After leaving Vince's villa, it was almost dawn, and Cole could only call Professor Oak.
Originally, he had planned to go directly to the police station to report the crime, but after seeing the list of officials involved, he could no longer trust anyone on the island.
Professor Oak was already organizing people to develop the underground cavern of Grampa Canyon and had been up all night with excitement, his eyes bloodshot.
[Hello, Cole!] Professor Oak's tone was irritable from lack of rest.
Hearing someone calling so early in the morning, he almost cursed, but upon seeing that the caller was Cole, he quickly suppressed his irritation.
[Why are you calling me so early? Did you succeed in the Gym challenge?]
"The Gym challenge was successful, but I'm calling about something more important." Cole replied.
[What is it?] Professor Oak asked, confused.
What could be so urgent before dawn?
"It's like this..."
Cole then detailed everything he had discovered at Vince's house.
[What?] Professor Oak exclaimed. This was no small matter — it even involved Silph Co.
As the largest enterprise in Kanto and a top-five company worldwide, Silph Co.'s influence in the region is enormous, affecting even its economic lifeline. Even the League would have to think twice before taking action against it.
[Is everything you're saying true?] Professor Oak asked, needing confirmation.
"Of course. I've already obtained the evidence. I'll send you the video footage right now." Cole said.
[Quick, send it over.] Professor Oak urged.
"Okay!"
Within minutes, Professor Oak received the materials. His face turned red with anger; Cinnabar had so many officials involved in Vince's criminal activities.
As a former Kanto League Champion, he could not tolerate such corruption.
[Cole, don't worry. I'll handle this properly. Stay on Cinnabar for now. I'll send people to deal with the situation soon, and you can meet them there.] Professor Oak instructed.
Cole asked, "Won't that delay my return to class tomorrow?"
Professor Oak exclaimed irritably, [So what if it's delayed! Don't you know what prioritizing means?]
"Hahaha~" Cole laughed., "I was just joking. Don't be so angry. Rest assured, I'll keep an eye on things here."
Professor Oak was amused by his joke and hung up the phone with resignation, then quickly dialed another number.
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Cole waited on Cinnabar for half a day, but there was no movement from the League.
Gastly anxiously said, "Are the people you contacted reliable? If not, I'll just rescue Lapras and the others myself!"
With its power, rescuing the poor Pokémon would be a piece of cake.
"No, there are only two of us. We can't monitor both the research facility and Vince's place simultaneously. If we alert them, someone will definitely escape — not to mention all those officials involved."
Gastly impatiently said, "What does that have to do with me? I just want to rescue those imprisoned Pokémon!"
"Please, can you trust me?" Cole pleaded, "Once the League sends people, we can rescue Lapras without delay!"
"I don't care!"
Gastly had always been willful. Don't think that just because it speaks politely with Cole, it's easy to get along with. It has a good heart, true, but it also possesses the mercurial temperament typical of Ghost-type Pokémon.
It's a Pokémon, naturally considering human affairs irrelevant. Moreover, this incident had only worsened its impression of humans.
After speaking, Gastly was about to fly outside.
"Gastly, don't force my hand!" Cole said, his attitude suddenly firm.
To Gastly's surprise, a blue vortex appeared beside it, and a Celebi flew out, blocking Gastly's path.
"Cele~" — Stop!
Celebi warned it.
Looking at the purple light flickering around Celebi, Gastly showed surprise, "Cole, I truly underestimated you!"
It could clearly sense that this Celebi's power matched its own.
"Listen to me. We can both bring the villains to justice and rescue Lapras and the others. It's the best outcome for everyone, so why rush?"
Gastly stared silently at Cole, saying nothing. The atmosphere grew tense between them.
Just then, Cole's phone rang, breaking the silence. He checked the screen and saw an unfamiliar number.
With a puzzled expression, he answered and heard an elderly, stern voice on the other end.
[Hello, is this Cole?]
"Yes, it's me. May I ask who's calling?" Cole asked.
[I'm Agatha. I've already arrived on Cinnabar with my team. Come meet me!]
Elite Four Agatha? Cole was delighted — he hadn't expected the strongest member of the Kanto Elite Four to come personally.
"I'll be right there. Where are you exactly?" Cole asked eagerly.
Agatha gave him her location details.
After ending the call, Cole turned to Gastly and said, "The League officials have arrived. We can take action now."
Relieved at finding a way out of their impasse, Gastly no longer wanted to remain at odds with him, "Good, let's go then!" it said.
Following Agatha's directions, Cole found the League's support team waiting in a grove at the edge of Cinnabar.
Gastly, not wanting to meet other people, quietly concealed itself.
"Are you Cole?" Agatha looked him up and down.
"I am." Cole nodded, "Hello, Elite Four Agatha."
"Call me Grandma Agatha." Agatha withdrew her appraising gaze, "Oak told me you're Red's brother?"
Cole was surprised to hear this, not expecting the professor to mention it to her, and gently nodded in confirmation.
"Not bad, both you brothers are impressive."
Agatha had a strict personality and rarely praised anyone. Hearing her compliment Cole, the League members behind her all showed surprised expressions.
This young man is Red's brother? The Red they knew? Could it be? His brother had been found?
Red's years-long search for his parents and brother was no secret in the League; many people knew about it.
"You flatter me, Grandma." Cole said modestly.
Agatha didn't waste more words, "Alright, let's discuss our action plan."
According to her plan, they would divide into three groups, heading simultaneously to the research facility, Vince's villa, and the League officials' locations for arrests.
Cole had promised Gastly to rescue Lapras and the others, so he decided to go to Vince's villa, while Agatha would go to the research facility, which was the focus of this operation.
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Meanwhile, at the Silph Co. Head Office in Saffron City, countless police cars suddenly arrived. Numerous officers quickly descended from the vehicles, surrounding the building so tightly that not even a fly could escape.
Within moments, crowds of citizens gathered at the base of the building to watch.
At the top floor, in a luxuriously decorated office, a middle-aged man in a suit was buried in documents when he suddenly heard urgent knocking.
"Come in!" He said impatiently.
As the office door opened, a group of police officers quickly poured in.
"You..."
The middle-aged man felt his heart sink. Just as he was about to speak, he saw the lead Officer Jenny take out an arrest warrant.
"Mr. Hills, you are suspected of having connections with illegal organizations. The League is now lawfully placing you under arrest. We hope you will cooperate with us."
John Hills was silent for a moment, then nodded calmly, "Fine!"
News of his arrest sparked much discussion within Silph Co., especially among his competitors, who were absolutely delighted.
However, after John was arrested, the League's lockdown of Silph Co. remained in place, and no one inside was allowed to leave.
Meanwhile, in a manor on the outskirts of Saffron City, the head of the Hills family, Ryan Hills, was entertaining a sudden visitor.
After inviting his guest to sit down, Ryan smiled, "What a rare guest! What brings Champion Blue to this old man's place?"
The visitor was indeed the current Kanto League Champion Blue Oak, Professor Oak's son and the father of Gary and Daisy.
"I apologize for disturbing you, Mr. Hills." Blue took out a stack of documents and handed them to him, "I've brought these for your review."
Ryan took the documents with confusion, but his expression changed after just one glance. As he flipped through the pages, his face grew increasingly grim.
"That unfilial wretch!"
He slammed the documents onto the table with a bang, his face frozen with anger. The "wretch" he cursed was, of course, John.
"I believe you now understand the situation, sir. I hope the Hills family and Silph Co. will cooperate with the League's investigation." Blue said.
"Of course, Champion Blue, rest assured. Whatever issues our family and Silph Co. may have, the League can handle them as it sees fit. This old man will fully cooperate."
"Sir, you are truly honorable. On behalf of the League, I thank you." Blue stood up and bowed deeply to him.
"It's my duty. These past years, I've been too lax in managing my family. I'm truly ashamed!" Ryan said remorsefully.
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Cole's arrest operation was also successful. Their swift and covert actions caught the other side completely off guard.
When he and the League Special Operations team surrounded Vince's villa, Vince was frolicking in the swimming pool with several of his lovers. Only when alarms blared from all directions did he frantically run out, not even having time to dress.
The League personnel handled the arrests, while Cole and Gastly headed straight for the facility where the Pokémon were imprisoned.
Their first priority upon entering was destroying all equipment inside. This would prevent any security measures from harming Pokémon they couldn't immediately rescue during the operation.
This proved to be the case — when guards in the villa's monitoring room spotted strangers entering the facility, they immediately tried to activate the electrical circuits in the pool, threatening to harm the Pokémon if Cole and his companions proceeded.
Fortunately, Cole and Gastly had already destroyed all the circuits with their Psychic Powers, rendering the threat useless.
With this obstacle removed, they rescued the Pokémon without incident.
By the time Cole and Gastly exited the facility with the rescued Pokémon, the League had already captured Vince and his accomplices.
When Cole approached, Vince was still protesting loudly.
"On what grounds are you arresting me? I haven't done anything wrong! Let me go now, or I'll file a complaint against you!"
Cole walked directly up to him, looked him in the eyes, and said calmly, "Really? You haven't done anything wrong?"
At that moment, he removed the psychological suggestion he had placed on Vince, and all memories from the previous night came flooding back.
"You... you... you..."
You're a devil!
Vince's eyes widened in horror, his lips trembling uncontrollably. Unable to speak another word, he finally lowered his head in resignation.
With all evidence of his crimes now in the League's possession, there was no point in resisting further.
After completing the operation, Cole and the Special Operations team escorted the criminals to rendezvous with Agatha. Her mission had also succeeded — she had captured everyone at the research facility in one decisive sweep.
"Grandma, what do we do next? Escort the criminals off Cinnabar?" Cole asked.
"Not yet, we have one more place to go." Agatha replied.
"Another place?" Cole was puzzled.
He soon got his answer as Agatha led them to Blaine's hot spring inn, located directly in front of the Cinnabar Gym.
After all, with such a major incident occurring on Cinnabar, could an Elite Four member who had been stationed here for years truly be completely unaware? Not even ghosts would believe that.
Blaine seemed to have anticipated Agatha's arrival. Before they even entered, he calmly walked out, showing no surprise at the League Special Operations team surrounding the Cinnabar Gym.
"This day has finally come!" He smiled bitterly.
"We've worked together for over twenty years. I hope we won't need to resort to force today." Agatha said with a furrowed brow, her hand already on a Poké Ball.
"After all these decades, your personality hasn't changed a bit." Blaine shook his head, "I'll go with you. I won't resist."
And so, Blaine and the other criminals were escorted off Cinnabar by Agatha, while Cole and some members of the Special Operations team remained behind.
Although all the criminals had been arrested, there were still many illegal operations to dismantle at both the research facility and Vince's estate. The captured Pokémon also needed proper care.
The issues at the research facility and Vince's place didn't require Cole's assistance. He stayed behind primarily to help release the rescued Pokémon back into the wild.
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