens—a park somewhere in the central district. Finding it wouldn't be difficult once he was in the city. The key was timing.
But first—there's a Gym to challenge.
Before heading to Crown City itself, Gary made a detour to a nearby settlement: Silvercrown Town.
The town was small and relatively new—built roughly twenty years ago by refugees from Crown City who had fled during the environmental disaster caused by Kodai's first contact with the Time Ripple. When the dark energy had killed every plant in the city, the displaced residents had established a new community in the surrounding countryside. Over time, it had grown into a proper town, complete with its own League-recognized Gym.
The Gym had originally been located in Crown City, but after the disaster, the Gym Leader had relocated to Silvercrown Town and never moved back. Gary was interested in the TMs and rewards the Gym offered—expanding his team's movepool remained his primary goal during this stretch of the journey.
Two hours after leaving Lake Verity, Garchomp broke through a layer of high-altitude clouds, and Gary spotted the town below—a compact cluster of buildings nestled in a valley between rolling green hills, with neat rows of houses and a single main street lined with shops.
Garchomp descended smoothly, landing in the plaza outside the Pokémon Center. Gary dismounted, recalled Garchomp—who had been flying nonstop and needed rest—and walked inside.
"Welcome to the Pokémon Center!" Nurse Joy greeted him with her standard warm smile. Gary handed over Garchomp's Poké Ball for treatment and took a seat in the lobby to wait.
A large television mounted on the wall was broadcasting a sports event—a Pokémon football match, from the looks of it. The game was a popular competitive sport in the Pokémon world, second in viewership only to Pokémon battles themselves. Three Pokémon per team competed to score a specialized ball into the opposing team's triangular goal cage. The sport had been invented by Grings Kodai, ironically enough, and was especially popular in the Sinnoh Region because of his local celebrity status.
Gary watched for a few minutes. The match was entertaining enough—a particularly agile Ambipom made a spectacular diving save that drew cheers from the small crowd gathered in the lobby—but sports weren't what he was here for.
He collected Garchomp once Nurse Joy confirmed it was rested, then headed outside to the public training area adjacent to the Pokémon Center. The space was empty—no other trainers in sight. Perfect.
Gary drew a Poké Ball from his belt and released its occupant.
[LV63 Rhyperior — Champion-tier]
The Drill Pokémon materialized with a ground-shaking thud, its massive armored body casting a long shadow across the training field. Rhyperior blinked its small eyes and looked around at the empty arena, then at Gary. No other Pokémon were present. No training partners. No opponents.
Its eyes went wide with sudden, nervous excitement.
"RHYYY…?"
Rhyperior knew what this meant. It had been one of the first Pokémon Gary had caught during his Sinnoh journey, and by now it understood the pattern perfectly: when Gary released a single Pokémon in a private setting with no one else around, it meant that Pokémon was about to receive an upgrade.
"Relax," Gary said, unable to suppress a slight smile at Rhyperior's barely contained anticipation. "I'm here to strengthen you."
"RHYPERIOR!" The massive Pokémon lumbered forward eagerly, its rocky hide scraping against the ground as it positioned itself in front of Gary and stood at attention like an oversized, extremely enthusiastic soldier.
With the rewards from capturing the Lake Trio now in his possession—including multiple Ability Expansion Stones and Ability Enhancement Items—Gary had decided that Rhyperior was the ideal candidate among his Sinnoh team for an Ability upgrade.
He pulled up Rhyperior's full data profile through his system.
Gary had originally planned to use an Ability Capsule to switch Rhyperior's primary Ability to Solid Rock—its most competitively valuable option. But now, with Ability Expansion Stones available, he could do something far better: unlock all of Rhyperior's potential Abilities simultaneously, giving it access to its full toolkit.
"System—use Ability Expansion Stone on Rhyperior," Gary commanded silently.
[Ding! Ability Expansion Stone successfully applied.]
Gary opened the updated data profile:
[Pokémon: Rhyperior]
[Type: Ground / Rock]
[Level: 63]
[Potential: Champion-tier]
[Ability 1: Lightning Rod — Draws all Electric-type moves to this Pokémon. Negates the damage and raises Special Attack by one stage.]
[Ability 2: Solid Rock — Reduces damage from super-effective attacks by 25%.]
[Ability 3: Reckless — Increases the power of moves with recoil damage by 20%.]
[Moves: Tackle, Bulldoze, Smack Down, Horn Attack, Stomp, Stone Edge, Drill Run, Take Down, Hammer Arm, Earthquake, Dig, Horn Drill, Megahorn, Double-Edge, Hidden Power]
[Teachable Moves: Thunderbolt, Stone Edge, Mega Kick, Dynamic Punch, Rest, Body Slam, Shadow Claw, Iron Tail, Ice Punch, Dragon Pulse, Rock Slide, Power-Up Punch, Thunder Punch, Outrage, Endeavor, Protect, Stealth Rock, Swords Dance, Rain Dance, Ice Beam]
[Friendship: 255 / 255 (MAX)]
Three Abilities now fully unlocked. Gary studied each one carefully, evaluating their strategic value.
Lightning Rod was Rhyperior's original Ability. In competitive battling, it served a niche but useful purpose—drawing Electric-type attacks to Rhyperior, negating the damage entirely, and converting it into a Special Attack boost. The problem was practical: Rhyperior was a physical attacker. Its Special Attack stat was mediocre at best, which meant the boost from Lightning Rod was largely wasted in combat. Any competent trainer facing Gary would never throw an Electric-type move at a Ground/Rock Pokémon anyway—the type immunity was obvious even without Lightning Rod.
That said, Lightning Rod had excellent utility outside of battle. In training, Rhyperior frequently served as a lightning conductor for Electivire, absorbing electrical attacks to help Electivire charge its body. That synergy was valuable enough to keep the Ability active.