Recaps

At Team Rocket Headquarters, Ye Li sabotaged the Genesis Gate activation with an infinite-loop safety valve, stopping its progress at ninety-nine percent. Giovanni suspected the cause might lie with Ye Li, who continued to act shocked and innocent.

• Giovanni presided over the Genesis Gate activation ceremony while Ye Li inserted a data chip containing the Deception Program.
• Ye Li started the activation, and the Genesis Gate powered up as its energy progress climbed toward completion.
• The progress bar stopped at ninety-nine percent when Ye Li's safety valve sent the activation sequence into an infinite loop.
• Engineer Wang and the technical team searched for the fault but found no hardware problems, software bugs, or diagnostic errors.
• Giovanni surveyed the room and fixed his gaze on Ye Li, suspecting the problem had an unexpected cause.

The Hoenn League’s Third Special Task Fleet launched a surprise bombardment of Viridian City while Team Rocket’s defenses were weakened by the Genesis Gate malfunction. Giovanni suspected Ye Li had betrayed Team Rocket, and the attack left his organization under threat from both inside and out.

• The Hoenn League’s Third Special Task Fleet appeared over Viridian City and prepared to attack Team Rocket’s facilities.
• The fleet fired its main cannons, devastating Viridian City’s factories, bases, and weapons depots.
• Team Rocket’s air defenses retaliated, but they could not stop the fleet’s bombardment.
• Giovanni saw the attack alerts and realized the Genesis Gate malfunction and the timing of the assault might be connected.
• Giovanni concluded there was a traitor in Team Rocket and suspected Ye Li.

Ye Li convinced Giovanni that he had not betrayed him, but Athena revealed herself as the true traitor and turned the control room’s defenses against Giovanni. Outside, Hoenn League forces and Athena’s rebels seized key facilities in Viridian City, leaving Giovanni facing the betrayal of his trusted aide.

• Giovanni confronted Ye Li, who showed troop deployment records and insisted his forces were supporting the attacks.
• Athena’s Arbok fatally struck Giovanni’s Personal Guard Captain, and Athena confessed that she had given the Hoenn League the Genesis Gate activation time.
• Athena condemned Giovanni’s Genesis plan and said she would return the organization to what she considered the right path.
• Athena sealed the Central Control Room and redirected its machine-gun turrets to target Giovanni, Ye Li, and the others.
• Hoenn League airborne troops joined Athena’s rebels in capturing key Energy Stations and Arsenals in Viridian City.
• Giovanni stared coldly at Athena, realizing that his trusted Chief of the Four Executives had betrayed him.

Giovanni crushed Athena’s coup in the underground headquarters, but Athena triggered explosives that began collapsing the base. Amid the chaos, Ye Li secretly disabled the Genesis Gate and launched his Ark plan to isolate Viridian City and redirect power to Secret Research Institute No. 7.

• Mewtwo’s Psyshock destroyed the control room’s automated defenses, and Giovanni’s Personal Guard fought Athena’s rebels.
• Ye Li used Umbreon to sabotage the Genesis Gate’s backup power supply, leaving the machine inoperable.
• Giovanni sent out Nidoking and Rhydon, whose strength overwhelmed Athena’s rebels.
• Athena detonated bombs planted in the headquarters, triggering a chain of explosions and a collapse of the underground base.
• Ye Li ordered his loyal troops to seal off Viridian City’s transport routes and divert power to Secret Research Institute No. 7.

Giovanni activated the underground base’s self-destruct sequence and fled aboard his secret airship, Noah’s Ark, with Ye Li and a few trusted personnel. As he prepared to destroy the base, Lin Feng appeared on the airship’s screen and announced that his forces had seized control of it.

• Giovanni activated the headquarters self-destruct sequence and led Ye Li, his Personal Guard, and Engineer Wang through a secret passage to a hidden hangar.
• Giovanni boarded Noah’s Ark, where Ye Li recognized the armored Tyranitar weapon called Titan.
• As the airship rose, Giovanni prepared to detonate the base, but the ship’s lights failed and its systems were taken over.
• Lin Feng appeared on the main screen and told Giovanni that his forces had taken control of Noah’s Ark.

Ye Li revealed that he had secretly worked to stop Giovanni’s destructive plan and offered to help him escape Viridian City in exchange for the Genesis Gate’s core technology and control of Titan. Giovanni accepted the deal, handing Ye Li an encrypted drive and access card as the city’s battle raged.

• Giovanni realized Ye Li had been behind the events surrounding the Genesis Gate, the Hoenn League attack, and Athena’s betrayal.
• Ye Li told Giovanni he had acted to prevent the plan from destroying them all, not to betray Giovanni or take his place.
• Ye Li offered to use his city network and secret passages to evacuate Giovanni and his key forces in exchange for the Genesis Gate’s core technology and control of Titan.
• Giovanni gave Ye Li an encrypted data drive and a top-level access card.
• Ye Li accepted the inheritance and stepped out from behind the scenes.

Ye Li used false intelligence and a diversion to get Giovanni’s airship out of Viridian City, becoming its de facto leader while Giovanni remained supreme in name. He then went to Titan’s restraint chamber and ordered Dr. Anya to remove the Pokémon’s mechanical restraints and mental control, despite the danger.

• Ye Li ordered Lin Feng to disguise the airship as a Hoenn League supply ship and spread false reports that Team Rocket was escaping through western tunnels.
• Ye Li sent his Direct Forces to stage a large attack in the east, drawing the Hoenn League’s mobile units away from the airship’s escape route.
• Ye Li guided Giovanni’s darkened airship out of Viridian City as the Hoenn League rushed its forces east.
• Giovanni’s guards recognized Ye Li’s ability, and a wary balance formed between Giovanni and Ye Li as collaborators and potential rivals.
• Ye Li went to Titan’s restraint chamber and ordered Dr. Anya to remove its mechanical restraints and mental control, accepting responsibility for the risk.

Team Rocket’s headquarters in Viridian City was destroyed, leaving the Hoenn League with a costly victory and the Pokémon League remnants rushing to reclaim occupied territory. Giovanni had preserved Team Rocket’s core strength, while Ye Li built an independent command network aboard Giovanni’s airship, beginning a wary alliance between the two men.

• Giovanni’s self-destruct sequence demolished Team Rocket’s underground base, killed or buried Athena and her forces, and devastated Viridian City.
• The Hoenn League occupied the ruined city but captured no core Team Rocket leaders, intelligence, or supplies.
• Lance and Lorelei rallied the Pokémon League’s exiled remnants and launched a counterattack across Kanto.
• Giovanni secretly patrolled the skies aboard his camouflaged airship with Team Rocket’s core strength intact.
• Ye Li ordered Lin Feng, Engineer Wang, and his personal troops to establish an independent intelligence network, onboard facilities, and a private guard.
• Giovanni allowed Ye Li to build his own power base, and the two men began relying on one another while remaining wary.

Ye Li freed Tyranitar from its control chip and mechanical implants, but the pain and genetic damage drove it into a destructive frenzy. As the guards prepared to kill it, Ye Li calmed it with Umbreon and showed it a Gym Badge, stirring a faint memory of its past.

• Dr. Anya’s team removed Tyranitar’s implants and Mind Control Chip under Ye Li’s supervision.
• Tyranitar broke its restraints and rampaged through the medical bay, damaging the airship and its equipment.
• Giovanni’s Personal Guard arrived and prepared to execute Tyranitar, but Ye Li ordered them to lower their guns.
• Ye Li sent out Umbreon, whose aura briefly eased Tyranitar’s frenzy.
• Ye Li placed a worn Gym Badge before Tyranitar, and it recalled a kindly old man and warm sunlight.

Ye Li learned that Tyranitar’s former master, whom the Pokémon League had declared dead, was secretly imprisoned at the undersea prison called Demon Island. He decided to attack the League’s supposedly impenetrable prison and free the old man to help heal Tyranitar.

• Ye Li used Tyranitar’s old Gym emblem and Umbreon’s calming aura to temporarily suppress Tyranitar’s frenzy, then realized he needed to find its first master.
• Ye Li asked Lin Feng to investigate the former Rock-type Gym Leader, whose official record listed him as dead in the line of duty.
• Lin Feng hacked into the Pokémon League’s restricted records and found the old man listed among inmates in a secret prison.
• Lin Feng discovered that the old man was held at Demon Island, an undersea prison off the Kanto coast.
• Ye Li studied the prison plans and the old man’s photograph, then resolved to storm Demon Island and break him out.

Ye Li presented Giovanni with a plan to break into Demon Island prison and capture Tyranitar, but Giovanni refused to provide troops and made the operation a test of Ye Li’s independent strength. Ye Li began assembling his own team and equipment, while the Hoenn Region’s plans for the upcoming World Trainer Masters Tournament promised a possible opening.

• Ye Li submitted his Demon Island prison-break plan to Giovanni and argued that it would secure Tyranitar and demonstrate Team Rocket’s strength.
• Giovanni refused to provide military support, declaring the operation a test of Ye Li’s ability to act without Team Rocket’s backing.
• Ye Li left Giovanni’s office and began preparing the operation, ordering Lin Feng to surveil Demon Island’s security around the clock.
• Ye Li tasked Engineer Wang with building deep-sea combat equipment and contacted his Vermilion City network to hire skilled underwater outlaws.
• The Hoenn Region decided to restore its reputation and avenge its defeat in Viridian City at the upcoming World Trainer Masters Tournament.

Ye Li launched Operation Deep-Sea Rescue during the World Trainer Masters Tournament, exploiting the weakened defenses at Demon Island prison. After Lin Feng disabled the prison’s surveillance systems, Ye Li’s team cut through its outer wall and entered, beginning the rescue operation.

• Ye Li learned that the Masters Tournament would leave Demon Island’s defenses at a historic low and activated Operation Deep-Sea Rescue.
• Ye Li led his Direct Forces in camouflaged submersibles toward Demon Island while Lin Feng activated the Siren program to cripple its surveillance systems.
• Lin Feng’s cyberattack blinded Demon Island’s sonar, radar, and satellite monitoring within three minutes.
• Ye Li’s team used Engineer Wang’s high-frequency cutting equipment to cut an opening through the prison’s alloy outer wall.
• Ye Li entered the prison first, officially beginning the prison break operation.

Ye Li’s squad encountered Drake, the former Orange Islands Champion and warden, guarding the route to the prison’s lowest level with Dragonite and Charizard. Unable to beat him head-on, Ye Li pinned Dragonite with Umbreon and led part of the squad around the battle toward the maximum-security area.

• Lin Feng guided Ye Li’s squad through Sector C3 toward the lowest level while avoiding patrols and maintenance crews.
• Drake appeared at the alloy gate with Dragonite and Charizard and revealed himself as the prison’s warden.
• Ye Li ordered his squad to attack, but Dragonite deflected their moves and Charizard’s Flamethrower overwhelmed Blastoise’s Hydro Pump.
• Ye Li told Umbreon to use Mean Look on Dragonite, ordered the others to hold Charizard, and led a smaller group through a narrow gap toward the maximum-security area.

Ye Li’s assault squad rescued the imprisoned old Gym Leader but became trapped as Drake flooded the prison’s lowest level. Ye Li found an abandoned drainage passage, and the squad escaped through it to waiting mercenaries and submersibles.

• Ye Li led the assault squad to the lowest level and freed the scarred old Gym Leader from his cell.
• Drake activated the prison’s final defense system, sealing the corridor and flooding it with seawater.
• Ye Li found an abandoned emergency drainage passage in Lin Feng’s blueprints and ordered the squad to blast through the wall.
• Ye Li jumped into the passage carrying the old Gym Leader, and the others followed as the corridor filled with water.
• The squad was swept out through a sewage outlet, where black-market mercenaries caught them and withdrew by submersible.

Ye Li brought the dying old Gym Leader to Titan, hoping to reach the Pokémon’s buried memories. Hearing his former master call it Tie Yan broke the Mind Control Chip’s hold, but the old man died peacefully in Tie Yan’s arms; Tie Yan then became Ye Li’s loyal guardian, determined to protect him and seek vengeance.

• Ye Li’s medical team could not save the old Gym Leader, so Ye Li ordered him taken to Titan.
• Titan recognized its former master and reacted with sorrow as the old Gym Leader awoke and called it Tie Yan.
• Tie Yan’s grief awakened its true self and unleashed psychic power that destroyed the Mind Control Chip.
• The old Gym Leader died peacefully in Tie Yan’s embrace after seeing it regain its senses.
• Tie Yan mourned its master and became Ye Li’s guardian, driven by protection and vengeance.

Ye Li held a private funeral for the old Gym Leader and took in Tie Yan, while the raid on Demon Island reshaped the balance of power among the Pokémon League, Team Rocket, and Ye Li’s growing faction. The chapter ended with Lorelei organizing a Resistance Army, Giovanni restarting the Mewtwo Armor project, and Ye Li’s followers becoming more loyal.

• Ye Li poured sake at an unmarked monument for the old Gym Leader, and Tie Yan joined him as his Pokémon, no longer called Titan.
• After learning that Demon Island had been breached, Lorelei raised Ye Li’s threat level and began uniting scattered opponents of Team Rocket into a Resistance Army.
• Giovanni watched Ye Li’s funeral footage, grew wary of his rising power, and decided to restart the Mewtwo Armor project.
• Ye Li’s forces gained prestige and loyalty after the prison break, and his faction continued to grow into a powerful third force.

After Lance defended his championship, Team Rocket reemerged, and Lorelei’s resistance began raiding its bases in Johto. While Ye Li fought her forces in a proxy war, he secretly turned his attention to expanding his power in Hoenn.

• Lance defended his World Trainer Masters Tournament title, but a classified report revealed Team Rocket had risen again.
• With Lance’s covert support, Lorelei organized a resistance that harassed Team Rocket’s supply routes and outposts across Johto.
• Giovanni left Ye Li to deal with the resistance while he focused on developing the Mewtwo Armor.
• Ye Li used his new authority to recruit displaced trainers and independent experts into his Direct Forces.
• Ye Li and Lorelei’s forces fought a months-long proxy war across Johto, and Ye Li’s command skills strengthened his troops.
• While the conflict drew attention, Ye Li began secretly building power in Hoenn.

Ye Li traded information about Groudon and Kyogre to Maxie and Archie for secret bases and intelligence support across Hoenn. His forces began expanding through Team Magma and Team Aqua’s networks, forming the beginnings of a hidden alliance across Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn.

• Ye Li contacted the leaders of Team Magma and Team Aqua through a secret black-market channel and discovered both groups were searching for Groudon and Kyogre.
• Ye Li told Maxie that Groudon slept inside an active volcano’s energy core and told Archie that Kyogre was connected to the Seafloor Cavern.
• Ye Li demanded secret footholds and basic intelligence support in Hoenn’s major cities in exchange for the Legendary Pokémon clues.
• Maxie and Archie accepted secret cooperation agreements with Ye Li despite their suspicions of him.
• Ye Li’s forces used Team Magma and Team Aqua’s networks to establish bases, gather intelligence, and recruit members across Hoenn.
• Ye Li’s covert alliance began to span Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn, unknown to Giovanni and Lorelei.

Ye Li began pursuing Rayquaza as his ultimate countermeasure to Giovanni’s Genesis Gate plan, while Giovanni completed the Mewtwo Armor D project and restrained Mewtwo’s power. The chapter left Giovanni’s weapon ready for use as his plan approached its next stage.

• Team Magma found an energy altar beneath a volcano, while Team Aqua discovered submerged ruins depicting Kyogre, deepening Maxie’s and Archie’s trust in Ye Li.
• Ye Li learned about Rayquaza and began searching for legends of the Sky Pillar and methods of summoning it.
• Engineer Wang and his research team completed the Mewtwo Armor D project aboard Team Rocket’s airship.
• Giovanni personally fitted the armor onto Mewtwo, boosting its physical defenses while limiting its psychic power.
• Giovanni regarded the armored Mewtwo as a safeguard for his plan to overturn the world.

The Time-Space Guardians detected an energy disturbance in Kanto linked to Ye Li and sent their elite Hunter to investigate him and recover the Space-Time Plate if necessary. Ye Li sensed the professional pursuer and entered a covert battle of tracking and countertracking as the conflict in Kanto grew more complicated.

• An observer told the Time-Space Guardians' elder that a disturbance in Kanto matched the energy from the theft of the Space-Time Plate.
• The elder ordered Hunter to investigate Ye Li and retrieve the Space-Time Plate if necessary.
• Hunter accepted the mission and silently departed for Kanto.
• Ye Li realized a skilled, unseen opponent was following him and thwarted several attempts to flush out the pursuer.
• Ye Li and Hunter began testing each other's skills in a covert contest of tracking and countertracking.

Ye Li used the Space-Time Plate to lure the mysterious Hunter into a trap in Viridian Forest and captured him after Tie Yan turned the battle around. Hunter’s connection to the Legendary Pokémon Dialga and Palkia remained unresolved.

• Ye Li suspected Hunter was targeting the Space-Time Plate and planted false intelligence about an experiment at an abandoned power plant.
• Hunter appeared at the factory to seize the safe, and Ye Li’s Direct Forces emerged from hiding to surround him.
• Hunter unleashed Light-type variant Luxray and Fearow, whose attacks overwhelmed Umbreon and drove Ye Li’s forces back.
• Ye Li sent out Tie Yan, whose strength and defenses defeated Hunter and his Pokémon.
• Tie Yan captured Hunter alive and delivered him to Ye Li.

Ye Li persuaded Charon, a member of the Time-Space Guardians, that Giovanni’s Genesis Gate threatened the space-time continuum and secured the Guardians’ alliance. The chapter ended with Ye Li and Charon joining forces against Giovanni.

• Lin Feng exposed Charon’s past and Umbreon’s psychic power broke through his resistance, prompting him to explain the Time-Space Guardians and their mission to protect space-time.
• Ye Li showed Charon his safety-valve program and evidence that Giovanni planned to use the Genesis Gate to control Legendary Pokémon and seize the power of the god of creation.
• Charon sent Ye Li’s materials to the Guardians’ headquarters, where their Elder confirmed the crisis and agreed to cooperate with Ye Li.
• Ye Li secured the Guardians’ intelligence network and elite support in exchange for returning the Space-Time Plate after the crisis.
• Ye Li released Charon, and Charon accepted him as an ally.

With the Time-Space Guardian’s intelligence network tracking Giovanni’s Aerial Fortress, Ye Li uncovered Giovanni’s growing negotiations with Team Flare and recognized the danger of their plans. He ordered Lin Feng to assemble the evidence and contact the Kalos League Champion as he prepared to confront the alliance.

• The Time-Space Guardian’s surveillance let Ye Li track Giovanni’s Aerial Fortress and map its movements toward the Kalos Region.
• Ye Li and Lin Feng identified Team Flare and learned that Lysandre planned to use the Ultimate Weapon to purge the world.
• Ye Li concluded that Giovanni needed Team Flare’s resources and that Lysandre could use Giovanni’s Genesis Gate technology to pursue Legendary Pokémon.
• The Time-Space Guardian intercepted increasingly frequent communications between Giovanni’s Aerial Fortress and Team Flare’s Secret Base, revealing substantive negotiations.
• Ye Li told Lin Feng to compile evidence of Giovanni’s collusion with Team Flare and establish an encrypted channel to the Kalos League Champion.

Ye Li exposed Giovanni and Team Flare’s alliance to Diantha, who began a secret investigation as their plan to control Xerneas and Yveltal advanced. Ye Li rallied his forces and allies for a final assault on Kalos to stop the impending catastrophe.

• Ye Li sent Diantha evidence of Giovanni and Lysandre’s conspiracy through an anonymous channel, and she launched a covert investigation into Team Flare.
• Giovanni and Lysandre sealed their pact at an underground base, combining the Genesis Gate, Mewtwo, and energy from the Ultimate Weapon.
• Giovanni and Lysandre planned to use the space-time resonance to awaken and control Xerneas and Yveltal.
• Ye Li learned through the Time-Space Guardians’ monitoring that the enemy’s plan was nearing execution and decided to strike immediately.
• Ye Li summoned his forces from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh and called on them to stop the end of the world.