Chapter 231: Tours and Battle Invitations
Just as Sabrina thought she was being subtle, a voice suddenly sounded next to her.
"What are you doing?"
She froze for a split second.
But having once been a Team Rocket executive, Sabrina recovered quickly, putting on an innocent face. "What do you mean?"
Asahi gave her a knowing smile but didn't push the matter.
His attention shifted to the arena, where a trainer from Vermilion City commanded his Gyarados to knock out a Magmar, securing the win.
Noticing his gaze, Sabrina quietly exhaled in relief.
Just when she thought she had gotten away with it, Asahi turned to Cynthia.
"Would you like to visit the Kanto Division's headquarters?"
"Would that be alright?" Cynthia asked, surprised.
In her experience, the International Police were a secretive organization. Even in Sinnoh, their activities were shrouded in mystery.
Asahi smiled and tapped his temple. "Everything classified is up here."
The Kanto Division had been rebuilt entirely around him — if there was any real secret, it was Asahi himself.
Besides, their old headquarters at League HQ wasn't even the main base anymore.
Asahi and Cynthia stood up to leave.
Sabrina clenched her fists.
The moment Asahi realized she had contacted Green, he had decided to counterattack by taking Cynthia out of sight.
Crafty. Too crafty!
She quickly sent one last telepathic message to Green — [Stay put at the office. Don't move.] — before catching up to them.
…
Alliance Headquarters — Kanto Division
When Asahi's group arrived, the first thing they saw was Ethan chasing a Togepi around the office.
"Don't touch that!"
"Stop pulling on that wire! Explosion-Taro, grab it!"
"Please, for the love of Arceus, stop breaking things! If Asahi comes back and sees this, I'm dead!"
Ethan looked utterly desperate.
He'd been in high spirits after winning his preliminary match earlier, ready to reward himself with some gaming time.
But then — his Togepi egg, a gift from Professor Elm, hatched.
Instead of a cute, well-behaved baby, out popped a hyperactive, trouble-making Togepi that had torn the office to shreds within minutes.
Recalling Gary's stories about Togepi causing mayhem, Ethan could already imagine Asahi's reaction.
He was doomed.
And then — the door opened.
Ethan went rigid.
Standing at the entrance was Asahi — with Cynthia, Sabrina, and Gary behind him — staring blankly at the chaotic scene.
"What happened?" Gary asked.
Judging by the mess, it almost looked like they had been robbed.
Sabrina, meanwhile, discreetly scanned the room for Green — but didn't find her.
Cynthia blinked at the scene, then turned to Asahi. "Is… he one of your subordinates?"
She couldn't reconcile this flustered boy with her mental image of the International Police.
…
Ten minutes later
Ethan stood before Asahi, bowing at a perfect 90-degree angle, hands pressed together in apology.
Beside him, his Togepi — "Togi-Taro" — fidgeted, looking equally guilty.
After piecing together the events, Asahi sighed.
It seemed Ethan's Togepi was even more of a handful than expected — even more troublesome than the one from the original storyline that played cards, pool, and gambled.
To top it off, it was surprisingly strong — when Sabrina tried to grab it with psychic powers earlier, it nearly escaped.
Cynthia, watching from the side, examined Ethan's Togepi curiously.
Judging by its aura, it wasn't any weaker than the Togepi she had given Asahi.
Was this some special talent of his?
"It's fine — no big deal," Asahi finally said, motioning for Ethan to relax.
Making a mess of the room and pulling out a few server cables—it wasn't really a big deal.
Hearing this, Ethan let out a sigh of relief.
It seemed Asahi wasn't as terrifying as Gary had described!
Behind Asahi, Gary wore a confused expression.
"Asahi, you never treated me this nicely before!"
Ignoring Gary's look, Asahi glanced around the room but didn't spot Green. "Where did Green go?"
"Green? She wasn't here when I came back…" Ethan replied, just as clueless.
As Asahi was about to pull out his phone to call her, the door swung open again.
Standing at the entrance was Green, along with a Blastoise weighed down by a pile of shopping bags.
Green took one look at the chaotic room, her expression mirroring Asahi's earlier—completely bewildered.
"What happened here?"
…
After quickly catching up on the situation, Green felt a wave of lingering fear. Fortunately, she had backed up all her sorted data before heading out to shop.
Otherwise, wouldn't all those days of effort have gone to waste?
She then turned her gaze to Cynthia. "You're the Sinnoh Champion, Miss Cynthia?"
Asahi had mentioned earlier that he and Sabrina were heading out to pick up Cynthia from the airport.
"Hello," Cynthia said with a smile.
The two shook hands politely, while Sabrina, standing to the side, looked a bit dazed.
Why did it suddenly feel like she had become an outsider?
Once the small talk was over, Asahi turned to Cynthia with an apologetic smile. "I originally planned to show you around our department, but… well, this happened."
"It's fine," Cynthia replied gently, her gaze drifting to the mischievous Togepi at her side. "This little one is quite entertaining."
Asahi fell into thought. Given the current mess, a proper tour was obviously out of the question.
But he couldn't just let Cynthia's trip be for nothing.
While Asahi was pondering what to do next, Cynthia suddenly spoke up. "I noticed a battle arena here earlier."
"If you don't mind, how about a Pokémon battle?"
Cynthia had heard about Asahi's impressive record from Lance and Agatha—defeating Giovanni, arresting Pryce…
Her curiosity about Asahi's strength had only grown.
The moment Cynthia suggested a battle, both Gary and Ethan turned to Asahi with eager anticipation.
They also wanted to know—who was stronger: Asahi or the Sinnoh Champion, Cynthia?