Chapter 188: Mossdeep Space Center
Following the passage, they walked deeper into the underground base beneath Viridian Gym.
Silver led the way, while Gary hung back and whispered to Asahi, "Silver... is he Giovanni's son?"
Asahi's earlier words had shocked him to the core.
His first instinct was that Asahi was joking, but his rational mind told him that, despite being a notorious prankster, Asahi never joked about things like this.
So... it was real?
Asahi gave Gary a strange look. "Of course. Why would I lie to you? Green and Sabrina both know."
"Hiss—"
Gary took a sharp breath.
He couldn't even put into words how shaken he was. He simply gave Asahi a big thumbs-up.
Amazing. Absolutely amazing.
Asahi had actually managed to bring Giovanni's son into their department.
As for whether Silver was trustworthy? That didn't even cross Gary's mind.
What a joke. With how cunning Asahi was, if Silver weren't trustworthy, there was no way he'd be standing here right now.
"I feel like you're thinking something weird..." Asahi's voice suddenly came from beside Gary.
Gary's face stiffened, and he quickly played dumb. "What? I was just thinking about what kind of welcome gift to get for Silver."
"Oh? Is that so?" Asahi smirked.
Gary felt a chill but breathed a sigh of relief when Asahi shifted his attention back to Silver.
They had arrived.
In front of them stood a massive metal door with a bold, red "R" printed on it, marking it as a former Team Rocket base.
There were also obvious battle scars on the door.
Asahi stepped forward and expertly entered the password, then scanned his palm and iris.
Both Gary and Silver looked at him suspiciously.
You've never been here before, right? Then why do you seem so familiar with this place?
Seeing their questioning gazes, Asahi explained, "After Lance took over this base, he reset the password and registered new access credentials. Right now, only the Elite Four and I have clearance to enter."
Okay, that makes sense... but why do you look like you've done this a hundred times before?
Team Rocket's security systems shouldn't even work the same way as the Pokémon League's, right?
Without explaining further, Asahi pushed open the door.
Inside... the space was empty.
After taking control of the base, the League had removed anything that might contain sensitive Team Rocket intel.
But Asahi hadn't come for that.
Following the map Lance had provided, they arrived at a particular room.
Inside was a storage area filled with items deemed worthless.
The most eye-catching object was a bust of Giovanni.
The statue depicted Giovanni with a warm smile, making it hard to associate him with the leader of Team Rocket.
Silver stared at the statue, feeling a strange mix of emotions.
Familiarity? Disgust? Confusion?
He couldn't quite put it into words.
His Sneasel clutched his pants leg, seemingly lost in its own memories.
Gary didn't disturb Silver and instead curiously browsed the storage shelves.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up!
He picked up a dust-covered book and wiped off the cover.
The Secrets of the Earth.
A rare, signed collector's edition by Giovanni himself.
This book had always been niche, but after Giovanni was exposed as Team Rocket's leader, its value hadn't dropped—in fact, it had skyrocketed.
Collector's editions like this were now worth a fortune.
Just as Gary was thinking about taking it to see how it differed from the public version, a hand reached over and snatched it away.
Gary: ???
Dumbfounded, he turned to glare at Asahi.
But Asahi just smiled and casually handed the book to Silver.
"A book your father wrote. Take a look."
Silver hesitated, about to refuse.
Then Asahi added, "Even if it's just to understand your enemy."
After a brief pause, Silver accepted the book and put it in his bag.
Seeing this, Asahi sighed. I really am a good person.
Meanwhile, Gary had found something else.
"Ehh!?"
Hearing his reaction, Asahi turned to look.
Gary was holding a world map.
It displayed every region of the Pokémon League.
On the map, Kanto, Johto, and the Sevii Islands were all marked in red, signifying Team Rocket's territory.
Gary, of course, was already aware of this, but that wasn't what caught his attention.
"Asahi, look at this." Gary pointed to a spot in the Hoenn region. "There's a mark here."
"Hm?" Asahi raised an eyebrow.
Leaning in for a closer look, he found that there was indeed a tiny dot—so small that one wouldn't even notice it without paying close attention.
There were no labels or annotations, making it impossible to decipher its meaning.
Gary speculated, "Could it be that Team Rocket has infiltrated the Hoenn region? This information isn't in our Kanto branch's database. Does this mean I just made a major discovery?"
He was getting more and more excited.
For once, Asahi didn't shoot him down.
Instead, staring at the barely noticeable mark, Asahi pulled out his phone and cross-referenced it with a map of Hoenn.
"It's Mossdeep City," Asahi said.
Gary didn't catch that. He turned his head in curiosity. "What did you say?"
"I said, this spot marks Mossdeep City."
Asahi's expression turned serious.
If he remembered correctly, Mossdeep City was home to Hoenn's space exploration center—the Mossdeep Space Center, responsible for rocket launches and outer space research.
Of course, space centers existed all over the world, and Mossdeep's wasn't particularly special.
The real issue was… if Asahi's memory served him right, in the Pokémon Special manga, the Grand Meteor—which carried Deoxys—had crashed into Hoenn and was later recovered by Mossdeep Space Center.
And now, this map specifically marked Mossdeep City.
Could it be that Team Rocket had already confirmed that Deoxys was at the space center?
Otherwise, why else would they specifically highlight Mossdeep out of all the cities in Hoenn?
Thinking this through, Asahi patted Gary on the shoulder. "Good job. This intel is crucial."
Gary, though still unsure of what exactly Asahi had realized, tilted his head back and flicked his hair smugly. "Haha! Of course I'm amazing! I can even pick up on tiny details like this…"
Watching Gary show off, Asahi could only sigh.
Fine. Since Gary had actually contributed something useful this time, he'd let it slide.
But while Asahi held back, Silver turned his gaze toward Gary.
Looking at this unserious "senior," Silver said earnestly, "Gary, I'd like to have a battle with you."
Gary's laughter stopped abruptly, replaced by a fit of coughing.
"Ahem… Ahem…"
It took him a while to recover. He looked at Silver in confusion. "Why do you want to battle me? If you really want to improve your skills, battling Asahi would be much more beneficial."
"When I fought Asahi back then, my skills improved dramatically."
Gary was speaking with a straight face… well, not exactly lying.
After his guidance battle with Asahi in Blueport, he had worked on the weaknesses Asahi pointed out and had improved significantly… though he still ended up getting completely crushed by Sabrina in Saffron City afterward.
"I already fought Asahi before… The reason I'm asking you, Gary, is because you were also a Viridian Gym Leader once. I want to see how much of a gap still exists between me and that man." Silver's voice was filled with sincerity.
"...Ah, this."
Gary wasn't particularly thrilled. He had been battling all week and really didn't want to spend his break time on another match.
But seeing Silver's serious expression, Gary sighed. "I guess I have no choice. Since I'm the senior here…"
He put on a mentor-like expression.
Just as he was getting into his senior mode—
"Just don't get wrecked," Asahi suddenly said, completely ruining the atmosphere.
Gary was immediately displeased.
Asahi just shrugged. "I'm just being honest. In a one-on-one match, Silver isn't weak."
Earlier, he had called Silver the weakest in their group, but that was only because Silver currently had only one Pokémon—Sneasel.
If Gary went in without using his main team and relied on his secondary or even tertiary lineup, he might really end up losing.
Asahi was saying this for Gary's own good.
Too bad Gary didn't see it that way.
Shaking his head, Asahi didn't bother explaining further. He led Gary and Silver out of the room.
Back in Viridian Gym, after sealing the hidden passage, the three stepped out of the lounge.
A staff member immediately approached. "Gym Leader, the battlefield has been repaired. Should I call in the next challenger?"
Even though Gary was casual around Asahi, he still maintained his dignity as a Gym Leader in front of the staff.
He waved a hand dismissively. "There's someone cutting in line. Let them wait!"
The staff member was stunned.
Was their Gym Leader really planning to tell a challenger that?
Wasn't that a bit too blunt?
But before he could ask, Gary had already stepped onto one side of the battlefield, with Silver taking his position on the other.
To keep things private, Asahi signaled for the staff to leave temporarily. Once only the three of them remained in the battle arena—
Gary declared, "Since Asahi suggested a 1v1, we'll do a 1v1. No problem, right?"
Silver nodded and tossed out a Poké Ball, releasing Sneasel.
Seeing Silver's choice, Blue smirked. "Sneasel, huh? Well, as your senior, I won't go easy on you… Go, Nidoking!"
Although Gary hadn't fully believed Asahi's warning about losing, he still took it seriously and sent out his main Pokémon.
His years of getting screwed over by Asahi had taught him an important lesson:
—Following Asahi's advice might lead to trouble, but ignoring Asahi's advice would definitely end in disaster!
Losing a friendly match was one thing, but losing in a mentorship battle would be downright humiliating.
Asahi, acting as referee, announced, "Battle start!"
Sneasel and Nidoking lunged at each other simultaneously.
Sitting on the sidelines, Asahi started recording the match on his phone while absentmindedly petting Eevee.
"What do you think, Eevee? Who's going to win?" Asahi asked.
Eevee watched the battle unfold, tilting its head in thought before pointing a paw at Sneasel.
Eevee didn't overthink it—it just remembered that Nidoking had lost to it once before, so it must be weak.
Asahi didn't comment on Eevee's logic and focused back on the match.
Both Silver and Gary were fully immersed in the battle now.
Nidoking launched a barrage of Poison Stings.
Sneasel, nimble as ever, dodged with ease and countered with a frigid gust—Icy Wind.
Silver immediately saw Gary's strategy: Nidoking was trying to get in close. Given its sheer size and power, one solid hit would knock Sneasel out instantly.
He wouldn't let that happen. "Icy Wind!"
A cold gust swept toward Nidoking's arms.
Silver was using the same strategy he had used against Ursaring—freezing its limbs to restrict movement.
A solid plan. Nidoking was weak to Ice-type attacks, and immobilizing its arms would both deal damage and limit its offensive capabilities.
But…
[Gary's Nidoking isn't some wild Ursaring, you know…] Asahi thought.
Sure enough—
Just as Nidoking charged recklessly toward Sneasel, a cunning glint flashed in its eyes. Suddenly, it skidded to a stop and stomped the ground hard.
A massive stone pillar erupted from the earth, blocking Icy Wind.
Silver's eyes widened in shock.
Gary smirked, mimicking Asahi's usual expression. "Didn't expect Earth Power to be used defensively, huh? I learned this little trick from your father's book."
Silver's face remained expressionless. "Sneasel, Hone Claws."
Shing—Shing—
Sneasel's claws gleamed, becoming sharper.
Seeing this, Gary suddenly changed tactics.
"Nidoking, Rock Tomb!"
Nidoking swung its fist, smashing the stone pillar into boulders and hurling them at Sneasel.
Sneasel swiftly dodged left and right, but it was being forced into a corner.
Silver's expression tensed.
Gary had seized control of the battle's pace.
Silver opened his mouth to issue a warning, but Gary was faster—
"Nidoking, Earthquake!"