How long has he been out? Has it been four months in total? Being able to achieve this in less than four months is nothing short of extraordinary.
Perhaps Kanto is truly on the rise!
...
Johto Region—
A man dressed in black, Lance, mingled with a group of people in black clothing, all bearing an 'R' emblem, within a massive base, watching a live broadcast.
Having infiltrated Team Rocket, he initially hoped to find some clues about Team Rocket's main base or the genetic data Giovanni had hidden away.
However, shortly after infiltrating, Team Rocket's internal orders instructed everyone to gather in the base's hall to watch a live broadcast.
Lance was a bit confused; do villain organizations watch live broadcasts too?
He even wondered if his undercover identity had been discovered, and this was an excuse to surround him in the base hall. But Lance was confident in his abilities; unless Giovanni intervened, even if he tied all of Team Rocket together, they wouldn't be a match for him.
Upon entering the hall, Lance didn't expect the broadcast they mentioned was a real live broadcast!
And the broadcast featured his old acquaintance, Lorelei!
Lorelei's opponent was the rising star of Kanto, Ash, who had been in the spotlight recently.
How did these two end up facing off? Lance was puzzled, but after watching the live broadcast for a while, his question was answered. It was to help Ash clear up the recent rumors circulating online.
However, Lance still found it strange. The strange part was... why was Lorelei in Cerulean City?
She should be in Viridian City, monitoring Giovanni's every move. Ever since the alliance received reliable intelligence within the past few days that there was an extraordinary Pokémon within Team Rocket, they had started intensive surveillance of everyone known to be in Team Rocket.
As the Elite of Kanto and the Johto Champion, he had personally gone undercover in Team Rocket's interior for that genetic data and information about that monstrous Pokémon.
Yet now that he's infiltrated, it seems Lorelei's surveillance work wasn't done well!
In the live broadcast, Charizard and Glaceon quickly became entangled in battle. Even through the television, Lance could clearly confirm the level of both Pokémon.
A professional peak battling an elite peak... Such a level disparity being so evenly matched is downright unscientific!
As the battle reached its climax, seeing the colorful flames igniting on Charizard, Lance's pupils contracted sharply.
This power... can he already wield it at will?
No doubt about it; this is definitely divine power, and not the somewhat lesser Sacred Fire of Entei, but the true Sacred Fire of Ho-Oh.
Whether it was the aura exploding from Charizard or its performance, both proved that Charizard could now wield this divine-level flame.
Unfortunately, Charizard's level was just too low. If his level were any higher, even if only at a novice gym level, he should have been able to use this strike to defeat Glaceon outright.
But Charizard had another tactic in his arsenal, the Fighting-type Seismic Toss. If that Seismic Toss were to hit, it could definitely take out Glaceon.
However, as Charizard spun, Lance keenly noticed that Charizard's arm had an issue. It was the same arm initially hit by Glaceon's Hydro Pump.
Seismic Toss is inherently a move with a huge burden on the body. Although powerful, if the body couldn't withstand it when forcibly used, it would only become a weakness.
In the end, Ash overlooked both Charizard's and his own condition, causing Charizard's final Seismic Toss not to be fully executed, allowing Glaceon to find a gap and reduce the damage of the Seismic Toss.
Finally, Glaceon used Ice Shard to take out Charizard in one move. Ash regrettably lost this battle.
However, none of the Team Rocket members present showed any signs of mockery towards Ash's performance, simply because facing Ash's performance, any one of them would probably only end up getting beaten.
Among them in Team Rocket, they were middle-ranking members; although they joined Team Rocket for various reasons, they hadn't neglected training their Pokémon in the slightest.
Most of the members here had been out traveling as trainers for at least five years. However, if they were to face Ash, they estimated their chance of winning was only about ten percent.
"Is this the super rookie that's recently emerged in Kanto? His strength is not to be underestimated!"
"Not just not to be underestimated; look at his opponent! That's the Ice Queen Lorelei! Even if she wasn't using her main Pokémon, it was still definitely at an elite level! Being a newcomer going toe-to-toe with Lorelei, isn't Kanto undoubtedly rising?"
"Sigh, the alliance is about to produce another remarkable figure. When will our Team Rocket see a super genius like this, leading us into the spotlight?"
"Difficult, who knows why the higher-ups made us watch this live broadcast? Was it just to show us the rise of the alliance's genius?"
"Who knows..."
Amid the chit-chat of the Team Rocket members, the broadcast sounded again: "Ladies and gentlemen, you must have just watched the battle. Team Rocket is issuing an internal wanted order, target: Ash from Pallet Town in the Kanto Region. The condition is to capture him alive for Team Rocket. The reward: three Pokémon that can potentially reach champion level and three controllable elite-level Pokémon."
The broadcast's voice was deep and hoarse, and Lance immediately knew the speaker was one of Team Rocket's senior executives, Archer, Giovanni's top subordinate.
He was in charge of this area in Johto, but he shouldn't be in this base right now. Instead, he was likely at a central base, spreading his words to everyone through the broadcast.
Lance's undercover mission here was partly to find out where Team Rocket's base was in Johto.
Archer was inherently cautious; aside from his confidants or some powerful members, no one knew where Team Rocket's base in Johto was located.
He's been undercover here for several days and hasn't even seen Archer's face.
But this time, an important piece of intel was received. It seems Team Rocket is targeting Ash...
Lance vaguely guessed Team Rocket's purpose for targeting Ash was due to the mysterious power within Ash that could allow Pokémon to leap across a major level, and the divine flame on Charizard.
'Giovanni, if you dare harm our people, don't blame me for overturning your Team Rocket!' Lance squinted slightly, revealing a fierce look in his eyes.
...
At Cerulean Gym, as the battle concluded, Lorelei continued interacting with some of the audience. For those who got to interact with her, the ticket was definitely worth it.
Though some were disappointed by not getting to interact, the match itself was plenty exciting. Being able to watch an elite-level battle this close would be impossible to buy tickets for elsewhere at such a price.
Those who got tickets at the start for just a few hundred currency were especially thrilled. This was an elite-level battle! Being able to watch for just a few hundred was a steal!
After the interaction ended, everyone left the arena in an orderly manner under Sayo's direction, while Lorelei, Ash, and the others returned backstage at Cerulean Gym.
Regarding the battle just now, Ash still had many questions for Lorelei, like why the final Seismic Toss didn't take out Glaceon, given that it should have with its remaining physical strength.
There was also the question of why Lorelei came to Cerulean Gym...