Pokémon: Simultaneous time travel, this Ash is too versatile!

Chapter 186 Lorelei's Showdown, Poor Gary, and the Horror of Mewtwo!
Kona's words shocked Xiaoxia and Xiaogang. They were shocked by the League's advanced technology and by the meaning behind Kona's words.

Lorelei was monitoring Ash and Giovanni's battle, so they certainly didn't think she wanted information about Ash or Giovanni.

Isn't this obviously an attempt to monitor Giovanni? Recalling what Knox said a week ago—that he stayed in Tokiwa City to monitor someone—both of them suddenly felt a chill run down their spines.

Why is Lorelei monitoring Giovanni? What's wrong with the strongest gym leader in the league?

Xiao Zhi stared at the pinhole camera lying quietly in his hand, and fell silent for a moment.

Is Kona just revealing his hand directly? Openly telling him Giovanni's true identity, why is the previously tacit balance being broken now? Is something going on between the league and the Rockets?
Ash's intuition tells him that the changes between the League and Team Rocket are likely related to Blaine.

However, none of that is important right now. What's important is that he challenges the Viridian Gym, defeats it, gets his last badge, and also checks if there's any trace of Mewtwo inside the Viridian Gym.

"Now that things have come to this, I'm not afraid to tell you. Giovanni, the Gym Leader of Viridian City, is the leader of Team Rocket, and he's already got his eye on Ash. The best solution is for Ash not to challenge the Viridian City Gym, but I've already heard about your situation from Professor Oak. You absolutely have to challenge the Viridian City Gym, so you absolutely must keep this with you, just in case."

“Sakaki’s strength has reached the champion level. Although I don’t think he would bully the weak, you still have to be careful. If anything goes wrong, I will come over immediately.”

At this moment, Kona's expression was no longer as gentle as usual, but had become extremely serious. Her beautiful face was filled with solemnity, as if to say—this is no joke.

After learning that Giovanni was the leader of Team Rocket, both Xiaogang and Xiaoxia were completely stunned. Xiaoxia's pupils dilated, while Xiaogang, who had no pupils, showed the extent of his shock through the distorted expression on his face.

For the two gym leaders, Giovanni's true identity was like a bolt from the blue, since who among the gym leaders in Kanto didn't know Giovanni's reputation?
Giovanni's strength is something that all the Gym Leaders in Kanto are proud of. How many regions outside of Kanto have a Champion-level Gym Leader? At most, there's only one each in the Johto and Galar regions.

So when they learned that Giovanni, the gym leader, was actually a member of Team Rocket, the two of them were devastated.

Lorelei, meanwhile, was observing Ash's expression the whole time. After she revealed that Giovanni was the leader of Team Rocket, Ash's expression didn't change at all. Did Ash already know that all along?

"Professor Oak hinted at it to me, but I didn't really want to believe it. However, since you, Lorelei, said it yourself, it must be true." Ash seemed to notice Lorelei's thoughts and took the initiative to explain to her.

He then attached the camera to his collar, straightened his hat, and said with a smile, "Is this alright, Miss Kona? If there are no problems, I'll head over."

"Oh? Even knowing that Giovanni is the leader of Team Rocket and is targeting you, you still choose to challenge the gym?" Lorelei narrowed her beautiful eyes slightly and asked with interest.

"Yeah, Ash, we should think about challenging the Viridian Gym more carefully. They're the leader of Team Rocket, and they seem to have ulterior motives towards you. It would be too dangerous to go there now!" Misty said, hugging Togepi with a worried look on her face.

Brock nodded in agreement, saying, "You're right, Ash. How about we take it slow and find a gym to check out first? I admit you're very strong, but facing Giovanni might still be a bit of a stretch..."

What Xiaogang said was actually quite euphemistic. With Xiaozhi's current strength, the difference between him and Giovanni is not just a little bit, but the difference between a firefly and a bright moon!

The champion and the Elite Four are on completely different levels. Ash is already having a hard time dealing with even the peak Elite Four members, so if he were to face the champion... there would be almost no chance of victory.

Ash didn't say anything, but instead had Pikachu jump onto his shoulder, striking a pose of being fully prepared: "Whether we can win or not, we'll only know after we fight. Besides, if we're blessed by the god of victory this time, like we were in our previous battle against Mr. Kikko, then we'll win, won't we?"

Xiaoxia and the others: ...

Favored by the god of victory? You make it sound so easy, do you really think the god of victory is your spirit?
I was lucky enough to have my power amplified by Victini once before, how could I possibly have that chance again this time!
After a moment of stunned silence, Lorelei suddenly realized that Ash's words were not so much about hoping for Victini's favor, but rather that his methods back then were not Victini's favor at all, but rather his own methods.

The reason we're saying this now is essentially to give them a heads-up.

Of course, this might be an overreaction on her part, but based on her observations of Ash over this period of time, although this boy possesses all the characteristics of a young man—impulsiveness, passion, love for Pokémon, and sometimes acting without thinking—he is never ambiguous when it comes to important matters.

In matters involving the safety of himself, his friends, and his Pokémon, would Ash really place his hopes on the legendary God of Victory?

She can't answer that question now, but perhaps she will find out soon.

"Alright, since you believe in the God of Victory so much, why don't you give it a try? But even if the God of Victory doesn't favor you, the Ice King will!" Lorelei winked mischievously, making a joke that didn't fit her personality or appearance at all.

Ash was stunned by Lorelei's close blinking, and the light fragrance wafted over, making him feel more alert.

He quickly realized what Kona meant—even if Victini didn't appear, there was still her.

As fellow champion-level trainers, Lorelei doesn't think she's much worse than Giovanni.

"Then thank you in advance for the Snow Queen's help. Brock, Misty, let's go!" Ash said, taking the lead and heading towards the Viridian Gym.

Xiaoxia and Xiaogang looked at each other for a moment, and finally had no choice but to follow.

What can you say when Ash has chosen his own teammate? Anyway, with Lorelei as a backup, he can just let Ash go.

……

Twenty minutes later, at the entrance of the Viridian Gym, Ash and his friends learned from the gatekeeper that someone had already gone ahead to challenge the Viridian Gym.

However, it shouldn't take too long; the winner should be decided in ten minutes at most.

Ash and his friends simply stood at the door and waited for a while. A few minutes later, the Poké Ball on Ash's waist suddenly shook, and he received a message in his mind—Mewtwo was inside.

This was the message Gardevoir sent him, and he was caught completely off guard by it.

Gardevoir possesses Mewtwo's spiritual essence. If Gardevoir emerges from its Poké Ball and Mewtwo is within a 50-mile radius, Gardevoir can be sensed. Therefore, Ash never released Gardevoir again after entering Viridian Forest, precisely to avoid accidentally revealing it and arousing Giovanni and Mewtwo's suspicion.

Surprisingly, even through the Poké Ball, Gardevoir was still able to sense Mewtwo. It's just unknown whether Mewtwo can sense Gardevoir...

'You said you sensed Mewtwo, so did Mewtwo sense you too?'

"Probably not. The reason I knew Mewtwo was inside was because the energy fluctuations emanating from it triggered a reaction in my spiritual essence, but the reaction wasn't strong, and I've already suppressed it."

Ash breathed a sigh of relief when he learned that Mewtwo wouldn't sense Gardevoir's presence in return.

He wasn't afraid of Mewtwo, but if Mewtwo sensed him, it would indeed cause a lot of trouble.

"That's strange. When I first arrived at the Viridian Dojo, why was there no movement in your spiritual essence? The distance between me and the dojo hasn't changed. Logically, if you were perceptive, you should have sensed it from the beginning."

Ash suddenly felt something was wrong. If Gardevoir's spiritual essence was reacting to Mewtwo, it should have reacted as soon as he arrived at the Viridian Gym. What did it mean that it took several minutes for it to react?
"Well... I'm not entirely sure either. Perhaps Mewtwo wasn't mobilizing its energy before, but now it's mobilized its power, entering battle mode, which is why it caused this disturbance in its spiritual essence."

Gardevoir was also unsure of the situation and could only offer her own speculation.

If her guess is correct, then it means that Giovanni used Mewtwo to deal with the challenger who had just arrived.
Thinking of this, Ash's face showed an extremely strange expression. Which unlucky guy would let Giovanni use Mewtwo in the battle? Was the opponent too strong, or did that guy offend Giovanni?

Thinking of this, Ash activated his Aura and probed inside. The next second, his expression changed drastically.

"I want to go in!!!" Xiao Zhi shouted at the two guards, his expression changing drastically.

The gatekeeper, shrouded in a metal helmet, shook his head at Xiaozhi without saying a word, the meaning clear: no entry.

Only one group of challengers can enter at a time. Those who are in the same group are considered as one group. If they do not enter together at the beginning, they will have to wait until the challenge ends before they can enter as the next group of challengers.

This has always been the rule at Viridian City Gym, and it's not directed at Ash.

But Ash couldn't care less about that now. During the waveguide detection just now, in addition to detecting an extremely powerful waveguide, he also detected a very familiar waveguide, which belonged to Gary!
In other words, the challenger inside is Gary, and he is very likely to face Mewtwo.

How could he not be anxious? So even though he knew it was the rule of the Viridian Gym, Ash couldn't stand it.

Faced with the guards' refusal, Xiao Zhi moved swiftly and appeared directly behind the two guards. The two guards, who were standing upright in metal armor and helmets, suddenly swayed and fell to the ground at the top of the stairs.

"Xiao Zhi, what's going on here..." Xiao Gang was a little confused by Xiao Zhi's actions. Why was he in such a hurry?
Even when challenging a gym, Ash has never been in such a hurry, let alone when there are other people challenging him inside. If he were in a hurry to go in, he wouldn't be able to battle Giovanni.

He even knocked out two security guards, and this was the first time Xiaogang and Xiaoxia had ever seen Xiaozhi so out of control.

"Shigeru is inside, and he's fighting Mewtwo. Let's go in quickly." Ash didn't have time to explain much; he summed up the situation inside and the reason for his anxiety in just one sentence.

Upon hearing this, Xiaoxia and Xiaogang's expressions changed drastically, and they immediately followed Xiaozhi into the Viridian Gym.

……

Inside the Viridian Gym, Gary was kneeling on the ground, with Blastoise, Arcanine, and Nidoqueen all lying around him, and his cheerleading girlfriends all unconscious. He was the only one who was conscious.

At this moment, Xiao Mao's eyes were filled with terror, and his body was trembling uncontrollably as he knelt on the ground.

That elf...it's a monster!!
No matter what kind of king or champion, their pressure is nothing compared to that Pokémon. Even though that Pokémon is just standing in front of him, without exuding any aura, it still makes him feel a chill down his spine.

He originally wanted to come to the Viridian Gym to challenge it first, partly to help Ash test the waters, and partly because Ash had already defeated three of the four Kanto Gyms, so he wanted to see if he could take down one of them.

Although the Viridian Gym is the strongest gym, it also has elite-level challenge options.

Shigeru chose this option and easily defeated the opponent's two Pokémon. With the cheers of the cheerleaders, he became a little arrogant, believing that, apart from the Pokémon, his trainer skills were no weaker than those of the Elite Four champions.

If given a Pokémon of the same level, he would have a very high chance of winning even against a Champion!
He then made a couple of sarcastic remarks, and the opponent sent out their third Pokémon, the one currently on the field, which was covered in machines from head to toe.

According to Giovanni, although this Pokémon is of a high level, its strength is suppressed by the machine, and its level does not exceed that of an elite.

Then... he was easily defeated by the opponent in a clean sweep of three, and the Pokémon that Giovanni called no more than elite level didn't even move a single step or raise an arm.

You call this "not exceeding the elite level"? Even the Heavenly King level doesn't have this much pressure!
What on earth is this elf? He has no memory of elves with this appearance!
"The grandson of Oak... Heh, he doesn't have his strength, but he does have his arrogance. That old bastard Oak threatened me a while ago, so I'll show him the price of threatening me. Mewtwo, lock that kid's mind."

Mewtwo... Where have I heard that name before?

Xiao Mao subconsciously thought about it, and then he saw the elf in front of him raise its palm, and a visible blue light rushed towards him!

If he were hit, he would definitely not have a good ending, but he had no means of resistance at the moment, so he could only put his hands in front of him and subconsciously close his eyes.

"boom!!"

(End of this chapter)