Chapter 26: Vermilion City
In the previous life, Pokémon, as the world's number one IP, had developed countless main and branch lines. The game series had already reached its ninth generation with "Scarlet/Violet," but undoubtedly, the most classic was the first generation.
The Kanto region is particularly unique, especially when it comes to its gym leaders.
The evil organization in Kanto is Team Rocket. Compared to the subsequent generations of evil organizations with various ideologies like expanding land and sea, reshaping the world, ideals vs. reality, or purging the world, Team Rocket's ideology is relatively 'pure': world domination!
Yet, without a doubt, Team Rocket is also the most straightforward 'evil' in people's minds among all the evil organizations. The anime, aimed at children, rarely reveals Team Rocket's true dark side, but both the games and the special manga provide descriptions.
In the special manga, Giovanni is depicted as a ruthless and cunning warlord who even dismembers a Pokémon in front of the protagonist.
Team Rocket's atrocities include robbing passerby Pokémon, hunting wild Pokémon, and conducting inhumane genetic experiments on Pokémon. The list of their crimes is extensive.
Yes, Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket, is also the gym leader of Viridian Gym. Ironically, the Pokémon League is unaware of this fact.
Giovanni, the dark source of Kanto's underworld, is highly respected and revered in the public eye.
Dylan had briefly searched for information about Giovanni and found that, besides being a gym leader, Giovanni is also a businessman. Known as the 'Ground-Type Giovanni,' he is rumored to be the strongest gym leader in the Kanto region.
As an expert in Ground-type Pokémon, Giovanni wrote a widely circulated book, "The Secrets of the Earth," sharing his insights. This broad-mindedness earned him immense respect.
The Viridian Gym's positive rating has never been low over the years, despite Giovanni often being away 'training outside.' Few challengers obtain the Viridian Gym badge each year.
Yet, due to Giovanni's strength and reputation, the value of the Viridian Gym badge is high, and trainers take pride in earning the green badge from Viridian Gym.
However, no one would guess that Giovanni is the leader of Team Rocket, the biggest scourge of Kanto's underworld.
Of course, this doesn't concern Dylan right now. He only thought of this because of Officer Jenny's words.
If the gym leaders were like their special manga versions, Officer Jenny's words about 'excellent senior gym leaders' would be a complete joke.
"Speaking of which, Team Rocket will target Silph Co. later."
After bidding farewell to Officer Jenny, Dylan remembered this point.
Silph Co. is one of the world's top companies and the largest in Kanto by scale and output.
Silph Co. primarily manufactures products, excelling in the industry. The Poké Ball technology that trainers rely on today was pioneered by Silph Co.
One can imagine how massive a company holding the technology for Poké Balls would be in this world.
However, in this world, there is a clear divide between the trainer side and the life industry side!
Powerful trainers, especially Champion-level trainers, can be incredibly destructive, capable of destroying cities with their main Pokémon.
Though Silph Co. is wealthy—super wealthy, in fact—money doesn't equate to military power.
In the original story, Silph Co. was easily taken over by Team Rocket, who occupied its headquarters in Saffron City.
The president of Silph Co. was tied up and thrown in a corner like a dead dog. If the protagonist hadn't come to the rescue, Team Rocket would have drained Silph Co. dry, and all its assets would have been taken.
Ordinary people wouldn't risk angering the Pokémon League by breaking this rule, but Team Rocket is an evil organization.
The Pokémon League controls the balance between the trainer side and the life industry side. Anyone breaking this taboo would face severe retaliation from the Pokémon League.
But Team Rocket has no such scruples. Giovanni can do whatever he wants.
"I need to mention this to my dad; he's the largest shareholder of Silph Co."
Dylan thought. His father currently holds a 50% stake in Silph Co., making him effectively the owner.
So, Dylan is actually a super-rich heir.
Since that's the case, he can't let Team Rocket mess with his family business or let them take its assets.
"What's on your mind, Dylan?" Ilene asked curiously, seeing him deep in thought.
"Is it because of what Officer Jenny said? I believe in you, Dylan; you can definitely pass the Pokémon Inspection Bureau's test."
Ilene had also picked up on Officer Jenny's hint about the Pokémon Inspection Bureau. But she trusted Dylan would pass the test.
"Of course," Dylan smiled, snapping out of his thoughts.
"Let's head to Vermilion City."
"Alright~"
...
Vermilion City is located at the southern seaport, the largest coastal city in Kanto, and an international port city.
Vermilion Harbor serves multiple routes, and world-class luxury cruise ships often dock here.
The name 'Vermilion' comes from the orange-yellow color of the city at dusk.
At sunset, the entire Vermilion City is bathed in a layer of orange-red light, making the city look very soft and beautiful.
"The smell of the sea~"
After a few hours in a private car, Dylan and Ilene arrived in the city.
Ilene immediately felt the slightly salty sea breeze unique to the harbor city, which she found quite pleasant.
Which inland girl doesn't dream of seeing the sea?
"It's different from the game."
Dylan glanced around and commented briefly.
Over the past few days, he had completed the Vermilion Gym in the simulation. The real city, while retaining its characteristics, was different from the game.
He had already confirmed this in Pewter and Cerulean Cities.
"Huh? What game?" Ilene hadn't heard clearly.
"Nothing. Let's head to the hotel and then explore."
Dylan smiled and led Ilene to the hotel they had booked.
They went to the hotel, and while checking in, Dylan noticed someone entering and was surprised.
The man had long, steel-blue hair, long bangs covering one eye, wore gray clothes, a red cape, and had a face that was not particularly handsome but decent.
"Tsk~"
Dylan's eyes flickered as he looked at the blue-haired man.
This man was Tobias!
Perhaps many people wouldn't recognize this name because he had few appearances in the anime but was highly significant.
He appeared like a deus ex machina in the Lily of the Valley Conference, using his Darkrai to sweep through the competition.
In the semifinals, he used only Darkrai and Latios to crush Ash 6-2 and won the Lily of the Valley Conference!
Yes, the man known as the Legendary Pokémon Guy!
(End of Chapter)