Chapter 110: If There Is No Conflict, Create One!

"Milu!"

"Well then, what are we waiting for, Trainer? Let's go!"

Zhu Suihan reached out and grabbed Alcremie, that little warmonger, giving her a good kneading—ostensibly to "test the quality of the skincare product."

"This isn't something we can rush. I know the thing exists, but I have no idea where it is."

He only remembered that it had some connection to the Pyramid King, Brandon, and in the anime, it was the "Chosen One," Ash, who stumbled upon it in some underground ruins. That was followed by the classic trope of the power of friendship triumphing over an ancient, dusty fossil.

If he knew the location, he would dig up the King of Pokélantis right now and turn a profit by selling him to Vicious. A prize that valuable—charging a thousand century-old berries plus a few tons of elemental resources wouldn't be unreasonable, would it?

You think the price is too high? If I’m doing business with a villain, why shouldn't I gouge them? If I weren't looking to extort, I’d just do business with the League. It’s a miracle I didn't ask for more on the spot!

"Moo-moo."

*That’s not a problem at all. Let's find a map of Hoenn later. Trainer, you just close your eyes, shake your hand a bit, and mark a point on the map with a pen. We'll just go search there.*

The white-haired youth paused. How had he forgotten about that?

"I suppose... that is one way to do it?"

He still remembered the original location of the Battle Frontier. If he could just enlarge that section of the map and perfectly execute Lapras’s suggestion, he might actually find the location of the Pokélantis stone orb!

Looking back, Scott, that chubby guy, was truly an absurd character. Every one of the Frontier Brains under his command possessed exceptional skills. Knowing people like that was hard enough, but gathering them all in one place to work for you was even more difficult. The most famous, of course, was Brandon, the Pyramid King, who wielded the three Legendary Giants.

In terms of legendary Pokémon connections, the old man at the Battle Palace, Spenser, might be even more outrageous. The tattoo on his body wasn't because he was some edgy youth back in the day; it was proof of an emblem from when he absorbed one of the natural orbs—the Blue Orb. In short, regardless of the cause or outcome, Spenser once had a psychic link with Kyogre. Looking at it from that perspective, Archie was just a young junior compared to Spenser.

He was genuinely curious about how Scott pulled it off. Big shots at that level could no longer be moved by mere money. Perhaps he promised them land and helped them realize the grand visions they had painted? That seemed plausible.

"That is certainly an idea, though it seems we’ll have to make a trip to the Hoenn region."

If he remembered correctly, the Battle Frontier could only be reached by boat. Of course, if you had a powerful Pokémon, flying or swimming there wasn't out of the question.

"Moo-moo!"

Lapras held her head and neck high. A sea route, was it? In that case, it was time for her to show off her true potential!

With Lapras handling the sea route, the white-haired youth himself possessed immense affinity with Pokémon, plus an incense burner that could store vast amounts of supplies—no need to fish for seaweed to survive, and no need to worry about a lack of fresh water.

The more he thought about it, the more tempted Zhu Suihan became. Instead of waiting for Team Dark to come knocking at Ecruteak City while constantly scanning the perimeter for creeps looking to take a shot at him, why not go on the offensive?

He wouldn't even need to contact Vicious directly. The best approach would be to hand the King of Pokélantis over to one of Vicious’s capable subordinates and let them descend into internal power struggles and infighting. Once the commotion grew loud enough, the various powerhouses summoned by the League would likely have already cut off all of Team Dark’s escape routes.

"Whether the League can call in enough people to corner those guys in Team Dark doesn't really matter to me."

The white-haired youth’s smile grew increasingly brazen. Why do it? Simple—because it was fun!

The King of Pokélantis, is it? Wants to rule the world, does he?

"Come on, I'll take you across time. You start off as a key elite for the biggest villainous groups in Kanto and Johto! That’s the cheat code I’m giving you. Go wreak havoc; let me see how much 'gold content' a king from the Hoenn dark age really has!"

He hoped the guy wasn't just some waste who relied on his ancestors' glory only to shatter at the first sign of an external enemy—that would be no fun at all.

Zhu Suihan rose to his feet. "I’m off. I’m going to find Pryce and see if I can get some technical support."

The logic was sound. Both Vicious and the King of Pokélantis were ambitious players; the only difference was their goals. The only real question was, would the King of Pokélantis actually listen?

"Don't worry, he’ll definitely listen."

Zhu Suihan found Pryce and explained his plan in a slow, deliberate manner, with Professor Oak sitting nearby, looking utterly bewildered. Delibird carried its satchel, distributing the Pokéblocks Zhu Suihan had just made to the Dragonite and Kangaskhan nearby.

"Come on, brothers, consider Johto your own home now. Eat up and drink up!"

Swinub was already happily munching away at its share, embodying a state of pure, relaxed satisfaction.

In truth, when he had first found Pryce and Professor Oak, Pryce had been chasing Oak around the room with his cane, eager to let the Professor’s head experience the "quality" of his walking stick. Delibird, Dragonite, and Kangaskhan had been sitting in the courtyard, sipping tea with elegant, calm indifference. Problems between trainers should be resolved by the trainers themselves; it wasn't their place to intervene.

Pryce’s suspicion that there was a "traitor in the ranks" was correct, and Professor Oak didn't really want his old friend to stay cooped up in Mahogany Town forever.

"Get fired up, you old fossil! Just like me!"

And so, the geriatric combat chase began, only for the white-haired youth to arrive late as a mediator and put an end to the squabble.

"Suihan, what is your plan? If your memory is correct, the moment the King of Pokélantis is resurrected, he will attempt to possess you."

"I have a countermeasure, and I won't be going there in this identity anyway."

Zhu Suihan pulled out a coin stamped with a Poké Ball, shimmering with a golden glow. "I have a hidden identity that only a few people in the Rocket Group know about. Beyond that, word might only reach as far as the Alola region."

He continued, "This isn't the first time I've experienced something like an oracle or a memory recovery. If the King of Pokélantis hadn't set his sights on Ho-Oh, I wouldn't have remembered this through the events in Ecruteak City."

Professor Oak recalled some documents he had accidentally come across. "There really was such a kingdom in history. It seemed quite famous in the Hoenn region during the Dark Age."

Setting aside the triggering of keywords and memory recovery, Professor Oak was more interested in this so-called "oracle." Honestly, it was no different from a highly accurate form of future sight. Only those with immense power—whether human psychics or Psychic-type Pokémon—could achieve such a thing, and it usually came at a massive mental cost. Yet, looking at Suihan, there didn't seem to be any price being paid at all. Was this one of the reasons he was sealed away?

"This is doable," Pryce said decisively. "If it succeeds, it will be critical for your future development."

It would also save them from having the trash of Team Dark buzzing around like flies and mosquitoes, giving the League a reason to press for him to become a Champion and suppress the chaos. Pryce understood the League’s desire for a powerhouse to hold the lawless in check, but Team Dark was a different beast.

"Buddy, what kind of Champion are you? What have you done for Johto to make me understand you, let alone deal with the headache of handling all these people coming and going?"

If not for his age and lack of desire to move, he would have been chasing them across the map to beat them to death.

Professor Oak had a different perspective. "According to what Suihan said, a few people in the Rocket Group know this identity. Won't it be too easy to expose?"

The League wasn't the issue, but the Rocket Group was, at its core, a private commercial organization; it lacked high reliability in terms of personnel.

Zhu Suihan considered this. "The only ones who know are Sabrina and Giovanni. Besides, even if it does leak, it will be when Team Dark is already on the verge of collapse. It’s harmless."

"Exactly. Plus, Giovanni is dying for someone to find Vicious's location so he can take the kill." Pryce’s tone was strange. "According to Koga, Giovanni has already negotiated a price with the Indigo League. As long as Giovanni can bring Vicious to justice, he can choose at least five mountain peaks and their surrounding areas to expand the Viridian Forest."

"For the sake of his ambition to expand the forest, he’s eager for someone to drag Vicious out of the shadows."

Pryce felt a bit conflicted. If Koga hadn't asked him to look after his daughter while she was in Mahogany Town learning the ancient ways of the ninja, he wouldn't have known about the internal affairs in Kanto. If Oak was the model of "old but strong," then Giovanni was the successful man in his prime, fighting tooth and nail to build his empire. Between the affairs of the Viridian Gym, public city events, and the major operations of the Rocket Group, he had his hands full. And that didn't even include the maintenance of the Viridian Forest. Even with Giovanni’s extraordinary power, he was spread thin.

From a bird's-eye view, the issues Giovanni faced back then were likely driven by the burning, desperate desire to find his lost son. He had forced himself to lay out everything, using the status of a legendary Pokémon to harness the power of wind and earth, even crafting a "Heavenly Computer" with Deoxys as the carrier to locate his child. Giovanni’s achievement back then was staggering—akin to a search engine capable of working in the third dimension; give it a key index, and it would find the person.

And then, his son, who fought for justice, had his worldview shattered.

"Someone can help find Vicious? That’s fantastic!"

If their relationship hadn't been so complicated, having Giovanni get involved would certainly have made Vicious die even faster.

"But that wouldn't be fun, so I’d rather go myself." The white-haired youth’s smile was somewhat wicked.

"Team Dark, is it? If I bring in an ambitious, thousand-year-old fossil, let's see how you handle that. So, you call yourselves villains? Do you have no respect for a King of the Dark Age?"

"Go, King of Pokélantis, I choose you!"

"If you can't turn Team Dark upside down, don't go bragging about how great you were back in the day. As long as you kick Vicious’s head off, I’ll acknowledge your strength!"