[Lance: Vicious is still here, but… he's a little different from the White World version!]
[Professor Kukui: A little? That's a complete difference!]
[Norman: The Vicious from the White World came looking for Celebi alone, and he brought a huge machine.]
[Norman: But the Vicious from the Black World came here with a group of people and didn't bring any machines. Is this confidence in his own strength?]
[Cynthia: About bringing people… that's easy to understand. Vicious was originally the most senior executive in Team Rocket, but in the end, he was just an executive. Without knowing if his subordinates were loyal to Giovanni, he chose to go alone.]
[Cynthia: But without a machine… does he think he has the ability to defeat Celebi?]
Although Celebi is petite and cute, it is also a genuine Mythical Pokémon! Ordinary Pokémon can't defeat this little cutie. If the Vicious from the White World hadn't brought a machine to restrain Celebi, the outcome back then would have been uncertain. However, the Vicious from the Black World actually chose to come empty-handed. Is he that confident in his own strength?
[Steven: To be honest, besides that one Tyranitar, the Vicious from the White World doesn't have any other Legendary Pokémon. Now that the Black World Vicious doesn't even care about Legendary Beasts, I'd like to see what he can do.]
...
In the Black World—
Unaware of the impending crisis, Ash and the others had just placed Celebi into the Lake of Life. In an instant, Celebi recovered from its injuries and became active again. It kept jumping around Sammy (Young Professor Oak) and Ash, seeming to like them very much. After all, one was the person who traveled to this era with it, and the other was the one who saved it.
After a short while of playing, it was time to say goodbye. Sammy and Celebi were not from this era, after all; they needed to return to their own time.
At that moment, an elegant figure touched the lake's water and, with graceful and swift steps, appeared before Ash and the others in the blink of an eye.
"Suicune?!"
Seeing the figure that suddenly appeared before her, Misty couldn't help but exclaim.
The newcomer was none other than Suicune, known as the incarnation of the North Wind!
Ash had already sensed it when it was within a hundred meters. More than one of the Legendary Beasts was present, but this Suicune happened to be the one that had given him the Waterfall Basin Scale.
"Hello, Suicune. We meet again. I didn't expect to see you here."
Ash had challenged Suicune before, but Suicune had said they would battle when Ash was ready to challenge Ho-Oh. Therefore, Ash had no intention of challenging Suicune again here. And in this situation, asking Suicune for a battle would be far too oppressive.
"Suicune… is that the Legendary Beast Suicune?!"
Sammy was stunned for a moment when he saw Suicune, then reacted to Misty's exclamation. He quickly took out his sketchpad and began drawing Suicune. Although he couldn't complete a perfect portrait, a rough sketch would do. He could describe it in detail after returning to his own time.
Suicune glanced at Sammy and did not disturb his sketching. It gave a low cry toward Ash. Ash, who had initially been happy to reunite with an old friend, froze for an instant, his smiling face stiffening before turning very serious.
An enemy is coming. An uninvited guest, targeting Celebi.
This is what Suicune told him.
Someone is after Celebi.
Who could it be…?
How did the information spread so fast?
It hadn't even been half a day since they met Celebi, and the person spying on it had already arrived at their doorstep. Could it be that they knew Celebi would appear in this forest?
"Celebi, take Sammy back to the past first. Someone is looking for you. Remember to hide after you go back; never show yourself casually in front of the world again!" Ash said solemnly to Celebi, his expression extremely grave, suffocating the originally cheerful atmosphere.
"What… what do you mean, Ash? Could it be that Pokémon hunters are after Celebi? How did you know?"
"I can understand what Suicune is saying. Suicune told me."
Ash did not hide anything, relaying what Suicune said to Sammy. Sammy fell silent after hearing it.
Although he had only been in this era for half a day, he had to admit that everything here fascinated him. The new Poké Balls, the rare Pokémon, and the kind companions all made Sammy very happy. However… now that a crisis was approaching, he was not from this era. The best choice was to listen to Ash and return to his own time immediately.
"Although our time together has been very short… I'm very happy to have been with you, Ash." After a moment of silence, Sammy spoke slowly, showing Ash a bright smile.
Ash gave him a thumbs-up in return.
"Me too. Don't worry, we'll meet again in the future. After all, you're only in your teens. Even if forty years have passed, as long as you still remember me, we can meet!"
"Deal!"
After the two fist-bumped, Celebi, following Suicune's instruction, took Sammy back to his own era.
As for the Pokémon hunter who drove them here… to be honest, with Celebi's combat power, there was no need to fear him. It's just that Celebi is too kind-hearted and doesn't want to fight. Now Suicune was telling Celebi to go back and not hold back against Pokémon hunters upon returning. Good people can be bullied, and when good Pokémon are hunted, it's only natural to use extraordinary means to deal with bad people. In this regard, Celebi naturally nodded obediently.
Although the three Legendary Beasts seemed to have little to do with Celebi, Suicune, known as the incarnation of the North Wind, often met Celebi in the forest while purifying water sources all year round. The two were considered old acquaintances.
After a brief farewell, Celebi finally took Sammy back. Ash couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. No matter who was coming for Celebi, now that Celebi was gone, they had nothing to target, right?
"By the way, Suicune, do you know who that person is?"
I don't know. I just know those people are wearing clothes with the letter 'R,' and I can't sense the slightest kindness from them.
The letter 'R'… Team Rocket? Or Team Universe?
These two answers flashed through Ash's mind. Although Team Universe had completely split from Team Rocket, their team uniforms still bore the letter 'R.' He didn't know if it was because they had no money to change them or if they simply didn't think it mattered.
Whichever organization it was, Ash would defeat them!
"Hey, kid! Hey, kid!!"
Just as Ash was about to ask Suicune to take him to where the so-called villain was, several panicked voices called out. Ash subconsciously looked over and saw the Team Rocket trio tumbling and crawling toward him. From the looks of it… they probably weren't here for Pikachu but more like they had encountered something terrifying.
Within a few seconds, the Team Rocket trio ran directly behind Ash… no, more accurately, two adults and a Meowth huddled behind the child, looking with horrified eyes at the forest directly in front of Ash.
"...Who is that person?"
There was no need to ask the Team Rocket trio what happened. Ash had already sensed an extremely evil Aura slowly approaching. The other party was unhurried, as if certain that the prey he was interested in couldn't escape.
Without a doubt, it was a person. But… this was the first person whose Aura made Ash feel intense disgust upon sensing it. Aura is the origin of a person's life, and a person's nature is also imprinted on their Aura. Just as Ash's Aura carries a sense of righteousness, the Aura of the approaching person carried an aura of extreme evil! If judged by crime, that Aura was… the Aura of someone who had committed countless crimes!
"It's… it's Vicious! The traitor Vicious is here!"
"And… it's not like we haven't met Vicious before in Team Rocket, but the feeling he gave us back then wasn't this scary…"
"That guy seems like a completely different person now, meow! He feels scarier than Boss Giovanni, nya!"
During their conversation, the man also walked out of the dark forest, and his appearance came into everyone's sight.
A golden mask, black and gray clothes with an 'R,' and a red vest over the upper body. The upper half of his face was covered by the mask, so not much of the man's face was visible. But… just from the exposed lower half, one could tell he didn't look like a good person!
This was the leader of Team Universe… Vicious!
After listening to the Team Rocket trio's words, Ash looked at Vicious with a different expression.
This person… was the culprit who turned Lugia into Dark Lugia, the one who wanted to control it, and also the leader of Team Universe. No wonder the Aura on his body was so evil; it made sense...
"Oh? The three of you are hiding behind a kid now… huh? Crimson!!"
Vicious didn't see Ash's appearance clearly at first. He only caught a glimpse of Ash's general figure from the corner of his eye, so he spoke up, ready to mock the Rocket trio. But when Vicious saw Ash's face clearly, his pupils behind the mask instantly contracted. The exposed half of his face turned panicked, his originally calm steps became flustered, and he subconsciously took a few steps back as if he had seen a ghost!
"Impossible, you should have… Wait, it's not Crimson..."
Vicious looked more carefully, and his anxious heart immediately relaxed. How could Crimson appear here? That guy should have been killed by Boss Giovanni…
Scared me to death. This kid obviously looks nothing like Crimson, but I don't know why, the moment I saw him, I immediately thought of Crimson…
Ash's cold face couldn't help but show a trace of doubt. Is this Team Universe leader crazy? Crimson? Who's Crimson? Why is he so scared? Do I look very similar to someone named Crimson?
Most importantly… why does he feel like he's heard the name 'Crimson' before?
...
[Lance: Who is Crimson?]
[Steven: I don't know.]
[Cynthia: I haven't heard of that name either…]
[Professor Oak: I haven't heard of it either… A Trainer who can be mentioned and even feared by Vicious shouldn't be unknown.]
[Alder: Never heard this name in Unova.]
[Leon: Same for Galar… I've challenged all the famous Trainers and have never heard the name Crimson.]
[Professor Kukui: Not in Alola either. Logically, if they're a powerful Trainer, they should be able to speak in this livestream room. I can say with certainty I've never seen a Trainer named Crimson.]
Almost all the notable figures from every region said they had never heard of the character 'Crimson.'
So… who is this person who makes Vicious afraid? Why did Vicious mistake Ash for Crimson? Do they look similar? Besides, if Crimson is a powerful Trainer, then he should have spoken here by now. Could it be… he's a hidden villain? So far, many famous villains haven't appeared in the livestream room, like the notorious leaders of Team Aqua and Team Magma. It's true that villains rarely show up in the livestream room. If Giovanni hadn't been repeatedly exposed and criticized in the livestream, he himself wouldn't have wanted to be the one in the spotlight.
So… is this 'Crimson' a villain?
Also, why does Black Ash feel that the name 'Crimson' is familiar? They've been watching the livestream for so long but have never seen Black Ash come into contact with anyone named Crimson!
...
In the Black World—
Vicious looked at Ash and returned to his previous calm demeanor.
"You brat, you scared me. I thought the dead had come back to life."
"Dead? Come back to life? Who is Crimson? And why do you say I look like that person named Crimson?"
A puzzled question came from Ash, but obviously, Vicious didn't want to answer him. He wasn't a nice guy; he was a real villain! If Ash were someone from the world in his impression, he wouldn't mind explaining it to Ash and toying with his emotions, because there was value in playing with them. But now… he doesn't even know who Ash is. He can only see that Ash is just a kid. Who would explain so much to a kid?
"Enough talk. Hand over the three behind you, and I'll spare your life."
"Those three are just low-level members of Team Rocket. Why are you, the leader of Team Universe, looking for them?"
Ash asked again.
It wasn't surprising that Ash knew he was Vicious, leader of Team Universe. Not to boast, his name should have spread throughout Kanto and Johto by now. Anyone who pays a little attention to the news should have heard his name. So Vicious still ignored Ash's intention. But Ash stood in front of the Rocket trio with no intention of moving aside, which was starting to make Vicious a little impatient.
"Kid, if you want to die with them, then just die!"
"Go, Dark Lugia."
Ash: !!!
Dark Lugia?
Did he hear that right?
The next second, a dark Poké Ball was thrown by Vicious. The ball bounced open, and a huge dark figure appeared before Ash and the others!
A dark body, gray-white belly, broad wings, scarlet eyes—the entire form like a giant bird! This was indeed Dark Lugia!
But that's wrong… Didn't Lugia say there would only be one Dark Lugia? And… when did the Lugia species become evil? How does Vicious have a Dark Lugia in his possession? Now that he has Dark Lugia, why is he still creating Dark Lugia at the Whirl Islands?
Suddenly, Ash felt a bit dizzy. There were too many questions… he couldn't think straight!
But one thing he knew… if he didn't do something now, they might be wiped out by this Dark Lugia!
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