"Agatha, this is Marshal. I am one of the Unova League Elites, and I will be in charge of this matter moving forward."
"Is it war or peace?"
Agatha's voice came through the line, her tone exceptionally domineering. In reality, the Kanto League truly possessed the confidence to back up such an attitude.
"Please understand, our Unova League is an entity that longs for peace. Furthermore, this operation was strictly Chambers' personal action; it does not represent the intentions of the Unova League."
"Humph!"
"No matter how eloquently you put it, the incident has already occurred. Any explanation seems hollow now."
"Indeed, I am aware that our Unova League handled this matter inadequately. Therefore, please state clearly what compensation you desire."
Sighing inwardly, Marshal finally steered the conversation toward the issue of reparations.
He had no choice. Compared to the Kanto League, which held the initiative, the Unova League was undoubtedly the passive party. Furthermore, the longer the situation dragged on, the more disadvantageous it would be for Unova. Consequently, Marshal preferred to pay a price to settle the matter quickly.
"Ten years of the Unova League's Mega Stone exchange quota, and all resources required for one hundred Champion Rank trainers for one year. One hundred..."
Agatha's voice rang out as she directly presented a list to Marshal.
"Impossible! We can provide at most half of that!"
Without a second thought, Marshal immediately cut the demand in half.
What Marshal did not know was that on the other side of the phone, a smile played across Elite Agatha's lips.
An old hand like Agatha understood that no matter what compensation she proposed, the Unova League would find ways to reduce it. The final amount would merely be the result of mutual haggling. However, by opening with a lion's share demand, even if the Unova League reduced the compensation, it would still exceed Agatha's initial goal from the start.
Thus, Agatha and Marshal began to haggle over the phone.
Ultimately, by leveraging her initiative and the pressure of passing time, she forced Marshal to relent. After consulting with others, Marshal agreed to pay the Kanto League 70% of the compensation amount Agatha had demanded.
To prevent the Unova League from reneging, Agatha waited until all payments were transferred or specific contracts were signed before she finally relented.
Soon, the full details of the incident were made public.
Unfortunately, the facts were clear. Even with the Kanto League cooperating with the Unova League to sugarcoat the situation, Chambers' actions could not be erased. In the end, all the blame was pushed onto Chambers, after which they sought ways to minimize the negative impact on the Unova League.
Regardless, it was foreseeable that after the Regional Battle Tournament and this attack, the Unova League would not be able to escape these negative repercussions anytime soon.
"Stay with me tomorrow. I feel this matter isn't as simple as it seems. We didn't get any useful information from Chambers' interrogation either."
"I just feel there is more to this. No matter how reckless Chambers is, he should know what kind of treatment he would receive if he made a move against you."
"But one thing is certain: the mastermind behind this isn't the Unova League. Those people aren't stupid enough to go that far."
After returning to the hotel, Dar called Gu Yuan to his room to discuss the situation.
It should still be those people. To make Chambers suddenly lose his sanity, it's likely a Psychic or a Psychic-type Pokémon was involved.
Combined with the fact that his team was wiped out, Chambers suffered a heavy amount of punishment. With his psychological state being unbalanced, it would be easy for a Psychic to find an opening. After all, the power of Hypnosis is very strong.
Gu Yuan soon figured out the likely cause and offered his thoughts.
"You're right. Adding in that Ghost-type trainer who attacked you before, you've been targeted by the two most difficult types of trainers to defend against. Furthermore, each of them is stronger than you."
"Fortunately, you still have that Elite Rank Gengar given to you by Elite Agatha. Otherwise, they wouldn't have bothered 'borrowing a knife' to kill you; they would have just attacked directly."
Dar nodded, agreeing with Gu Yuan's assessment.
However, based on the information he had previously obtained, Gu Yuan had even more conjectures.
This operation proved that more families were moving against him. Since they could dispatch an Elite Rank Psychic, it was highly probable that the perpetrators were the three top-tier families or companies. In this situation, Gu Yuan was unsure if the Fukuda family would continue to cooperate with him in secret as they had before.
If the Fukuda family also abandoned the cooperation, his situation would indeed be extremely precarious.
"Alright, you don't need to worry too much. I will protect you well from now on."
"Unless they dare to send a Champion Rank trainer, I will surely ensure your safety!"
Seeing Gu Yuan remain silent, Dar thought he was worried about the assassination and immediately gave him a guarantee.
"Yes, then I will be in your care."
"It's nothing; this is what I should be doing."
"Alright, you've worked hard for a long time. Go back and get some rest."
"Yes, sir."
Turning left out the door, Gu Yuan returned to his own room.
This was an arrangement Dar had made intentionally after the assassination attempt ended to prevent Gu Yuan from meeting with an accident. Although he had Dar's guarantee, Gu Yuan could not be completely at ease. If those people truly wanted to act, even if they couldn't send a Champion Rank trainer to tie up Dar's energy, they could find ways to ensure Dar couldn't support him in time.
Ultimately, he needed to be strong himself.
Unfortunately, since this had just happened, Gu Yuan felt it was better to keep a low profile for a while.
"I really didn't expect Dar to provide such close protection to that kid. This makes things difficult."
In a hotel in Castelia City, a man spoke slowly. The Hypno beside him looked out the window with boredom—or more accurately, it was staring at the pedestrians as if they were favorite toys.
"Let's go. There's no use staying here any longer. We might as well go and make some preparations in advance."
Hearing this, Hypno nodded and voluntarily returned to its Poké Ball.
The day after tomorrow, before their departure, Gu Yuan was called to Dar's room once again.
Looking at Dar, Gu Yuan felt somewhat helpless.
It was fine when you had business to call me over before, but now you find excuses to chat with me alone in your room all the time. Do you have any idea that my reputation is already starting to look a bit suspicious?!
"I called you here because there is good news."
"The compensation Agatha demanded has mostly arrived. In view of the fright you received, I'm giving you a share."
"First is the Mega Stone exchange quota; I'll give you two extra."
"Secondly, regarding resources, you can enjoy the treatment of a Champion Rank trainer for one year."
"In other words, within this year, no matter what resources you apply for, as long as they don't exceed the annual limit, the League will do its best to satisfy you."
Hearing this, Gu Yuan became excited. He suddenly felt that having heart-to-heart chats with Dar wasn't such a bad idea after all.