Giovanni had left…
Left in complete humiliation!
This allowed Sato to breathe a sigh of relief, though he also felt a bit disappointed.
If Giovanni had lost control and kept attacking, then with Fujin on his side, they might actually have had a shot at keeping him here.
Unfortunately, in the end, it was just some Verbal-type advantage. Giovanni saw things weren't in his favor and decisively retreated.
"Alright, he's gone. What are you standing around dazed for, tch?"
Fujin suddenly appeared behind Sato, giving him a light pat, with an expression that seemed to say, "Did you really get scared stiff?"
Sato shuddered slightly, turned around helplessly, and said weakly, "Old man, you could've said you were here earlier. Enjoyed watching the show from the sidelines, huh?"
Fujin laughed heartily. "Hohohoho… of course I did. So many twists and turns~ Way more entertaining than a straightforward fight!"
Sato twitched his mouth and decided not to bicker with Fujin.
But he could clearly feel that the old man's half-year journey had paid off. At least he'd never seen Fujin laugh this… cheerfully -or was it creepily?- before.
"Alright, you'd better stay in hiding for a while. Best if you don't come out until you've reached Champion. Haaah… this old man can't always stick around guarding you~"
After the joking, Fujin gave his advice seriously. But he knew it wouldn't matter much.
Before the Elite Four Tournament, Sato had already stayed hidden for so long that many new Trainers nearly forgot he even existed.
Sure enough, seeing Sato's hesitant expression, Fujin just waved his hand impatiently.
"Decide for yourself!"
Leaving that line behind, Fujin vanished under the power of Froslass.
Just minutes ago, this battlefield had been filled with smoke and chaos. Now, silence had fallen. Sato looked at the devastated forest and simply waved his hand for Tyranitar to handle it.
"Tyraaa… Tar…"
Grumbling with reluctance, Tyranitar stepped forward. Even when it was little, it had to do all the cleanup. Who would've thought that after evolving into a pseudo-legendary Tyranitar and reaching Elite Four level, it still couldn't escape this chore…?
Some pseudo-legendary this was!
Next, Tyranitar raised both hands, and the ground before it began to rumble and churn. The collapsed trees and vegetation were swallowed up, and wild Pokémon affected by the aftermath were gently moved to the side.
Before long, the ruined forest was leveled into a smooth field of dirt. One heavy rain would be enough to bring it back to lush greenery.
"Umbreon, Heal Bell."
"Umbre!"
Obedient as always, Umbreon didn't overthink it. After using Heal Bell to remove the wild Pokémon's abnormal statuses, it quietly returned to Sato's side.
Wild Pokémon were generally tough. As long as their injuries didn't worsen, a good sleep would be enough to recover.
"Mmh. Let's go."
Recalling his exhausted Pokémon, Sato then called down Honchkrow, who had been patrolling above, and flew off in the direction where Lance had gone.
Soon, the four of them regrouped. As expected, Lance had returned empty-handed.
Without Sato's Spatial Barrier, trying to stop someone like Ariana who was focused solely on escaping was nearly impossible.
A mission that had seemed like a guaranteed success ended with nothing gained. Although the main reason was the sudden arrival of the Team Rocket Leader, no one felt like chatting anymore. Heads down, they all flew back to Violet City.
Sato and Lance stayed in Violet City for two more days. With Gengar's Broken-type Spatial energy, almost no one from the public-facing Team Rocket forces managed to escape.
And with Miyamoto and the others still nowhere in sight, both Sato and Lance confirmed: Team Rocket's high-level forces had truly retreated.
Violet City had been saved.
But before they could even receive thanks from the locals, the two were each sent off to assist other cities.
With no choice, Sato and Lance had to leave in a hurry, one heading to Azalea Town, the other to Goldenrod City.
…Yes, Goldenrod City had once again become a major target in Team Rocket's siege plans.
There was no helping it. As the economic and transportation hub of the Johto region, Goldenrod's strategic value was self-evident.
And with Goldenrod Gym's Leader Howard growing older and lacking a successor, the city's defensive strength had significantly weakened.
Between the support missions to Azalea and Goldenrod, Sato took the initiative and chose Goldenrod.
However, when Sato arrived at full speed on Honchkrow's back, he found that ninety percent of the Team Rocket forces in Goldenrod had already retreated.
---◓---
"Who would've thought the day would come when you'd become someone Team Rocket fears at the mere sound of your name, huhuhuhu!"
With bandages wrapped around his hands, Leader Howard laughed heartily. The pride and joy in his eyes were impossible to miss.
After the battle in Violet City, Sato -who hadn't even completed his official appointment as a new Elite Four- had finally cemented his place.
He took back Violet City, defeated Team Rocket's Deputy Leader, and when faced with Team Rocket's mysterious Boss, had decisively covered his teammates' retreat and faced the Champion level enemy alone.
Though Lance had also played a major role in those events, it was Sato who got all the attention and praise.
Why? Simply because Sato was more handsome~
…Yeah, right!
The real reason was that Gengar's spatial ability had now been publicly exposed. Its power -so strong that only Champion level strength could break it- was enough to strike fear into nearly all enemies.
Then he arrived in Goldenrod, and Team Rocket fled.
Two days later he went to New Bark Town, and Team Rocket there withdrew early too…
In this situation, Sato felt no joy in scaring away the enemy. Instead, he felt deeply powerless.
Team Rocket's infiltration of the League had reached the point where even President Goodshow's direct orders could be transmitted and acted upon instantly.
[Go wherever you want-]" President Goodshow said expressionlessly to Sato, then directly cut the communication line.
After that, Sato vanished.
---◓---
One day later, Sato returned to Goldenrod. Without contacting anyone, he had Gengar investigate the entire city overnight and sealed over a hundred revived Team Rocket contact points using Spatial Barrier.
Then, Sato used a public phone to contact Officer Jenny in Goldenrod City.
When the first rays of sunlight hit Goldenrod the next morning, every single Rocket member across all those contact points had been arrested.
At that moment, even if all the League agents involved were undercover operatives, not a single one dared to make a move.
Before Team Rocket could recover from the shock of Goldenrod's upheaval…
Sato vanished again!
Two days later, he appeared in Celadon City in the Kanto Region, and using the same methods, forcibly trapped over a thousand Team Rocket members!
Among them were two doctorate-level Researchers and two Elite Four level Trainers!
That same night, Team Rocket announced its surrender and the full cancellation of all offensives against the League…
All members either went underground or retreated that very evening. What had once seemed like a never-ending war came to a sudden, unbelievable end.
From that moment on?
Sato ascended to Legend!