Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 87: Giovanni’s Deduction

Giovanni stood by the window, looking down, a hint of disappointment on his face.

"A Charizard that can use Sacred Fire? Did that old hag Agatha have her Gengar cast an illusion on her?" In his mind, the only explanation for Archer’s capture was that two Elite Four members had been present. But was this illusion so persistent that it hadn’t worn off even after she fled Lavender Town? She was even insisting that the Charizard was flying toward Saffron City.

"Wait—"

He thought again and felt his logic was full of holes. First, it was unlikely the League had known about the Lavender Town operation in advance—and even less likely they’d deployed two Elite Four members. And if they had known, surely they’d also have known about the Silph Co. raid to seize the Master Ball. Compared to Lavender Town, Silph Co. was far more important. Yet, they’d encountered almost no significant resistance during that raid.

"Could Sabrina have been telling the truth?" Giovanni narrowed his eyes. "Could there really be a Charizard that wields Sacred Fire?"

If that were true, everything would fall into place.

"Send Proton in," Giovanni called to his subordinate at the door.

A moment later, Proton—one of Team Rocket’s Four Generals—entered and bowed respectfully to Giovanni, who stood facing the window.

"Boss."

Giovanni didn’t turn around. "How’s the data copying going?"

"Smoothly, but there’s a lot of data. It’ll take another two hours."

"Good." Giovanni nodded slightly, then recounted what Sabrina had told him.

When Proton heard that his colleague Archer had been captured, his face showed surprise—then a flash of glee—then, as Giovanni turned around, an expression of tragic loss.

"Archer was too careless this time. Leading a team to Lavender Town with Sabrina, and getting defeated by a Charizard that can use Sacred Fire—and captured! That’s inexcusable. If it were me, I’d already have retrieved that item from Old Man Fuji." He sighed heavily.

But then his eyes went wide. "A Charizard that can use Sacred Fire? Boss, did I hear that right—Sacred Fire, not Flamethrower?"

Giovanni frowned. Was a Charizard using Flamethrower really that noteworthy that Proton had to emphasize it?

"That’s right—Sacred Fire," he confirmed.

Proton pressed: "As in Ho-Oh’s Sacred Fire?"

"Yes—Ho-Oh’s Sacred Fire."

"Boss, are you sure Sabrina isn’t just making excuses to cover for her and Archer’s failure?"

"I thought the same at first. But after thinking it through, what Sabrina said isn’t impossible." Giovanni laid out his reasoning for Proton, who nodded along.

Proton finally said in admiration: "Boss, your analysis is brilliant. I thought it was impossible at first, but now I see it—Archer didn’t lose unfairly. A Charizard with Sacred Fire would indeed catch anyone off guard."

"Boss, you mentioned that guy is heading this way? Do you want me to lead a team to intercept him at the entrance?"

Giovanni shook his head. "No—I want you to wait here."

"Why? Are we just letting him fight his way up?" Proton asked, confused.

"Not ’letting him’—I’m certain he’ll come in from the top. Because [reasoning]—do you understand now?" Giovanni explained patiently.

In his view, unless Rio was an idiot, he wouldn’t fly a Charizard all the way to Silph Co. only to start from the first floor and fight his way up—wasting time and energy. A normal person would just crash through the top floor. If Rio actually came through the front door, Giovanni wouldn’t even bother taking him seriously. He’d also stop caring about Sabrina and Archer’s fate.

"I see, I see—as expected of you, Boss. I would never have thought of that," Proton said in awe.

Giovanni shot him a glance. "If you put half the effort you spend on flattery into thinking, you might have figured it out yourself."

With that, Giovanni sat down in the president’s office chair.

Proton scratched his head awkwardly. "No way—I’m just not as smart as you, Boss."

An hour later.

Flying toward Saffron City on Charizard’s back, Rio caught sight of the Silph Co. tower in the distance. His mission: to secure the Master Ball’s safety—no, wait—to save Silph Co.—no—to safeguard the future of Kanto. Yeah, that sounded better.

"Charizard—we’re crashing in through the top floor," Rio said.

"Roaar~"

He wasn’t stupid. Only an idiot would have a Flying-type Pokémon and still fight floor by floor all the way up to Giovanni. Even Giovanni would think he was an idiot. The smart play was to burst in through the roof and go straight for the boss.

So—Boss Giovanni, your daddy is coming for you!

Moments later, Rio and Charizard reached the top of Silph Co. Without hesitation, Rio commanded Charizard to blast through the glass window with a Thunder Punch. They burst inside.

The first thing Rio saw was a middle-aged man sitting in an office chair, radiating a commanding presence. The man, in turn, saw Rio.

Both were caught off guard. And both thought the same thing: "It’s him!"

Rio hadn’t expected Giovanni to be the distinguished man he’d seen this morning when leaving Silph Co. Giovanni hadn’t expected the kid who’d foiled Team Rocket’s plans three times to be the same shiny Charizard trainer he’d complimented earlier.

"Just as Boss predicted—you came in through the top floor!" Proton’s voice broke the silence.

"Kid—I heard you defeated General Archer. Let me see what you’ve got." A young man in a beret smiled and tossed out a Poké Ball.

With a flash of light, a Level 64 Crobat with Elite Four–talent appeared.

"I’m Proton—one of Team Rocket’s Four Generals. Ever heard of me?"