Chapter 172: Gary: That's Right—I'm Fighting Mewtwo!
Grandpa Blaine slowly woke up.
The first thing he did was reach for his arm.
Feeling that it was still there, he let out a breath of relief.
"…You really don't trust me, huh?" Asahi, watching his reaction, was speechless.
Was that necessary? Did Grandpa Blaine really think he was that unreliable?
"Ahem… Thank you, Asahi." Grandpa Blaine coughed twice, trying to cover up his embarrassment. Then he quickly changed the subject. "By the way, I found that Psychic Spoon you asked for."
"Oh? You found it?" Asahi's eyes lit up, and he stopped teasing him.
"That's right…"
Grandpa Blaine jumped off the operating table. "I'll go get it."
Asahi also stepped out of the operating room.
Outside, Mew was playing hide-and-seek with Eevee, while Mewtwo was absorbed in its phone—learning things, as it claimed.
After a short wait, Grandpa Blaine returned, carrying a long rectangular case.
Without the burden of Mewtwo cells, he felt completely refreshed, the previous weakness entirely gone. Carrying one box? No problem. He could easily handle ten or more.
As soon as Asahi took the case, everyone's attention shifted to it.
When he opened it, a massive Psychic Spoon lay inside.
"Mew~?"
Mew curiously examined the oversized spoon.
"This is a weapon designed for Mewtwo. You can try it out for it…"
Hearing that, Mew eagerly grabbed the spoon and dragged it out of the box.
The tiny Mew wielding a giant spoon was an amusingly mismatched sight.
Grandpa Blaine explained, "When this spoon was designed, it was made to shift shape at will based on the wielder's psychic power."
Hearing this, Mew's eyes glowed blue as it wrapped the spoon in its psychic energy.
Immediately, the spoon began morphing—from a spoon to a fork, then a knife, then a scythe… and more.
It could even adjust its size.
Seeing this, Mewtwo's eyes sparkled. But since the spoon was still in Mew Mama's hands, it restrained itself and simply watched with longing.
Mew played with it enthusiastically, but since Asahi had already stated that it was Mewtwo's weapon, it reluctantly handed it over.
It was very obvious that it didn't want to.
Asahi nodded approvingly. "Now that's more like a mom."
Hearing this, Mew immediately flew onto Asahi's head and gave him a little punch.
"Mew!"
Annoyed, Mew ruffled Asahi's hair into a complete mess.
But instead of being upset, Asahi just laughed.
Mew was frustrated but had no way to get back at him.
After messing with Mew for a bit, Asahi turned to Grandpa Blaine.
"You really don't want to come back to Saffron City with me?"
"Even though you didn't show up during my fight with Giovanni, as long as he's not an idiot, he'll figure out you were involved. Once he recovers, he might come looking for you."
"But I can't just abandon Cinnabar Gym. I've already postponed a lot of challenges. And if I disappeared right after you approved my Gym status, it wouldn't look good."
Grandpa Blaine had his reasons for staying.
"Alright, suit yourself…" Asahi relented. "If anything happens, make sure to send me a message."
With Mewtwo around, he wasn't as worried about Giovanni anymore.
Grandpa Blaine nodded and waved goodbye before heading off to deal with challengers.
---
After curing Grandpa Blaine, Asahi didn't linger on Cinnabar Island.
He bid farewell to Lorelei, who was still enjoying her hot spring vacation, and then left with Sabrina, Green, and Midori—who had been unconscious for days, surviving only on energy cubes.
Upon returning to the Saffron City estate, the first thing they did was throw Midori into the basement.
Green and Sabrina then went off to shower.
Asahi, not understanding their obsession with bathing, collapsed onto the plush couch, feeling completely relaxed.
Cinnabar's hot springs were great, but nothing beat the comfort of home.
"Mewtwo, this is your home now. Have the Indeedee show you around and pick a room."
"Home…?"
Mewtwo looked around in a daze, then glanced at the two Indeedee before finally nodding.
Once Mewtwo left, Asahi released all his Pokémon, letting them roam freely around the estate. Then he turned to Mew, who was perched on his shoulder.
"You're leaving, aren't you?"
Mew had mentioned returning to the Tree of Beginning multiple times over the past few days.
"Mew…"
Mew nodded, but there was a trace of reluctance in its eyes.
After spending so much time with Asahi, it had grown attached to him and didn't want to leave. But it had been away from the Tree for too long—if it didn't return soon, there would be trouble.
"Mew~!"
Mew rubbed its head against Asahi's face.
"Don't act like we're saying a final goodbye. The Tree of Beginning isn't far. I'll bring Mewtwo to visit when I have time. And once you're done handling things, you can come here to play."
Asahi ruffled Mew's fur.
The Tree of Beginning was just north of Mt. Moon. Even without teleportation, he could ride Salamence there in half a day.
"Mew~!"
Mew nodded.
"Oh, right. Take this."
Asahi handed Mew a small box and a communicator.
"The communicator is from the International Police—solar-powered. You learned how to use one while teaching Mewtwo, right? If you run into trouble or can't find me, just call."
"Mew!"
Mew accepted the communicator, which vanished in an instant. No one knew where it stored it.
Then, Asahi handed over the box. "This is filled with energy cubes I made just for you."
Opening the box, Mew saw a bunch of Pecha-flavored energy cubes, its favorite. It happily took one and popped it into its mouth, eyes narrowing in delight.
Then Asahi suddenly grinned mischievously.
"Oh, I forgot to mention—I hid a special energy cube inside, made with my secret seasoning."
"You won't be able to find it just by smell or psychic power."
"Hope you enjoy it~"
Mew chewed happily… then froze.
"Mew??"
It stared at Asahi in shock, remembering exactly what had happened last time it ate one of those.
In an instant, Mew's face turned bright red, and the energy cube in its mouth suddenly didn't taste as good anymore.
---
In the end, Mew left.
After finishing lunch and saying goodbye to Mewtwo, it vanished into the sky.
Seeing Mewtwo looking a little down, Asahi patted its shoulder.
"Mew added you on the communicator, right? If you miss it, just send a message."
"And if that's not enough, I'll take you to visit."
Hearing this, Mewtwo felt much better.
Just as Asahi was about to contact headquarters to arrange for his "predecessors" to be picked up, the estate's front gate swung open.
Gary walked in confidently.
"Asahi! Tell that 'Mewtwo' rookie to come out! I'm gonna battle him and teach him to respect his seniors!"
Asahi: "...."
Green: "...."
Sabrina: "...."
With a sigh, Asahi patted Gary's shoulder.
"You just got back—why don't you rest? You can't win."
But Gary had lost all trust in Asahi's words.
With unwavering confidence, he declared, "I will win!"
Asahi sighed and called upstairs, "Mewtwo, someone wants to challenge you."
Moments later, Mewtwo floated down from above, landing in the hall.
It studied Gary for a moment, then said:
[You're 'Beware of Online Scams' from the chat, right? You want to battle me?]
Gary, who had originally been full of confidence, suddenly froze.
Looking at Mewtwo floating before him, his expression stiffened.
"...Mewtwo?"
He had assumed the so-called "Mewtwo" was just a rookie trainer using a pretentious codename.
But now, seeing the actual Mewtwo floating before him, the reality of the situation struck him like a Thunderbolt.
Silence filled the room.
Green and Sabrina turned their heads away, clearly suppressing laughter.
Asahi patted Gary's shoulder again, his voice filled with genuine concern.
"I told you—you can't win."
"A... A talking Pokémon!?"
Gary was so shocked that he started stuttering.
Because his grandfather was Professor Oak, Gary had a deep understanding of Pokémon.
He knew that Pokémon capable of communicating through telepathy were either Legendary Pokémon or exceptionally powerful ones—like Asahi's Gardevoir.
"A real Mewtwo. And you were the one who challenged it," Asahi emphasized the word challenged.
"But I thought—"
Gary wanted to say something to get out of the battle.
But Asahi clicked his tongue and sighed, "If it were Ash, he wouldn't even hesitate."
"..."
Gary really wanted to back out.
But the moment he heard Ash's name, he just couldn't.
He swallowed hard.
After an intense internal struggle, his pride won over his reasoning.
What was there to be afraid of?
Six-on-one. I have the advantage!
Asahi turned around, grinning as he flashed an OK sign to Blue and Sabrina.
Green and Sabrina both rolled their eyes.
You're really just bullying Gary at this point.
But Asahi felt that they just didn't understand his good intentions.
Was he bullying Gary?
No—he was preparing him for future battles against Legendary Pokémon.
Opportunities to battle Legendaries safely were extremely rare.
By having Mewtwo push Gary to his limits now, he could prevent him from panicking in future encounters—whether it was Groudon, Kyogre, Ho-Oh, Lugia, or even Pryce.
He was genuinely looking out for Gary.
With that thought, Asahi personally escorted Gary and Mewtwo to the battlefield, assigned Gallade as the referee, and then set up a camera to record the battle.
Sabrina, who had just arrived, couldn't help but sigh.
Every time she thought she'd found Asahi's moral limit, he found new ways to sink even lower.
---
The Battle Was Over in a Flash
"10 minutes and 37 seconds."
Asahi saved the recording, then looked at Gary in genuine surprise.
"You actually lasted over 10 minutes? Gary, I really underestimated you."
Gary's face was ashen, completely unresponsive to Asahi's words.
He was muttering "Impossible… unfair… cheating…" under his breath.
Mewtwo twirled its massive psychic spoon, looking completely unfazed.
Each of Gary's six Pokémon had lasted less than two minutes.
Even his strongest—Charizard and Arcanine—were easily taken down.
It was an absolute one-sided massacre.
Asahi patted Gary on the shoulder.
"Don't look so down. I wasn't mocking you just now—I meant it. You should know that Team Rocket's boss, Giovanni, was nearly killed by a single Shadow Ball from Mewtwo. He's still in critical condition."
Gary's ears twitched slightly at that.
Seeing this, Asahi smiled and continued, "Giovanni is a Champion-level trainer, yet he still lost to Mewtwo.
For a rookie trainer who's only been on his journey for four months, you did really well."
Under Asahi's reassurance, the light finally returned to Gary's eyes.
"Hah..."
Gary let out a deep breath, as if exhaling all his frustration.
Then, with determination, he looked straight at Mewtwo.
"One day, I'm going to beat you."
Mewtwo: "?"
It didn't understand Gary's reasoning.
But since they were co-workers, and Gary's gaze was so earnest, it simply nodded in acknowledgment.
Green and Sabrina turned to Asahi, eyes filled with amazement.
This guy really knows how to manipulate Gary.
Poor Gary—he had fallen right into Asahi's hands.
---
Returning to the Manor
With the Mewtwo battle over, Asahi brought Gary back to the manor.
It was only then that Gary finally processed what had happened.
"Wait… you said Mewtwo defeated Giovanni? And that the Viridian Gym was shut down right after?"
Gary suddenly had a realization.
"Don't tell me you guys were actually taking down Team Rocket?"
He finally understood what Asahi and the others meant by their "team-building exercise."
"...And you didn't invite me?" Gary said, full of resentment.
If he had been involved, he would've already known Mewtwo's strength—and wouldn't have suffered such a humiliating defeat.
Asahi sighed, "It's not that I didn't want to bring you—it was a stealth mission."
"Sabrina was my undercover agent in Team Rocket.
Gramps pretended to be captured.
Green and I had disguises.
The four of us blended in perfectly.
But you?"
Asahi shook his head.
"Your battle skills are fine, but your stealth skills are awful—you would've ruined the mission."
His reasoning was airtight.
Gary had no argument.
Because he really was terrible at disguises and infiltration.
Asahi patted Gary's shoulder.
"Go ask Gallade for help sometime. They're former international police operatives—they might be able to give you some pointers."
"Gallade?"
Gary was surprised.
He never expected the Gallades in the manor to have such a background.
He took it seriously and mentally noted it down.
Then, he turned back to Asahi.
"By the way, what was that great opportunity you said even Ash didn't know about?
You're not messing with me again, are you?"
Gary had been scammed by Asahi so many times that he had PTSD.
"Relax. I'm not tricking you this time," Asahi said.
"...You say that every time," Gary muttered.
"What was that? I didn't hear you."
"Nothing! I said, 'Asahi would never trick me!'" Gary quickly corrected himself.
Good, he's learning.
Asahi smirked.
"This opportunity is an official request from the International Police.
Since Giovanni is now a wanted criminal, Viridian Gym is temporarily without a Gym Leader.
Lance asked if I had any recommendations…"
Asahi grinned at Gary.
"I recommended you as the temporary Gym Leader of Viridian City."
Gary: "!!!"
His mind went blank.
Not because he didn't want the position.
But because for once—Asahi wasn't screwing him over!
A temporary Gym Leader for Viridian Gym was a highly-coveted position.
And Asahi chose him?
It felt too good to be true—Gary even suspected a hidden trap.
Seeing Gary's expression, Asahi chuckled.
"Relax. There's no catch.
Until the Indigo Plateau Conference, all you have to do is handle challengers and distribute Gym Badges.
Not a difficult job, right?"
"Of course not!"
Great pay, easy work, close to home, and amazing battle experience.
Plus, when Ash eventually challenged the Gym, Gary could give him a surprise.
Gary could only think of advantages.
But after calming down, he hesitated.
"I was planning to compete in the Indigo League.
Would this job stop me from entering?"
"I asked Lance—it won't," Asahi assured him.
Gary sighed in relief.
And just like that—
He officially became the temporary Gym Leader of Viridian City.
Seeing that Asahi had even thought of these details, Gary suddenly felt that he had misjudged him all along.
From now on, if anyone dared to badmouth Asahi, Gary Oak would be the first to shut them down!
[Notification: 'Beware of Online Scams' has been changed to 'Asahi Will Always Be My Bro'.]
Seeing the group chat notification, everyone was speechless.
Gary, do you have the memory of a Psyduck?
Did Asahi really win you over that easily?
Now, the real question was—how long would this username last?
---
After sending Gary off to challenge Agatha in Fuchsia City, they agreed to meet back at the manor in three days before heading to Viridian City together.
With this settled, Asahi could check one more thing off his list.
Just as he was about to start teaching Mewtwo some battle techniques, his communicator suddenly rang.
It wasn't a call—it was a message from headquarters.
Headquarters had approved his request to have the "veterans" transferred for further investigation.
Additionally, since Asahi had uncovered Giovanni's true identity and seriously injured him, he was being promoted once again—his temporary director status was now permanent.
"As expected of a frontline division. Headquarters really doesn't waste time," Asahi muttered in admiration.
After that, he continued reading.
Besides these two pieces of good news, the message contained two other major points.
First, the intel he had provided on Hunter J's potential large-scale operation in Sinnoh had been confirmed by Looker.
Team Galactic was planning to target the Lake Guardians, but thanks to Asahi's timely warning, Looker had disrupted their operation.
However, Team Galactic was not the type to give up easily, and the situation remained tense.
Second, headquarters had assigned him a new mission.
They had received reports of a full-scale conflict between Team Rocket and the Masked Army in Johto and wanted Asahi to investigate the Masked Army after his break.
"So headquarters has taken notice of the Masked Army too?"
Asahi wasn't surprised.
The ongoing Team Rocket vs. Masked Army war had already made headlines in Johto.
Although the news articles only described it as a conflict between Team Rocket and an unknown faction, headquarters' intelligence network had likely already identified the Masked Army by name.
However, what intrigued Asahi was that headquarters chose him—a Kanto agent—instead of assigning it to Johto's division.
[What happened to Johto's division?]
Asahi sent a quick message.
Surprisingly, headquarters replied almost instantly.
[Johto's division encountered the Masked Army's leader. Multiple agents were injured, and their losses were severe. They won't be operational for some time.]
"...…"
Asahi didn't know whether to respect Johto's agents for their bravery or laugh at their recklessness.
That was Pryce.
And you guys just went in headfirst?
The fact that they even survived meant Pryce had shown mercy.
Still, at least they weren't completely wiped out—unlike certain "veterans" from his own division.
With that thought, Asahi sent his response:
[I accept the mission, but I need some prep time.]
[Understood. You have full authority over the operation. Any resources in Johto are at your disposal.]
Clearly, headquarters knew how Asahi operated and had no intention of micromanaging him.
[Got it.]
After ending the conversation, Asahi couldn't help but sigh.
Even though both headquarters and the Pokémon League were on the same side, the competence gap between the International Police HQ and the Indigo League—which was riddled with spies—was like night and day.
The decision he made back then was indeed the right one.
Thinking of this, Asahi stood up. "Where's Sabrina?"
Beside him, Blue looked puzzled. "Didn't she say she was going back to the Saffron Gym?"
***
To read an advance 130+ chapters before public release
And
Support me at p@treon.com/NahinS77