Giovanni unfastened his coat as he sat down to watch his granddaughter’s matches, using his sharp senses to evaluate her new travel companions; Rhea’s Eevee, in-particular, drew his attention when he arrived.

Leaning forward to rest his elbows on his spread knees, he rested his chin on the back of his steepled hands with a gentle smile. There were multiple reasons he was here, but watching Amira battle was a pleasure that topped that list. Matori handled anyone that tried to disturb him, naturally.

Watching his cute granddaughter prepare herself and her Fennekin reminded him of various members in their family; her shy nature mirrored her father while her drive and determination were eerily reminiscent of her mother.

Out of all the Trainers in the world, a mere handful unnerved him; his daughter-in-law was one of those. Most of the Trainers above him had very simple motivations and limits that he could work around; Lyra may be simple in nature, but she was anything but reasonable. Her ethics were turbulent compared to many of the Champion to Legendary-tier Trainers he dealt with. Her obsession with Silver had led to the collapse of his former empire.

To those that weren’t too acquainted with Lyra, she was a hero, star, and image of the joyful spirit she exuded, but if anything threatened that little happiness, then another side of the mercurial girl emerged. She was as devoted as they came; it just paid to make sure that was on your side and not the opposition.

He wanted to enjoy the match, but his thoughts kept returning to his past as he watched.

Giovanni had never known his mother’s real name; the original founder of the Rocket Syndicate, Madame Boss. Leadership hadn’t been his goal; he was focused on another path that his mother disapproved of, but when she suddenly vanished, the whole organization looked to him.

The thrill of power and the challenge of competition spurred something inside him at that moment, and he seized the reigns. He and Ariana had a relationship at the time, more or less forced on the pair by Madame Boss to keep him involved during his younger years, and Silver was born as a result. Mars soon followed.

A sadness fell over Giovanni’s heart, but he refused to allow the emotion to show on his face as he followed Amber’s Embers, making quick work of her first opponent; she was making good progress. However, watching his granddaughter also reminded him that he’d failed his own children in their youth, treating them more as agents than his flesh and blood. Thankfully, Ariana had done what she could to spoil them.

Giovanni remembered the first real fight he had with his wife, when he ordered their daughter to infiltrate the Galactic movement; he needed a capable and loyal operative for the mission, and she was the best fit at the time. His daughter still sent back reports to this day, but he had long suspected she’d fallen under Cyrus’ charismatic influence, and he hadn’t noticed until it was too late. It was one of his greatest mistakes, yet he couldn’t try to recall her; if she suspected he knew of her allegiance shift, then he may never hear from her again.

Before, his public image was only a facade to operate in the underground, but after Red crippled his Kanto branch, Giovanni had secluded himself to ponder the path he was taking. That had led many of his Admins, including Ariana, to search for him, which brought Silver, Lyra, Kris, and Ethan to one of his secret bunkers.

Lyra was the driving force that had pushed the others along and had been the one to stomp him into the dirt; her tactics were vicious when in actual combat, and she’d demanded he make-up with Silver. The threat was real; poison needed to be cut out or purified.

In the end, he was forced to comply; of course, it hadn’t been entirely sincere, but it opened the way to heal what was left of his family … at the ax of a hormonal fourteen-year-old girl with the power of a High Master. Now, that crazy girl was his daughter-in-law and had done more to help his family than he could ever adequately express gratitude for.

After his crushing defeat at the hands of Chase twelve years ago, Giovanni decided to move his company in the opposite direction; the organization would take a backseat to the legal business side of things.

Blue hadn’t even been on his radar back then; he was simply just a powerful Trainer with something to prove. Yet, after the many tragic events of the Ultra War, Blue moved to one of his most significant threats, and there wasn’t a thing he could do to stop the legend if it came to it. A very thin line kept his wrath in check, and Giovanni had to live with the fact Blue could cross it any given day; although, that uncertainty had been more apparent during Blue’s struggle with alcoholism.

The Legendary-tier Trainer had been on his mind since Amira vanished after her fight with the faint lingering signature of Teleport; a few minutes later, he’d sensed Blue’s energy being released, but the fact Cynthia and her parents had been there to force the manic man to back down confused him at first. Lyra didn’t elaborate on why there had been a confrontation between the legends, but it seemed to be resolved swiftly, and even High Masters could have missed it with the level of control they had at their tier of strength.

Just the fact Drake, Cynthia, and Glacia had been in Pallet told him everything he needed to know after a moment’s thought. Rhea was obviously related to the family somehow, and her Eevee and Mawile all but confirmed the connection. She was Christie and Keith’s girl, which drew more questions than he cared to be involved in. Although, the secrecy didn’t sit right with him after the Ultra War’s events.

Amira went missing, Blue acts up, and the Sinnoh Active Champion intervenes with her parents; if he was honest, no one else would or could have. Only Cynthia had the raw power to force a Legendary-tier Trainer to back down when they were enraged; even if Chase, the Active Champion that was supposed to be the arbiter of law in the region, was there, all he could do was plead with the legend.

Giovanni didn’t want to believe Blue would kidnap his granddaughter to get to him; everything he knew about the man told him it wouldn’t happen. Yet, she’d been kidnapped, and the number of people that would or could accomplish that so swiftly, and with Lyra there, was slim; none of it fit, which left other options to consider.

His gaze rose from Amira’s second battle, where she was putting on a show for him, and he focused on Rhea. Her looks certainly fit the bill; she had the same staple hair-ties as her aunt for crying out loud, but it wasn’t as if that was a rare accessory. Just the fact she had Master Balls with genetically modified Pokemon made him confident of her relation, but his knowledgeable and paranoid mind had to wonder if there was a deeper reason for the family’s hidden member.

This week had him more than a little on edge. Amira was kidnapped, Lusamine showed signs of waking, which could mean the Ultra Wormholes were unsealing, and a major terrorist was caught within his city-state after his underground network tracked him down.

It had been a bit amusing to find his link with the terrorist through underground business dealings with Nobunaga in the isolationist continent of Ransei; technology was minimal within the seventeen kingdoms, and they’d been at war longer than could be remembered. All but one of its domains refused outside interference as a matter of great pride.

However, Giovanni had grown curious about the continent after a fireside story told by Drake during the war; the legendary Dragon Trainer boasted of secretly having a relationship with the Aurora Kingdom in his youth, alluding to the possibility of open minds within the kingdoms.

It had given him the idea of reaching out to each; it wouldn’t cost him much, and the pay-off could be exponential. War meant big business, and a war that could last his lifetime meant continuous profit.

In the end, only one gave a favorable response, the Kingdom of Dragnor. He’d received quite a few exciting treasures and resources from that relationship, and the help he desired was archaic in terms of the modern age. It appeared he was not the only one to use Nobunaga’s land as a hidden base location and resource hub.

Carl, one of his regional admins that led the Unova branch, was able to follow that information to capture one of the Shadow Triad members two weeks ago through a clever trap; the other two came to his rescue shortly after the memory extraction had completed, which would work in his favor in the end. It had landed him Zinzolin.

The man had some impressive work to his name and required excessive force to bring in without a fight, which is why he’d manipulated Ethan to take up the cause. The battle-crazed legend was always looking for a legal way to enter life and death battles, clinging to limited, but firm ethics and morals.

Plasma wouldn’t know Rocket had been involved since he was good at covering his tracks, and he’d informed Colress himself of his man’s capture by Viridian PD and Ethan to improve Rocket’s relations with the resourceful terrorist organization. The man was far more reasonable than their previous leader.

The alignments had split when Ghetsis’ true nature was revealed, which caused two factions to form; those that were loyal to N, their king, and Ghetsis’, the manipulative man that had led from the shadows since its founding. N won with the help of several Trainers, which landed Ghetsis in the IP’s Maximum Security Prison after his first escape at the beginning of the Ultra War.

The event further fractured the organization, with Colress acting in the shadows within the public’s eye, much like himself, but the scientist was far more aligned with Rocket’s goals than either of the other two factions.

Amusing, where his mind was taking him as of late; the colliding threats converging on his city forced him to ponder the curves in history that had led to his current headache. Everything Giovanni did was calculated to build up his family, Viridian, and Rocket while minimizing blow-back. Yet too much pressure cracked the egg, and unforeseen events were causing him concern.

His spies told him the Plasma Frigate was seen heading for Kanto from the east, but its stealth technology was difficult to penetrate, even for his satellites; his employees may have had a hand in its design, but the stealth components came from Plasma scientists.

Lusamine’s condition was a blessing and a curse since it had forced multiple Grandmaster and Champion-tier Trainers to gather in Viridian; one such misfortune was Guzma’s sudden arrival. His connection to the woman was a tragic one, but the man’s personality was something he was all too familiar with, and his gang of misfits had grown to be the largest public organized gang in the world, bordering the line that people could tolerate.

Guzma was reckless and intimidating by nature; plus, since he’d stopped an assassination attempt on Lusamine’s life while under Giovanni’s care, mixed with the first active movement the woman had made since her coma, meant he was a snarling Houndoom ready to snap at anything that rubbed him the wrong way.

The assassination attempt was real; judging by the footage, it was the work of the Shadow Triad, which Guzma wouldn’t be familiar with, but it wouldn’t take him long to bark up the right trees to figure it out. He had a reputation that few would want to test.

In truth, it smelled of Colress’ set up to spring the war criminal; he was expecting an underground message from the man, delivering his apologies for the disruption in his city. He had no intention of actually killing Lusamine, he was sure. It wasn’t in his style, and he wasn’t on excellent terms with the former leader; Plasma was split between the two, but if he broke out of prison, Giovanni had no illusions they’d flock back to the charismatic man.

He also had to consider the possibility Ghetsis was the wildcard he might not have expected. If he had managed to worm himself a network to issue orders from prison, then it was the perfect alibi and smokescreen. If it was Ghetsis, Lusamine was in real danger, and the triad increased the probability he was involved.

In any case, this was undoubtedly an attempt to cause chaos in Viridian with a clash between Guzma and the Plasma protestors; the VPD would be hard-pressed to stop a gang war of that size. He just had to hope the world’s most popular gangster wouldn’t connect the dots while doing his best to distract him.

It did say something that either Colress or Ghetsis would be willing to rub Guzma the wrong way, putting Plasma on Skull’s radar to get Zinzolin back, and with Ethan involved in the transfer, any operative was diving into an early grave; both Plasma leaders combined would be mutilated by the legend in a straight battle, but they rarely operated like that.

Still, it would be much easier to attempt an intercept mission over Unova instead of dealing with a Legendary-tier guard; it’s the play he would have made unless he was essential for something time-sensitive.

Things just weren’t looking good at the moment, but he had to figure out a way to keep everything reasonably calm for the transfer. The second the chubby man was outside his city-state, it was someone else’s problem.

Trying to clear his mind, he finished watching Amira’s final battle; she was part of the reason he was concerned about the coming days, but for the moment, enjoying her independent spirit would help him relax.

Her tactics were far more advanced than the competition, but that was expected for Starter Award winners. Their Pokemon simply outclassed most of the early League. That gap would continue to close as time passed, and the Encrusted Badge challenge would show them how difficult Pokemon battles could be.

He rose with a soft clap, Matori mirroring his actions by his side as Amira finished her last challenge. “Excellent.”

“You’re exaggerating,” Amira mumbled, trying to suppress a blush while displaying cute fidgets; her fingers were desperately trying not to play with her sunglasses attached to her dress front.

The brown-haired girl opposite her returned her Drilbur with a sad expression. “We tried…”

Giovanni buttoned his suit coat, giving the depressed girl a light smile; it was hard to stay stoic in the presence of his granddaughter. “What is your name?”

The girl jumped, suddenly looking nervous as everyone eyed her. “U-Umm … it’s Lulu … no, I mean, well … uh, my full name is Louis, S-Sir … I’m from Unova,” she stammered, cheeks coloring. “W-Was it really that bad?”

Amira scratched the back of her neck, giving him an adorable glare. “Naa…”

Giovanni motioned to the ground. “Fields like these are generally two meters deep, filled with packed earth. Your Pokemon is a very reliable Ground-Type; I applaud your Starter choice, but it would be best for the two of you to learn how to better utilize his digging capabilities to escape danger and plot surprise attacks.”

She nodded with a shy smile, rubbing the back of her neck to relieve the stress. “T-Thank you, Grandmaster Giovanni … umm, you’re the Gym Leader of Viridian, right?”

A few mumbles rippled around the area.

“Of course, he is; is she stupid?”

“Did she not see the pin on his jacket?”

“Coming to Kanto and not even realizing who its Gym Leaders are…”

All noise died down as he spoke, feeling somewhat agitated by the discouraging comments when he tried to help the girl. “Yes, Louis, or is Lulu more preferable?”

“L-Lulu’s fine,” she mumbled, throat a bit dry after the harsh comments.

“Lulu, then,” he leered at a few nearby Trainers that had snickered at her inquiry. “Your Drilbur could handle 63% of the Trainers in this room without an issue. If you’d like to make that 96%, then I’d suggest watching my Gym match history yesterday.”

Many of the teams’ tongues shot to the roofs of their mouths at his comment. He walked over to his smirking granddaughter, giving him a short shake of her head with his parting words. “I expect you’ll go far in this league, Lulu; train diligently to face my Gym in the future.”

“Y-Yes, sir!” Lulu replied with a more confident smile. “Thank you, sir!”

“Any top-tier advice for me, Gym Leader?” Amira asked in a taunting tone as they moved to watch Rhea’s final match.

A half-smile lifted the edge of his lips as he peered down at his granddaughter, Purrfection, his Persian, by his side; his first Pokemon when he was but a boy. “I’m sure you can figure out the flaws without my opinion.”

“Humph, naturally,” Amira replied in a semi-annoyed tone, but there was a small smile on her lips. “... What did you think about Rhea and Lori?”

She’s on a nickname basis with them … she’s growing attached. Swifter than I anticipated; that’s good.

He eyed the purple-haired girl and her Pokemon as she talked with her last opponent, offering somewhat decent advice after the match with his sad questions. “The Froakie’s playful nature will probably come back to bite them in the future, but he’s competent enough that I believe he’ll learn when it’s the right time to joke around.”

“Rhea?” Amira softly asked, frowning while everyone gathered to watch her Eevee’s final match. Most of the onlookers left a sizable distance between them to not crowd Giovanni.

Matori’s small frown caught his attention as she worked with her tablet, seeming to discover something that she didn’t like; if it was immediately important, then she’d let him know once gathering the information he needed to make a decision.

Giovanni turned his gaze to the beautiful, bright pearly eyed girl as she met her next challenger, making his lips fall into a line; her opponent was one of the few that would likely defeat Lulu. Judging by the Pokemon’s strength within the ball, how he carried himself, and the evident knowledge the boy knew of the type of Pokemon he was facing, he wasn’t a pushover.

He’d been informed of Coral Kaylera’s conspiracy piece; the woman was usually fifty-fifty on her information, which caused a decent following to back her wild theories. Nova was Rhea’s Eevee’s name, and he had to wonder if Christie had taken Rocket’s early Eevee experimentation data.

So far, it hadn’t been seen, but if she managed to replicate and perfect Vee’s genetic stabilization research, then it would be interesting. The result itself was a useful discovery, but the underlying process and fusion energies involved were the real jewel that his own scientists had failed to reproduce, which led to the project being shut down.

Still, from what he’d seen of Nova and Mya, they were primarily reliant on their far superior genetics while having access to all of Rhea’s stores of energy to power through their competition. There hadn’t been any shows of intelligence or proficiency in their matches.

In fact, both Pokemon reminded him of Mewtwo before his guidance had unlocked his legendary potential; he regretted how that relationship turned out, but in the end, perhaps it was for the best, considering the Ultra War. Many of his original opinions had been skewed by that affair.

“... There’s a lot to improve on.”

Amira popped her tongue. “Ouch … her Pokemon are really something … cute.”

“That, they are,” he whispered, vision narrowing while watching the Pokemon reveal; a moderately bred Glameow came out.

Thought so … it’s over once the Fake Out hits; it’s a novice breaking Move she shouldn’t be prepared for.

The speed disparity will then cause Nova to be on the receiving end of what she’s done to her last two opponents, and with little to no precaution, she’ll be overwhelmed unless she can pull out something unexpected.

Nova’s thoroughly bred, which means Rhea could scout with Detect, saving her from the Fake Out if she’s smart … no, my expectations were too high. If she pulls a significant amount of energy from Rhea to use Synchronoise, then she might be able to simply power through like Mya did … hmm, not utilizing it?

I suppose I was right about the hospitalization; it was a reckless and unsustainable strategy. What was her family thinking? The Master Balls are too dangerous, but given the energy draw her Pokemon currently have…

Giovanni’s brow furrowed. The moment the match’s end was in sight, Nova started evolving, and the type of energy it was releasing confirmed his theory; Christie had perfected the Vee Project, and Glaceon was an excellent choice against the much swifter Pokemon. Her first Move was designed to combat Speed-types, making him wonder if it was planned or pure luck. Christie had uncovered a dangerous secret.

Amira didn’t seem as shocked as he would have expected, meaning she likely knew about it; she wouldn’t know about the Vee Project, but he could imagine she wanted an Eevee that could shift into all its transformations. Giovanni had no doubt the process had required using a Master Ball, proving that there was more to Rhea than her family wished to release.

As could be expected, Nova dominated the fight after gaining access to her speed reduction cone-attack, empowered by Adaptability; the Glameow didn’t stand a chance, but the Detect was an improvement, he had to admit.

When the battle ended, he clapped; the crowd erupted with cheers, questions, and congratulations upon her Eevee’s evolution.

“What do you think?” Amira asked, giving him a curious smile.

Giovanni’s features must have been less impressed by the feat than his granddaughter expected it to be. “I’m waiting for the finale.”

“Mmh … is that so?” She frowned. “So, you did know.”

“In a manner of speaking,” he replied. “The process was first discovered by Rocket, after all.”

Amira’s lips pulled in, sending an accusatory glare up at him. “That would've been fun to hear about.”

“... To be honest, it was a long time ago. Her mother has the resources to accomplish it, though.”

His granddaughter stiffened. “You … even know about that?”

Matori giggled softly beside them. “Dear, it’s not a difficult deduction given the details Rocket has.”

“Always the humble one,” Amira mumbled, bunching her tight lips to the side; she more than likely wanted to finally have something he didn’t know that she could hold over his head. It was endearing to him, really.

“Keep journeying, and maybe you’ll discover something that surprises me,” he whispered just low enough for the two ladies beside him to hear.

Matori couldn’t help a strong quake of internal laughter, suppressing a snort. “G-Good one, Master.”

Amira shot a venomous glare at his assistant; they’d had this back and forth for years since she was a little girl. “I’ll prove you wrong, Matori … and there you go again with that master bit … you’re so weird.”

His granddaughter was one of the few people that could get his assistant to blush. “You can talk,” she huffed softly; “I wasn’t the one that wet her bed until she was eight.”

Both women were now shooting daggers out of their eyes, throwing whispered insults and accusations at each other before Nova’s devolution, shocking the whole room, but Matori had ceased her childish banter, features becoming serious; she leaned in with a dark tone. “I’m afraid your fears were well-founded, Master.”

Glancing down at her tablet, he saw Guzma’s website, Skull.gon; media companies removed the gang in a cooperative effort, banning them across all platforms. However, that only enraged the group; it was as if they were just trying to sweep everything under the rug, polarizing things further, and had been the wrong move in Giovanni’s opinion if they desired de-escalation.

Now, they had their own social platform for all the misfits to join, and they had no control over the narrative; his platform had over ten million active users that all saw the Grandmaster as their leader. Guzma had just sent out a mass message to his followers; all the social rejects, punks, and anarchists of society.

Taking a deep, troubled breath, Giovanni moved to inform Amira something important had come up, and he’d get back in touch with her in a bit; her parents would be here soon, and they’d probably host dinner at their place for the first night. He’d told Silver to use the company card to spoil them a little if this very event occurred, and he wasn’t able to join. It really was a shame.

Heading for the elevator, he returned to the surface and into his awaiting limo; once in the sealed and shielded space, Matori groaned before playing the message, “Gladion tagged it; he’s on his way.”

Giovanni felt like cursing; he knew Guzma couldn’t keep Lusamine’s possible recovery from her family, but he’d hoped it wouldn’t be like this as the gangster’s message played on Matori’s tablet. He had to act fast with every prominent Skull Admin and hundreds of thousands of statements confirming they’d be there by morning.

Guzma recorded while in Lusamine’s hospital room, refusing to leave after the attempt on her life, his intimidating 9’10 Golisopod stood behind him. He wore his signature black and white Skull look that had taken off around the world; his large sun and moon-shaped flight goggles, chucks, chunky gold watch, and a giant gold chain with the yellow and black themed Skull logo.

He only had a short-sleeved overcoat on, choosing to forego an undershirt to show-off his multiple Alolan Skull tattoos imprinted across his body, representing Skull and his leading team.

The gangster worked around his strong jaw, tongue popping against the roof of his mouth as his nose twisted with agitation. Lusamine’s eyes were shut as she laid in bed, blonde hair still changed to black with blonde streaks from her fusion to the Ultra Beast.

He spoke in a heavy Alolan accent, glancing back for a moment at the woman, “Aye, yo, check it out, young. Ya know who I am; it’s the President from Po City. I don’t Muk with wangsters, I’m a real gangster. But aye, yo, I got a new beef for the Nation.

“Yesterday I was doin’ my thing, checkin’ up on Lusi; ya know what it is,” his countenance darkened further. “Ain’t none of dem Legendary Trainers got Muk when it comes to Lusi; this bearcat took out the whole Ultra incident, yo, and what’s she get, huh? Nada, but disrespect.

“Naw, no, what she got was a bed and public scorn; ya know what it is, and yo, yesterday, I found a hit out on our girl. The girl that fought for ya; a true soldier, ya know,” he sucked on his lip, anger in his gray irises as he tilted his head. “Lil’ Gladion’s makuahine … and ya think APC’s hound is gonna stand for that?”

He shook his head with a low growl, sniffing loudly while his Golisopod mirroring his Trainer, blood in their eyes. “Plasma, ya know that streets talk, and there ain’t no flags or peace when it comes to shots, cuz; what, ya think I wasn’t gonna catch the slip? Naw, naw … I don’t play that; Skull don’t play that game, and the day Lusi be lookin’ ta be wakin’ up? I ain’t overlookin’ that timing, yo.

“Aye, and with the whole Plasma Muk happin’ in Viridian … ya think I’m stupid? N, Ghetsis, Colress … yo, whichever it be, ya barked up the wrong tree; these fools afraid to bust. I’ll murk ya; Plasma, ya just made the Skull List.

“Giovanni, Viridian, if ya can’t handle your business, Skull will do it for ya. I’m clearin’ the crowd; I don’t wanna see a single Plasma in Viridian by tomorrow night. ‘Cause I’m a real one; line any Trainer up, I don’t fear none. S-Gang, Exotic Family, and APC; it’s an army. Viridian City … consider this an invitation to my Skull Nation.”

The message abruptly ended.

Matori breathed a long sigh. “It’s currently making its way to the Police Commissioner.”

Giovanni took a deep breath, glaring across the large back seat at the wall; Purrfection sat beside him, brooding on the news himself.

It’s looking more like Colress’ play; he wouldn’t have expected Lusamine to be waking up, which would have put Guzma in an even more paranoid mindstate. He’s serious, and trying to lock him up would only put more tension with the hundreds of thousands of gang members flooding Viridian. Plasma couldn’t organize people that fast … not one of the foremost criminal organizations can since Skull operates in the open.

Guzma’s called the exodus of anyone who associates with Plasma, and Gladion discovering about the assassination attempt on his mother’s life, and in this way … Viridian was already having issues with Plasma, but Skull is ten-times worse with their numbers and violent nature. They’ll just restrain the wall guards and storm the city if Guzma tells them to; there’s not enough manpower.

Viridian is about to be under siege if nothing is done.

His phone began vibrating shortly after he finished the video, and he picked it up; Chase was on the other end.

“Hold up, what’s going on in Viridian?”

“In short … Guzma feels that Lusamine’s life is in danger and is gathering his troops.”

“I heard something about Plasma … Colress can’t be behind it, though, right? He’s cooperated with the United League for years, which means … is Ghetsis making a play?”

Debating on how to answer, Giovanni was silent for a few seconds; in truth, the method was heavy-handed by Colress, indicating he was coerced into the act. Ghetsis might actually be the true orchestrator of the attack, but it was nearly impossible that they’d predict the woman’s signs of recovery after eight years in a coma.

He didn’t want to inform her family quite yet, which Kukui, Christie, and Bill agreed with. They didn’t know what to expect if she did wake up; no one had been recovered after being taken by Nihilego.

The Ultra Space creatures were uncontrollable by even their enemy, acting as apex predators in the interdimensional realm; if in their massive swarms, they could even overpower most Legendary Pokemon, requiring multiple Legendary-tier Trainers to redirect their migrational course within the alien domain.

Lusamine was the only one that could be recovered, which was how they learned much about the Ultra Beast’s unique fusion-like ability. It was unlike anything Bill had encountered, and Giovanni had devoted countless resources to discovering the effects with little results. The top scientists in the world collectively smashed their brains against a wall trying to break the puzzling process that had befallen the woman’s entire being; even her fortitudes had been altered by the fusion.

“... It might be orchestrated by Ghetsis, Chase, but that’s not the issue. I…” He paused as a few calls came in. “One moment, I’m going to bridge the call with Kakui, Commissioner Jenny, and Nanu.”

Adding them to the call, Jenny’s cold voice spoke first. “What am I watching? A gang war in Viridian, Giovanni, and because you couldn’t protect a single woman?”

Nanu’s tired voice spoke up on the other end. “Aww, don’t be like that; this isn’t Giovanni’s fault.”

“Why isn’t it?” Jenny snapped. “He’s the one that’s trying to do my job for me with the extradition, and why can’t you stop the brat from sending off all his zealots? Aren’t you supposed to be in charge of his island?”

“It’s complicated,” Nanu mumbled, probably playing with one of his old toys. “I can’t blame him … he’s got a soft spot for Lusamine. It’s kind of noble, actually … if ya think about it.”

“I don’t give a Pinsir about what’s noble; I don’t want his people entering my city! I’ll invoke emergency powers and make a temporary prison just for them outside the city if I need to.”

“Now, now, Commissioner,” Chase chuckled. “They aren’t breaking any laws by coming into Viridian. We should be prepared, but we don’t have the authority to do it.”

“No?” Jenny asked. “You must still not be caught up in Viridian City-State Law, Champion. Guzma just enacted a call for violence between two gangs, and we both know Plasma’s group of several thousand will get blown to pieces by Skull’s numbers. I’m heading there to arrest him myself, and if I need to, I’ll conscript the Ranger Union for support. You can always make an appearance, Chase.”

Releasing a soft sigh, Giovanni leaned back; since Kakui wasn’t speaking, he expected the matter to be private. “That would be a mistake, Commissioner. It would be exactly what Ghetsis would want, chaos.”

“Of course, it would be, Giovanni. Why didn’t you warn me of this happening with your whole spy network?” Jenny demanded, likely still on her way to arrest Guzma.

“Are we back on that subject?” He asked in a dry tone. “I’m not a part of that life anymore, Jenny. I do have a few friends, but that’s far from the levels of authority I had over the criminal underground in the past. We should focus on what will help.”

Chase knew he still had criminal activities on the low, but government-sanctioned since he provided information when needed. It aided Rocket and the nation; a win-win when dealing with groups counterproductive to Giovanni’s own goals. The United Indigo League used him, and he used them. Of course, Jenny was not a part of that inner circle, but she wasn’t blind.

“Enlighten me,” Jenny growled.

Giovanni folded his hands together, lips pulling in as he compiled his thoughts. “Skull entering Viridian isn’t the problem. Guzma’s only objective is to protect Lusamine, but she cannot be moved at this time. Correct, Kakui?”

“That is correct,” the man replied.

“Which leaves us with our only alternative, which will be playing into Ghetsis’ hands … I can try and reach out to some of my old contacts to smooth things over, but all of these events are colliding over one target … we must move Zinzolin out of Viridian.”

Jenny’s voice became even more heated. “Out of the secure location I have him; are you sure you’re not working with Plasma? You were the one that brought Ethan into the mix, which is a wildcard I cannot control. The extradition plans are set for tomorrow night; I’d need to inform Unova’s escort of the change, and if I did, I don’t see them being able to coordinate the change without issues. In fact, where am I going to send him to next if Viridian is compromised? The other cities within the state aren’t equipped to handle this.”

“... No, I like that plan,” Chase hummed. “We can move him to the League if needed. It should be the best place.”

Giovanni was a bit annoyed by the man’s innocence with the criminal mind. “I’m afraid that’s exactly what they’d expect of you, Chase. The Summer Indigo League is currently underway. There are many tourists and citizens near the League that would make for an excellent next target, which is why Ghetsis chose this gang confrontational route for the very fact I am over Viridian.

“No, the best course of action … Saffron City. I have an old base there you can use, and if Chase can convince Sabrina to aid in the emergency extract with Will acting as the decoy teleport, we can confuse the Plasma Frigate detection technology. The more teleports we can make at the same time, the more shade we can provide. I can give you three more locations that can act as secure sites for more traps with League agents ready to apprehend those that attack; it will force them to be cautious, buying more time.

“To me, the massive energy teleportation spikes in Saffron from Silph’s prototype Warp Gates will be able to cover up the transfer, providing the needed smokescreen to throw them off the trail, and even if they did predict it, the damage would be minimal since the base is underground outside the city. They just need to enter the underground tunnels I had built to reach it.”

He had a few ongoing operations within the base, but it wouldn't be difficult to scrub, and the sacrifice was worth getting the danger out of his city and away from his family. Matori was already in the process of activating the emergency protocols.

“... Uh, wow, okay,” Chase mumbled. “That’s a lot more complicated than I was thinking … should I be on the decoy?”

“That would help,” Giovanni replied.

Jenny didn’t sound happy. “You’d need to convince Ethan.”

“I can do that.”

“And Guzma has to answer for that statement. He can’t think it’s okay to do that in my city.”

Nanu sighed. “Yeah, yeah … I’ll talk to the boy, and you can have him under house arrest or something in the hospital … it’d take a battle to force him out at this point. Make a show out of it. Skull’s not that bad as a whole, but there are some bad eggs. The Admins will keep things in order, though, if Guzma’s happy.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Jenny snapped.

“I know,” Nanu replied, “but there isn’t much you can do when he’s literally got an army that follows him. Most figured that out already. Sure, you can force them down with power … to an extent given Skull’s upper-tier members, but that’ll cause issues in its own right as a movement. By the way, nice plan, Giovanni. Impressed me. Anyway, I’ll give the youngin’ a call ta calm him down.”

“Thanks, Nanu,” Giovanni smiled. He’d gotten closer with the Island Kahuna over the past eight years; their relationship had been strained before that. “How soon can you set up the transport, Chase?”

“Uh … probably like an hour or two. Will isn’t nearby, but he can get back pretty quickly. Sabrina might take a tad bit convincing, though … she wouldn’t like being used as a vehicle.”

“That’s a decent time-frame. Let me know if you need anything else.”

Jenny was obviously still somewhat frustrated at bringing the terrorist out of his secure location since she just hung-up. Giovanni worked around his jaw, glaring down at his phone as Colress left him an encrypted message, and his vision narrowed.

Things are going to get troublesome.