Chapter 384: Next, Giovanni, You Face the Dragon Master: Lance!
The Galar region. The top floor of Rose Tower, Wyndon.
Rose, Leon, and Rose's secretary, Oleana, were watching the broadcast of Giovanni's Elite Four challenge.
"A truly outstanding performance. Leon, what's your assessment?"
Seeing Giovanni's Nidoking take down Lorelei's third main battler, Piloswine, Rose sighed with genuine admiration.
Rose was green with envy. Why couldn't a Gym Leader this strong belong to Galar?
"That's just Gym Leader Giovanni doing what he normally does."
Leon laughed and shook his head.
He'd sparred briefly with Giovanni back in Hoenn. Honestly, Giovanni's excellent showing didn't surprise Leon in the least.
Nobody knew better than Leon how easy it was for trainers like him and Giovanni to beat ordinary Champion-caliber trainers.
Leon did exactly that to Raihan all the time.
Raihan, "the Dragon Storm," was publicly the strongest trainer in Galar after Leon, and the Gym Leader of Hammerlocke.
According to his League Card, Raihan led Galar's strongest Gym, and it was said he could claim a Champion's title just by moving to another region.
Without a doubt, Raihan was a Champion-caliber trainer.
Yet to date, Raihan had lost to Leon ten times in a row. At the same time, he was the trainer who had knocked out Leon's Pokémon more times than anyone else.
Leon had probably gone easy on him more than once, but even so, Raihan had never knocked out more than two of Leon's main battlers in a single battle.
And that was still the best record of any trainer in Galar who had challenged Leon.
"How frightening~ And how... enviable."
Rose took a sip of coffee and sighed again.
Frightening, because Giovanni was a Champion-caliber trainer every bit Leon's equal, and he had finally "awakened." Taking on the Elite Four was proof.
As for enviable, that went without saying. Rose dreamed of Galar flourishing, and in an era like this one,
powerful trainers were a region's backbone!
If Giovanni were a Galar Gym Leader, Rose would be smiling in his sleep. And Giovanni's strength wasn't just his own. His son, Mammon, was the real prize!
Honestly, when Rose had learned why Mammon originally joined Team Rocket, he'd found it laughable.
Giovanni neglected Mammon?
If it had been in Galar, Rose was confident he could have filled the gap in the family affection and care Mammon had been missing.
That's right. Rose could guarantee it: whatever care Giovanni couldn't give Mammon, he could!
Because Rose cared deeply about raising the next generation. Everyone in Galar knew nurturing young talent was what Rose valued most.
He often visited orphanages and children's homes to check on how the children were doing.
But there were no "what ifs" in this world. To Rose's great regret, the father and son weren't Galarian.
"Barring anything unexpected, Giovanni should succeed. Even the Dragon Master Lance, hailed as invincible, probably can't match him."
Rose said it as if no other outcome were possible.
As Rose saw it, the peak of trainers was the level of Leon and Giovanni. Even Mammon's ordinary main battlers were close to their level.
Mammon just had far more Legendary Pokémon.
And Kanto's Champion, Lance, might be a top-tier Champion too, but Giovanni also had Groudon, Lord of the Crimson Earth.
So Giovanni reaching the top in Kanto was a certainty.
"They say Team Rocket's expansion in Kalos went very smoothly. I wonder whether their next target will be our Galar."
Rose thought it over as he watched the battle on screen.
If Team Rocket came to Galar, he'd need to think carefully about how to respond. For now, Team Rocket moving into every region was the way the tide was flowing.
"Mammon, is it..."
Rose genuinely wanted to talk to this young man in person, the one who had changed Team Rocket, and even the balance of the world.
Young people this outstanding were truly, truly rare.
The Indigo Plateau, Kanto.
With one more Thunder Punch from Nidoqueen, Lorelei's last Pokémon, Lapras, finally went down.
Lorelei recalled Lapras and looked at its Poké Ball for a long moment before raising her eyes to Giovanni.
"I'd prepared myself for this, but it seems I still underestimated you, Giovanni."
"Just luck."
Giovanni still wore that same easy smile.
"Is that so? Never mind. I lost fair and square."
Lorelei put her Poké Ball away, turned, and walked off. She'd given it everything she had, but Giovanni was simply too strong.
He'd beaten her entire team with nothing but Nidoking and Nidoqueen. That genuinely shocked Lorelei.
In fact, she hadn't even defeated Nidoking. It had only been hurt, and Giovanni had switched it out.
So strictly speaking, Giovanni had shut her out completely, something Lorelei had never imagined before the battle.
But the facts were right in front of her.
Lorelei wasn't a sore loser. She'd let her colleagues handle Giovanni from here.
She didn't bear Giovanni any ill will, anyway.
"Unbelievable! Gym Leader Giovanni easily defeats Elite Four member Lorelei and clears the first stage!"
The astonished voice of the announcer in sunglasses filled the stadium.
"So this is Uncle Giovanni's strength?" Platinum was stunned too.
"Is Lorelei really Champion-caliber?" Serena could hardly believe it anymore.
Gym battles weren't even this easy for me!
"Of course. Serena, if it were Diantha and Lorelei out there, which do you think would win?"
Mammon asked her with a half-smile. The girl simply hadn't seen enough strong trainers yet.
Serena: (⊙—⊙)
"This is only the beginning. Keep watching."
Mammon crossed his legs, perfectly at ease.
With Lorelei defeated, the second to take the stage was naturally Bruno. The shirtless, muscle-bound giant drew plenty of cheers of his own.
Mostly from men, plus a few women.
The referee came out again to announce the rules and withdrew.
On the stadium's big screen, half-body portraits of Giovanni and Bruno appeared, along with their Pokémon.
"Ha ha ha~ Giovanni, I've been waiting a long time for this day!"
Bruno broke into a wild grin.
"I am Bruno of the Elite Four! My creed is this: people and Pokémon alike can break through their limits when tempered by battle!"
"Come on, Giovanni! Let me feel your power for myself! Let's see how you stack up against Mammon!"
"Hoo... HAH!"
Brimming with fighting spirit, Bruno dropped into a fighting stance and threw his first Poké Ball.
A fiercely imposing Hitmontop appeared before him!
Bruno of the Kanto Elite Four would like to battle!
Ever since his battle with Mammon in Celadon City, Bruno had been looking forward to fighting Giovanni.
I couldn't beat Mammon, but surely I can beat Mammon's dad?
Hearing that, Giovanni's smile widened a little. See my power? Then watch closely.
As it turned out, Bruno could not, in fact, beat Mammon's dad.
BOOM!
With a violent blast, Mega Lucario was knocked flat by Dugtrio's Earthquake, reverting from its Mega Evolution, unable to battle. [Author's note: In HeartGold/SoulSilver, Bruno has Lucario as a main battler.]
"Whew~ Now that was a battle to work up a sweat!"
Bruno took it well. He recalled his fainted Lucario and gave Giovanni a thumbs-up.
"Giovanni, you're a beast!"
"Just luck."
Giovanni nodded modestly with that same faint smile. But anyone paying close attention would have noticed that, from start to finish, Giovanni's left hand had never once left his pocket.
That alone spoke to Giovanni's arrogance.
He didn't consider Lorelei or Bruno worth taking seriously.
"Ha ha ha~ I'm looking forward to having you as a colleague."
Bruno laughed heartily as he left. He really did hope Giovanni would join them in the Elite Four.
As far as Bruno was concerned, Lance and the other two all had something wrong with them. He was the only normal one.
Giovanni, in Bruno's eyes, seemed fairly normal too. With a normal colleague like that, Bruno figured his stress levels would drop considerably.
"Gym Leader Giovanni has defeated Elite Four member Bruno with ease once again! Next, he will face the third member of the Elite Four: Agatha!"
At the announcer's call, Agatha came slowly out of the tunnel, leaning on her cane, and stood across from Giovanni.
Compared to the previous two, Giovanni's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at the frail, eerie Agatha across from him.
Unlike Lorelei and Bruno, Agatha was a true veteran of the Kanto League.
She specialized in Ghost and Poison types, and having spent her whole life alongside those two types had left its mark on Agatha herself.
Giovanni knew full well that Agatha was a tricky opponent.
"Heh heh heh~ That's Giovanni for you. Beating Lorelei and Bruno so easily."
Agatha said with a grin.
"Honestly, if it weren't required, these old bones wouldn't much care to battle. But there's nothing for it."
She let out a slow sigh. As a member of the Kanto Elite Four, she was obligated to face the challenger in the Elite Four challenge.
"I am Agatha of the Elite Four. Now then, Giovanni~ Let this old woman see whether you've truly got what it takes to reach that seat!"
The next moment, the corners of Agatha's mouth slowly spread wide, and she threw a Poké Ball.
The white light touched down, and a Gengar gradually emerged from the shadows, grinning wickedly, its blood-red eyes locked on Giovanni.
Agatha's Gengar!
But this clearly wasn't Agatha's ace Gengar. As the Kanto League's most senior Elite Four member, nobody outside knew how many Gengar Agatha had raised.
All anyone needed to know was that her main team had at least two Gengar.
"I've admired you for a long time, Madam Agatha. Today is a wish come true."
Giovanni smiled faintly and sent out Nidoking again.
"Heh heh heh..."
Agatha laughed low and sinister, her eyes blazing with fighting spirit.
In truth, she was nothing like what she'd claimed. Her age hadn't dulled her appetite for battle at all.
Agatha had come up in the same era as Professor Samuel Oak, and one of the most important reasons the two had parted ways was their differing views on Pokémon.
To Agatha, Pokémon were born to fight, and she had always believed she was the true warrior.
Agatha of the Kanto Elite Four would like to battle!
Fight!
The fierce battle raged on.
BOOM!
With a thunderous blast, Agatha's ace, Mega Gengar, finally went down. The one who defeated it was Rhyperior!
"That old woman really is a pain."
Giovanni narrowed his eyes at the badly hurt Rhyperior.
Notably, Agatha had defeated his Nidoqueen.
He'd been on guard the whole time, but Agatha's fighting style was just too unpredictable, and Nidoqueen had gone down in the end.
That left Giovanni with only five main battlers.
"Heh heh heh~ Looks like this old woman really is getting on in years. Well then, I'll leave the rest to Lance."
Agatha wasn't discouraged. She recalled Gengar with a grin and slowly walked off again.
"Oh my goodness! Gym Leader Giovanni has defeated Agatha as well! Next, he faces the head of the Kanto Elite Four! The strongest man in Kanto!"
"The Dragon Master: LANCE!"
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