Time moved forward to after Gongping and Will's King Performance Match had ended.
As he watched Gongping walk away, a soft, gentle voice rang out. "Little sister, you seem to have some misunderstanding about King Gongping."
"There's no misunderstanding! We still don't know whether Rosa is alive or dead, but he's become a League King and is basking in glory. He must have been the one who hurt her."
Though the woman did not know who Rosa was, her smile remained warm. "You can't recklessly accuse a League King like that without evidence."
She stepped forward and stroked Lu's forehead. "How about I help you find out whether that King Gongping really did something bad?"
Following that woman's arrangements, Lu used the list she provided, the complete information and characteristics of his scheduled opponents, and the guidance in her notes to give his all and take first place in the Pokémon League's regional tournament. Finally, during the challenge stage, he chose the Sandstorm King to draw Gongping away from Cinnabar Island.
From beginning to end, Lu did not think he had done anything wrong!
Under the silvery moonlight, as though sensing Gongping's mood, Gongping's Ninetales stopped holding back. Beneath the sweeping, boundless light, Lu's Ninetales finally fell, blasted out of the arena and knocked unconscious.
"The battle is over, and this exhibition match has come to a successful conclusion. As a fan of Gongping, Lu performed exceptionally well. King Gongping is now approaching Lu, presumably to offer his fan a few words of comfort."
After recalling his Pokémon into its Poké Ball, Lu looked at Gongping as he approached and instinctively felt a trace of fear. Still, he remained stubborn. "Of course I know what I did, but for Rosa, it was all worth it."
Before Lu finished, Gongping decisively slapped him across the face without another unnecessary word. Gongping struck hard, sending Lu staggering back several steps. Half his face immediately swelled, and tears involuntarily streaked from the corners of his eyes.
Seeing Lu's tear-streaked face, Gongping's lips moved, his voice carrying a slight tremor. "I don't blame you, because you don't have a proper sense of right and wrong. I'm sorry for that slap. I still couldn't stop myself from hitting you."
"Ah! What is he doing?"
The Sandstorm King's slap drew angry looks from the entire audience, while those from the Pokémon League were also startled by Gongping's actions.
"But do you really know what you've done?"
Gongping looked at Lu. Seeing the bean sprout's expression of stubborn refusal to admit fault, he gently switched on the VR device in his hand and projected its images in front of Lu.
A photograph of a Machamp with its head crushed abruptly appeared before Lu's eyes. The mingling red-and-white images instantly made him vomit.
Could it be...
Gongping showed Lu photograph after photograph, like a slideshow.
Images of all kinds of bloody, brutal torture and slaughter were projected before the youngster. Meanwhile, Kanto Television hurriedly switched feeds, leaving viewers at home having seen Gongping slap a little kid and show him several graphic images.
Complaint calls flooded in, and many people left furious messages beneath Gongping's account online, condemning him for bullying a little kid.
"These images... has something happened on Cinnabar Island?"
Among the Elite Four, Lance immediately caught on and exchanged a glance with Bruno. Amid a torrent of curses, Pokémon League staff dispersed the spectators in the stands, and the closing ceremony that had been scheduled was hastily concluded.
Lu's face was pale. He had never imagined that the woman would do something like this. In the end, he could only mutter to himself, "I didn't mean to... she's a very kind person. All this time, she's been teaching me how to become the regional tournament champion. I really never thought she would..."
Gongping silently watched Lu in this state. Bruno patted his shoulder and shook his head, then had the Officer Jenny stationed there take Lu back to the Pokémon League for questioning first.
Lorelei examined the photograph and finally confirmed the person's identity. "To think it was her..."
The woman in the Pikachu mask was an extremely mysterious figure in Kanto. Savage by nature, she had committed countless bloody crimes across Kanto and was notorious. Even an organization like Team Rocket had once issued an underworld bounty for her, which showed just how vicious she was.
"For the past two years, she seems to have been employed by forces from other regions to collect certain special relics from ancient times. I never expected her to return to Kanto and target Cinnabar Island right away. Gongping, did you discover something that made you arrange defenses at the research institute in advance?"
The fact that Gongping had stationed four Pokémon there surprised the Kings. Clearly, he had not been entirely unprepared.
"No, I just instinctively felt uneasy."
At this point, Gongping looked at the Kings. "Lu's taking first place in the region was also connected to her arrangements. That's enough to show that she herself has a certain standing and strength within the Pokémon League, perhaps even no less than ours."
Although Gongping spoke calmly, the Kings who were somewhat familiar with his ways knew that the fifteen-year-old boy was merely suppressing his anger.
"Mr. Lance, sorry for the trouble. I have to get back to Cinnabar Island."
Only Lance's Dragonite could pass through Cinnabar Island's currently chaotic magnetic field and violent weather.
"Let's leave immediately."
Lance released Dragonite. Just as Gongping prepared to climb on, he suddenly saw Lu walking with Officer Jenny in the distance. There were things he wanted to say, but he hesitated.
With such a major incident having occurred, Lu, as an accomplice, was bound to be confined in the Pokémon League's juvenile custody facility for discipline. However, Gongping hoped the Pokémon League would not also strip Lu of his status as a Trainer.
Whatever the case, Lu's parents had entrusted him and Rosa with looking after Lu back then. Since things had reached this point, he bore responsibility as well.
The Kings exchanged looks. Finally, Agatha stepped forward to console him. "His first-place title in the regional tournament will certainly be revoked. As for his status as a Trainer, that will depend on his behavior in the custody facility."
"Thank you, Agatha."
This promise ensured that, once Lu was reformed and released in the future, he would at least still have the Pokémon League's minimum living allowance. Gongping bowed to Agatha in thanks. "Ultimately, this happened because I neglected to discipline him and failed to make adequate security arrangements for Cinnabar Island."
"Don't blame yourself too much, either. Often, the way things develop isn't something anyone can control."
As Gongping and Lance rode Dragonite toward Cinnabar Island, the Pokémon League also issued a public statement about the incident, briefly explaining the general sequence of events. Most people refused to accept it, however, and even suspected it was a Pokémon League conspiracy.
Stripping him of first place in the regional tournament and sending him to that terrifying juvenile custody facility-wasn't the Pokémon League going a little too far?
One netizen: Doesn't your conscience hurt, pinning the blame on a ten-year-old kid?
At first, the entire comment section beneath the announcement was filled with a string of copycat comments, all steering public opinion toward sympathy for Lu, until one Pokémon League employee finally could not stand it anymore and posted some photographs of the Cinnabar Island massacre online.
H Hong: Now that you've seen these photos, please keep pushing your narrative. Whose conscience should really be hurting here?
"That's strange. Why aren't you posting criticism this time, big brother?"
After returning to the rest area and seeing her older brother calmly reading through the incident, the Twin-Tailed Girl, Niko, was a little curious. "Seeing Gongping act so fierce just now really gave me a fright."
"Didn't you read the Pokémon League's announcement?"
The young man in red spoke lazily, as though he did not care at all how this incident developed afterward. That only made Niko curious about what her brother was thinking. "But aren't lots of people saying it's a Pokémon League conspiracy?"
"The Sandstorm King has no need to do something like that. Besides, I think that kid really does need discipline. Otherwise, if everything has to follow some brat's whims from now on, the world will be destroyed."
During the match, Gongping's eyes as he looked at Lu had held concern, self-reproach, and anger. Given that complicated gaze, the Pokémon League's announcement seemed likely to be true. The young man in red had his own judgment.
"I remember Lu having about the same build as you, scrawny as a bean sprout. That's the limitation of being flat-chested."
"Go die!"
Before you continue