So, although this Magma Team seemed mysterious and not insignificant in power, because it involved the taboo of Ancient Creatures, Da Wu and Mikkeli had already planned to join forces to eliminate this troublesome organization and nip the threat in the bud.
Currently, they were in the midst of their investigative actions.
......
Gurulu.
Gurulu.
In Liuli City, Sea Street, on a public bench by the road, Fang Yuan and Eevee held and hugged chilled coconut milk they had just bought and started to drink.
While drinking, Fang Yuan turned on his phone.
With Mikkeli not around, he had no interest in touring Liuli City, but since he was already there, he felt it would be a loss to leave without doing anything.
Fang Yuan opened the official website of the Pokémon World Championship.
After defeating Lt. Surge, his ranking had risen to 901st, placing him at the Ultra Ball level, a true top-thousand master.
Having reached the Ultra Ball level, Fang Yuan could now challenge trainers ranked as high as 100 to improve his ranking.
As for the top 100, he was not yet permitted to challenge them.
"It's time to climb up the rankings again, Liuli City should be a big city, I wonder if I can find a suitable master to challenge."
Fang Yuan opened the search function, hoping to find a trainer within the top 500 to farm points from.
Beep beep beep...
Moments later, a list appeared before Fang Yuan.
Among them, the highest-ranking trainers he could challenge...
"199?"
"It's Decided, It's You! Lucky fellow!"
Fang Yuan clicked on the avatar of the girl with purple short hair, curious to check out her details.
Name: Lila.
Championship Level: Ultra Ball level.
Rank: 199
Current Status: Available to challenge
"It's a girl."
"But, this name... this photo, why does it look so familiar?"
Seeing the girl's name and photo, Fang Yuan frowned but soon smiled.
It turned out to be her.
Lila, the battle tower owner from the Battle Frontier, a Psychic Type master!
If Fang Yuan remembered correctly, this Lila had the ability to sense Pokémon thoughts from a young age and could achieve Unity of Mind and Heart with Pokémon. In theory, it was not superpower but a more acute empathy. However, due to the mysterious nature of her ability, she was still considered a Psychic by outsiders.
This ranking was quite high. She outclassed several Gym Leaders and was a Hair's breadth away from the level of the Four Heavenly Kings.
However, Fang Yuan could understand, because besides her overt identity as the battle tower owner, she had another hidden identity.
She was likely another person who traveled from another world, possibly from the Ultimate Metropolis World.
Yet Lila had apparently lost all her memories upon crossing to this world through the Hole of Ultimacy and then seemed to be taken in by the International Criminal Police Organization.
Fang Yuan remembered that one day in the future, this girl would grow to become the Director of the Ultimate Beast Countermeasures Headquarters of the International Police Organization, a trainer with tremendous potential.
After all, the strength of Ultra Beasts far exceeded that of Ordinary Elves, and to become the Director of the Ultimate Beast Countermeasures Headquarters, one couldn't doubt her abilities.
But no matter the future, for now, she could only become Fang Yuan's experience points treasure.
Fang Yuan immediately clicked the "challenge" request.
......
Liuli City.
A certain hotel.
With Rocket Team disbanded and her cover identity concluded, Lila returned to her overt identity as the battle tower owner.
However, she didn't rush back to the battle tower but instead came to Liuli City.
Lila reminisced about the words her boss "Handsome Mister" had said to her.
Handsome Guy: "It's true that Rocket Team has dispersed, but I might not be able to make it there temporarily."
"I just received information that the Water Fleet seems to have obtained the sleeping location of an Ancient Elf and plans to capture and awaken it. I absolutely can't let the Water Fleet succeed."
"As for the Rocket Team matter, inspectors led by Du will handle everything comprehensively, so you don't need to worry."
Handsome Mister, who had initially wanted to investigate if Rocket Team had any other schemes upon their disbandment, chose to stay in the Hoenn region due to the sudden and unexpected intelligence about the Water Fleet.
Lila hurried over also because of Handsome Mister's information; she intended to see if there was any way she could help Handsome Mister.
After all, her boss always liked to act alone. Even though Handsome Mister was experienced, facing a large organization like the Water Fleet on his own was inherently lacking. Unless, of course, this person could summon more than a dozen Legendary Pokémon...
By now, Lila had already informed Handsome Mister of her location, but from his end, there still hadn't been any response. He might be entangled in some trouble that prevented him from breaking away.
Therefore, Lila could only stand by in Liuli City, waiting for contact from Handsome Mister.
"Eh... Did I forget to disable the championship challenge applications?"
Lying on the white bed of the hotel, Lila was browsing internal documents of the International Police Organization about the Water Fleet organization, when a sudden notification popped up, causing her expression to become fixed.
The championship was Lila's hobby to improve her strength outside work; she was quite dedicated, tackling challenges besides her job. Even some King Level masters who were quite indifferent didn't have a higher ranking than her at the moment.
After all, the championship event was only halfway through, and there were still three months left before its end. There was no need to rush to increase her ranking.
"What a pity..."
Since she was waiting for Handsome Mister's message, Lila didn't plan to respond to the challenge at this time, for fear of delaying matters. She opened her interface, about to decline the challenge when suddenly, the challenger's ID and avatar made Lila's expression freeze.