Chapter 257: Title Unlocked: "Usurper"
Steel Valley, Team Rocket Base
Back in Giovanni's former office, Asahi sighed and shook his head after his failed attempt to call back.
"Such poor mental resilience. How is he even running Team Rocket like this?"
Sabrina, having witnessed the entire exchange, didn't know how to respond.
If anything, Giovanni not immediately coming to fight Asahi in person was already a display of immense restraint.
"Well, whatever. Now that Giovanni has been informed, and since he didn't object, this base officially belongs to the Kanto Division!" Asahi declared, giving Slowpoke a pat on the head.
Sabrina glanced at the increasingly dazed-looking Slowpoke and muttered, "Are you sure that's what Giovanni meant?"
"If he didn't object, that means he agreed," Asahi said matter-of-factly.
He had notified Giovanni. Giovanni had not explicitly rejected the claim. That meant Giovanni had accepted it.
And even if he did object—what was he going to do about it? Fight Asahi and Mewtwo head-on?
At this point, Sabrina could only think… Giovanni's just out of luck for running into Asahi.
But she didn't argue. After all, it was Giovanni and Team Rocket who were suffering, not them.
"What about the prisoners? There are over a hundred of them—we can't just keep them here," Sabrina pointed out.
Sure, with Mewtwo acting as a warden, they didn't have to worry about riots or breakouts. But realistically, four people couldn't manage over a hundred prisoners.
Asahi thought for a moment.
Yeah, that was a problem.
But the solution was simple.
Casually pulling out his phone, he dialed Steven Stone.
"Steven, you busy?"
"Nothing much, just a small issue."
"You know how I came to Hoenn looking for a place to stay? Well, I found one… No worries, Team Rocket's been very hospitable—just too many prisoners to handle."
"How many? Around a hundred or so… Didn't count exactly. Anyway, I need your help."
"Thanks! I'll treat you to some rock hunting later—"
A few minutes on the phone, and the problem was solved.
Asahi hung up and turned to Sabrina with a smile.
"What can I say? Having connections is nice."
---
Steel Valley, Entrance to Team Rocket's Base
As the Gym Leader of Mauville City, Wattson had always taken security in the area seriously—especially with Team Magma and Team Aqua running wild lately.
He thought he had done a decent job.
Then Steven called.
Asking him to go to Steel Valley… and take custody of over a hundred Team Rocket prisoners.
Wattson—and his Magneton—were completely stunned.
He couldn't wrap his head around it.
Why was Team Rocket, an organization that was supposed to operate only in Kanto and Johto, in Hoenn?
And not just a few of them—an entire base worth.
This revelation left him feeling deeply inadequate as a Gym Leader.
Determined to find out what was going on, he followed Steven's directions and arrived at the designated location…
At first, all he saw was a solid rock wall, making him wonder if he had come to the wrong place.
Then, the rock face moved, revealing a passage leading underground.
Stepping inside, the sight before him shocked him.
A massive hall—twice the size of his own Gym's battle arena—was filled with Rocket Grunts in uniform, sitting on the ground, trembling under the watchful eye of a mysterious Pokémon.
Still stunned, Wattson barely noticed as a spiky-haired teenager approached.
The boy looked utterly exhausted.
"I'm Gary Oak, from the International Police Kanto Division. You must be Gym Leader Wattson—here for the handover, right? The prisoners are all here," Shigeru said.
Even as he spoke, he was discreetly sizing Wattson up.
According to online forums, Wattson was a former New Mauville employee—a "traitor" who had personally shut down the New Mauville City Project, triggering the corporation's bankruptcy.
Wattson, unaware of Gary's thoughts, finally snapped out of his daze.
"Nice to meet you… but wasn't I supposed to be meeting someone named Asahi?"
He might be old, but his memory was fine. Steven had clearly said the handover would be handled by "Asahi," not Gary Oak.
The moment he said this, he noticed a shift in Gary's expression.
Gary remembered—Asahi had initially assigned this to Green.
Green had passed it to Sabrina, who was still busy organizing Rocket intel…
So he ended up with the task.
Which meant… he still hadn't gotten a break.
"Ahem. Well… Asahi had something more important to do," Gary said.
"More important?"
What could possibly be more important than transferring over a hundred Team Rocket prisoners?
Wattson didn't get it.
Gary just sighed, offering no further explanation.
Meanwhile, in Giovanni's Office
Lying back in Giovanni's chair, Asahi checked his system notifications.
[Your base is great. Now it's mine.]
[Through unexpected means, you have successfully occupied Team Rocket's base. Title Unlocked: "Usurper."]
Asahi: "…"
"Seriously, system? Can't you use better wording? 'Usurper' makes me sound like the villain here!"
That being said, complaints were just complaints—he still had to claim his reward.
Shifting his gaze to the rewards provided by the system:
[1. Deep-Sea Diving Device]
[2. Base Waterproof Module]
[3. Base Seismic Module]
Asahi: "..."
What the hell? System, what do you mean by this!?
Are you just assuming that I won't be able to stop Groudon and Kyogre, and that the base is bound to be in trouble no matter what...?
And if you're going to give me these, why not just bundle the two modules together!?
Giving them separately when the Hoenn storyline is so far apart—how am I supposed to know whether Mauville City is going to get flooded by Kyogre or shaken to ruins by Groudon!?
Asahi was utterly speechless.
At this point, choosing between the second and third options seemed like a bad idea. He might as well go with the first one… Who knows? It might even come in handy if he had to dive into the ocean to find Kyogre.
Still, Asahi didn't make his choice right away—after all, the rewards weren't going anywhere.
Getting up from the comfortable Giovanni-style swivel chair, he stretched lazily, then gave the drowsy Slowpoke beside him a light kick with his foot, signaling it to follow. With that, Asahi made his way to the base's main hall.
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