The Next Day, at Wyndon Airport.
Stephen and the others ca to bid farewell to Karen, as well as Goodshow and Lorelei.
"Take this."
When no one else was paying attention, Stephen secretly handed Zorua to Karen.
In front of Goodshow and other high-ranking officials of the Pokémon League who knew the true identity of the masked girl, she had always used Zorua's abilities to disguise herself.
Now that she was going to act alone, she naturally needed this little guy.
"I'll have a surprise for you when I co back."
Karen flashed a mysterious smile at Stephen.
Stephen smiled in return.
Although he had no idea what kind of sche Karen was planning, he trusted that she wouldn't harm him.
"You can take Chairman Goodshow's private jet since you're all heading back to Kanto anyway. Oh, and since you're collecting badges, you should drop by Viridian City and find Uncle Giovanni. I've already sent him a ssage."
Stephen whispered.
Karen nodded, "Yeah, if I go to him, I can get the Earth Badge and the Volcano Badge right away, I know that."
Back when she went to Viridian City to negotiate with Pryce, Karen had already learned that Blaine was affiliated with Team Rocket.
She had always planned to seek out Giovanni when she returned to Kanto—without even having to battle, she could directly obtain the badges of the two strongest Gym Leaders in Kanto.
However, what Stephen didn't know was that Karen had another reason for seeking out Giovanni.
"It probably won't just be two badges..."
Hearing Karen's words, Stephen muttered to himself.
"Dr. Stephen, the plane is ready for takeoff. Is your companion ready?"
Goodshow called out.
"Coming."
Stephen led Karen to the boarding gate of the private jet.
As Karen waved at Stephen while walking with Goodshow and the others into the boarding corridor, she didn't forget to glance out of the corner of her eye at Lorelei, who was on Goodshow's other side.
Karen hadn't agreed to take Goodshow's private jet just for convenience.
She was preventing the shaless old man Goodshow from leaving Lorelei behind while she was away.
After all, anyone who wasn't blind could see that during this ti, Rose and Goodshow—those two old schers—had been persistently pushing the beautiful Gym Leaders and Elite Four mbers of their regions toward Stephen.
Nessa wasn't even worth worrying about—she was just a weakling who beca a Gym Leader based solely on her looks.
After spending just a few days together, Karen noticed that Nessa felt quite inferior when talking to Stephen, to the point where she hardly dared to initiate conversation with him.
But, her bestie Sonia had called that one right.
Lorelei was soone who required extra vigilance.
Not to ntion anything else... just that pair of mischievous bombs... Damn, why are they so big?
Even though Lorelei verbally claid that her feelings for Stephen were nothing more than the camaraderie she... Ha, sure, she could fool other won, but she shouldn't fool herself.
Once Karen confird that Lorelei was also heading back to Kanto, she felt relieved.
After Karen, Goodshow, and Lorelei had left...
Rose approached Stephen and invited him to attend the upcoming press conference for the Pokédex.
Stephen didn't refuse—since he was already here, he might as well take care of everything at once.
...
That evening, Rose booked the most luxurious Rose of the Rondelands on the west side of Wyndon City and held a grand banquet to welco Stephen.
At the event, Stephen t many heavyweight NPCs he had encountered in his past life while playing the ga.
Veteran Gym Leaders like Opal and Kabu were easy for Stephen to recognize at a glance.
Younger Gym Leaders like Raihan and Nessa, however, only got to know through Rose's introductions.
"Dr. Stephen, let introduce you—these two gentlen are the descendants of the two heroes who saved Galar from the calamity known as 'The Darkest Day' 3,000 years ago."
Rose introduced two individuals to Stephen.
Looking at the two n in front of him—dressed in custom blue and red suits with bizarre hairstyles—and then hearing Rose's introduction, Stephen was montarily stunned.
"Huh?"
"Hello, Dr. Stephen. I am Sordward."
"I am Shielbert."
The two n politely perford a noble bow toward Stephen, though their eyes still carried an innate arrogance.
After all, they were the descendants of heroes—if you round things up, that made them heroes themselves!
Seeing their sword-and-shield hairstyles, Stephen was even more dumbfounded.
Zacian and Zamazenta... had sons?!
Finally finding a mont to break away, Stephen stood in a corner of the banquet hall, popped a crispy biscuit into his mouth, and glanced again at the two clowns flaunting their heroic lineage in the crowd.
It was only then that he rembered—these two were the post-ga characters from Pokémon Sword and Shield, which was why he hadn't recalled them at first.
Just like Oleana's assistant, Klara, these two were nothing but joke characters, so it was no wonder he hadn't thought of them imdiately.
"Stephen, wha' ya talkin' 'bout?"
Will approached, carrying a plate piled high with grilled at and desserts. His chubby face was stuffed like a hamster, making his words nearly unintelligible.
As the banquet neared its end, Rose signaled for Oleana to let the dia in.
In an instant, the banquet hall transford into a press conference.
Rose straightened his tie, stepped onto the podium, and announced:
"The first-generation Pokédex will be officially released on the first day of the Galar Star Tournant next month! Any children attending the tournant with a Galar ID will receive a free Pokédex. Starting next month, all new trainers in Galar who are at least ten years old will also be able to receive a Pokédex free of charge. Additionally, trainers who transfer their registration to Galar will receive the sa benefits."
"!!!"
Although the dia already knew that the Pokédex would only be available in Galar and Alola, they hadn't expected Rose to be so generous—just giving them away for free.
And that last sentence? It was a blatant attempt to poach trainers from other regions!
Stephen felt like Rose was just one step away from saying:
"Do you want a Pokédex? If you do, I can give you all of them! Co to Galar! I've put all the Pokédexes there!" (Roger's execution speech reference.)
...Well, maybe not completely realistic, since Alola had them too.
"Now, let's welco the creator of the Pokédex, the greatest scientist in the Pokémon League, Dr. Stephen, to the stage for a speech."
Just as Stephen was lost in thought, Rose suddenly gestured toward him with a "go ahead, start your performance" motion.
In an instant, all eyes turned toward Stephen.
Fortunately, Stephen was already used to such occasions.
He walked onto the stage and shook hands with Rose. Before he even let go, reporters eagerly fired off questions:
"Dr. Stephen, why did you grant the publishing rights for the Pokédex to Macro Cosmos Group?"
"I believe the two Galarian legendary Pokémon—Galarian Articuno and Galarian Moltres—are a perfect fit for my two companions, so I reached a partnership with Chairman Rose."
Stephen responded without hesitation.
"Are you sure it's not because of Gym Leader lony?"
A reporter asked.
Suddenly, more than half the people in the room turned to look at lony, who was still holding her youngest son's hand while leading her second son.
lony: "???"
At the beginning of the year, lony had just lost her husband, and now she was utterly speechless.
She had no idea how it happened—suddenly, she was rumored to be romantically involved with a young man more than ten years her junior. And to make things even stranger, this young man hadn't even spoken a single word to her!
"The Gym Leader lony is an exceptional woman, and I deeply admire her skills as a Galar trainer. However, there is no such relationship between us. I hope the dia will stop spreading these false rumors."
Stephen said this solemnly.
Hearing Stephen's righteous and firm response, lony secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Finally, she wouldn't have to deal with people constantly asking if she was planning to remarry.
She wasn't sure if it was just her imagination, but the way her three sons and one daughter looked at her seed a bit odd.
"Uh... old hag."
At that mont, her eldest son, Gordie, approached.
"Oh? The sun must be rising from the west today!"
lony teased in surprise.
Ever since Gordie ran away from ho, he had never taken the initiative to contact her. But today, he was coming to talk to her.
"Maybe... you should go for it?"
Gordie hesitated for a while before finally lowering his voice and saying this.
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"I'm saying, maybe you should consider remarrying? I... I think Dr. Stephen is quite suitable."
Gordie shot a glance at Stephen on the stage.
Stephen had gone to great lengths to obtain two legendary Pokémon, all just for the sake of his two companions.
Such loyalty and dedication deeply moved Gordie... Alright, to be honest, he was just envious—he wanted a legendary Pokémon too.
If Stephen beca his stepfather, then as his adopted son, surely he would get sothing out of it, right?
lony's eyes widened in shock. She almost fainted from sheer disbelief.
anwhile, reporters continued to ask questions:
"So, do you also not have any special relationship with President Lusamine?"
Stephen remained expressionless. "Sorry, today I will only answer questions related to the Pokédex."
Damn it, would they ever stop?
"He's truly dazzling."
On the other side of the banquet hall, Nessa watched Stephen speaking confidently on stage, voicing her thoughts.
Beside her stood a girl who was just as beautiful as Nessa but had a completely different aura. She had long orange hair tied into a side ponytail, and unlike Nessa's tall supermodel figure, she had a more curvy build.
The girl teased, "I heard Chairman Rose is trying to set you up with him?"
"Cut it out."
Nessa rolled her eyes at her best friend.
This girl in front of her was Sonia, her closest friend, and also Leon's childhood friend.
Currently, Sonia is traveling around Galar, collecting gym badges.
"I get how you feel," Sonia sighed.
Her relationship with Leon had also grown distant for the sa reason.
He was simply too dazzling—so bright that she felt he was unreachable.
Now, he was the Champion of the Galar League, while she had participated in the Galar Star Tournant multiple tis without ever achieving a good ranking.
...
The press conference dominated the news everywhere.
But for Red and Blue, who were still two years away from reaching the minimum age requirent to beco rookie trainers, it didn't matter much.
After all, they had already received their Pokédexes from Stephen.
However, those who hadn't been given a Pokédex—especially the young trainers nearing the minimum age requirent but who weren't from Galar or Alola—were furious at Rose's actions.
But there was nothing they could do.
They had two choices: either risk their lives and embark on their journey without a Pokédex, or join the system.
With that in mind, in the Sinnoh region, a boy nad Rei who had just turned 10—the minimum age to beco a rookie trainer—decided to move with his 5-year-old younger brother and register as a Galar citizen.
Shortly after, in the Hoenn region, another 10-year-old boy nad Brendan, who had just received his starter Pokémon, a Torchic, made a similar decision.
anwhile, in the Johto region, a 12-year-old girl nad Marina—who had already traveled around Johto once—began to hesitate between moving to Galar or Kalos after reading the news.
Originally, Marina had planned to move to Kalos.
Even though the Kalos League was notoriously weak, Kalos was still a world-famous center of romance and fashion.
As soone who aspired to beco a Pokemon Coordinator, Marina had always longed to go there.
She had even planned out her move to Kalos.
But now, with the Pokédex available, she was reconsidering.
Maybe... she should go to Galar first?
And Marina wasn't the only one.
Many rookie trainers were now changing their plans and relocating just for the Pokédex.
After all, anyone with common sense could see how vital the Pokédex was for a trainer's journey.
It was truly a life-saving tool.
However, not all of these trainers—or their parents—chose Galar.
Let's not forget, that there was still Alola.
Of course, Alola was a newly established league. They hadn't even gathered all eight gym leaders, let alone an Elite Four.
Its only real selling point was Dr. Stephen himself, so its appeal wasn't as strong as Galar's.
Even so, at least one mother was drawn to Alola's beautiful environnt and warm culture. She decided to move from Kanto to Alola with her daughter.
...
anwhile, in Kanto.
In Viridian City, at the Viridian Gym.
Deep inside the Team Rocket base hidden behind the gym's secret door, Giovanni sat as usual in his boss chair, stroking his beloved Persian.
With his left hand, he opened a drawer and placed sothing on his desk.
"Stephen already spoke to in advance. Here, take it."
Standing in front of him, Karen looked down at what he had placed—and her eyes widened in shock.
She had expected to see the Earth badge from the Viridian Gym and the Volcano badge from the Cinnabar Gym.
But what was this...?
The Thunder Badge from Vermilion Gym.
The Soul Badge from Fuchsia Gym.
The Marsh Badge from Saffron Gym.
A total of five badges!
Even soone as experienced as Karen was montarily stunned.
She could understand why Giovanni, the Viridian Gym Leader, and Blaine, the Cinnabar Gym Leader, had their badges here—they were both affiliated with Team Rocket.
But these other three...?
"Are you surprised? These three badges are actually..."
Seeing Karen's expression, Giovanni was about to explain, but she interrupted him, "No need. I'm not interested in anything that doesn't involve Stephen."
Hearing this, Giovanni didn't say much. He just shrugged and smiled.
"I have another favor to ask of you—or rather, of Team Rocket..."
Karen then revealed another main reason for her visit.
After listening, Giovanni stroked his chin and said, "Sothing Legendary worthy for Stephen? Hmm... that won't be easy to find."
"Even Rose from the League found two. Are you telling Team Rocket can't?"
Karen taunted him.
"Heh~ You've got a sharp tongue, little girl. Go collect the remaining three badges first. In the anti, I'll look into it."
...
Stepping out of the Viridian Gym, Karen couldn't help but glance again at her badge case, now half-filled with five badges, and rcilessly ridiculed, "The Indigo League is dood."
If it were just so weakling gyms, that would be one thing.
But now, looking closely, Karen realized that these were so of Kanto's strongest gyms.
Not to ntion Champion-level Giovanni of the Earth Badge and the veteran league mber, Blaine, the hot-blooded riddle master.
Both Sabrina and Koga were already stepping into Elite Four-level territory, practically guaranteed to beco future Elites.
Even the weakest among them, Lt. Surge, was still an elite among Gym Leaders.
And yet, all five of them were...
Karen genuinely felt that the Indigo League was finished.
At the very least, Kanto's future was bound to be turbulent.
Maybe Johto would be a bit better... oh wait, no—let's not forget about Pryce.
"Whatever, it's none of my business anyway."
With that, Karen walked away without looking back.
The priority now was to collect the remaining three badges.
The closest gym from here should be... Pewter City, right? The Gym Leader there specializes in Rock-type Pokémon.
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