Chapter Summaries

At the Research Summit, Gary spoke with Cynthia about research and vacation plans before Sonia arrived with a second-generation Dynamax Band developed by Professor Magnolia. Sonia urged Gary to prepare to challenge Leon, admitting she hoped Leon would lose his undefeated status so he could retire and marry her.

• Gary and Cynthia discussed Sinnoh mythology, ancient Hisuian writing, and Cynthia's invitation to visit Celestic Town and vacation in Undella Town.
• Sonia surprised Gary at the buffet and introduced herself to Cynthia as Gary's honorary older sister.
• Sonia gave Gary the second-generation Dynamax Band, which could withstand Gigantamax energy.
• Gary considered Dynamax's strengths and limits and said he would have little use for the band until his Pokémon reached the level cap.
• Sonia urged Gary to learn Dynamax as he prepared to challenge Leon, then confessed she wanted Leon to retire and marry her.

Gary received Professor Magnolia’s approval of his doctoral dissertation and Professor Rowan’s invitation to establish a laboratory in Sinnoh. While exploring the conference booths, he met Kahili, an Alolan islander presenting research on Z-Moves.

• Professor Magnolia praised Gary’s dissertation and said the committee could approve his doctorate, while Professor Rowan invited him to establish a laboratory in Sinnoh.
• Gary left to explore the exhibition hall after Lorelei asked him to meet her in the parking lot that evening.
• Gary found Bill thrown out of Kahili’s booth after Bill had mistaken her for a potential assistant and upset her.
• Gary and Bill returned to Kahili’s booth, where Gary introduced himself and Dr. Bill and persuaded Kahili to talk with them.
• Kahili introduced herself as an islander from the Alola Region traveling around the world.

Gary learned how Z-Moves worked from Kahili and discovered he could activate them without performing the traditional poses. Kahili offered to demonstrate in a battle, and Gary eagerly accepted so he could use Z-Moves without embarrassment.

• Kahili explained that Z-Moves drew power from a Trainer-Pokémon bond and that matching poses helped channel their energy.
• Gary asked whether the poses were required, and Kahili said Trainers could activate Z-Moves without them once they understood the energy pathway.
• Kahili revealed that she had won the Alola Island Challenge three years running and offered Gary some of her many Z-Crystals.
• Gary kicked Bill for joking about their friendship, then persuaded Kahili not to hit Bill with her golf club.
• Kahili offered to battle Gary to demonstrate pose-free Z-Move activation, and Gary eagerly agreed.

Gary and Kahili battled at the Ecruteak Gym, where Gary learned how to perform a Z-Move and defeated her Toucannon with Decidueye. Kahili gave Gary her Z-Crystals, and he promised to help spread Alola's Z-Moves.

• Gary borrowed Morty's outdoor field for a public practice battle with Kahili, drawing scholars, professors, Elite Four members, and Cynthia as spectators.
• Gary sent out Decidueye, while Kahili chose her ace, Toucannon; both Pokémon used Tailwind before Toucannon attacked with Beak Blast.
• Decidueye blocked Beak Blast with Protect, boosted his Special Attack with Nasty Plot, and struck Toucannon with Air Slash, but Toucannon countered with a powerful charge.
• Gary switched Decidueye's Z-Crystal to Flyinium Z and copied Kahili's Z-Move ritual after watching her perform it.
• Gary and Kahili used Supersonic Skystrike, and Decidueye's special attack knocked out Toucannon, giving Gary the victory.
• Kahili gave Gary her Z-Crystals, and Gary promised to help Alola's Z-Moves flourish.

Gary finished the summit with his doctorate approved, new equipment, and plans to establish a research institute. After hiring Kahili as a future research assistant, he returned to the courtyard and found Karen and Will waiting, where Karen knocked Will unconscious before asking Gary to talk inside.

• Gary and Lorelei returned to their lodging after spending the first day of the summit together.
• Gary watched presentations by Professor Birch, Professor Sycamore, Professor Magnolia, and Kahili, then offered Kahili a future research assistant position at his institute.
• The summit ended, leaving Gary with new academic contacts, a Dynamax Band, and many Z-Crystals, while Professor Sycamore promised to save him any Evolution Stones he found for Hoenn's Starter Pokémon.
• Gary rode Ponyta back to the courtyard and found Karen and Will peering inside; Karen silenced Will and knocked him unconscious.
• Karen invited Gary inside to talk, and Gary dragged Will into the courtyard by his feet.

Gary revealed that he was Team Rocket executive Blue and explained how he had helped Giovanni shift the organization toward legitimate business. After the Team Rocket Trio called for help from Mahogany Town, Gary and Gintoki flew there to confront Lance and rescue them.

• Karen confronted Gary about his Team Rocket position, and Gary admitted he was executive Blue.
• Karen and Will explained how they had joined Team Rocket after training under Pryce, then left without falling out with Giovanni.
• Gary said he had persuaded Giovanni to pursue wealth and legitimate business, while Will reported that Lance was stirring up trouble inside Team Rocket.
• Will revealed that Gintoki had been listening after investigating a tip about Lance's plans at the Lake of Rage, and Gintoki refused to inherit Team Rocket from Giovanni.
• The Team Rocket Trio called Gary for help while Lance pursued them in Mahogany Town, so Gary and Gintoki set off to find them.

Gary and Gintoki arrived in Mahogany Town to stop Lance and called in backup for a decisive confrontation. After recruiting Archer, they awaited Gintoki’s ally as Lance prepared his Forced Evolution weapon at the Lake of Rage.

• Gary and Gintoki reached Mahogany Town and agreed that Lance had to be arrested or killed, so they called in support from the Pokémon League and Team Rocket.
• At the Lake of Rage base, Lance prepared to unleash his Forced Evolution sonic weapon, while Team Rocket’s Squad Leader ordered captured Electrode positioned and kept the Trio bound.
• Archer arrived at the inn, misunderstood Gintoki’s presence, and learned that Gary and Gintoki were working together to support Team Rocket’s transformation.
• Gary explained that the Pokémon League welcomed Team Rocket’s reform, and Archer enthusiastically accepted his possible future as an Elite Four member.
• Gintoki’s backup arrived in a burst of smoke and introduced himself as Ninja Koga.

Gary and his allies divided their forces to destroy the machine disrupting Lake of Rage and confront Lance. Archer and Gintoki fought their way into the Secret Base while Gary reached the lake, where Lance watched the operation unfold and blamed Blue for his lack of capable allies.

• Koga joined Gary's operation in place of Lance, and Gary assigned Archer and Gintoki to attack the Mahogany Town general store while he drew Lance out at Lake of Rage.
• Archer gave Koga a set of Koffing for burst damage, and Gary transferred Golduck, Zeraora, Electivire, and Braviary to his team before heading to the lake.
• At the general store, Archer forced the old man to reveal the hidden entrance, but the man activated the anti-intruder system as Archer and Gintoki entered the Secret Base.
• Archer and Gintoki battled their way through the base's grunts, with Feraligatr, Toxicroak, and Bisharp attacking in the corridor.
• Gary reached Lake of Rage, and Koga threatened the elderly gatekeeper with a poisoned shuriken until he let Gary pass.
• Lance watched Gary's arrival on surveillance and angrily blamed Blue for leaving him without capable bodyguards.

Gary confronted Lance on an artificial island at the Lake of Rage, exposed his poisoned wine, and foiled his escape with Koga and Decidueye. Lance’s button activated electromagnetic waves that enraged the lake’s Gyarados, and Gary used Electivire to create a protective Electric Terrain as the group prepared to fight.

• Gary reached Lance’s island by walking across the lake with Golduck’s psychic power, and Lance offered him poisoned wine.
• Gary splashed the wine into Lance’s face, then Koga ambushed Lance but only cut off his hair before Lance activated a button and fled.
• Lance’s electromagnetic waves made Koga’s Crobat attack its Trainer, but Gary stopped it and had Decidueye strike Lance into the lake.
• The waves brought swarms of red-eyed Gyarados to the surface, so Gary and Koga deployed their Pokémon to defend the island.
• Gary used Zeraora and Electivire to create a golden Electric Terrain that blocked the waves, then ordered his team to battle the approaching Gyarados.

At Lake of Rage, Gary and Koga fought off the enraged Gyarados until Gary captured the leading Red Gyarados and the swarm retreated. The Trio destroyed the underground base’s radio-wave transmitter to protect Blue, and Gary concluded that Gintoki and the others had finished their job.

• Gary and Koga struggled to hold back the Gyarados, while Koga’s Pokémon spread Toxic through the lake.
• Gary used Gengar, Aerodactyl, and Zeraora to defeat and capture the Red Gyarados leading the attacks.
• Gary sent out the captured Red Gyarados, whose roar made the other Gyarados hesitate and retreat.
• A second, juvenile Red Gyarados emerged, but the Gyarados soon withdrew into the lake.
• Gary told Koga to have the police search for Lance, reasoning that Gintoki and the others had finished the job.
• The Trio freed themselves, pinned a guard against the transmitter’s Electrode, and triggered an explosion that blasted them out of the underground base.

Gary recovered at Pryce’s home after the Lake of Rage battle, where Pryce explained that he had watched the fight and questioned Gary’s ties to Team Rocket. Gary described his chosen path, and Pryce challenged him to a Gym battle to judge his character.

• Raven arrived late at the Lake of Rage, and Gary told him and Koga that Lance had already been taken away.
• Pryce arrived with Lance frozen in ice, and Raven’s officers took the prisoner away to be thawed and sent to prison.
• Koga received an emergency notice about Lance’s injuries and left for Ilex Forest while Gary went with Pryce to rest.
• Gary woke the next day at Pryce’s home, ate a meal, and learned Pryce had watched his fight with Team Rocket without intervening because he did not trust him.
• Gary explained that he would follow his own path with a clear conscience, and Pryce invited him to battle so he could judge him for himself.

Gary challenged Pryce at the Mahogany Town Gym, where Wartortle defeated Dewgong with powerful Aura-based attacks. Pryce sent out Cloyster next, and Gary brought in Armarouge for the second match.

• Auntie Xima started the three-on-three Gym Challenge, and Pryce and Gary revealed their teams.
• Pryce sent Dewgong into the pool, and Wartortle dodged its Aurora Beam before counterattacking with a Hadoken and Focus Punch.
• Dewgong froze Wartortle and pressed the attack, but Wartortle broke free and knocked Dewgong into the ceiling with an Aura Sphere.
• Pryce recalled the defeated Dewgong and sent out Cloyster, while Gary recalled Wartortle and chose Armarouge.

Gary defeated Pryce’s Cloyster and earned his second match victory at the Mahogany Gym. Pryce then challenged Gary to face his veteran Lapras, and Golduck stepped forward to fight it as the chapter ended.

• Armarouge countered Cloyster’s Blizzard with a combination move, then used a massive Focus Energy Bomb to defeat it.
• Xima declared Gary the winner of the second match and told Pryce to award him a Badge.
• Pryce offered Gary a chance to battle his veteran Lapras, which he said belonged to his true first team.
• Gary considered sending Wartortle, but Golduck took offense at being treated like a slacker and entered the battlefield.
• Pryce and Lapras prepared to fight Golduck as Xima ran to get clear.

Gary defeated Pryce in the Mahogany Gym and earned his seventh Badge. After Station Director Tuyuan sent him to Violet City to meet Mary, Gary learned that a ranking tournament involving all sixteen Kanto and Johto Gyms was being planned, with the last-place Gym Leader facing elimination.

• Golduck trapped Pryce's Lapras in a barrier and defeated it with a powerful Future Sight strike, winning Gary the battle and his seventh Badge.
• Gary rewarded Golduck with five gigabytes of study materials, then said goodbye to Pryce and headed toward the station.
• Station Director Tuyuan asked Gary to meet Mary in Violet City and record more episodes there, and Gary agreed, hoping to meet Mr. Steel and Ash's group.
• Gary teased Ash in the group chat about meeting in Violet City, while Erika revealed that a Gym Leader Ranking Tournament was being planned.
• Karen explained that the tournament would involve all sixteen Kanto and Johto Gyms and eliminate the last-place Gym Leader; Gary suspected Bugsy had angered Lance.

Gary met Lance, Lorelei, and Koga for dinner in Violet City after helping deal with Vicious, and Lance rewarded him with an ancient Dragonite scale. Gary left Lance a clue about the Red Gyarados at the bottom of the Lake of Rage as repayment.

• Lorelei and Koga teased the bandaged Lance about Vicious escaping and Bugsy accidentally injuring him before they agreed to meet Gary for dinner.
• Gary discovered that Ash and his companions had gotten lost in Ilex Forest, then met Lance, Lorelei, and Koga at a five-star restaurant.
• Gary joked about ordering every dish and shared dinner with Eevee-chan while Lance and he drank champagne.
• Lance gave Gary a Dragonite scale from the Dragon Secret Realm that could strengthen Dragon-type Pokémon and pass on its owner's move insights.
• Lorelei sent Lance to rest, and Gary had Gengar escort him before leaving a note pointing to the Red Gyarados at the bottom of the Lake of Rage.

After Lance drunkenly climbed onto the Violet Gym tower and lamented his reputation, Gary coaxed him down by revealing that Charizard could gain the Dragon type through Mega Evolution. Lance hurried off to Kalos to pursue the possibility, leaving Gary free to plan a visit to see the Geisha Girls dance.

• Lorelei returned to the Indigo Plateau, while Gary and Falkner found Lance drunk and perched on the Violet Gym tower.
• Lance complained about his career, Bugsy's String Shot ambush, and being mocked for landing on his nose.
• Gary persuaded Lance to come down by saying Mega Evolution could make Charizard and Gyarados Dragon-types.
• Lance visited Gary in his room to ask whether Charizard could really become a Dragon-type, and Gary directed him to Professor Sycamore and Korrina.
• Lance left Violet City with Dragonite for Kalos, and Gary decided to watch the Geisha Girls dance the next day.

During the Ho-Oh Festival, Gary watched the Eevee Five Sisters perform before Jessie and James alerted him that Vicious was hunting Celebi. Gary flew toward Ilex Forest, but Vicious reached the hunter first and left the hunter's cabin burning.

• Gary and Tyson ate festival snacks and went to the Grand Theater to watch the Eevee Five Sisters perform.
• Gary received an urgent call from Jessie and James, who said Vicious was taking them to find a Pokémon hunter near Ilex Forest.
• Gary tried to contact Lance, then summoned Aerodactyl and flew toward Ilex Forest.
• Vicious forced the hunter to reveal where Celebi would appear, then set fire to his cabin and left.

Gary interrogated the Celebi hunter, then confronted Vicious and the Team Rocket Trio in Ilex Forest as they used a giant mechanical weapon to capture Celebi. Celebi’s time-space power transported the others away, while a Shiny Celebi appeared in Gary’s arms and stayed with him.

• Gary forced the Celebi hunter to reveal that Vicious had obtained Celebi’s coordinates, then sent Archer the information and ordered him to jail the hunter.
• Falkner locked down Azalea Town and the surrounding routes while Gary headed deeper into Ilex Forest.
• Gary found Vicious operating a giant mechanical Zygarde and attacked with his Pokémon as Jessie, James, and Meowth tried to stop Vicious.
• Vicious electrocuted the Trio and repelled Gary’s Pokémon, but Celebi appeared and was knocked aside by the machine.
• Celebi’s spatial power sent Vicious, the Trio, and Celebi away, while Gary’s pendant shielded him and a pink Shiny Celebi fell into his arms.

Gary caught a Shiny Celebi and learned that its powerful Space-Time Rift could open a passage through time and space, though using it drained his Viridian Force. He asked Celebi to take him after the injured Forest God and the villain into the past, while Ash and Brock remained with an old woman and Professor Oak discussed how time travel created new timelines.

• Gary used the system to appraise Celebi and learned that its Shiny-exclusive Space-Time Rift could tear through space-time and severely damage an opponent.
• The system warned Gary that using Space-Time Rift required a great deal of Viridian Force and could be used about once a month without harming him.
• Gary asked Celebi to pursue the injured Celebi that had taken a bad guy into the past, and Celebi opened a space-time passage.
• Gary entered the passage with Celebi, felt weightless, and passed out.
• An old woman scolded Ash for nearly being swept away by the Forest God's Time-Space Arc, while Brock tried to calm her and she worried about Young Yukinari.
• Professor Oak told Tracey that changing the past would create a new timeline, then recalled a sketch of his younger self with a young Gary.

Gary woke in the past and reunited with Celebi after rescuing Yukinari from a hunter. When Vicious attacked Celebi with a giant robot, Gary and Yukinari rode Ponyta into the fight, and Ponyta evolved into Galar Rapidash as it reached Celebi.

• Yukinari found Gary unconscious by the forest shrine and told him he had carried him to safety.
• Gary and Yukinari encountered a hunter, and Gary’s Pokémon defeated the hunter’s Pokémon and drove him away.
• Gary released Celebi, and Yukinari sketched Gary with Celebi without Gary noticing.
• Gary heard Vicious attack Celebi and rushed into the forest with Yukinari.
• Gary used Ponyta’s Psychic to stop Vicious’s capture ball, then powered Ponyta through the robot’s attacks until it evolved into Galar Rapidash.