Seeing the other side raise a white flag, Axel gently patted Glastrier's head.
Glastrier instantly understood Axel's intent. Without retracting its icy wings, it slowly descended in front of Jupiter, who was holding the white flag.
Seeing that Axel seemed willing to talk, Jupiter waved the white flag even faster.
"Big brother, I was wrong!"
Axel looked indifferently at Jupiter, "Wrong about what?"
"I was wrong to attack you, big brother, but we really did mistake you for someone else!"
Jupiter's eyes darted, and he hurriedly blurted out the excuse he had just thought up, "We're just local Trainers doing special training here."
"When we saw you riding such a powerful Pokémon, we got a little itchy-handed, so we wanted to spar with you."
"Actually, we're all good people!"
"The Gym Leader here is very strong. We were just helping challengers check if they had the strength to challenge. We meant well."
Seeing Jupiter act like this, Axel couldn't help but grin.
If he didn't know these guys were the culprits behind Sinnoh's disasters, he might've actually been fooled.
The only problem was, Axel only knew the Pokémon storyline but didn't know the exact times or locations where those events happened.
But now, Axel suddenly had a new idea.
As long as he temporarily "cooperated" with Team Galactic, he could completely control when their plans would be executed.
"Good people? Then you can die," Axel tried to recall the crazed mental state Kyurem had when it lost control.
The next moment, the aura around Axel changed sharply.
His gaze turned icy, his eyes radiating bone-piercing killing intent.
"I am the number one expert under the great Masked Man of Johto. I came here this time for the purpose of capturing Dialga, who can travel through time."
"At first, when I saw your outfits, I thought you were Team Galactic from Sinnoh, and I even considered whether we could cooperate."
"But now it seems, I was mistaken..."
"Our Masked Man faction never cooperates with good people!"
Jupiter froze.
'Damn! This is bad!'
As a villain, a figure with standing in the underworld, Jupiter had long heard of the strength of the Masked Man faction.
While they planned to use technology to control the Lake Trio, and then use Lake Trio + technology to control Dialga and Palkia, the Masked Man faction was a force that fought Legendary Pokémon head-on.
Several years ago, they had even managed the feat of capturing Ho-Oh and Lugia.
And according to what Jupiter knew... their goal really was to capture a Legendary that could travel through time.
So coming here for Dialga made perfect sense.
Plus, they liked capturing children with potential, and they were proficient in Ice-type moves.
Jupiter glanced at Platinum sitting in Axel's arms, and at Glastrier under Axel.
Cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
It all matched. Perfectly.
'Crap!'
He just went out to kidnap a rich kid, and somehow ended up as a rival of the Masked Man faction?
While Axel was talking, the young lady in his arms was already laughing uncontrollably.
Even though she didn't know who the Masked Man was, she was too clear on one thing: Axel was absolutely not a villain.
If Axel were a bad guy, he would've kidnapped her home and demanded ransom long ago, right?
But Axel hadn't kidnapped her, he was even helping her train her Pokémon.
The only explanation was that Axel was bluffing these villains who ambushed them.
And the scary part, these guys actually believed it.
Feeling the young lady's shaking as she laughed, Axel sighed.
He silently leaned back a few centimeters, putting some space between them.
If it weren't for that Gible cub reward, he would've thrown this clingy rich girl right off the horse by now.
But for Gible's sake, he had to endure.
Sensing Axel's retreat, the young lady stopped giggling, turned her head toward him, and asked with a dumbfounded look, "Why are you moving back? Didn't you say you'd protect me?"
"There are still villains in front of us, you know!"
Saying that, she even imitated Axel, scooting back a bit herself.
The only odd thing was. She felt like her seat was a bit higher than before.
Axel's face stiffened.
'Wait, even Gardevoir and Cynthia hadn't sat on Glastrier's back, and now you've gone and done it first?'
Seeing Axel and the young lady's reactions, Jupiter instantly understood how to interpret the situation.
Now he was absolutely convinced Axel was a villain and a high-class one, beyond crude tastes, a seasoned professional villain.
Team Galactic was still stuck in the kidnapping stage, while Axel was already playing at this level.
No wonder he was the Masked Man's number one expert.
"Big brother, I won't pretend anymore. I'm pure villain."
Jupiter put away the white flag, and looked seriously at Axel.
"I'm a member of Sinnoh's number one villain group, Team Galactic. I hope to form a friendly cooperation with you."
"Real cooperation?", Axel blinked, giving him a playful look.
At the same time, Glastrier snorted, thick Ice-type energy condensing in its mouth.
Jupiter looked at the icy sphere less than half a meter from him and nodded frantically like a pecking chick.
"Real cooperation!"
Axel nodded, stretched out his right hand, and said as if it were only natural, "Then you can hand me the controller for the Galactic Bomb."
Jupiter: "???"
'What the hell, asking for that right off the bat?'
The Galactic Bomb was the weapon that Team Galactic had been pouring all its efforts into developing.
You could say, as long as you had the Galactic Bomb, you had the means to capture the Lake Trio.
The controller was indeed in Jupiter's hand, but there was no way he could hand it over.
Lord Cyrus would kill him for sure.
Seeing Jupiter's face shift between dark and pale, Axel smiled again.
"Are you thinking that rather than handing me the controller, you might as well just die?"
Jupiter instinctively nodded, then quickly shook his head furiously.
"In your dreams!"
"You're just one of Pryce's sub-commanders, did you really think you had me cornered?"
"I only can't beat you, that doesn't mean I can't escape."
"Playing along with you was only to protect my men."
"You'll never get the controller or my life!"
Hearing Jupiter's words, Axel sighed lightly.
As expected, Cyrus's men were more loyal than Giovanni's.
And stronger than the Rocket admins too.
But that was normal, after all, the true backbone of Team Rocket was still those Gym Leaders whose battle power was on par with the Elite Four.
Jupiter reacted in a flash, ducking low and rolling under Glastrier's belly.
The Poké Balls in his hands activated instantly.
In the next moment, dazzling beams of light filled the plaza at the Gym entrance.
Crobat, Toxicroak, Bronzong.
Without exception, every one of them was Elite-level Pokémon!
Axel smacked his lips, his gaze falling on Jupiter, "Little brother, are you trying to gang up on me?"
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