Finally, Aoki became the first vice-leader in Team Rocket's history.
While he was called vice-leader, his actual power within Team Rocket wasn't much greater than that of an ordinary top executive; he was merely one rank higher in position and status than those top executives.
However, Aoki didn't care; he didn't value superficial titles. Practical benefits were far more reliable.
But Giovanni wasn't just talking. He also used his special methods to send short messages to all high-ranking executives within Team Rocket, announcing Aoki's change in status.
This left many people speechless. After all, since Team Rocket's establishment, even when Giovanni's mother was in charge, there had never been a position of vice-leader.
Yet, at this moment, Giovanni specifically created this position for Aoki, showing just how much Aoki was valued by Giovanni.
After receiving Giovanni's message, Aoki's exclusive Team Rocket communicator vibrated non-stop, mostly with congratulatory messages from executives he knew and didn't know.
Among them were some old friends, such as Shadow, who had once led Aoki out of the Trial Island, Dark, Shadow's partner, and Koga, who had now become one of the Johto Elite Four.
Even Sabrina, who was stationed in Saffron City, sent a message to Aoki.
Team Rocket and the Divine Cult had quite a few encounters during this period, resulting in many skirmishes, so they all knew the strength of the Divine Cult members.
Putting aside everything else, just the bizarre special abilities and methods of the Divine Cult caused many Team Rocket executives a lot of trouble.
However, just a few days ago, Aoki decisively dealt with three Divine Cult executives and, together with Drake, forced out the Divine Cult Bishop. They had all seen that video.
Although few people currently knew that Aoki, the hotshot Elite Four of the Hoenn League, was also Team Rocket's Aoki, those familiar with him were aware.
They were terrified by the increase in Aoki's strength. While Shadow's strength had also improved to varying degrees, the gap between him and Aoki was growing wider. Even Koga, who was also a prodigy, expressed his admiration for Aoki.
In short, with Giovanni's authority and Aoki's intimidating strength, no one dared to openly object to Aoki becoming Team Rocket's vice-leader.
As for Aoki himself, he didn't feel much about becoming Team Rocket's vice-leader.
Because his position as vice-leader nominally commanded the Hoenn region, and what did the Hoenn region have?
Only the Sky Team.
The Sky Team had been entirely in Aoki's hands from the beginning. Especially with the recent involvement of Brad and Catherine, the Sky Team's only weakness in high-end strength was remedied, and it developed rapidly, completely independent of Team Rocket.
That's why Aoki felt that this vice-leader title was less reliable than a tangible benefit.
But Giovanni's tactic of winning people over was quite effective. At least, even the current Aoki was somewhat pleased after becoming Team Rocket's vice-leader.
And as long as he was a little pleased, that was enough; Giovanni had nothing to lose anyway.
"Aren't you curious why the security in the Team Rocket base is so tight now? Let me test you; see if you can guess." Aoki becoming Team Rocket's vice-leader, another major asset for Giovanni, made him a little happy, after all, Aoki was now someone who could serve as a regional Champion.
A regional Champion as Team Rocket's vice-leader?
Doesn't that sound a little exciting?
Hearing Giovanni's question, Aoki pondered for a moment and uttered two words: "Mew!"
Giovanni's eyes lit up slightly at the answer, and his smile widened. He gave Aoki a thumbs-up, "As expected of someone I value.
However, we can't say 'Mew' now, because what we have created is 'Mewtwo'!!"
When he said "Mewtwo," Giovanni's face became somewhat fanatical, mixed with a hint of dominance. He looked full of vigor, as if he was reaching the pinnacle of his life.
Mewtwo?!
Aoki's heart trembled. Was Mewtwo really about to be born?!
Aoki had no other thoughts about Team Rocket, one reason being Giovanni's presence and his intimidating strength, and the other being Mewtwo!
Giovanni suddenly stood up and said to Aoki, "Let's go, I'll take you to see Team Rocket's masterpiece!"
With that, he directly activated a mechanism in his office, leading Aoki through a secret passage directly to the deepest research facility in the Viridian City base.
Aoki followed behind Giovanni, his mind racing.
They went straight to the lab he had visited a few times before. Most of the facilities hadn't changed much, but there were also many modifications, likely to accommodate Mewtwo's various cultivation forms, adapting to its changes and stages.
"Leader!" Seeing Giovanni enter, the researchers inside respectfully greeted him.
Finally, the person who appeared before them was the true creator of the Pokémon Mewtwo, Blaine!
He first respectfully greeted Giovanni, then looked at Aoki with surprise. After a brief thought, he still called out, "Vice-Leader!"
It would be false to say Blaine wasn't surprised. He had also received the message about Aoki being exceptionally promoted to Team Rocket's vice-leader. He just hadn't expected that the young man who had once impressed him, though only slightly, would now suddenly become Team Rocket's vice-leader.
This was Team Rocket, a massive underground organization covering both the Kanto and Johto regions. Its power was so immense that the Kanto and Johto Leagues could not face it alone.
Under such circumstances, Aoki had become the vice-leader of Team Rocket, second only to one person and above everyone else. How could Blaine not be surprised?
However, Blaine was too engrossed in his research and hadn't seen the video of Aoki battling the three Divine Cult executives; otherwise, he wouldn't have been so surprised.
When Aoki dealt with the three Divine Cult executives, although he brought out all his main Pokémon, he didn't use any tactics.
It should be known that Aoki became the renowned Sandstorm Elite Four of the Hoenn region because of his sandstorm tactics. But during that battle, the sandstorm tactics were not used, indicating that Aoki's strength still had room for improvement.
If anyone knew that Aoki's Darkrai had now recovered to the strength of the second hurdle of the Champion level, they would probably swallow their saliva.
There's quite a difference between having Champion-level strength after Mega Evolution and having that strength without Mega Evolution.
"Dr. Blaine, please don't be so polite." Aoki smiled and waved his hand, not putting on the airs of a vice-leader.
Blaine also breathed a slight sigh of relief. He had once tried to scheme against Aoki, though Aoki had foiled all his attempts.
Now, he was genuinely worried that Aoki would target him. Although he was protected by Giovanni and wasn't afraid, being targeted by someone was never a good thing.
"Alright, Blaine, show us your masterpiece." Giovanni waved his hand.
When it came to his masterpiece, Blaine immediately cast everything else aside, his eyes blazing with an intense fervor, as if he had thought of something incredible.
"Yes!"
With that, he took the lead, opening mechanisms one by one within the laboratory, entering an even more secluded inner section of the already hidden lab.
Upon entering, they immediately saw even more researchers in white coats, heads down, holding various items, moving about, or hunched over machines, recording data – a bustling scene.
Leaving these researchers behind, what greeted their eyes was a massive green glass cover, or rather, a transparent glass cover that appeared greenish due to the green liquid inside.
A nutrient tank!
A nutrient tank for cultivating clones, with small bubbles rising within it, but none of that was important.
Because inside, a white mass was curled up, with various tubes inserted into its body, quietly suspended within this nutrient tank, completely motionless.
Upon seeing this, Aoki's eyes couldn't leave it.
Blaine's and Giovanni's eyes also showed a hint of fervor.
Team Rocket's large-scale retreat, avoiding the League's sharp edge, investing massive resources and numerous researchers working day and night, all for this Pokémon.
Although it wasn't the Mew that Team Rocket had always pursued, Giovanni named it "Mewtwo," its meaning self-evident: he hoped it would become an existence that surpassed Mew!
Aoki slowly walked to the massive nutrient tank, observing it up close for a clearer view.
Mewtwo was almost fully formed at this point, looking almost identical to the Mewtwo in Aoki's memory.
Under his interference, the number and types of Pokémon involved in Team Rocket's fusion of Mew's genes must have changed significantly, but the resulting Mewtwo still had the appearance Aoki recognized.
Even if Mew's genes could be called the origin genes of all Pokémon, capable of fusing with most Pokémon genes, the fact that Mewtwo still emerged with this appearance in the end, wasn't it a kind of destiny?
Perhaps Mewtwo was meant to be born, just not through nature. One of Team Rocket's responsibilities was to bring Mewtwo into existence.
The more he thought about it, the more terrifying it became.
Every time Aoki encountered things of this level, he felt as if he had touched something crucial, but that something was like an inspiration, fleeting. Every time he tried to grasp it, it would silently slip away, no matter how much Aoki tried to recall it, he could never retrieve that feeling.
Looking at Mewtwo in the nutrient tank.
From its appearance, it still somewhat resembled Mew, after all, it was a clone of Mew.
As a combat-specialized Pokémon created with the purpose of being the ultimate weapon, its various body parts differed significantly from Mew's.
Its appearance resembled a half-human, half-feline creature and the Roswell alien, with an overall silvery-white body, purple tail and abdomen, and external nerve bundles (or external circulatory system) extending from the center of its back all the way to the back of its neck. When curled up, it didn't look large, but Aoki estimated that it would be about the height of a normal human when standing.
In the original story, Mewtwo had a very contradictory inner self and ideas. On one hand, it hated humans; on the other hand, it was attracted by the good side of humanity.
Caught in this dilemma, Mewtwo deliberately kept its distance from humans and tried to avoid direct contact, but its immense power constantly attracted humans who were fascinated by it.
Team Rocket was the most prominent among those who pursued Mewtwo.
However, Mewtwo itself was a contradictory combination of impulsiveness and rationality. Due to the fusion of various different genes and Mew's already integrated genes, multiple reorganizations led it to inherit the traits of powerful yet volatile Pokémon, while also inheriting Mew's unique agility and intelligence.
Team Rocket's original intention was to create a battle-type Pokémon without self-will, but they clearly underestimated Mew's genes, or rather, underestimated Mewtwo's abilities and learning capacity.
Even with specialized control devices, even with the ability to limit Mewtwo's genetic self-improvement to a certain extent, even preventing the birth of Mewtwo's self-awareness, the final result was still an underestimation of this existence that could rival Mew, and even surpass Mew in pure combat.
No matter how much it was restricted, when the thought of "Who am I? What am I?" appeared in Mewtwo's mind, it signified Mewtwo's true birth.
At this moment, Mewtwo, lying motionless in the nutrient tank, even looked a little cute.
Aoki directly used the chip to scan Mewtwo's data.
Pokemon: Mewtwo (Unknown) — Thought not yet born
Gender: Genderless
Level: 15
Type: Psychic
Ability: Pressure
Held Item: None
Egg Moves: None
Basic Moves: Harden, Confusion, Disable, Safeguard, Swift, Future Sight
Learnt Moves: None
TM Moves: None
This was the data obtained from Mewtwo after the system scan.
Its power was not yet apparent; it seemed like an ordinary Pokemon, but Aoki dared not underestimate it in the slightest.
One more important thing: in Aoki's impression, Mewtwo also had Mega Evolution, and like Charizard, which was a creator's favored child, it had two Mega Evolution forms!
It incorporated genes from many different Pokemon, which might be why it possessed two different evolutionary forms. And precisely because it integrated so many Pokemon genes, Mewtwo, in essence, differed from Mew primarily in that Mewtwo could be called a Legendary Pokemon!
While Mew was a Mythical Pokemon!
This was a fundamental distinction.
As Mewtwo could rival a First-Tier Legendary Pokemon, its base stats were as high as 680 points, and after Mega Evolution, they directly soared to 780 points. In Aoki's memory, the only one capable of this was Rayquaza, which could overpower the ancient Legendary Pokemon Groudon and Kyogre in the Hoenn region!
Moreover, Mewtwo's two Mega Evolutions represented its two different combat styles. One was to maximize its physical attack, completely transforming into a close-combat Psychic-type Pokemon, and gaining a Fighting-type attribute.
The other was to develop its already powerful special attack to the extreme. This form of Mewtwo only had the Psychic single type, but in terms of appearance, this form of Mewtwo was closer to Mew.
These two different Mega Evolution forms represented the foreign Pokemon genes and Mew's genes within Mewtwo.
Aoki slowly placed his hand on the glass of the cultivation tank.
Seeing this scene from behind, Blaine wanted to speak up and stop him, but Giovanni held out his hand to stop Blaine.
Although he didn't know what Aoki was going to do, Giovanni knew that Aoki was a very strong Psychic. If it were an ordinary Pokemon, a Psychic could easily communicate with it.
But Mewtwo at this time was different. When Team Rocket created Mewtwo, the plan was to prevent Mewtwo from developing its own self-awareness and self-will.
In other words, from the very beginning, Team Rocket did not need a Pokemon with the ability to think for itself or make its own judgments.
What they needed was only the power that this Pokemon possessed, or rather, a physical body that could contain the power within Mew's genes. All control depended on the trainer themselves.
For this purpose, Team Rocket also specially developed a device that could transfer the trainer's thoughts into Mewtwo's mind, stimulate its brain's nerves, and activate its body.
So, Aoki's attempt to use psychic powers to sense or even connect with Mewtwo would inevitably be futile.
As expected, after Aoki placed his hand on the nutrient tank, Giovanni saw the subtle surprise expressed in Aoki's eyes.
A smile unconsciously appeared on his face, because neither he nor Blaine had told Aoki that Mewtwo had no self-awareness.
However, what Giovanni didn't know was that Aoki extended his psychic power into the nutrient tank not to connect with Mewtwo at that moment.
Mewtwo at this point was just a body.
Aoki was merely planting a unique Psychic Seed of his own in Mewtwo's mind!
Actually, Aoki wasn't sure if his psychic power could plant a Psychic Seed in Mewtwo's mind, nor did he know what would happen after planting it, or even what Mewtwo would think when its self-awareness awakened and it discovered a foreign Psychic Seed in its brain. Would it directly seek out Aoki and beat him up?
Aoki couldn't be sure of any of this.
He was just trying, and unexpectedly, the attempt succeeded without any hindrance, and Giovanni and Blaine didn't stop him when they saw his actions.
This was also something Giovanni hadn't anticipated: that psychic power could be used in such a way. He had read Sabrina's psychic manual to understand the unique methods of psychics and prevent himself from falling victim to them.
There was no mention of such a strange ability as a Psychic Seed.
So, the unexpected happened suddenly and caught him off guard.
Aoki couldn't remove the Psychic Seed for now. Who knew that a mere try would lead to this?
Although Aoki had originally planned to tamper with Mewtwo, he hadn't intended to do it on its body. Who knew if Mewtwo would seek revenge later?
In Aoki's plan, he wanted to tamper with the special device created by Team Rocket, for no other reason than to know what kind of power Mewtwo would possess after awakening.
This was a fresh Legendary Pokemon.
Aoki also wanted to see how a talented Pokemon could gradually become a Legendary Pokemon from an ordinary one. This was what Aoki was most concerned about.
After all, among his Pokemon, besides Darkrai, there were also Diancie and Magearna, two special existences.
If he handled things properly, these two Pokemon might also become Legendary Pokemon!
He needed to learn from Mewtwo.
However, this joke seemed a bit too big now.
Giovanni slowly walked to Aoki's side, looking at Mewtwo immersed in the green nutrient solution, and said to Aoki, "While creating this powerful Pokemon, we planned not to let it have its own thoughts, so your psychic power cannot communicate with it."
At this moment, Mewtwo in the nutrient tank was a treasure in Giovanni's eyes, the first step in his control of the Pokemon world, and a crucial step in realizing his ideals.
At this moment, Giovanni was full of vigor.
"Oh? No wonder I couldn't feel any thought fluctuations from it. I didn't expect it to be just a vessel for power," Aoki said appropriately.
Giovanni nodded, his eyes filled with fanaticism. "It's still a little short. Once it absorbs all the specially prepared nutrient solution in this tank, it should have considerable combat power. With the Mew genes inside it, its growth potential will be limitless!"
"Then how can such a power vessel be controlled? If it cannot be used freely, it would probably waste the massive resources and precious time Team Rocket has invested," Aoki asked again.
At this moment, Blaine pushed a special device forward. Inside this device, a set of black special armor was displayed. Looking at the shape of this armor, one could tell it would perfectly fit Mewtwo.
Blaine smiled and said, "This is the armor we prepared long ago. As long as Mewtwo wears this armor, and the controller puts this control helmet on their head, they can directly control this body with their own thoughts, which has the same wonderful effect as your psychics' telepathy."
Aoki's eyes lit up as he looked at the dark black specialized armor.
With a thought, he gently stroked the black surface of the armor with a few fingers, marveling, "This material seems to be armor capable of withstanding ultra-high intensity combat. This armor alone is something no ordinary Pokemon can break."
"Haha, that's for sure. Otherwise, once the armor is broken, Mewtwo will lose its combat ability, which would not be very friendly to the boss. So, the metal used to forge this armor is our Team Rocket's strongest and hardest metal," Blaine said with a smile, as if everything was under his control.
"Amazing! Amazing! Dr. Blaine is indeed our Team Rocket's most brilliant Pokemon Professor. He can even craft these technological devices so skillfully," Aoki flattered again.
Hearing Aoki's words, Blaine was indeed very pleased, his face creased into a chrysanthemum-like smile.
Aoki was no ordinary person now. Someone who could be exceptionally promoted to Vice-Leader by Giovanni must have something special about him. At this moment, Blaine dared not show any contempt towards Aoki.
Due to his multiple interventions, Mewtwo's development speed was much faster than originally planned, by many years.
However, Mewtwo's appearance at this time was just right. Giovanni had probably been biding his time for so long, and he must have felt somewhat stifled, watching the cult stir up trouble among the people outside, wondering what he thought.
Aoki, Giovanni, and Blaine left the hidden laboratory.
However, no one noticed that as the three of them left the room, Mewtwo, who had been quietly resting in the nutrient tank with its eyes closed, subtly twitched its eyelids.
This movement was so slight that even the researchers responsible for recording didn't notice it.
After leaving the laboratory, there was nothing else in the entire Team Rocket base that Aoki considered important, so after bidding farewell to Giovanni, he chose to leave directly.
Meanwhile, Giovanni, sitting in his office, after confirming Aoki's departure, took out a special communicator from his desk drawer. It had no numbers, only a single dial button.
Looking at the communicator in his hand, even with Giovanni's decisive style, he hesitated slightly.
After a brief moment of hesitation, he let out a soft laugh, unsure if he was mocking himself for being indecisive, or laughing at something else.
He pressed the dial button directly, and Giovanni didn't have to wait long. A voice came from the other end of the communicator, "Have you thought it through?"
Giovanni's smile deepened, but it was no longer the slightly self-mocking smile from before. At this moment, he had once again returned to being the formidable, unflappable leader of Team Rocket, who could command a vast organization without any panic in the midst of a thousand armies. "You're still the same, looking down on everyone, even now you can't let go of your pride."
Giovanni did not directly answer the other party's question, but just said something out of the blue.
But upon hearing Giovanni's words, the person on the other end of the communicator stopped speaking, and for a moment, both fell into a peculiar silence.
It seemed like a long time had passed, or perhaps just an instant, when the person on the other end of the communicator spoke again, "I have reason to be arrogant with anyone, but when facing you, I have never been arrogant."
Hearing the other party's words, Giovanni was stunned, then the smile on his face grew wider and wider. Although the other party couldn't see his smile at that moment, Giovanni knew they could certainly feel it.
"Then I suppose you already know my answer," Giovanni said.
"Understood. Then let's fight," the voice on the other end of the communicator became somewhat cold.
With that, the communication between the two was directly cut off.
And seeing the communication end, Giovanni, using only his own strength, directly crushed the specialized communicator into powder. This action showed that Giovanni was not just an ordinary human; at the very least, he possessed his own unique abilities.
"I thought you were no longer around, and felt a bit of pity. Now it seems it's getting more and more interesting.
Just as you never underestimated me, I have never underestimated you either," Giovanni muttered to himself.
...
After leaving the Team Rocket base in Viridian City, Aoki continued without stopping, returning to the Hoenn League at the fastest possible speed.
Actually, he didn't need to be in such a hurry, but shortly after he left the Team Rocket base, he learned from intelligence within the investigation department he had taken over that the Divine Cult had reappeared in the Hoenn region.
So Aoki returned to Hoenn as quickly as possible.
At the same time, people from the Divine Cult appeared simultaneously in various regions covered by the Pokémon League.
The trainers of the Divine Cult themselves possessed impressive psychic abilities, and combined with some psychic-type Pokémon and special divine power infusion, they became extremely difficult to deal with.
To this day, Aoki still doesn't know the true purpose of the Divine Cult and can only passively defend.
This situation was not very favorable for the various leagues, including the Hoenn League.
To be honest, it wasn't that the people dispatched by the Divine Cult were truly strong; what made them difficult were their various special abilities and their free-flowing teleportation.
As long as they didn't want to reveal themselves, it was very difficult for others to find them.
When Aoki arrived in the Hoenn region, Drake and others were already fighting the people of the Divine Cult again, but compared to last time, fewer people from the Divine Cult were dispatched this time.
However, fewer people did not mean less strength; even Wallace alone required Steven to handle him carefully.
Because each time the Divine Cult chose to fight in densely populated major cities, they were ultimately somewhat constrained in battle to protect local residents and their property.
They had clearly been repelled last time, and even the Bishop had been drawn out, so Aoki couldn't understand why these people from the Divine Cult were still so eager to come again.
Such overt harassment made them extremely annoyed.
However, before Aoki arrived, these people from the Divine Cult seemed to have received some signal and left directly, very decisively, without any delay.
Aoki, riding on Salamence, looked at the dilapidated fields and buildings in the center of Sootopolis City, and the slowly returning residents with undisguised fear on their faces.
Even Aoki found the Divine Cult somewhat annoying, let alone Steven and others who had been in contact with them for over a month.
He could clearly feel the irritable emotions on them.
Although Steven and others could suppress such emotions with their abilities, it was not a good thing for them.
Aoki was not the only one who noticed this situation; Steven and several others also sensitively felt the fluctuations in their own mindsets.
But feeling it is one thing; being able to ignore it or not generate such emotions is another.
Constantly suppressing it until it finally erupts could very likely affect their judgment in battle.
Aoki knew this couldn't go on.
Although there might not be much threat at that time, those whose emotions were controlled would, to a certain extent, lose their rationality and their most basic judgment.
Just like these past few times, after learning that people from the Divine Cult had appeared, Steven and several others were clearly fighting them with a temper, wanting to get rid of these annoying things once and for all.
If the battle could truly vent their frustrations, it would be fine, but the Divine Cult people precisely chose to fight in these large cities, places where Steven and others were constrained.
And after provoking them a bit, they didn't linger in battle and quickly retreated.
This left Steven and several others feeling stuck in an awkward position.
When they returned with everyone, the atmosphere of the entire team was more or less still a bit suppressed. If Aoki hadn't displayed his super strength and used Mega Evolution to attract their attention last time, he would have noticed this situation much earlier.
What is the Divine Cult trying to do?
Provoke everyone's anger? What good does that do them?
Aoki stood on Salamence's back, silently pondering this question.
First, it can be confirmed that the Divine Cult is doing this with a purpose; it's certainly not just meaningless harassment. They are using this method to hide their true objective.
Secondly, enraging everyone is clearly not a good thing for their own safety. This suppressed anger will sooner or later be unleashed upon them, which is undoubtedly playing with fire.
Not to mention that people of Steven and others' status wouldn't be affected by the Divine Cult.
That's a one-sided view; as long as one is a complete human, they must have their seven emotions and six desires. Even Aoki, who considers himself calm, feels somewhat annoyed by the Divine Cult's actions, let alone Steven and others who have been tormented by them for over a month.
He had finally managed to make a trip to the Kanto region. Even if he couldn't stay long, he definitely had time to stay for a few days, to visit his teacher and his teacher's wife at Silver Mountain, and to exchange some materials he had collected from the Space-Time Continent that were useless to him for other materials at the headquarters of the Breeder's Guild.
But his well-laid plans were all disrupted by the appearance of the Divine Cult.
He believed he wasn't the only one whose plans were disrupted. Even if Steven and others initially had some growth plans, those plans should have been completely messed up by now. A part of their frustration was probably due to this.
Knowing that the Divine Cult could appear at any time, Steven and others needed to be constantly prepared, meaning they had no chance to do what they needed to do.
They could only wait at the League headquarters for the Divine Cult to reappear at all times.
"Waiting for the Divine Cult to appear?" Aoki murmured, narrowing his eyes.
Suddenly, Aoki felt as if he had grasped the key to the situation.
He patted Salamence's neck and came next to Drake's Salamence. Looking at Drake, who stood with his hands behind his back on Salamence's back with a solemn expression, Aoki directly used telepathy.
"Teacher, your mindset isn't very good," Aoki said bluntly.
At this moment, Drake had a serious expression that kept people at a distance, a typical 'do not disturb' look.
Combined with his cold and cool face left by years of sailing, most people probably wouldn't dare approach him, but Aoki had no such qualms.
Hearing Aoki's words, Drake frowned and looked at Aoki, wondering what he wanted to say.
Aoki continued, "Teacher, with your mental cultivation, you feel somewhat annoyed at this moment and just want to wait for the Divine Cult to reappear and seize the opportunity to teach them a lesson. What about others then?"
Drake's expression clearly froze.
As someone who had been in the position of an Elite Four member for decades and had now reached the Champion level, Drake was not a simple-minded person.
With Aoki's hint, he immediately understood.
Actually, it was also because Aoki had only had a few contacts with the Divine Cult and was not deeply affected by them. The saying 'a bystander sees clearly' applies here.
Whether it was Drake or others, how could they not think, having the strength they possessed now? It was just that they were influenced by preconceived notions.
Drake's expression returned to calm. After a moment of thought, he said, "Are you trying to say that the Divine Cult's plan isn't actually to invade all regions? Even if they are strong, they couldn't achieve that. They are doing this just to mislead people, and their actual goal is only one specific region.
But when they target this region, they don't want other regions to send reinforcements, so they are now attacking all regions, but retreating after one strike, disengaging upon contact, just to attract our attention and force us to relax our vigilance, affecting their true plan."
Aoki only hinted a little, and Drake grasped that point, delving deeper until he articulated a conjecture identical to Aoki's thoughts.
He nodded and said, "Confusing the public, disrupting everyone's judgment, and even affecting everyone's emotions, all just to wait for the final thunderous strike."
Certainly, many people would have thought of this; at least Aoki didn't think he would be the first, nor the last.
In fact, someone like Adams, who hadn't been affected by the battles, could still figure it out with careful thought.
"But even if we realize this, there's actually nothing we can do, because we still can't determine where the Divine Cult's objective truly lies. In the end, people from all regions can only look out for their own region.
It's likely that there are people who have thought of this, but they just don't have a solution, because everyone is worried that the Divine Cult's target is their own region, and any region could be the target.
Although the overall strength of the Divine Cult is not enough to stand against the Pokémon League, if they suddenly launch an attack, it will inevitably have unexpected effects.
Especially after more than a month of influence, habitually thinking it's just harassment, it's even more likely to succeed.
The Divine Cult is openly displaying their plan, making it difficult for us to break, because their mobility is far superior to ours!" Drake instantly understood all the key details.
As he said, even if they knew the Divine Cult's plan, they couldn't do anything.
Unless they could achieve the same high mobility, but how many people in the entire Pokémon League possessed such mobility?
Among those with high mobility, how many were strong enough to affect the entire situation?
They were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns.
But then, Drake saw a faint smile on Aoki's face, and he was momentarily stunned. Wasn't there such a prodigy right in front of him?
Not only was he incredibly strong, but he was also an extraordinary psychic, one of the best among psychics in terms of psychic power alone.
Immediately, Drake's face also broke into a smile, and he looked at Aoki, scolding playfully, "You little brat, you had it all figured out before you even told me, didn't you? And here I was, going through all that deduction."
"How could I? If I hadn't heard such a brilliant analysis from you, Teacher, I wouldn't have realized that I just happen to be able to counter their Divine Cult's plan," Aoki said with a smile.
But looking at his smile, Drake didn't believe his words at all.
However, the irritation in his heart was somewhat alleviated.
In Drake's perception as a teacher, this young fellow Aoki was no easy opponent. Seeing his confident demeanor now, Drake estimated that the next time the Divine Cult appeared, it probably wouldn't be so easy for them to escape unscathed.
From the looks of it, his disciple should be able to help him vent the anger in his heart.
So, sometimes, having a good disciple definitely brings great benefits!