Chapter 294: This Bidoof, huh?

Chapter 294: This Bidoof, huh?

"World Championship?"

Of course, Asahi knew about the World Championship. Hearing Lance bring it up…

"You didn't know? Registration for this year's World Championship is about to start…" Lance said.

Asahi honestly hadn't been paying attention to these things lately.

"If you're planning to participate, you'd better sign up as soon as possible… First-time participants have to start from the lowest-tier competition." Worried that Asahi might not be familiar with the rules, Lance gave him a simple explanation.

The World Championship is divided into different tiers, from lowest to highest: Poké Ball Tier, Great Ball Tier, Ultra Ball Tier, and Master Ball Tier.

According to the rules set by the Pokémon Battle Committee, first-time participants must start from the Poké Ball Tier.

Since Asahi had never participated before, he would obviously have to begin from the lowest level.

That was why Steven had reminded him to register early.

Asahi smiled and nodded. While he wasn't particularly interested in crushing weak opponents in league tournaments, the World Championship was a different story—it actually intrigued him.

After all, it was the highest-level event in the Pokémon world.

Having made up his mind, Asahi nodded to Lance, indicating that he would participate. Then, he pulled out his phone and casually posted the news in the department's work chat group.

The group chat was usually quiet, but many people were just lurking.

As soon as Asahi sent the message, the group exploded.

As always, Gary was the first to respond.

[I, Gary Oak, Never Back Down: Hmph! This young master is the Indigo League Champion—of course, I'll have a spot among the Masters Eight!]

[Gardevoir is the Best: LOL]

[Psychic Girl: LOL]

[Blue (Do Not Disturb During Work): LOL]

[Loyal Follower of the Dragon God: LOL]

[Yellow: I feel a little bad saying this about Gary-senpai, but… LOL]

---

Saffron City

Gary looked at the string of "LOL" replies on his phone and felt like he was being underestimated.

"The so-called Masters Eight…" He was just about to type a comeback.

But before he could, his phone was suddenly lifted into the air by Psychic power.

Turning his head, he saw Sabrina half-reclining on a lounge chair, holding Asahi's Togepi.

"Asahi said no playing with your phone until you finish your run," Sabrina said.

Gary: "..."

Left with no choice, Gary gritted his teeth and kept running.

Beside him, his Pokémon were also training hard.

He had to work diligently and shock everyone with his progress!

---

While Gary was sweating through his training, Asahi was already preparing to board his flight to Sinnoh.

However, to Asahi's surprise, while waiting at the gate, he spotted Professor Oak.

"Professor Oak?"

Professor Oak looked equally surprised. "Asahi? What a coincidence! You're heading to Sinnoh too?"

---

Sinnoh was located northeast of Kanto, consisting of the main island—dominated by Mt. Coronet—and numerous smaller surrounding islands.

From the sky, one could see how the Sinnoh mainland was split into two by the towering Mt. Coronet.

"We're about to land…"

Looking out the window, Asahi felt an unfamiliar sense of nervousness.

He knew exactly why.

After all, he was carrying so many of those alpaca's plates—who wouldn't feel on edge?

However, in Professor Oak's eyes, Asahi's expression simply looked like curiosity about Sinnoh.

Professor Oak was here for an academic conference, and unexpectedly meeting Asahi was a pleasant surprise.

Smiling, the professor introduced, "I've visited Sinnoh a few times before, so I know a bit about it."

"According to Sinnoh's legends, the world was created by Arceus, the Original One."

"I know of a few ruins related to Arceus in Sinnoh."

"If you're interested, I can ask Professor Rowan to arrange a tour for you."

"Uh…"

Asahi had a lump in his throat.

He already attracted enough attention from Arceus—if he visited its ruins, wouldn't that just be asking for trouble?

Still, Professor Oak meant well, so Asahi could only smile and nod.

Seeing Asahi's agreement, Professor Oak looked pleased, thinking he had helped.

Just then, the plane entered its descent phase, preparing to land.

At that moment, the cabin suddenly became noisy.

Asahi looked up to see a flight attendant being held hostage by a Crobat, forced toward the cockpit.

…Was this a hijacking?

Asahi's expression turned strange.

If he remembered correctly, this was the second time.

The last time had been when Cynthia flew to Kanto and got caught in a hijacking.

Now, on his way to Sinnoh, he was encountering another one…

Did Team Galactic have a thing for hijackings?

Was this some kind of Sinnoh tradition?

Even as he mentally complained, Asahi's actions were swift.

Just as Professor Oak was about to reach for a Poké Ball, Asahi grabbed the sleeping Eevee in his lap and casually tossed it toward the hijacker.

"Eevee?"

Still drowsy, Eevee suddenly felt itself becoming weightless. Startled awake mid-air, it flailed its paws—landing right on Crobat.

Screech!

Crobat shrieked from the impact.

Out of instinct, Eevee smacked Crobat with its paw.

At first glance, it seemed like a normal attack from an ordinary Eevee.

But when the strike landed, Crobat let out a miserable cry—then instantly collapsed, knocked out.

Everyone was stunned.

Even the flight attendant who had been held hostage was speechless.

"Eevee…"

Eevee shook its head groggily, still half-asleep.

Then, noticing the hijacker reaching for a second Poké Ball—

Bam!

With another paw strike, Eevee knocked the Team Galactic member unconscious.

Everyone stared at the fallen hijacker and the yawning Eevee in disbelief.

A ruthless hijacker, defeated by an Eevee?

Was this… a Bidoof moment?

This didn't seem right!

Before the passengers could express their gratitude to Asahi and Eevee, a sudden feeling of weightlessness swept over them.

The plane was descending.

They had arrived in Jubilife City.

---

"…Thank you for your assistance!"

After gathering details about the hijacking from fellow passengers, Officer Jenny of Jubilife City sincerely thanked Asahi.

"It was nothing," Asahi replied casually.

Stopping the hijacker was in his own best interest—he couldn't just let them take over the plane.

"By the way, that guy was from Team Galactic, right?" Asahi asked.

Why hijack a plane now, of all times?

Did Team Galactic somehow know he was coming and set this up to stop him?

Just as Asahi was pondering, Officer Jenny responded, "According to our database, the hijacker was indeed a Team Galactic member. He had two prior arrests for endangering public safety with Pokémon… Their target was actually Professor Oak!"

"…"

Alright, so he had been overthinking.

It turned out Team Galactic was after Professor Oak, not him.

Though he wasn't sure what they wanted with the professor, the fact that they weren't targeting him was actually a relief.

After a brief conversation with Officer Jenny, Asahi and Professor Oak were about to leave when—

From around a corner, a familiar voice called out:

"You sure know how to make a scene, Asahi!"

Asahi turned to see Koga, dressed in full ninja attire, red scarf flowing, leaning against the wall with arms crossed, smirking at him.

Koga had expected Asahi to be surprised by his sudden appearance.

But instead, Asahi just gave him a once-over and remarked,

"You spent a lot of time putting together that dramatic look, didn't you?"

"…"

Koga nearly lost his balance.

That wasn't the point!

The point was that he had come to pick Asahi up!

Seeing Koga's frustration, Asahi chuckled. "Karen already told me before I boarded that you'd be meeting me."

"I was just a bit surprised you came inside. I thought you'd wait outside."

Koga suddenly felt… disappointed.

He had been hoping to catch Asahi off guard, but the surprise had already been spoiled.

Sighing, Koga composed himself and asked, "So, Asahi, are you here to deal with Team Galactic too?"

Since being sent to Sinnoh as reinforcements to help the Sinnoh League deal with Team Galactic—based on Asahi's suggestion—Koga and Karen had been clashing with Team Galactic frequently.

Before coming to Sinnoh, Koga had looked down on Team Galactic due to his background with Team Rocket.

But after actually engaging with them, he realized he had been completely mistaken.

While Team Galactic might not be as resourceful as Team Rocket in certain aspects, they were still undeniably a top-tier villainous organization—extremely troublesome to deal with.

Especially last month, when Sird appeared in Sinnoh wearing a Team Galactic uniform and leading Darkrai to wipe out the International Police's Sinnoh branch in one fell swoop. That nearly shattered Koga's worldview.

Sird was with Team Galactic?

Did that mean even Giovanni had been deceived?

The revelation put immense pressure on him!

Right now, Asahi's answer was desperately needed to lift his spirits!

Hearing Koga's question, Asahi shot him a look like he was staring at an idiot and replied, "I came to Sinnoh, and you think I'm not going to deal with Team Galactic?"

Koga: "..."

Hold it in. You can't beat him anyway!

Still, Koga heaved a sigh of relief. Over the past few days, he had crammed every bit of information he could find about Asahi's activities in Kanto and Johto while he was locked up in prison.

Considering how Asahi had wrecked Team Rocket, his abilities were beyond question. With Asahi here to handle Team Galactic, wouldn't that be a walk in the park?

When Koga had been Asahi's enemy, the pressure was enormous. But now that they were on the same side, Koga actually felt an overwhelming sense of security.

"Asahi, when do you plan to make a move against Team Galactic?"

"No rush… I've got something to take care of first."

As they spoke, a luxury car rolled to a stop in front of Asahi.

An elderly man with white hair, dressed in a tailcoat, stepped out, bowed slightly, and said, "Mr. Asahi, I am Sebastian, the butler of the Berlitz family.

"The master has been awaiting your arrival. Please, get in the car…"

Sebastian. A butler.

Hearing these keywords, Asahi had a strong sense of déjà vu and couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth.

Suppressing the urge to make a sarcastic remark, he nodded and said, "Alright, let's go!"

He gestured for Koga and Professor Oak to get in the car with him.

Koga had picked up some information about the Berlitz family during his time in Sinnoh and was surprised that Asahi actually knew people from such an influential household.

As for Professor Oak, he wasn't surprised at all, since he already knew why Asahi had come to Sinnoh.

The Berlitz family estate was in Celestic Town, which also happened to be where Professor Carolina's research lab was located. Since there was still some time before the academic symposium began, Oak figured he could visit Professor Carolina and catch a ride while he was at it.

The group boarded the car, which quickly drove off, leaving the airport behind.

---

Celestic Town

The car slowly entered a large estate, eventually pulling up in front of a grand mansion.

Asahi stepped out of the car and glanced around, not feeling particularly impressed.

So this was supposed to be the wealthiest family in Sinnoh? Aside from being a bit bigger, their estate wasn't all that different from his own headquarters…

Just as Asahi was mulling over that thought, two people emerged from the mansion. One was Professor Berlitz, whom he had previously spoken to via video call. The other was… also Professor Berlitz?

Oh, wait. The other person was his wife, Rinase Berlitz, who, like her husband, was also a Pokémon professor.

Both of them had once been involved in the Pokémon Association's project to capture Rayquaza.

But now… their faces looked visibly haggard.

"Mr. Asahi, Professor Oak, and… this gentleman…"

Koga: "..."

What do you mean, "this gentleman"? He used to be the Gym Leader of Fuchsia City and an executive of Team Rocket, and he doesn't even get a name?

Asahi grinned and shot Koga a teasing look before nodding to the Berlitz couple.

"Let's not waste time. We should check the situation right away."

The Berlitz professors couldn't agree more. They quickly led Asahi, Professor Oak, and "this gentleman" into the mansion.

After passing through tight security, they arrived in a bedroom.

Inside, surrounded by what looked like incredibly expensive medical equipment, a young girl lay quietly on the bed. Her tightly furrowed brow suggested that she wasn't sleeping peacefully.

Seeing the girl—Platinum Berlitz—Asahi's eyes gleamed with blue light.

Using his Aura powers, he could sense a dense, negative energy surrounding Platinum's body.

That must be the culprit behind her unconscious state.

"It's likely the negative energy inside her that's keeping her from waking up," Professor Oak said, reaching the same conclusion after examining the data on the medical equipment.

The Berlitz couple nodded in agreement.

Asahi turned to them and said, "Just so you know… I don't know much about Darkrai either. I'll do my best, but there are no guarantees."

"Please, Mr. Asahi, we're counting on you!"

Asahi nodded and, under everyone's watchful gaze, pulled out a GS Ball.

With a soft pop, a flash of white light revealed a small, green Pokémon—Celebi!

Professor Oak's eyes lit up at the sight of it.

If this weren't such a serious situation, he'd probably be bombarding Asahi with questions about Celebi right now.

"Bii?"

Appearing in an unfamiliar environment, Celebi tilted its head, puzzled, and looked at Asahi.

"Can you heal her?" Asahi asked, gesturing to Platinum on the bed.

Celebi studied Platinum for a moment, then raised its tiny hand, releasing a soft green glow that filled the room.

---