Early the next morning, Peter boarded the flight with a visibly haggard expression as he sent off a half-asleep Whitney.
As for why he looked so worn out…
Only the bed knew the truth.
After dozing off on the plane—and squeezing in his daily training inside the Dreamscape—Peter finally returned to Sinnoh. By the time he stepped out of Jubilife City Airport, it was already three in the afternoon.
Just as he was considering grabbing something to eat, a squad of men in silver uniforms sprinted past him.
Peter froze when he caught the emblem on their chests.
"…Team Galactic?!"
Before he could react, a man in a white lab coat came charging after them in a panic.
"Stop—! Give my briefcase back!!"
It was Professor Rowan.
"Lopunny, High-Speed Movement—catch up and use Double Kick!"
"Mi-lo!"
A brown blur shot forward. In a flash, Lopunny dropped several of the grunts with clean, snapping kicks. Unfortunately, the remaining members tossed smoke bombs and poison gas before retreating at full speed.
"Cough—cough… what a shame."
Peter stepped out of the smoke, rubbing his throat. Without any wind-type moves, situations like this were annoyingly hard to deal with.
"Oh, Peter… thanks just now," Professor Rowan said as he approached.
"No problem, Professor. I didn't really help much," Peter replied. Then he paused.
"By the way… what was in that briefcase they stole?"
"Nothing too critical," Rowan said, waving it off. "Just some recent anomaly reports from Lake Verity. I still have backups on my computer—I can copy them again."
"…Huh?" Peter stared. "Then why were you chasing them so desperately?"
"Cough… well," Rowan cleared his throat, lowering his voice. "There was also a USB drive in there. It has some… learning materials I often use. A few works by certain female teachers have been particularly… enlightening."
"..."
Peter slowly looked the elderly professor up and down, as if discovering a whole new continent.
"Professor," he said seriously, "how often do you… study those materials?"
"Every day," Rowan replied without shame. "Whenever I have time, really."
Peter's mouth twitched.
"Professor, I really need to criticize you here. Sure, men are boys until the day they die—but moderation matters. Too much of that stuff isn't good for your health."
"It's fine, it's fine," Rowan waved him off cheerfully. "I never married in my whole life. This is my one little hobby—I can't just give it up."
"..."
Peter fell silent, suddenly worried that one day the professor's old bones might genuinely give out.
After saying goodbye to Rowan, Peter hopped onto his bicycle and headed north.
North of Jubilife City lay Route 204, which connected to Floaroma Town. The area also bordered Sinnoh's East Sea, where the Braviary nest—the one he'd learned about from Nessa—was located.
To the east was Eterna Forest, where Peter also planned to make a stop to gather some Revival Herbs for Gardenia.
"Lopunny—alternate High-Speed Movement, Splash, and Quick Attack to constantly change pace! Use Bounce to launch Slakoth and Zorua into the air!"
"Dolliv—maintain Grassy Terrain, then set Sunny Day and use Growth! Intermittently use Grass Knot to interfere with Lopunny's movement!"
"Indeedee—stay in Calm Mind, construct a solidified psychic beam with Psyshock and aim at Slakoth mid-air, then use Psychic on Zorua!"
"Slakoth—right fist, Hammer Arm to smash the psychic beam! While baton-passing momentum, use Aerial Ace on Zorua!"
"Zorua—counter Slakoth with Foul Play and try to evade, then use Detect to dodge Indeedee's Psychic!"
Peter's on-the-road combat training continued as he pedaled. Brilliant colors of overlapping skills lit up the roadside, and his Pokémon grew steadily stronger through movement and clash.
Seeing them fully immersed, Peter eased off the pedals slightly and began thinking about what had just happened.
According to the timeline, Team Galactic's plan to destroy and recreate the world should be starting around now.
That was precisely why he'd asked Rowan about the briefcase.
In the original story, when Dawn went to receive her starter Pokémon, she encountered the Emotion Pokémon, Mesprit, at Lake Verity. Afterward, Professor Rowan had clearly conducted further research on Mesprit.
Team Galactic stealing his briefcase likely meant they were after information on Mesprit—hoping to capture it.
After all, to summon the Time and Space Gods, they needed the Red Chain, which was forged by the Lake Guardians.
"Team Galactic really are a bunch of… nice people," Peter muttered.
With them acting as trailblazers—provoking Legendary Pokémon left and right—Peter could step in later as the hero and reap the rewards.
Who knew? He might even grind some favor with Dialga… or even Arceus.
At that thought, Peter opened the system panel.
If he was going to interfere with Team Galactic, then improving his strength as fast as possible was a must.
"System—give me a 20-pull!"
[Ding! Master Gacha initiated. Draw count: 20. Please wait…]
[Ding! Draw complete. Obtained:
'Deluxe Intermediate Pokéblock ×6 (Boxes)';
'Summoner Skill Stones: Ghost Sprint, Insight, Flash'!]
[Obtained one-time TM devices:
'Fire Punch', 'Thunder Punch', 'Ice Punch', 'Facade', 'Drain Punch', 'Healing Wish'!]
[Obtained held items:
'Kangaskhanite', 'Toxic Orb', 'Damp Rock', 'Terrain Extender', 'Psychic Seed'!]
-----
Deluxe Intermediate Pokéblock:
A high-purity block with effects equivalent to five standard Pokéblocks. Pokémon between levels 20–40 gain improved energy perception upon first use only.
Summoner Skill Stones (One-Time):
Flash: Instantly teleport to any location within 100 meters.
Insight: Reveal vision in a selected 10-meter-radius area within 100 meters.
Ghost Sprint: Gain 10× movement speed for 3 minutes, ignoring stamina consumption.
Fire / Thunder / Ice Punch:
Physical Fire/Electric/Ice-type moves, Power 75, with a small chance to inflict Burn/Paralysis/Freeze.
Facade:
Normal-type physical move, Power 70. Power doubles if the user is poisoned, burned, or paralyzed.
Drain Punch:
Fighting-type physical move, Power 75. Restores HP equal to half the damage dealt.
Healing Wish:
User faints to place a healing wish; the next allied Pokémon to switch in is fully healed and cured of all status conditions.
Kangaskhanite:
A Mega Stone infused with Mega Energy. When held by Kangaskhan and linked through Trainer–Pokémon bonds, enables Mega Evolution.
Toxic Orb:
Held item. Badly poisons the holder.
Damp Rock:
Extends Rain Dance duration to 8 turns.
Terrain Extender:
Extends terrain move duration to 8 turns.
Psychic Seed:
Raises Special Defense by one stage when the holder enters Psychic Terrain.
Peter let out a slow breath, eyes gleaming.
This was it.
The board was being set—
and the real game was finally beginning.
--------------
📢 Bonus Chapter Notice
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