As Vicious unleashed his Shadow Tyranitar to intimidate Ash and Steven, two figures clad in gray Team Rocket uniforms watched from a distance.
A burly man with blonde hair turned to the silver-haired youth beside him and asked, "Dartrix, shouldn't we help?"
Dartrix glanced at Vicious, then at Ash, and replied, "No need, Takeshi. We have other tasks to attend to, and that idiot Vicious has no idea who he's dealing with."
"Well, I know one of them is the young master Ash, but is the other one famous?"
"You should pay more attention to the information provided by the Continental Hotel. That person is Steven, the son of the president of Devon Corporation in the Hoenn Region and also a friend of Ash. Plus, he's a Champion of the Hoenn Region."
Takeshi paused upon hearing this, then pointed at Steven and exclaimed, "A Champion from Hoenn? How many Champions does Ash know?!"
"In Kanto, we lack a Champion because the Elite Four counter each other, and in Johto, the Dragon Master is easily countered by Ash's fiancée, Lorelei—so he's not a concern. Steven is a friend of Ash, while in Sinnoh, Champion Cynthia is Ash's fiancée too. In Unova, Champion Alder has no connection to Ash, but with Ash and Giovanni's abilities combined, he poses no threat. Meanwhile, in Kalos, Champion Diantha is engaged to Ash like Cynthia. As for Alola, the identity of the Masked Royal is too mysterious for us to concern ourselves with, but he isn't a Champion."
After listening to Dartrix's explanation, Takeshi drifted into thought and then muttered, "If that's the case, we should have been able to conquer the world by now..."
"It's not as simple as you think. Raw power alone won't accomplish that. However, Ash and Giovanni have already started a Redemption Plan, and we just need to expose a real bad guy."
Hearing this, Takeshi glanced back at Vicious. "Oh, I understand now. So why are we here?"
"From now on, we are under Ash's command. For now, we'll wait here for our contact."
"I'm already here." As the voice of Sabrina echoed behind the two, they quickly turned around to find her holding her little Eevee.
"Lady Sabrina!" "You two are the contacts Ash mentioned?"
Sabrina looked at the two and, after a moment, her eyes glowed red as a box appeared before them. "Ash asked me to give this to you. I'll be off now."
With that, Sabrina activated her psychic powers and vanished. Although she knew the two were Ash's subordinates, she remained cold towards unfamiliar faces.
Once she had left, Dartrix opened the box to find a tablet, two cards, two strange stones, and four Poké Balls. He powered on the tablet, which initially scanned both Takeshi and Dartrix. After confirming their identities, Ash's image appeared on the screen.
"This is Ash. If you're seeing this message, it means the right people opened it. Takeshi and Dartrix, from now on, you will act as my subordinates. I will contact you with further tasks through this tablet. Your first mission is to deliver the two stones in the box to my godfather. Don't worry, the Continental Hotel staff will assist you. The two Gold Cards are gifts from me; you'll receive 500,000 Pokédollars deposited monthly, and the hotel will grant you free access to their resources. The hotel staff will also assist you in completing tasks; transferring funds won't be a problem—the bank is our family's property. The four Poké Balls contain two Ekans and two Lairon. They're all my Pokémon's offspring, but these four are somewhat proud little guys, so it's up to you to earn their trust. However, given your track records, it shouldn't be an issue. One last thing to note: the venom of the two Ekans is highly potent; I shouldn't have to say more. Their poison can affect Steel and Poison types, so don't underestimate them. And remember to use my codename when you contact me—my codename is Sebastian. Oh, and if that idiot Vicious gets arrested, rescue him later; we can't execute this Redemption Plan without him. That's all. End of message."
After the communication ended, Dartrix observed Ash's direction and said, "I'm deeply grateful."
Takeshi picked up a Gold Card and smiled while looking at his information on it. "Wow! Ash is quite generous. Looks like we're going to prosper this time!"
"I already knew that. Now let's complete the mission. We need to deliver these stones to Ash. Sebastian mentioned that Vicious can't be fully captured yet."
"Understood. So we'll grab him after he's beaten up and locked up?"
"If necessary, yes. But given Vicious's cunning, and Ash's tendency to go easy on him, he should be able to escape this time. Let's not waste any more time; we need to get to know our new partners."
"Alright, alright, I'll follow your lead."
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