"Call for backup from other regions? But—"
At that, Jenny froze for a moment, then frowned in embarrassment.
The Pokémon League shared a common banner, but the lines between each branch were also very clear.
If you treated the Pokémon League as one massive megacorp, then each region would be a different internal department.
Same overall body, but also competitors.
And there was another subtle point: right now, the League's overall chairman was Indigo League's Chairman Goodshow.
Goodshow could be called the greatest figure of this era, and even since the Pokémon League was founded.
But Goodshow was old now.
Goodshow was really up there in years. Even if he was still full of energy, that didn't change the fact that he was very old.
And when Goodshow finally retired, who was going to take over as the League's next overall chairman?
Of course it'd be decided by fair competition—which meant every region had a shot.
Their Hoenn League had a shot too. Hoenn Region was pretty strong, wasn't it?
They had Steven and Wallace as two Champion‑tier Trainers, plus Brandon, who had caught Regirock. Their Gym Leaders weren't weak either, and Hoenn's Elite Four weren't exactly pushovers.
Economically, with Devon Corporation holding down the fort, Hoenn wasn't lagging there, either.
But if they went calling other regions for backup right now, wouldn't that be the same as openly telling all the other regions that Hoenn League couldn't even handle one evil organization?
Drake and the others weren't stupid. They understood that perfectly. Sidney and the other two fell silent. Drake's brows drew together; he opened his mouth like he wanted to say something—
But after glancing at Steven and Wallace, Drake still held his tongue.
"What matters most right now is forcing Team Rocket out of Hoenn Region. Otherwise… Hoenn's underbelly will always be crawling with those evil shadows."
Wallace's tone was extremely serious. He wasn't just acting on impulse, nor was he simply venting his personal feelings.
Okay, fine—there was a bit of personal emotion in there.
But he still believed the top priority was kicking Team Rocket out of Hoenn. That was what really mattered.
"What about you, Mr. Steven?" Jenny's commander looked toward Steven.
"Wallace is right. Hoenn's Team Rocket is too dangerous." Steven stated his stance in a low voice.
"Maybe you don't know what things were like on the field that day. Even my ace Metagross came out on the losing side against Damian's main Tyranitar."
Steven's tone was very solemn.
"And Mewtwo is actually his ace. I'm no match for Damian."
At that, Jenny's commander and Drake's group all changed expression.
"And Team Rocket still has Caitlin and Zinnia. Both of them are very strong. On top of those three Champion‑tier executives, we've got two known Elite Four‑level executives—Gladion and Archie."
"But we have no idea if there are other executives in Hoenn who just haven't been exposed yet."
Steven's face was grim.
Hiss～
That detailed breakdown from Steven made Phoebe suck in a breath of cold air without thinking.
This was terrifying.
"So Team Rocket's moved their entire main roster over to Hoenn? They don't even want Kanto anymore?" Sidney was stunned.
"Who knows." Steven neither confirmed nor denied it.
He strongly suspected Team Rocket still had Champion‑tier power stationed back in Kanto. There was no way they'd leave their Kanto home base without a single Champion‑tier guard.
At the end of the day, people like Damian were still just executives. Team Rocket's boss had never once been exposed.
Steven didn't even want to imagine it—just who was Team Rocket's boss, that someone like Damian could be "only" an executive under them?
"Everyone, if we're talking purely high‑end power, Team Rocket's already outstripped Hoenn League. If we just let Hoenn's Team Rocket grow underground without restraint…"
"What do you think Hoenn will look like down the line?"
That question from Steven made the entire conference room go deathly quiet.
Exactly. Letting Hoenn's Team Rocket continue to grow unchecked was a non‑starter.
If this kept up, Team Rocket would eat Hoenn Region hollow. Down the road, dealing with them would be ten times harder.
"Then which regions should we call for backup from?" Jenny's commander frowned tightly.
"Let's sound out Kanto Region first, see if they can spare anyone to lend us." Steven thought for a moment, then spoke.
The strongest Elite Four in the world—Kanto's Elite Four. That title was famous. He'd also heard that every single one of Kanto's Elite Four had Champion‑tier strength.
If they could borrow two, that'd be perfect.
"But that's probably going to be difficult. Kanto's Team Rocket's main base. Indigo League just had a big battle with Team Rocket in Celadon City. Supposedly, the entire south side of Celadon City turned into a battlefield, but the results weren't exactly what they'd hoped for."
Jenny's commander shook her head. Kanto was Team Rocket's home turf. Indigo League had been fighting Team Rocket for nearly ten years now—
And still hadn't managed to wipe them out.
Plus, that Celadon City battle last month—she'd definitely heard about it.
In an era this peaceful, for half a city to become a war zone was enough to shock the entire world.
She'd even asked Kanto's Jenny commander about it afterward. Indigo League had been very unhappy with the final outcome.
They'd destroyed the Celadon base—but hadn't captured a single executive.
"Compared to Kanto, I actually think Sinnoh's Champion Cynthia is much more likely to be willing to come help."
"Champion Cynthia?" Wallace thought it over. Caitlin seemed to be from Sinnoh.
"Right. According to our intel, Champion Cynthia and Caitlin used to be very close friends. Not long ago, Champion Cynthia even went all the way to Alola specifically to try and talk Caitlin down—but she didn't succeed in the end." Jenny's commander explained.
"Then let's send a message to Sinnoh League. And Unova—" Wallace started to make the call.
"We can skip Unova. Champion Alder over there…" Jenny's commander hesitated, then went on, "According to some back‑channel info, Champion Alder hasn't really battled in years."
Steven and the others all froze at that.
"Years ago, in a major battle, Champion Alder's partner Volcarona overexerted itself protecting Unova League and became critically weak, eventually passing away. His mentality took a pretty serious hit."
Jenny's commander explained helplessly. That was something she'd heard from a relative of hers over in Unova.
"If they'd had anyone who could take over, Champion Alder would've retired long ago."
And…
Unova League was basically the weakest League of all the regions right now, wasn't it?
Jenny's commander thought to herself. Champion Alder refused to battle, and Unova's Elite Four weren't particularly strong either. For years, no new Trainer had appeared who could really shoulder that responsibility.
If it went on like this, Unova was going to sink and never get back up—unless a new generation of fresh blood showed up to take Alder's place.
So she hadn't even considered Unova. Ask Unova for backup? Who would they even send?
"I see. Then what about Kalos?"
Wallace turned to question Jenny's commander. He was starting to realize that Jenny's commander really knew a lot about the other regions.
And of course she did. The Jennys were indispensable in every region; sharing intel among family and chatting about it was only natural.
"Champion Diantha—we can ask, but who knows if she's in the middle of filming right now."
"Alola—forget it. Alola League was only just approved to officially join the Pokémon League. They're probably swamped with their own affairs. Galar, then?"
"Galar's viable. Their Champion Leon should be very strong." Jenny's commander held a high opinion of Leon's level.
"Paldea?"
"For Paldea, Chairman Geeta might have a hard time leaving—" Jenny's commander thought it over. Paldea's Champion was Geeta, but Geeta also served as Paldea League's chairman. She was probably buried in work.
"But if I remember right, last year, Paldea produced a Trainer who successfully challenged Paldea League and reached Champion‑tier. She's still studying at Naranja Academy—we could ask her."
Jenny's commander suggested.
Paldea's League was different from the other regions. Geeta's full title was "Chief Champion," and any Trainer who managed to successfully challenge Paldea League—beating the Elite Four and then Chief Champion Geeta in succession—could also be called "Champion."
In the Pokémon Scarlet/Violet games, Geeta refers to Nemona as "Champion Nemona," because Nemona had already cleared Paldea League the year before the game's story even began, becoming a Champion.
Granted, the first time Nemona challenged the League, Geeta hadn't gone all out, and Nemona herself had picked up on that. (She even tells the protagonist this in the game's story—she could feel Geeta hadn't been serious.)
"Right. Let's do that, then. I'll ask the chairman to send messages to the other regions."
Wallace nodded, then strode out briskly.
Hoenn's League chairman was very receptive. He promptly fired off messages to each region's chairman.
Indigo Plateau.
"What a headache…" Goodshow felt his head balloon when he read the "call for backup" notice.
After all, Team Rocket had originally run out from their Kanto Region. And now look—things had gotten so bad they'd forced Hoenn League to throw their pride out the window and start calling for help.
For a moment, Goodshow honestly didn't know what to say. Should he be saying that Kanto's Team Rocket had really done Kanto proud?
They'd finished wrecking Alola and were now moving on to wreck Hoenn—and they were making such a mess of it that Hoenn was calling in backup?
"Have Lorelei come by."
Goodshow thought for a bit, then told his secretary to bring her in.
But the truth was, he didn't have many people he could send. Lance was out running guerrilla strikes. Agatha was already so old that sending her all the way to Hoenn would be pretty unreasonable.
And over in Johto, Team Rocket had recently gotten a bit active again, so he'd just sent Bruno to put them down. That only left Lorelei.
"Beat up Damian?"
Lorelei came in, read Hoenn's backup request, pushed her glasses up, and spoke in a flat tone.
"That's right. Team Rocket's got three Champion‑tier and at least two Elite Four‑level Admins over there. Hoenn League's having trouble handling them."
"I'm not going." Lorelei refused outright.
"You're not going?" Goodshow reacted quickly, staring at Lorelei in shock.
"I'm not going." Lorelei was still stingy with words.
"Emmm… can I at least get a reason?" Goodshow glanced at the window. The sun hadn't risen in the west today, had it?
Lorelei refusing to go fight Team Rocket? Was he dreaming?
"I'm worried about my chastity." Lorelei said it coldly, without a shred of shame.
Damian… was way too dangerous.
And after the Celadon City incident, Lorelei knew perfectly well that Damian wasn't someone she could handle.
Goodshow: ???
Sinnoh Region, Lily of the Valley Island.
"Go assist Hoenn League in their fight against Team Rocket? Got it. I'll go."
Cynthia hung up and looked out the window, a complicated light flickering in her clear, water‑bright eyes.
"Caitlin—I can't just sit back and let you keep going down this wrong path!!"
Galar, Wyndon, Rose Tower.
"Hehe～ Team Rocket, huh? They actually managed to push a region this far? Interesting."
Rose took a sip of coffee, a faint, intrigued smile curving his mature face.
"Mr. Chairman, shall I notify Leon?" expressionless Oleana asked Rose.
"Of course. This is a very good opportunity."
Rose's lips curved into an elegant, charismatic smile. His magnetic voice was genuinely pleasant to listen to.
"Leon's strength is incredibly high—but the other regions don't know much about him."
"Mr. Chairman, Team Rocket's probably very strong. Otherwise Hoenn wouldn't be calling us for backup. What if Champion Leon loses?" Oleana countered.
Hoenn had both Steven and Wallace as Champions, yet Hoenn had still called on Galar for help.
"I believe in Leon."
Rose's smile remained just as suave and composed.
"And if Leon really does lose, then that'll only mean Team Rocket is even stronger, won't it?"
"But that's good news for us, too, isn't it? Oleana, if evil organizations are this powerful, then the darkness in this world needs an even greater power to pass judgment on them. Leon needs that power."
Rose's eyes were very deep. In his plans, Leon was the perfect candidate.
Because Leon was strong. Because Leon had the ability to catch it.
Rose trusted Leon completely—but he had to admit, a man as just and responsible as Leon probably would never agree with his plans.
Rose took out his phone and dialed Leon—only to stare at the "out of service" message with a rather odd expression.
"Looks like Champion Leon's gotten lost again."
Oleana's face remained blank. She didn't even need to look to know why the call hadn't gone through.
"Hehehe—"
Rose couldn't help a soft laugh and shook his head helplessly.
Their invincible Galar Champion was practically flawless: sense of justice, responsibility, mild and kind personality, caring toward juniors, overwhelming strength.
His only problem was that, well… he had zero sense of direction.
Paldea Region, League building.
"Evil organization Team Rocket, huh? As fellow members of the League, we really can't just ignore this."
Geeta rested her chin on her hand and thought it over for a while. But lately, she'd been buried in work; she really couldn't spare the time to travel.
Geeta picked up her phone and dialed a number.
"Y'ello, Mr. Chairman, what's up?"
A lively girl's voice came cheerfully through the line.
"Here's the thing, Champion Nemona. I've got a favor to ask you. Over in Hoenn Region…"
Geeta gently laid out the whole situation.
In Paldea Region, no one could escape the fate of working overtime—even a "nominal" Champion.
Even if she was still just a student.
At this, a certain quietly grinding third‑year in Paldea, buried under three people's worth of work, wordlessly gave a like.
~~~
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