Twenty years ago, Crown City had only been a town.
Now, however, it had grown into a true metropolis. Surveillance cameras and modern monitoring systems lined the streets everywhere. For Kodai to obtain the Time Ripple without being noticed would be extremely difficult.
So Kodai had devised a plan.
He used the names of Suicune, Entei, and Raikou to participate in the Pokémon World Cup, which allowed him to enter Crown City openly. At the same time, he secretly arranged three-dimensional phantom devices throughout the city.
Then, by using Zoroark's illusion ability, he would have it mimic the three Legendary Beasts and cause chaos in Crown City. The citizens would be deceived into thinking the Legendary Beasts were rampaging and would flee the city in panic.
Once Crown City was empty, Kodai would be able to obtain the Time Ripple without anyone interfering.
Gary wasn't sure exactly how he should act.
Kodai could see the future. If Gary moved too early, it would definitely affect the future Kodai saw. It was possible Kodai would spot Gary in his visions and act in advance to eliminate him before anything started.
Still, Gary wasn't afraid of Kodai.
Although Kodai was wealthy, he wasn't strong in battle himself. The bodyguards he hired were only around Quasi-Elite level.
This was mainly because Kodai had built a positive public image for himself. The things he planned to do this time needed to stay secret, so only people absolutely loyal to him could be allowed to know what he was really doing in Crown City.
However, Kodai could still spend money to deal with Gary. There were plenty of Elite-level Trainers who refused to join the League and instead lingered along the edge of the law, doing illegal jobs for more profit.
"Since I'm here, I'll just take things as they come."
Gary wasn't in a hurry. He remembered the Time Ripple was located in a garden somewhere in the city, so finding it later wouldn't be difficult.
But before going to Crown City, Gary first needed to visit a nearby town called Silvercrown Town.
Silvercrown Town was said to have been built twenty years ago by residents who had moved away from Crown City after the disaster. The town also had a Gym.
That Gym had originally been located in Crown City, but after the disaster twenty years ago, it relocated to Silvercrown Town and had never moved back since.
Two hours later, Garchomp crossed above the sea of clouds. Through the gaps in the clouds, Gary spotted the town below.
That was Silvercrown Town.
Garchomp lowered its body and descended toward the town, landing near the Pokémon Center.
Gary entered the Pokémon Center and handed Garchomp over to Nurse Joy for treatment. Just as he was about to leave, he noticed a television hanging in the lobby, broadcasting a Pokémon football match.
Pokémon football was a fairly popular competitive sport in the Pokémon world, second only to Pokémon battles.
The ball used in the sport was also called a football basket. Each match featured two teams, with three Pokémon per team. The two sides competed to send the football basket into the opponent's triangular goal cage. Each successful goal earned one point, and the team with the higher score won.
Because Pokémon football had been invented by Kodai, and because Kodai was a native of the Sinnoh Region, the sport was especially popular in Sinnoh.
"It's quite interesting."
Gary watched for a while. The game did look entertaining, but he wasn't all that interested, so he left after a short time.
When he reached the open public space outside the Pokémon Center, there was no one nearby.
Gary took out a Poké Ball and released a Pokémon.
Flash!
[Lv.63 Rhyperior / Champion-tier]
"Rhy?"
Rhyperior looked around the empty area. Seeing that none of its companions were nearby, it suddenly grew nervous and stared at Gary with wide eyes.
Rhyperior was one of the first Pokémon Gary had caught in Sinnoh. It understood very well that whenever Gary released a Pokémon alone like this, it usually meant that Pokémon was about to be strengthened.
"Stop staring. I just want to strengthen you," Gary said.
"Rhy..."
Hearing this, Rhyperior immediately came over and waited obediently for Gary to begin.
After completing the mission to capture the Lake Trio, Gary had decided to strengthen one of his Sinnoh Pokémon.
The main goal was to expand and enhance that Pokémon's Abilities.
Among the Sinnoh Pokémon Gary had caught, Rhyperior was the most suitable candidate for the Ability Expansion Stone.
Gary checked Rhyperior's data.
According to his original plan, he had intended to wait for an Ability Capsule and change Rhyperior's Ability to Solid Rock. But now, with the Ability Expansion Stone, he could directly unlock Rhyperior's remaining two Abilities.
"System, use the Ability Expansion Stone on Rhyperior," Gary said silently.
[Ding! Ability Expansion Stone successfully used.]
Gary checked Rhyperior's latest data.
[Pokémon: Rhyperior ♂]
[Type: Ground / Rock]
[Level: 63]
[Potential: Champion-tier]
[Ability 1: Lightning Rod (Draws Electric-type moves to itself. It takes no damage and raises Special Attack instead.)]
[Ability 2: Solid Rock (Reduces damage taken from super-effective attacks by one quarter.)]
[Ability 3: Reckless (Increases the power of recoil moves by 20%.)]
[Moves: Tackle, Bulldoze, Smack Down, Horn Attack, Stomp, Stone Edge, Drill Run, Take Down, Hammer Arm, Earthquake, Dig, Horn Drill, Megahorn, Double-Edge, Hidden Power]
[Teachable Moves: Thunderbolt, Stone Edge, Mega Kick, Dynamic Punch, Rest, Body Slam, Shadow Claw, Iron Tail, Ice Punch, Dragon Pulse, Rock Slide, Power-Up Punch, Thunder Punch, Outrage, Endeavor, Protect, Earthquake, Stealth Rock, Swords Dance, Rain Dance, Ice Beam]
[Friendship: 255 / 255]
Rhyperior now had two additional Abilities, for a total of three.
The most useless of the three was Reckless.
This was because Rhyperior currently only knew Take Down and Double-Edge as recoil moves. Both were Normal-type, so they received no STAB bonus and had no type advantage against any Pokémon. Even with Reckless boosting their power, the moves remained largely useless.
Lightning Rod wasn't very useful in battle either, but it had great value in daily life. Normally, Rhyperior used it to help Electivire by attracting lightning, allowing Electivire to charge its body.
Among the three Abilities, only Solid Rock was truly worth enhancing. As for the other two, it was better to leave them alone.
There might be some unexpected surprise after enhancement, but Gary wasn't willing to gamble on it.
Lightning Rod's enhancement would obviously just improve its ability to absorb Electric-type moves—raising Special Attack further, strengthening Electric-type skill power, or perhaps adding a temporary Speed boost that would fade afterward.
But in future battles, any Trainer capable of fighting Gary would never foolishly use Electric-type attacks against Rhyperior.
As for Reckless, at most it would increase the power of recoil moves. But Rhyperior knew far too few recoil attacks, so enhancing it definitely wasn't worth the cost.