Mew

Rosa swiftly dissolved before his eyes, turning into a pink creature.

The legendary Pokémon Mew was said to possess the genes of every Pokémon. Because it could turn invisible at will, it could approach humans without being noticed at all.

Its eyes wide, Mew curiously studied the boy before it. At the sight of the tear tracks at the corners of his eyes, it seemed to recall Ash, the Trainer who had rashly intervened while it was fighting its clone on New Island just now.

A soft murmur brought Gongping back to normal. Seeing Mew's worried gaze, he took some food out of his bag and offered it to Mew. "Sorry, I lost my composure."

Since Mew could mimic Rosa's appearance, that established one thing: the final destination of Rosa's travels had indeed been in the Kanto Region.

One of Gongping's reasons for coming to the Kanto Region had been to search for the missing Rosa. Now, Mew's transformation had finally confirmed his judgment.

The fruit biscuit was a specialty of the Unova Region, with a distinctive berry flavor that even a creature like Mew had never tasted. The first bite filled its mouth with a delicate fragrance. Mew was delighted and quickly finished the biscuit.

As a legendary Pokémon, Mew would repay Pokémon and humans who made it happy. After eating the tasty food, it put its hands on its hips, nodded, and hummed twice before floating up to Gongping, striking a pose that said, "Human, I see promise in you."

"Was it good?"

Gongping's tone was slightly teasing. Mew hummed again, putting on an expression that said, "I'm a legendary Pokémon. How could I possibly never have eaten anything delicious?"

"I have other flavors too. Want to try some?"

At Gongping's words, Mew flushed slightly and turned its head away as though a little angry, refusing to acknowledge him. Out of the corner of its eye, however, it stole glances at him, wanting to see what other flavors of biscuits he had.

What a tsundere. No wonder Mewtwo acts just like it.

He took out two more biscuits, and Mew snatched them away at lightning speed. Not wanting to stay in front of this human to eat any longer, it was about to leave when it suddenly felt that taking advantage of a human for nothing was wrong. At that thought, its figure flashed, a tiny spatial vortex formed nearby, and three berries dropped to the ground.

After leaving behind three berries that were extremely precious to the humans of this world, Mew paid Gongping no further attention and slowly vanished beside the road, leaving him staring blankly at the three oddly shaped berries.

"These should be Salac Berries."

Giovanni, who had appeared at some point, picked up the three berries and examined them. Then he looked in the direction Mew had gone, a trace of complexity in his eyes.

Green and shaped much like the snake fruit from his original world, these berries were extremely rare even in this world. Known as mysterious treasures among berries, they were said in ancient legends to conceal the power of the sky.

Salac Berries had now all but disappeared from the Kanto Region and even the entire world. Their value lay in the fact that, during battles within a day of a Pokémon eating one, once its injuries reached a critical point, its speed would surge, much like the Abilities of starter Pokémon.

As a veteran Trainer, Giovanni had a wealth of experience. Seeing that Gongping did not know how to handle berries like these, he offered a suggestion. "Three whole Salac Berries. Eating them outright would be a waste. Taking them back to grow is the way to go."

Gongping nodded lightly and put away the three berries, then looked at the storm. "Looks like things on New Island have come to a successful conclusion too."

"Yes, it's over..."

Before coming here, Giovanni had received word that Mewtwo had disappeared with its army of cloned Pokémon. Team Rocket's operation on New Island had come up empty this time. Meanwhile, the local Pokémon League had also detected Team Rocket's presence and would likely take action soon.

Giovanni's plans concerning Mewtwo had fallen through, but that did not mean he had gained nothing. Through their brief exchanges, befriending Gongping, a young Sandstorm King, had been his greatest gain.

Gongping also had quite a favorable impression of Giovanni. This experienced veteran Trainer had taught him a great deal. Trainers at this level were few and far between in the Kanto Region, and their type specialties overlapped as well. Both had developed a reasonably good impression of the other.

In the end, they exchanged contact information, and Gongping brought his trip to Yinhua City to a very smooth close.

"Keeping in touch with Giovanni is a good thing too. Sometimes, we still need his assistance."

"Giovanni seems to have ties to Team Rocket..."

"He's Team Rocket's leader, but he's also a senior executive at Silph Co."

On the other end of the call, the Ice-type Elite Four member Lorelei yawned. She did not mind Gongping befriending Giovanni in the least. In fact, she was even somewhat pleased that this blockhead had finally come around. She had originally been afraid that Gongping would get into a fight with Giovanni after discovering his identity.

Leader of Team Rocket was only one of Giovanni's many identities. Judging by the original anime, it might have been his main identity, but in this world, Giovanni's true core identity was that of a key board member at Silph Co. That identity was precisely why Team Rocket had remained standing time and again in the anime.

The Pokémon League entrusted the Elite Four with managing the Kanto Region, which required handling relationships with all sides. Although Team Rocket was an opponent, there were times when its existence was necessary. Otherwise, chaos among the underground forces would also spill into the world above.

"There are only a few days left before your match with Will. Have you worked out a strategy?"

"I'm already preparing."

At the mention of the match, Lorelei grew serious too. "You can't take him lightly. In the Johto Region's King points rankings, Will has long had enough points to qualify for the Champion Leader selection. He lost to Lance in the last King Exhibition Match, which was why he missed out on the Greater Kanto Champion Leader's throne."

Greater Kanto had eight King seats, but only one Champion Leader. Last time, Will and Lance had represented the strongest of the Elite Four from Kanto and Johto, respectively, so that battle had directly secured Lance's position. After such a humiliation, Will was certain to give it his all this time.

Online, Trainers from both regions had already begun tearing into one another over this exchange match before the battle had even started.

Sandy Poplar (Johto Region): Is everyone in the Kanto Region this arrogant? Sending Lance last time was one thing, but this time you're actually sending a rookie to face our strongest Elite Four member.

May and Moon (Kanto Region): Grinning at the poster above and giving them a pat on the head. That beaten dog Will still has the nerve to come to Kanto for a match? Didn't he learn his lesson from getting crushed 4-6 by Lance last time?

Shayang (Johto Region): Show some class!

Drifting Ice Leaf: I never put my region next to my name, but I'm a lifelong Gongping hater. Go, Elite Four Will!

Heartwing Flight: That guy Gongping lured my little sister away. I never imagined he was actually a lolicon. As someone who likes mature women, I'm rooting for Will.

Faced with the heated online discussion, Gongping suddenly surfaced to join in. He recognized one of the posters as the young man in red who had been with the twin-tailed little girl last time. This guy was smearing him as a lolicon?

Sandstorm King Gongping (Kanto Region Elite Four, identity verified): Since when did Will become a mature woman? Poster above, haven't you mixed up Karen and Will?

At the other end of the computer, the twin-tailed girl looked at her older brother with a brooding gaze. "Don't tell me you really thought Will was a mature woman?"

"Haha... With that mask on, how was I supposed to know whether Will was a man or a woman..."