To some extent, Axel felt that Giovanni was a rather charismatic person.
Although he wanted to rule the world, his own motives were mostly just to make money and find his son. He rarely entertained thoughts of destruction.
In one version, when Lance and the others had lost hope in the world and wanted to destroy it, Giovanni had even stepped in to resist them.
Back then, Axel had wondered what things would look like if he really helped Giovanni find his son.
So after finishing up matters with the Ultra Wormholes, he sent an order to Karen. (Pryce's adopted daughter, one of the Johto Elite Four. Mentioned before, no need to look it up.)
He had Karen help search for Giovanni's son, Silver.
Karen and Silver both came from Pryce's faction back then, so it should be easier to track him down.
Just as Axel expected, after only a few days, Karen sent him a message saying they might have found traces of Silver.
Now Axel was planning to head to the Indigo Plateau first to meet Karen and confirm whether the lead on Silver was real.
If it checked out, Axel would take that information and go find Giovanni.
"Woo!"
A whistle sounded as the S.S. Anne slowly docked.
Arriving in Kanto again, Axel couldn't help but feel a bit nostalgic.
The first time he left Aurient, it was to come here, and back then it was all for a Dragonite.
Who would've thought he'd end up going this far.
After all this time, Axel was no longer that rookie who had just stepped out into the world. His Dragonair had already become a child of the weather, a being with few equals at the same level.
Only the people of Kanto seemed unchanged. The moment he got off the ship, a red sports car was already parked not far from the harbor.
Leading the group, Gary stood there with a bunch of female companions, waving vigorously at Axel.
"Axel, over here!"
"Coming," Axel responded and quickly walked toward the red sports car.
Just like before, it was Gary and Axel in one car, while the companions followed in a business van behind them.
"Didn't expect you to still be this free, Gary. I saw Ash a few days ago, and he's already gone to Alola."
"Can't help it," Gary complained while driving.
"Green loves battling, he's basically never home. Sis Daisy prefers the Pokémon Coordinator path and only cares about studying pretty Pokémon."
"It was manageable before, but after Ash sent his Muk and Tauros to our place, Sis Daisy completely quit."
"With no other choice, I had to go down the researcher route. Look at my neck, I even got secretly kissed by a female Machamp yesterday..."
"Huh?", Axel shuddered and leaned closer to the car door.
"So you came out to pick me up because of that?"
"Of course not!", Gary didn't expect that after all this time, Axel would still have such a twisted sense of humor, and immediately got a bit tsundere.
"I came to pick you up because I was worried you wouldn't know the route, okay? I, Gary Oak, have been to the Indigo Plateau twice. Taking you there saves you a lot of trouble."
"The fact that I saw you were back in Kanto on my social feed, that's your good luck!"
"Alright, I'll take it. That's decent of you," After not seeing him for so long, Axel found the way Gary spoke oddly comforting, not annoying at all.
The two chatted on and off. Before long, they passed through a long, narrow tunnel and entered the sacred ground of the Kanto region—the Indigo Plateau.
A vast complex of buildings stood majestically atop the plateau, like quartz sandstone peaks weathered by a thousand years, giving off a sense of overwhelming grandeur.
The exterior of the buildings had a crystalline texture like quartz, refracting dazzling light under the sun.
"Axel, impressive, right?"
"Yeah," Axel nodded. As one of the strongest Leagues in the world, the Indigo Plateau truly was spectacular.
Of course, that might also have something to do with both the Kanto League and the Johto League operating here.
Gary's companions were already waiting at the entrance. Since there wasn't a Silver Conference being held right now, ordinary people weren't allowed inside.
Gary explained, "Right now I'm here as a League researcher, so my car can go about one-third of the way. After that, for the remaining two-thirds, we'll have to walk."
Axel tapped on Rotom and shook his head with a smile, "It's fine. Just keep driving in. No one should stop you."
"How is that possible? Driving further in is something only the eight Gym Leaders can do, or top-tier researchers."
"My current status isn't enough. We shouldn't rely on family ba—uh, no, we shouldn't rely on grandpa..."
Halfway through his sentence, Gary suddenly saw a red Gyarados streak across the sky and couldn't help but shout in surprise.
"Damn, why isn't Mr. Lance out cracking down on Team Rocket today? You saw his dragon, right?"
Axel nodded lightly, "Yeah. It's here to pick us up. Get out of the car."
"Huh?"
Before Gary could react, Axel pulled him out of the car. He stood there in a daze, watching as the Gyarados descended from the sky.
"Mr. Axel, we've finally been waiting for you," Lance forced a slight smile onto his usually stern face. Perhaps because he didn't smile often, it looked a bit unnatural.
"Karen already told me. You're looking for someone's whereabouts. During this time, we've mobilized nearly all the forces of the Johto League, and now we've narrowed it down to a few very small areas."
"Because we need constant monitoring, she hasn't left her room for several days, so she asked me to come pick you up."
Hearing those names in succession, along with Lance's polite tone, Gary at the side was completely stunned.
Before, when he saw reports about Axel's deeds, he hadn't felt much. But seeing it in person today, he finally understood just how big the gap between them had become.
In just two years since graduating, he had already become a fairly well-known researcher in Kanto. While studying Ash and Pikachu, he had even systematically developed the field of Bond Phenomenology.
Even when he saw Eva become a professor, he didn't think much of it, just felt she was a step ahead.
But today, Gary realized that the gap between him and Axel had already grown this wide.
Because of one matter, an Elite Four member could go days without sleep, not even daring to leave her room for fear of delaying things.
And upon entering the League, he was personally greeted by the Champion riding a red Gyarados.
This was treatment only his grandfather, the League's first Champion, ever received.
"Karen's working that hard?", Axel was also a bit surprised. He had only asked Karen to look for clues. He hadn't expected it to be this difficult, to the point of going days without rest.
'Looks like Mewtwo's method of brainwashing might have been simple and rough, but it is still very effective.'
Once they found Silver, maybe he could have Karen head to the Ultra Wormhole to help train the Guzzlord?
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