Sometimes, Edward even suspected that each region had its own dominant criminal organization on purpose—that the Pokémon League intentionally let them exist.
After all, where there is light, there is also darkness. Darkness is something incredibly difficult to eliminate completely. If you take down one major group, a dozen small ones will rise to replace it, constantly changing their disguises and methods. So maybe, instead of chasing shadows, the League lets one dominant force exist to control the others, maintaining order within the chaos. At least that way, the darkness wouldn't spiral out of control.
As long as these organizations didn't cross the League's bottom line, the League wouldn't be in a rush to wipe them out.
But considering how Team Magma and Team Aqua nearly brought the Hoenn region to destruction, Edward couldn't be sure his theory held water. If the League was allowing it, then those two organizations had definitely slapped the League right in the face.
Still, if that wasn't the case, then how did these massive criminal groups continue to survive under the nose of the ever-expanding Pokémon League? Edward couldn't wrap his head around it. The only explanation was that these groups were extremely good at hiding. Though, honestly, Edward felt that the ideals of Team Magma and Team Aqua were just way too ridiculous.
Team Magma wanted to awaken Groudon to expand the landmass so everyone could have a home, while Team Aqua wanted the oceans to rise and reclaim more space. These ideas sounded too insane to attract normal people, yet somehow they still built massive organizations around them and became the largest criminal forces in Hoenn. It was truly absurd.
"Once we confirm the location of Team Magma and Team Aqua's bases, we need to act quickly and wipe them out completely," Edward muttered, having already made his decision.
The Pokémon League couldn't locate them because they couldn't find their hideouts. But Edward had some ideas—and now, actual leads. As long as they confirmed the locations, he could launch a decisive strike and prevent the Hoenn region from falling into chaos caused by two ancient deities being "liberated."
Thinking of those two ancient Pokémon made Edward recall Zinnia—an odd woman who was deeply connected to Rayquaza.
And once Rayquaza entered the picture… just thinking about that storyline gave Edward a headache.
Hoenn was truly a disaster-prone region. First came the chaos from the two legendaries, then the meteor crisis. What baffled Edward most was how, in the game's story, no other regional champions came to help—even though a falling meteor should be a global threat.
There's no way the Pokémon League would just sit and watch something like that happen. Edward figured they must have some hidden trump cards.
He took out his phone, opened a website, and started playing an educational video about Pokémon history.
"As we all know, the Pokémon League was founded around 150 years ago. Since then, it has rapidly expanded and taken control of the vast majority of regional governments…"
The video played over various images, and Edward clicked his tongue.
Who would've thought that such a colossal organization had only existed for about 150 years—and had grown this powerful in such a short time?
How many ancient kingdoms and regimes were swept aside during that time? What kind of terrifying power did the founders of the Pokémon League hold?
Despite the League projecting this image of harmonious and rule-based battles—"Let's all get along and battle peacefully, haha!"—Edward knew better. The League wasn't as clean as it seemed.
League-sanctioned battles were orderly and safe. But battles involving the criminal underworld? Those were dirty—ambushes, ganging up on opponents, even direct attacks on trainers. It was chaos.
"The League must have some hidden weapons up their sleeves…" Edward narrowed his eyes.
How else could they rise so quickly, dominate every region, and stay this stable for so long? There had to be some powerful force backing it all.
In the games and anime, ancient history was only mentioned in passing. But in the real world, Edward had learned that many regions under the Pokémon League used to be ruled by monarchies, complete with noble classes. Even now, some people still fancied themselves "nobility," despite the League having officially done away with that concept.
These self-proclaimed aristocrats were swept into the trash heap of history—clearly, the League had used overwhelming force to make that happen.
After finishing the video, Edward put his phone away. It was just about time to clock out. His script for A Wicked Ghost was finished.
To enhance the horror atmosphere, Edward revised some scenes—making the first victim's death even more terrifying. He also added a creepy detail: a fleeting shot of the corpse's exaggerated mouth and eyes appearing in a mirror during the intro, only visible if viewers watched closely.
When he got home, the old butler had already prepared dinner—perfect timing.
"Grandpa Robert, is Dad home tonight?" Edward asked, noticing his father's seat hadn't been set.
"Master Joseph is dining out tonight. He has a meeting with Chairman Cyrus from the Sinnoh region," the butler replied with a gentle smile.
Edward froze for a second.
Cyrus?
The leader of Team Galactic?
On the surface, Cyrus was a wealthy businessman from Sinnoh. But in secret, he was the cold and calculating mastermind behind Team Galactic. To him, emotions were the most useless thing in the world.
Then Edward remembered something else—Officer Jenny Grace had previously done a background check on him, mentioning that his childhood friend, Shizuka, had joined Team Galactic as a high-ranking officer.
Thank goodness the League hadn't discovered Cyrus's true identity yet. Otherwise, Edward would probably be dragged into another background check tomorrow.
Shaking the thought off, Edward began eating.
Still, he quietly made a mental note about Team Galactic. Maybe once, in ancient times, they had noble goals. But now? They were clearly a dangerous and shadowy organization.
Originally, Edward hadn't paid them much attention—after all, it was Sinnoh's problem to deal with. Surely someone over there would handle it.
But now that Cyrus was cooperating with his own father?
Edward knew he'd better keep a closer eye on them.
(End of Chapter)