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

Chapter 188 Sakaki's Bet, Arceus's Contract!
While Lorelei was heading to Cerulean City to find Ash, she also notified another Elite Four member, Agatha, to come to Viridian City and stay there to keep an eye on when Giovanni would return.

After she returned, Kikuko did not leave, but chose to stay and continue to monitor Sakaki with Kona.

With Ash's arrival, Giovanni's hidden conspiracy may be revealed, and Lorelei alone may not be able to protect Ash.

On the surface, Sakaki is the champion, but no one knows how strong he really is.

After all, he is actually the leader of the Rockets, so how could he possibly reveal his true strength?
There are also differences between champion trainers. A top-tier champion can easily defeat six beginner champions. Powerful champion trainers will have multiple top-tier champion Pokémon. Such individuals can be considered champions among champions. The most typical example is Leon...

Therefore, in order to prevent Giovanni's outburst, Kikuko did not choose to leave after Kelena returned, but instead chose to monitor Giovanni with Kelena.

Through the camera, Akiko concluded that Giovanni wanted to recruit Satoshi.

He knew Giovanni all too well. How could someone like that be so calm and collected towards a kid? It was only because Ash was so talented that he still held onto that almost impossible expectation, which was why he was so indifferent and appreciative towards Ash.

"Gibbon wants to recruit Ash? Ash will never join Team Rocket. Given his love for Pokémon, he'd only join if Team Rocket changed its name to a charity team and started doing charity work every day." Lorelei naturally scoffed at Giovanni's idea.

After spending a week with Ash, she knew how fiercely evil-loving that boy was. Just the despicable things Team Rocket had done made it clear that Ash could never join that organization; Giovanni was just dreaming.

"Hehe, Giovanni doesn't know that little guy that well... But you, these past few days with that boy, you seem to have developed a strong interest in him." Kikuko said, glancing slightly at Kona.

Kona said noncommittally, "If you spend some time with him, you'll also have a different opinion of him. Outsiders may think he's exceptionally talented, and that might be part of it, but I think it's mostly because he's hardworking."

“Every morning around 6:30, he trains with his Pokémon—yes, together! He does the same training as his Pokémon. This not only increases the Pokémon’s enthusiasm but also greatly strengthens the bond between him and his Pokémon.”

"Many people can probably think of this kind of thing, it's the most basic thing, but there are very few people who can stick to it, or even get up early. This small thing alone is enough to make me feel his dedication to the profession of trainer. People like this will succeed no matter what they do."

Lorelei's words showed extreme admiration for Ash, revealing that the time she spent traveling with Ash had truly won her over.

Ash may not be as strong as top trainers right now, but his training methods and attitude towards Pokémon will allow him to grow rapidly in a short period of time and become a top trainer sooner or later.

"Oh? Now that you mention it, it's piqued my interest. I'd like to meet him if I have the chance, but I wonder if he's really as capable as you say, able to withstand Sakaki's sweet talk." Kikuko said, her slightly cloudy eyes fixed on the monitor screen. The two sides were now on the battlefield…

……

"What do you mean by half Gym Leader and half Team Rocket Leader?" Ash asked, his expression slightly serious.

"It means exactly what it says. This time, we'll have a two-on-two battle. You can choose the level of one of your Pokémon, which is a privilege reserved for challenging a gym. I will decide the other Pokémon myself, which is the choice of the Team Rocket leader. If you win, I will give you the Leaf Badge with both hands, and I will also dismiss 50% of Team Rocket."

Everyone:! ! !
The Leaf Badge is the emblem of the Viridian Gym. Giovanni said he would present the Leaf Badge after his defeat, but no one really thought much of it. As the gym leader, of course you should give out the Leaf Badge after losing!

But after hearing Sakaki's second sentence, everyone was shocked. A deep sense of shock spread across their faces, and disbelief was on everyone's face.

A single match can determine 50% of the size of a global organization—what an insane gamble!
"So what's the price?" After the initial shock, Xiao Mao quickly calmed down. No one present was calmer than him, after all, he had almost been traumatized by the beating!

The reason was simply because he made a casual remark, and the other party immediately released a monster-like Pokémon from a normal difficulty level battle.

Shigeru knew all too well how vindictive this guy was, so when he offered such generous terms on the surface—that he would disband half of his organization if they lost the battle—regardless of whether it was true or not, since Sakaki had said such a thing, he must have put forward some other conditions.

Even if it's all a lie, it should at least be made to look real to deceive people, right? Given Sakaki's personality, how could he possibly just hand over such generous terms so easily?
"As expected of Daiki's grandson, he is indeed clever."

Xiaomao:......

Are you fucking praising me? This sounds like you're insulting my grandson!

"Of course I can't just make such a condition for nothing, Ash. You'll have to pay an equal price." Giovanni said, casting his ambitious gaze at Ash.

Ash ignored the other person's chilling gaze and said, "You want me to pay the same price? What price could I possibly pay? You don't think I'm like you, able to disband half the League with a single word, do you?"

"No, no, no, my condition is very simple, which is... you, sincerely join the Rockets and play for our Rockets. As long as you agree to this bet, then my bet will definitely take effect."

Will he truly work for the Rockets? Sakaki's conditions surprised everyone present.

What does this mean? Is Ash Ketchum worth half of Team Rocket? Does Giovanni really think he's that valuable?

After a moment's thought, Ash nodded and said, "Since it's something I can do, then of course I have no problem with it. But can such a promise really be effective? If you lose, you might not disband half of Team Rocket. If I lose, I might not... no, I should say I'm unlikely to sincerely join Team Rocket. You should know this better than anyone else."

He agreed, but whether he could actually keep his promise was another matter entirely. He wasn't a rigid person; he didn't necessarily have to do what he promised, especially since it was to Team Rocket. He could go back on his word a thousand times over. "Hehe, you don't need to worry about that. What I just said proves the contract is valid." Giovanni said, pulling out a scroll-like object from somewhere. He casually tossed the scroll into the sky, whereupon it instantly shattered into countless fragments and vanished into thin air.

Ash and the others were completely bewildered. What was that thing just now? They didn't even have time to react before it disappeared. Was that Giovanni's secret weapon?
However, the next second, a powerful beam of light descended from the ceiling, enveloping the entire battlefield. Ash, Pikachu, and Togepi felt a suction force pulling them into the beam.

Ash stomped his feet hard on the gym floor, leaving deep footprints, while holding Pikachu tightly: "What's going on, Giovanni, what are you doing?!"

This time, Ash didn't even call out to Mr. Giovanni. This situation was beyond Ash's expectations. Even with his Aura, he couldn't resist this suction force at all.

Even though his legs had created two deep craters in the ground, it couldn't stop him from being pulled along.

Xiaoxia couldn't hold onto Togepi at all, and in the end, Togepi entered the golden light shield first.

Seeing this, Ash's expression hardened, and he immediately released all resistance. His entire body and Pikachu flew out together and were sucked into the golden light shield.

He picked up Togepi, looked around, and only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Togepi's completely bewildered and happy smile.

It seems that Togepi was not hurt or frightened. This little guy is usually well protected and has never had any fighting or training. He was really afraid that the fall just now would have broken her eggshell.

After Xiaoxia, Xiaogang, and Xiaomao realized what was happening, they rushed over. However, unlike Xiaozhi, they couldn't get in through the barrier at all. No matter how much they knocked on it, the barrier didn't react at all.

Beside it, Pikachu stared at the golden light shield at the edge of the arena, then burst forth with pure golden lightning. The lightning struck the shield, but it didn't even cause a ripple.

"Such a strong shield... What exactly is this thing?" Ash turned his gaze to Giovanni, as only Giovanni could answer his question at the moment.

"Hehe, the thing I just threw into the sky is called—the Contract of Arceus. As the initiator and rule setter, I have the right to determine the stakes between the two parties. Although the contract will also determine whether the stakes are too different, which may cause the contract to fail, it seems that the price I paid was high enough."

Sakaki's cheerful words left everyone puzzled. Arceus's contract... what was that? They had never heard of it before.

……

"Arceus's Contract, Grandma Agatha, have you heard of it?" Lorelei's expression turned very serious when she saw what was happening on the camera. She had a feeling that Ash had been tricked...

As for that so-called contract, she had never heard of it. She did know about Arceus, though, since it was the oldest legend in the elven world, and how many people wouldn't know it?
But what about contracts?

"The Contract of Arceus... Did that guy Giovanni actually get that legendary thing?" Kikuko's already wrinkled face became even more unsightly, clearly the scene in the video was beyond Kikuko's expectations.

With the two of them in charge, no matter how many rules Giovanni sets, he can't do anything fancy. If Ash wins, that's fine, but if Ash loses, the two of them will naturally step in to stop Giovanni's actions. That's called a just violation of the rules.

But what Sakaki took out was something Juju hadn't expected. She had only heard of that kind of thing before. Where did Sakaki get it?
"Grandma Kikuko, do you know her?"

“I know… the contract with Arceus, just as the name suggests, is a contract made by the legendary creator god Arceus. Once the contract is established, it cannot be violated or changed unless one has power close to Arceus.”

"Now Giovanni has essentially made a battle contract with Ash. No one outside can interfere until their battle ends. And once the winner is decided inside, the contract will take effect. Whoever wins will get the conditions promised by the other party, even if the other party is unwilling. With Arceus's power, controlling mind and body is incredibly easy."

Kikuko's words made Kona's face grow even uglier. How did Giovanni get this thing? Just from Kikuko's brief description, it's clear that this thing is a monstrous item!
It's fortunate that Giovanni set a relatively reasonable battle condition. If Giovanni had been a bit cunning and proposed a six-on-six battle between champions, and Ash had accepted it without knowing the truth, then everything would have been over.

"Is there no way to break this thing? For example, by forcibly breaking it from the outside?"

"Yes, but only if you have power at the God Realm level or above. Do you have it?" Kikuko's words instantly extinguished the glimmer of hope that Kona had just begun to have.

God-level power... She has one! If she had a god-level Pokémon, she would be the strongest trainer in the world!

"Then now..."

"Now we can only pray that Ash can win. Giovanni's conditions are not entirely hopeless. Ash just needs to let Giovanni bring out a weaker Pokémon first, and then defeat it at will. The remaining one can be defeated by taking turns using two Pokémon."

Even knowing that Ash had fallen into a trap, Agatha didn't panic. Judging from Ash's previous battle with Lorelei, Ash's ace Pokémon should at least have the power of a Champion. Although it requires some special means to activate, it is the power that belongs to Ash's Pokémon.

So if Ash can easily defeat one of the opponent's Pokémon first, and then let the two Pokémon work together to wear down the remaining one, there is still hope of winning.

Upon hearing this, Lorelei could only silently pray for Ash in her heart. Who would have thought that even with two champions monitoring Giovanni here, Giovanni would still find a loophole.

(End of this chapter)