The Hau'oli Outpost of the Hau'oli City Business District.
In the reception room, Mohn plopped down, gesturing towards the sofa across the coffee table, and said to Cynthia and Diantha, "Please, have a seat."
Just moments ago, Mohn had located the group of female trainers shopping in the business district. After identifying himself, Mohn invited Cynthia and Diantha, the two prospective female champions who had participated in the previous Indigo Plateau Conference.
"Mr. Mohn, what exactly do you need us for?"
Diantha asked, her brow furrowed slightly as she and Cynthia sat down together.
Earlier, Shauna had been very unhappy with Mohn's decision to only speak with her and Cynthia, questioning why she couldn't join them.
Mohn didn't explain the reason, only saying that it was a matter of great importance and only those who had participated in the Indigo Plateau Conference could hear it.
Moreover, the location chosen for the conversation was a police station, which made Diantha have a bad feeling.
"First, allow me to introduce myself. I am Mohn. As you both know, I am the Island King of Ula'ula Island, but in reality, I have another identity."
Mohn pulled open his collar and took out a document from his inner pocket.
International Police, ID Number: 000
When they saw the information on the document, both Diantha and Cynthia's expressions changed slightly.
Mohn holding the dual roles of Island King and International Police officer wasn't exactly rare.
Within the League, there were plenty of Gym Leaders, Elite Four members, and even Champions who held multiple positions.
Lance, for example, served as both an Elite Four member and an investigator, didn't he?
But the number 000… it was clear that he was no ordinary person.
Mohn put away the document, his tone still lazy as he said:
"I received an order from the Chairman two years ago to investigate Joker, but recently, the Chairman rescinded the order."
Diantha subconsciously speculated, "Is it because Joker's identity is already clear? He's Professor Sycamore's brother, burdened with infamy due to the Goldenrod Train incident, leading to his complete disappointment with the League and his joining Team Rocket. Chairman Goodshow probably felt there was no need to investigate further, so he terminated the investigation, right?"
"That's right, on the surface."
Mohn poured a cup of tea for each of them, but neither of the prospective female champions seemed inclined to drink.
"Surface?"
Hearing this word, Cynthia's right eye, not covered by her bangs, narrowed slightly.
"I don't know why, but even without evidence, I feel like something is wrong with this matter."
Mohn also poured himself a cup of tea, took a sip, and looked at the two women with half-closed eyes.
"Leaving aside everything else, just consider the Dark Lugia incident. If it weren't for Sycamore's Bewear shaving off most of Dark Lugia's health, plus Zacian's final blow, could Joker have captured Dark Lugia so easily?"
Diantha frowned tightly, "Mr. Mohn, your speculation is too far-fetched, isn't it? It's very possible that Joker was lurking in the dark, waiting for Dark Lugia to be unable to battle before making his move. That explanation also makes sense."
Diantha felt that Mohn's reasoning was simply drawing a target after shooting an arrow.
First, he decided that Sycamore was a problem, and then he worked backward to speculate.
It was too far-fetched.
"Then why did Dark Lugia acknowledge Joker?"
Mohn asked again.
Diantha raised an eyebrow, recalled the events slightly, and replied after a moment:
"Because if it didn't cooperate with Joker at the time, it would have been killed by Zacian."
From this incident, Diantha also saw Joker's strength as a trainer.
Dark Lugia, whose stamina was already flickering like a candle in the wind, stubbornly blocked two of the Sword King's attacks under his command!
"That's right, if it weren't for Sycamore's Zacian… oh no, Zacian doesn't really belong to him,"
Mohn smacked his lips and continued, "If he hadn't called Zacian to force Dark Lugia into a desperate situation, Dark Lugia couldn't have acknowledged Joker as its new master in such a short time, right?"
"Don't you two think that Sycamore's actions were almost like helping Joker tame Dark Lugia?"
Diantha didn't know what to say for a moment.
So, you've just decided that Sycamore is a problem, haven't you?
"Mr. Mohn, I know that as an International Police officer, suspicion is your occupational habit, but Professor Sycamore, even if he didn't save the world, he's still a hero who saved the League. It's really inappropriate for you to suspect him like this."
After saying that, Diantha stood up and wanted to leave, pulling Cynthia with her.
"Cynthia, let's go!"
"This is my business card."
Mohn took out a business card and placed it on the coffee table in front of Cynthia, "You can contact me if you think of any suspicious points."
Mohn knew he would be disliked for doing this.
But the reason he could serve as the International Police's ace was because of his judgment, which wasn't influenced by outside opinions.
Even if Sycamore was a hero who saved the League, he would still suspect him if he needed to.
Cynthia thought for a moment and still put the business card in her pocket.
…
Leaving the Hau'oli Outpost, Diantha pouted unhappily, "Cynthia, why did you take that decadent uncle's business card? You don't suspect Professor Sycamore too, do you?"
"Not really,"
Cynthia smiled faintly, "No matter what, the other party is the ace of the International Police. Maybe there will be a time when we need their help in the future."
"Hello everyone, viewers and friends, I am the news anchor for Manaloa TV, Kurumi."
Just as Diantha and Cynthia returned to the business district, preparing to reunite with Shauna and the others, Kurumi's face, radiating a girl-next-door charm, appeared on the big screen in the square.
"I believe all Pokémon enthusiasts know that I also guest-starred as a commentator for our Alola region's Friendship Tournament this week. Therefore, for the next five days, in addition to news reports, I will also recap the classic battles of each day's tournament."
"Alright, let's move on to today's news segment. The Friendship Tournament, celebrating the official establishment of the Alola League, concluded its first day successfully. Top trainers from leagues around the world gathered together, showing us a prosperous image of the League. League Chairmen, led by Chairman Goodshow, also came to the Manaloa Stadium to watch the event live. Unfortunately, the former Chairman of the Kalos region announced his retirement some time ago and was unable to attend. It is said that Lysandre, the chief representative of Lysandre Labs, is the most likely candidate to take over the position of Kalos League Chairman…"
Cynthia stopped and stared blankly at Kurumi, who was broadcasting the news on the big screen.
"What's wrong? Cynthia."
Diantha looked curiously at her suddenly stopping best friend.
"I, I remember, that girl is… Joker's fan!"
Cynthia suddenly realized.
She remembered that when the Life Orb was stolen a year ago, she, Steven, and Lance formed a temporary team and searched for Joker's whereabouts throughout the Johto region.
One day, she went to buy ice cream alone and met a little girl who came to interview her.
It was Kurumi, who was now working as a news anchor on the screen!
Cynthia vaguely remembered that the little girl interviewed her at the time, wanting to exonerate Joker!
Because Kurumi firmly believed at that time that Joker had some unspeakable secret.
It didn't end there. Cynthia also remembered.
When Sycamore first arrived at the battlefield during the Indigo Plateau Conference last month, there was a girl cheering for Sycamore at the rear of the battlefield.
At that time, everyone's attention was focused on Sycamore.
Cynthia discovered Kurumi because she was relatively close.
However, Kurumi was pulled away by another girl with long pink and blue hair after only shouting a few times.
This made Cynthia even more confused.
Kurumi, who was confidently trying to help Joker exonerate himself a year ago, changed her support to Sycamore last month?
Weren't these two people completely opposed to each other?
And now she's here in Alola as a news anchor?
What, what exactly is going on?
Cynthia secretly furrowed her brows.
At this moment, she also vaguely felt that things were unusual.
…
…
The next day, the Alola Friendship Tournament continued.
Half of the strong individuals from the major regions had already been eliminated.
And the eyes of viewers around the world were mainly focused on a few specific people, specifically, those handsome men and beautiful women who were about to ascend to the champion's throne.
Cynthia!
Lance!
Diantha!
Wallace!
Because Steven's ace Metagross was no longer at its peak, although Steven wouldn't be ruthless enough to abandon Metagross, he did need to start training a new ace.
Wallace was naturally pushed up by the Hoenn League, preparing to take over the position of Champion Steven held.
But it didn't matter, after all, the future Hoenn Champion position was like a public toilet, being switched back and forth between these two people.
On the second day of the competition, the eyes of viewers around the world were mainly locked on these two groups.
Lance VS Lorelei.
Cynthia VS Alder.
The former was the battle between the prospective champion and the current champion of the Indigo League.
The latter was the battle between the prospective champion of Sinnoh VS the head of the Sinnoh Elite Four.
Today's first round match was Hassel, head of the Paldea Elite Four, VS Alder.
The battle between the uncle and the old man sparked a lot of discussion among viewers in the live broadcast room, but also many people were not interested in the battle between these two and began to discuss other things.
[Lance barely won against Acerola yesterday, he might crash and burn against Lorelei]
[Not necessarily, what if Lorelei goes easy on him]
[Don't even think about it, if Lorelei really does that, Lance will turn against her. Although this guy has a bad temper, his pride will definitely not tolerate such an insult]
[I suddenly remembered that the former chairman of Galar wanted to fix matches to help the former Galar champion Mustard maintain his undefeated record. Mustard was so angry when he found out that he resigned directly]
[Huh? Cynthia seems a little absent-minded, what's going on?]
When Hassel's Noivern lost its ability to battle and Hassel recalled it, the director swept a shot from the audience.
Some sharp-eyed netizens noticed that Cynthia's face was a little dazed.
Some netizens asked [What's the White Radish Sister nickname?]
Immediately, some netizens replied [You don't even know that? Joker gave Cynthia the nickname]
As soon as this was said, the attention of everyone in the live broadcast room was immediately drawn away.
[What's going on? Why did Joker give Cynthia a nickname?]
[Could there be something shady between these two?]
[Could she be thinking about Joker?]
[Damn! The CP of the League's number one female powerhouse and the League's number one wanted criminal, I'm shipping it to death]
…
…
The 3V3 friendly match between Alder and Hassel ended with Alder's narrow victory.
But the Unova netizens were a little unhappy.
After all, it was comparable to the Brazilian team narrowly winning against the Chinese national football team with a goal in extra time.
It was really nothing to be happy about.
Wattson, Winona, Erika and others in the audience also realized that Champion Alder was old.
But more importantly, after his ace Volcarona passed away some time ago, Champion Alder lost his ambition.
After Steven's ace Metagross was no longer at its peak, Steven still had the ambition to train a new ace.
Alder was completely gone.
But what worried the Unova people even more was that Unova did not have an Alder successor.
Looking at other regions, Kanto had Lance taking over Lorelei, Hoenn had Steven taking over Drake, and there was also a Steven as a super substitute, Sinnoh had Cynthia, Kalos had Diantha…
Only their Unova had a gap.
Grandma, the chairwoman of the Unova League, sighed, and suddenly remembered that Cynthia had told her that she was recently taking care of a little girl with strong psychic powers, and wondered if she could persuade her to join Unova.
…
…
"100 years ago, Couriway Town was just a small town on the edge of the desert. One day, a legendary Pokémon came here and used its ability to bring huge wealth to the town, making the town develop rapidly and almost instantly turning into one of the leading cities in the Kalos region."
In the desert on the outskirts of Couriway Town, Ash was explaining to Rika and Will:
"That legendary Pokémon has the ability to take things from afar. It can cross different dimensions to take the target. It used this method to help the townspeople of Couriway Town at that time bring huge wealth."
"Teleportation?"
Rika was thoughtful, and a second later she had a flash of inspiration:
"That is to say, the things that can be taken are not only objects, but even other legendary Pokémon…"
Ash nodded.
Getting Ash's confirmation, Will also opened his mouth in surprise.
Then the ability of this legend is too strong, right?
Ash said that this was indeed the case.
Didn't you see that Hoopa Unbound caused too much trouble in the movie, who could suppress it, and in the end, Arceus came out to be the peacemaker?
"But having said that, where exactly is that legend you mentioned with the nickname [Djinn of the Rings]? There are only four days left."
Will said with a headache.
Ash did not answer.
According to the memories of his previous life, the siblings who captured Hoopa lived in a place called "Valley of Origin".
It is located deep in the desert not far from Couriway Town.
That's all Ash knew, and he could only look for it slowly in a specific location.
"It won't be too long, it's already very late today, let's go back to Couriway Town to sleep first."
Ash said to the two of them.
According to Ash's memories of his previous life, the younger sister of the two siblings would occasionally take Hoopa to Couriway Town for shopping, and Ash and his party met Hoopa in this way.
Although Ash didn't think he had the luck of Ash Ketchum, maybe he would win the lottery?
What's more, where is it better to camp in this ghostly place in the desert than a hotel in a big city?
“Pleased to meet you, Dr. Susheng. I am Flladari, chief representative of Flladari Group.”
Susheng and his group of three had just returned to the hotel when someone immediately approached them in the lobby to greet them.
It was a burly man nearly two meters tall, but more striking than his height was his appearance—reminiscent of the Pokémon Pyroar from the Kalos region.
To top it off, he actually had a Pyroar with him!
“A wealthy man from Kalos? How did he know we were here?”
Yishu muttered quietly.
Lihua wasn't surprised and said, “This hotel is owned by Flladari Group.”
The status of Flladari Group in Kalos is on par with Silph Co. in Kanto, Devon Corp. in Hoenn, and Rainbow Rocket in Alola.
“Not just the chief representative, Mr. Flladari will soon be the chairman of the Kalos League as well~”
At this moment, a slightly teasing female voice came from behind Flladari.
Just from the sound of her voice, one could tell that this woman was definitely not ugly.
And when she came out, Yishu’s eyes widened a little.
A tight-fitting sleeveless vest wrapped around half of her upper body, exposing her slender waist, and the neckline was pulled open halfway, revealing an impressive cleavage.
Her lower body was clad in tight red leather pants with rhombus-shaped openings revealing fair skin.
Adding to that was the light red glasses on her nose. Yishu swallowed secretly and whispered, “If this woman were to make that kind of movie, she would definitely become popular throughout the entire Pokémon world.”
Kalos League Fire-type Elite Four member, and chief reporter of the news station—Pachira!
Lihua secretly kicked Yishu.
But she had to admit that the lethality of this woman in some aspects was even greater than that of Kona, the 'milk cow'.
Although Kona was also busty, her aloof temperament didn't really appeal to men.
This woman, on the other hand, was the type that made a man instantly feel fully charged.
However, to Lihua's relief, Susheng didn't stare at Pachira with wide eyes like Yishu did.
“Kalos League Chairman… Kalos is truly ill-fated.”
Susheng secretly complained in his heart, then greeted with a light smile:
“We’ve only been here for a day, and I didn’t expect Mr. Flladari to come to our door.”
Flladari then expressed that it was extremely rude of him not to personally welcome Susheng, a hero who saved the Alliance, from afar.
After learning from his subordinates that Susheng was staying at this hotel, he immediately rushed over from Mi'are City.
Then, as Susheng expected, Flladari asked why Susheng would want to come to Kalos when he was busy hosting the Friendship Competition in Alola.
Susheng said that he didn’t need to appear in the first few days of the competition, and he was very interested in the stone that Karna had sent.
So he took advantage of these few days of leisure to come and take a look.
That's right, Susheng didn't hide anything about coming to Kalos this time, after all, he had the legitimate reason of “researching MEGA evolution”.
It’s just that Flladari came so quickly, which was a bit unexpected.
Was he afraid that Team Flare would reveal their secrets in front of him?
“It’s not appropriate to talk here. I have prepared a sumptuous dinner, please Dr. Susheng, do me the honor.”
After chatting for a while, Flladari gestured with an inviting hand and smiled.
Susheng didn't refuse, mainly because there was really no reason to refuse.
But to be honest, he didn't want to have too much contact with a psychopath like Flladari.
He felt that among the criminal leaders in various regions, only Sakagi and Kuichi were normal, oh, plus that Zinnia who was already dead.
……
In the hotel lobby, the scene was filled with all kinds of delicacies like a buffet.
But there wasn't a single guest, it was clear that Flladari had booked the place.
“Does the doctor have any insights into this kind of stone newly discovered by our Flladari Group?”
Flladari asked first.
Susheng was about to answer.
Suddenly, Susheng noticed a halo floating in the air above the dessert area behind Flladari.
Immediately afterwards, a small pink and gray hand popped out from inside, reaching unsteadily for the donuts on the table.
Susheng was stunned.
No, no, why are you stealing things at this time?
Do you know that your local crime boss is here?
