Dahara City gradually returned to normal, while the entire world was thrown into tremendous upheaval.
Following the Hoenn region's ancient twin gods incident with Primal Kyogre and Primal Groudon, the Kalos region had now erupted with such a massive disaster.
If the Hoenn region's ancient twin gods incident was viewed as a "regional" disaster, then what happened in Dahara City was a "world-class" disaster!
The former could perhaps be calmed by combining the power of a region's Champion, Elite Four, and top trainers, though only after paying some heavy costs.
The latter... forget about one region—even combining the entire League's forces would be questionable. Just the number of legendary Pokémon that appeared exceeded the total number of Champions!
The trainers capable of solving such a problem could be counted on one hand.
Of course, it wasn't that the League lacked trainers with extremely impressive strength, or that there weren't those who could face legendary Pokémon directly, but...
Even if they blocked the disaster, how much destruction would it cause?
Compared to Hoenn's ancient twin gods incident, this event erupted too suddenly.
For the ancient twin gods, the Hoenn region had advance warning and deployment, barely minimizing the disaster.
This time, if not for Teacher Johan being there, probably... at least half of the Kalos region would have been destroyed.
Even the Kalos region's local Champion and Elite Four hadn't been able to make it in time.
Teacher Johan had almost single-handedly, through his friendly relationships with numerous legendary Pokémon, calling upon friends, and paying an extremely heavy price, barely managed to resolve this "world-class" disaster.
You have to understand.
That was Teacher Johan!
The famous "Legendary Pokémon Man" had nearly lost his life because of this. If not for being pulled back by numerous legendary Pokémon at the end, he might have really died.
Such battle results could be called tragic.
Of course.
Teacher Johan's feat of riding the black Rayquaza and summoning nearly ten legendary Pokémon to battle Hoopa Unbound and its summoned legendary Pokémon had completely shocked the entire League and swept across the world, leaving no one unawed.
Some even joked—finally seeing Teacher Johan's "strongest lineup," no wonder Champion Alder said that if Teacher Johan used his full power, he'd have almost no chance of winning!
Previously, people had laughed at Champion Alder for being too accommodating and modest—a regional Champion actually saying he had no chance against a trainer was viewed as representing "weakness."
Now these people finally understood.
Champion Alder wasn't being modest at all—he clearly had self-awareness!
Just ask.
With Teacher Johan's "strongest lineup"—Reshiram on the left, Zekrom on the right, Giratina in the center, Mewtwo above, riding Rayquaza below, with Darkrai protecting from behind—who could fight such a formation?
This statement received unanimous approval from the vast majority of people online.
Some even suggested.
The League should establish a position above regional Champions, called "Master," to command all regional Champions.
And for this "Master" position, in this era, Teacher Johan was unquestionably deserving!
However.
While there were many who praised him, quite a few people maintained rationality.
Though Teacher Johan's ability to summon numerous legendary Pokémon demonstrated outstanding capability and powerful strength, anyone with eyes could see that Teacher Johan's relationship with these legendary Pokémon was more friendship-based and hadn't reached the level of capture.
So theoretically speaking, these legendary Pokémon couldn't be considered Teacher Johan's Pokémon.
However.
Besides the clashes between legendary Pokémon, Gengar's "final dance" also provided tremendous shock to everyone.
Mega Evolution! Terastalization! Z-Move!
Three major enhancements used simultaneously—Gengar facing legendary Pokémon as a mortal, confronting Hoopa Unbound as an ordinary Pokémon. That final condensed "power of a hundred ghosts" super-large black sphere still left everyone stunned.
Although using three major enhancements simultaneously caused Teacher Johan to nearly collapse from overdraw, it truly made people understand the upper limit of Gengar's strength as Teacher Johan's ace Pokémon!
That was definitely an existence surpassing Champion aces.
Using this as evidence, saying Teacher Johan could surpass numerous Champions wasn't impossible.
It's just that this ability obviously couldn't be used as a regular method.
Thus.
Online, classifications like peak Champion, strong Champion, standard Champion, weak Champion, and quasi-Champion appeared, attracting many busybodies to make so-called rankings and divisions, which weren't worth discussing.
In any case.
Afterward, whether online, in forums, or in real life, discussions about the Dahara City incident and Teacher Johan almost never stopped.
Especially online.
Those seemingly fragmentary videos and photos, after being pieced together and filled in with speculation, even sorted out the general course of events.
Particularly regarding Hoopa—this being that wasn't a legendary Pokémon but could control and command legendary Pokémon was thoroughly understood.
Combining Pokémon, split personality, violent temperament, filled with negative emotions, and other issues further confirmed Teacher Johan's identity as a "Pokémon psychologist."
Everyone exclaimed—Teacher Johan truly deserved the title "Master of Hearts"!
Discussions about Teacher Johan weren't limited to ordinary residents and trainers—the entire League's upper echelons were also in uproar.
The League headquarters located atop Mt. Silver in the Kanto region even contacted all regions to hold an emergency meeting.
But they got stuck on Teacher Johan's reward.
After all, such a massive incident involving so many legendary Pokémon—not giving a reward after calming the situation would be quite unreasonable.
But what kind of reward could match such great "merit"?
This was a problem.
Additionally.
In this incident, besides Teacher Johan, three other people's contributions and roles couldn't be ignored.
Cynthia, who controlled Giratina and changed the battle situation!
Flint, who faced Palkia directly and held it back desperately!
And...
The Viridian City Gym Leader Giovanni, who faced Primal Groudon directly and ultimately controlled it!
Everyone was surprised by Giovanni's appearance in Dahara City.
Giovanni's identity wasn't really a secret among the League's true upper echelons.
Team Rocket's leader!
The League allowed him to serve as Viridian City's Gym Leader for several reasons.
First, when serving as Gym Leader, Giovanni hadn't done anything excessive or left any evidence.
He had obtained the Gym Leader position through legitimate means—without revealing his Team Rocket leader identity, they naturally couldn't easily criticize him.
Second, Team Rocket was the largest underground force in the Kanto and Johto regions, with roots spread everywhere in complex networks, diverse personnel connections, and most having considerable combat power.
The League could take down Team Rocket, but the cost would be too high.
Most Team Rocket members excelled at actual combat, unrestricted battles, and outdoor fighting. If the League wanted to take them down, the casualties would probably...
Moreover, Giovanni's own strength was also something people feared.
Additionally.
As long as Giovanni was there, Team Rocket's backbone remained, preventing major chaos.
If Giovanni wasn't there, that would be real trouble. Without Giovanni's restraint, who knew what Team Rocket would become.
At the same time.
With Giovanni serving as Gym Leader, he would naturally maintain Viridian City's stability, and the League and Team Rocket had a "communication" bridge.
At least they could talk.
If Giovanni's Gym Leader status was revoked and he hid in some corner, nobody could find him—that would be real trouble.
Elite Four Agatha spending most of her time living in Viridian City also had this consideration.
However, most importantly.
Recently, Team Rocket had been so well-behaved it surprised everyone.
They seemed to be preparing to go dormant, leaving League upper echelons somewhat puzzled.
And this time.
Giovanni had even appeared at the center of the "Dahara City incident," facing Primal Groudon directly. That statement "As long as I still stand on this earth, I will not be defeated" had gained countless fans.
People exclaimed—
Giovanni-san was so cool! Uncle Giovanni was too handsome! I used to wonder why Teacher Johan would throw off his suit at critical moments, until I saw Giovanni-san!
It also made more people aware of Giovanni's strength.
Many even exclaimed that while Kanto's Elite Four were said to be strong, Kanto's Gym Leaders were also terrifyingly strong—at least Champion level, right?
Such a Gym Leader who had almost burned himself out to protect Dahara City—now if you said he was the evil organization Team Rocket's leader, probably not many would believe it.
After all.
His Team Rocket leader identity couldn't be proven with evidence, while his single combat against Primal Groudon was absolutely real.
This made League upper echelons speculate... could Giovanni be trying to... go legitimate?
Otherwise, why fight so desperately?
Moreover, Giovanni's appearance also made people discover that... Teacher Johan apparently had quite a relationship with Giovanni!
Of course, nobody suspected Johan would collude with Giovanni, or rather, with Team Rocket.
After all, Giovanni had only shown his face once in this major incident and gained massive support, while Johan... had played nearly decisive roles in almost every major incident.
Saying such a person colluded with Team Rocket?
Forget about the vast number of trainers not accepting it—even League upper echelons found it laughable.
Moreover, Giovanni's true identity was only known to a few. Even Lance, the new Elite Four active in Kanto and Johto, didn't know. How could Johan possibly know?
He probably just treated him as a Gym Leader.
However, Giovanni's appearance had indeed drawn considerable attention from League upper echelons.
As for Teacher Johan's reward, it remained the biggest discussion focus of this meeting.
Johan, far away in Dahara City, naturally had no idea what was happening within the League. He wasn't even paying much attention to the heated online discussions.
On one hand, his body was still somewhat weak.
On the other hand...
Cynthia, Mewtwo, Marshadow, little Hoopa, his own little ones—which didn't need his company?
Although Dahara City was in the desert, it actually had quite distinctive scenery. With this rare opportunity to rest peacefully, he naturally didn't want to be bothered by various trivial matters.
However, little Hoopa.
With Hoopa Unbound's disappearance, it inevitably became the "culprit" causing this incident.
Although Dialga and Palkia had helped restore some of Dahara City before leaving, the damage caused this time was too great to be easily fully restored.
Thus.
The Valley of Creation, as little Hoopa's "supervisors," proactively proposed taking out some treasures, gold, mining, and other valuables accumulated over generations to compensate for some of Dahara City's losses as much as possible.
Originally, little Hoopa also wanted to use its newly recovered abilities to bear some responsibility, but was immediately vetoed by Johan, Barza, and Meray.
Having finally made little Hoopa understand the meaning of "punishment" and know the joy of obtaining rewards through its own efforts, how could they let it rely on abilities again?
Little Hoopa obediently indicated it wouldn't directly take gold and other valuables from elsewhere or other worlds—it just wanted to help rebuild Dahara City together.
This still pleased Johan and the others.
The similarly injured Giovanni smelled opportunity in this.
He proactively approached Dahara City's mayor, proposing that "Rocket Construction Company" could undertake this reconstruction construction task and was willing to offer an extremely low price.
Giovanni's desperate fight against Primal Groudon was still fresh in memory, plus the price he offered was indeed near cost—how could Dahara City's mayor refuse? He was too happy to agree.
Thus, most of Dahara City's reconstruction and restoration construction projects were handed to "Rocket Construction Company."
This naturally included the infrastructure projects previously discussed.
After settling the project's general details, Dahara City's mayor hurriedly left.
Current Dahara City had too many matters requiring his attention.
The only fortunate thing was that Dahara City's destruction was only at the building level. Dahara City's residents and tourists, having evacuated in time, suffered no casualties.
As the saying goes, where people exist, the place exists. As long as there were no casualties, wealthy Dahara City's urban reconstruction wasn't too difficult.
While Dahara City urgently rebuilt, Johan's group of "patients" had become quite leisurely.
Mewtwo wore a cold expression and a "Gengar apron," standing in the yard... barbecuing.
The grilled meat sizzled with oil on the charcoal fire prepared by Ceruledge, and the aroma immediately spread.
"Ka-kaah?"
Is it burning?
Gengar peeked out from behind it.
Hearing this, Mewtwo was startled, quickly flipping while looking at Gengar with eyes full of "death."
Gengar wasn't afraid of Mewtwo at all, just grinning as it patted its shoulder.
"Ka-kaah~"
Pay attention~
Mewtwo nodded stiffly.
Indeed.
Being human was much harder than being a Pokémon, Mewtwo thought.
It had once pondered whether it was human or Pokémon, but under Johan's guidance, after several "attempts" and "experiences," Mewtwo instantly understood... it was definitely a Pokémon!
On the other side, bandaged Giovanni pushed Johan's wheelchair, walking beside the garden.
"Pokémon, construction, technology?" Johan listened to Giovanni's description, couldn't help turning back to look at him.
Giovanni remained unmoved, just continuing: "These are my planned three main businesses for Team Rocket after transformation. Plus four subsidiary businesses: entertainment, berries, dining, logistics."
Having walked the edge of life and death in this battle, Giovanni had completely come to terms with things.
Since Team Rocket was transforming, might as well use this opportunity to transform completely!
Pokémon breeding—Team Rocket already had its own breeding houses, and Giovanni even had a private breeding house. His Pokémon, except for those like Beedrill that he'd captured from early on, mostly came from there.
Originally Team Rocket actually had "hunting" as a "business," but after Johan and Giovanni's discussions, hunting operations had been withdrawn, allowing Team Rocket's internal breeding house business to develop.
Now transforming breeding as a main business was completely manageable.
As for construction, this was the planned cooperation with Devon—naturally no problem.
And technology...
Team Rocket could create artificial legendary Pokémon like Mewtwo, and technology had always been a project Giovanni valued greatly. Team Rocket had countless research talents, so technology definitely needed no explanation.
As for the four subsidiary businesses: entertainment, berries, dining, logistics.
Entertainment was Team Rocket's first transformation project, also suggested by Johan and initiated by Giovanni, handed to Matori to manage. It was now on track.
Just that the Pokémon world's entertainment industry wasn't very developed, so the market couldn't be called particularly large—sufficient as a subsidiary business.
Berries, like breeding houses, was something Team Rocket already possessed, essentially front-and-back businesses connecting with Pokémon breeding houses.
Regarding dining.
This had originally been bundled with entertainment, later temporarily separated, now being brought up again by Giovanni as an independent project.
As the saying goes, to capture a man you must first capture his stomach—women were similar.
So Giovanni decided to first do internal consumption.
After all, Team Rocket had massive personnel—just internal consumption of everyone's meals could recover considerable funds.
Moreover, it could control Team Rocket internal personnel's "stomachs"—killing multiple birds with one stone.
And logistics...
This was also work Team Rocket already did.
As an underground force occupying two regions, transportation of various materials, supplies, items, etc., inevitably involved logistics business.
Many Team Rocket members' identities were also covered as logistics workers.
Now it was just expanding the logistics business originally covering two regions—the best business for accommodating and covering Team Rocket personnel numbers.
Listening to Giovanni's description, Johan was secretly amazed.
Boss Giovanni, you're aiming to match Galar region's "Rose Corporation."
Rose Corporation covered aviation, railways, energy, technology, internet, construction, living, banking, television, and many other projects, encompassing almost every corner of Galar region.
"I'm calling it—the Rainbow Rocket Plan!"
Johan in the wheelchair raised his eyebrows and his mouth twitched.
"This is the name you suggested when we first met," Giovanni said flatly.
Originally Johan had only suggested the word "Rainbow."
Now...
Three main businesses, four subsidiary businesses... better matched this name.
"When the time comes, find someone to coordinate with Matori."
Stopping, Giovanni gently patted the wheelchair handle, speaking gently to the girl before them:
"I'll leave it to you."
"Mm..."
Turns out Giovanni had pushed Johan to Cynthia.
Watching Giovanni's departing figure, Cynthia frowned slightly but then relaxed.
"This Uncle Giovanni... isn't simple," Cynthia said softly.
Intuition told Cynthia that Giovanni was hiding quite a lot.
"Of course he's not simple," Johan sighed.
"Hm?"
Cynthia blinked at him.
Johan smiled slightly, beckoning for Cynthia to come closer.
So Cynthia slowly leaned down, bringing her ear closer.
But Johan reached out to gently wipe the corner of her mouth, smiling: "Little kitten."
Whoosh—
In an instant, Cynthia's pale cheeks reddened.
She wasn't blushing because Johan wiped her mouth, but because no wonder Uncle Giovanni's gaze had been a bit strange earlier.
Johan laughed heartily—pink Cynthia was really so cute.
At the same time he said: "Anyone who can single-handedly fight Primal Groudon and even control it in reverse—how could they be simple?"
Cynthia gave him a coquettish glare, blaming him for not reminding her earlier.
But she agreed with Johan's words.
"True."
As a Gym Leader, being able to directly confront Primal Groudon, even if only for a while, wasn't something ordinary Gym Leaders could do.
Even Hoenn's Norman or Sinnoh's Volkner couldn't do it.
Watching Giovanni disappear around the corner, Cynthia said thoughtfully:
"But he does seem like a good person."
Good person?
Johan's expression became somewhat strange.
Wonder what Boss Giovanni's reaction would be hearing our little Cynthia evaluate him this way.
Night fell.
The campfire crackled, flames dancing.
"Let me see it."
Johan grabbed the longest spike on Gengar's back, like grabbing its little tuft, not letting it sink back into the shadows.
"Ka-kaah..."
Gengar laughed awkwardly twice, scratching its head, suddenly pointing at the distant sky.
"Ka-kaah!"
Look, a UFO!
Then it turned to run, but the spike was still firmly held by Johan, its feet sliding on the ground.
Turning back.
It saw Johan's teasing gaze.
Little guy, we've been together so long—don't I know what this purple fatty is thinking?
"Heh, when you wag your tail, I know whether your farts stink."
"Ka-kaah?" Gengar pinched its nose, waving its hands in front of its face with disgust.
You actually pay special attention to that?
Johan's forehead showed black lines. "Don't make me delete all your browsing history."
"Ka-kaah!"
Gengar immediately opened its mouth, reaching in to pull out a palm-sized stone emanating seven-colored light.
Seeing this thing, Johan's pupils contracted, then his mouth corners drooped.
"How did you cut this off?"
This stone emanating seven-colored light... was clearly the seven-colored meteorite that caused Rayquaza's Mega Evolution and the Groudon-Kyogre incident in Hoenn!
Although this palm-sized piece was countless times smaller than the original massive seven-colored meteorite.
Back then, in Hoenn, when Kyogre and Groudon met, the seven-colored meteorite was born and condensed. To prevent these two big guys from getting it, Gengar had sent the meteorite to the Distortion World per Johan's instructions.
However.
Seven-colored meteorites were hard to preserve—they would disappear after a certain time, only condensing again when sufficiently strong Mega energy waves appeared.
So at the time, neither Johan, the Hoenn twin gods, nor Rayquaza cared much.
Who knew Gengar had actually cut off a portion and kept it for itself?
"No wonder the Mega Evolution consumption feels heavier each time..." Johan murmured.
"Ka-kaah!" Gengar grinned, showing a proud smile.
"What are you proud of?" Johan tapped its head lightly in exasperation.
Gengar immediately covered its head, pouting.
No logic, totally no logic!
As a Ghost-type Pokémon, how could ordinary human fists hit it?
Even if it was a martial artist, wouldn't it just pass through?
Johan was totally unreasonable!
Without even using force, Gengar was already acting pitiful. Johan rolled his eyes at this purple fatty.
"Marsha~~"
Marshadow approached Johan, sniffing around him curiously.
"What's wrong, Marshadow? The food is with Mewtwo and Rotom." Johan noticed this long-unseen little one, pointing at Mewtwo's barbecue stand and Rotom's oven and refrigerator.
"Burp~" Marshadow belched, patting its belly to indicate it was full.
It approached Johan again, sniffing once more, tilting its head.
"Marsha?"
It felt there was a... familiar yet strange scent on Johan.
Hearing this, Johan understood: "You mean this?"
He pulled out Marshadow's exclusive Z-Crystal from his pocket.
Though it was Marshadow-exclusive, somehow his Gengar could use it too—probably due to shared move origins...
"Marsha!"
Marshadow immediately jumped up, looking excited.
That's it! That's it!
"If there's a chance in the future, I'll let you use it," Johan couldn't help smiling.
Marshadow nodded repeatedly.
"Speaking of which, Marshadow, what have you been doing lately?" Johan asked.
Marshadow rolled its eyes, swaying as if about to collapse from exhaustion. Gengar conveniently floated out from behind to catch it.
Then one Gengar and one Marshadow performed a "don't die, live well" drama, leaving Johan helplessly watching.
"Marsha!"
Getting back to business.
Marshadow quietly indicated...
It was all Ho-Oh's fault for giving out too many feathers, making it constantly run around "guiding" feather holders.
This was very troublesome.
More importantly.
These feathers wouldn't stay with one person.
Like father to son, grandfather to grandson, teacher to student—there were always people hoping to see Ho-Oh, treating them as treasures passed down through generations.
So while Ho-Oh might give out few feathers in one period, at most one or two.
But accumulated over such long periods... it was really tiring.
Johan immediately expressed understanding, then gathered some recovered aura to give Marshadow a full aura massage package.
"Marsha~(3)"
Marshadow immediately collapsed on Johan's lap.
At Mewtwo's barbecue stand.
"More please."
Darkrai emerged from the shadows, tossing several skewers into the trash bag, saying to Mewtwo.
Mewtwo glanced at it, expressionlessly handing over several skewers.
How could these guys eat so much?
Been grilling from morning to evening and still not full?
Darkrai skillfully stripped a skewer, nodding slightly: "Not bad, barbecue skills have clearly improved."
[Are you Johan's Pokémon?]
Mewtwo looked at the skewers in its hands, suddenly asking.
"No," Darkrai said flatly.
[Then why try so hard? I thought you were Johan's Pokémon.]
Mewtwo's voice was somewhat stiff.
But Darkrai didn't mind much.
It looked at Johan massaging Marshadow, feeding Victini small crackers, telling stories to Ninetales, Tinkaton, Dragonite...
Coming back to itself.
It asked back: "Aren't you the same?"
Glancing at Mewtwo.
This guy was like itself—one of only two Pokémon remaining.
Mewtwo fell silent.
"Besides, who says you have to become someone's Pokémon to fight for that person?"
[Hm?]
Darkrai stripped another skewer.
"The word 'friend' is enough."
Friends?
Mewtwo nodded thoughtfully.
Darkrai tossed the skewer, "By the way, more please, extra spicy."
Mewtwo: "..."
Boom!!
Suddenly.
A rumbling sound came from outside the yard—quite loud, but didn't particularly concern Johan, Cynthia, and the Pokémon in the yard.
Soon after.
Bandaged Giovanni walked into the yard looking refreshed.
Behind him.
The already bruised Flint now looked even worse, grimacing as he and Infernape supported each other walking in.
Seeing this scene, Johan's expression was strange.
Flint had grown some backbone.
Actually challenging Boss Giovanni to a duel.
Setting aside strength differences, just... a Fire-type specialist trainer challenging a Ground-type grandmaster...
What was the difference between this and a penguin challenging an Articuno?
Moreover, the opponent was "Giovanni of the Earth."
Johan could only say... admirable courage.
"Hiss—" Flint sat down beside Johan's wheelchair, inhaling while saying:
"Teacher Johan, Uncle Giovanni is really strong."
Of course... Johan thought silently.
Even peak Lance would probably lose more than win against peak Giovanni.
Let alone with your severe type disadvantage.
"Speaking of which," Flint scratched his head, "why do I feel like Teacher Johan, big sis, and Uncle Giovanni all seem to have been treated, but I haven't?"
"Your imagination," Johan stared straight ahead, saying seriously.
"Imagination?"
"Mm."
"Alright..."
At this time, suited Giovanni approached, saying to Flint with satisfaction:
"You're quite good. How about... cough, how about taking a position at my new company?"
"A position?" Flint was stunned.
"Good salary."
Flint's eyes immediately brightened.
Just a position...
"Ahem, Gym Leader Giovanni," Johan coughed lightly, reminding him.
Hearing this, Giovanni came to his senses, pondering briefly before nodding slightly at Johan.
"True, too early. Wait two months."
"Mm." Johan also agreed.
"Huh?"
Flint looked confused, looking at Johan then Giovanni, not understanding.
"Oh right, there's something."
Johan seemed to remember something, suddenly calling:
"Little Soft."
Plop—
A green cell dropped into his palm, raising its upper body.
[I've said many times, I'm not called 'Little Soft.']
"Okay Little Soft, I understand Little Soft, no problem Little Soft."
Zygarde core: "..."
"Seriously, your matter—Gym Leader Giovanni might be able to help."
Hm?
Both Giovanni and the Zygarde core looked at each other in surprise.
Johan whispered to Giovanni:
"Let me introduce my friend, Zygarde—it's a legendary Pokémon, Ground-type..."
Giovanni's gaze showed some change.
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Powerstones?
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