"Thank you, Nurse Joy." He sincerely thanked the lady at the Pokémon Center, who led him inside the Store Room where he had left the Protector.
"You're welcome, Professor."
It was nighttime, so, there were not many Trainers in the Training Field. Aizen decided to show Joy the evolution of his Rhydon into a Rhyperior.
Nurse Joy stood by his side with her Chansey and Blissey, and the three watched as he helped wrap the Protector around Rhydon's belly.
It seemed to stick to the Pokémon's body, and when the Prince stepped back, he called his Pokémon.
A couple of seconds later, he called out the Pokémon again, and instantly, a blinding light surrounded it.
The massive Rhyperior that stepped out of the light was quite intimidating, and seeing it, Aizen brightly smiled and shared a fist bump with his buddy.
After he recalled the newly evolved Pokémon, he quickly checked its Ability.
And as expected, it had two now, and to his surprise, his Pokémon had not lost Rock Head upon Evolution.
[Abilities: Rock Head and Solid Rock]
"Congratulations, Professor." Joy happily said, and her Pokémon were happy for him as well.
"Thank you." He smiled at her and then had his meal at the Center.
When he arrived inside his suite, he sorted out all his shopping and then made a call to his wife at the Blanc Island.
It was late afternoon on that side of the world, and Ilene was extremely happy to see him.
She chatted with him until he fell asleep, and in his dreams, he met Lyla again.
Perhaps, meeting her in his dreams was the only reason why he had not fallen into depression, but every morning, his heart would feel hollow at the realisation that she was not by his side.
He had gotten so used to her presence that it now felt like he was missing half his soul.
Aizen was about to enter the bath when his watch started Ringing, and he curiously accepted the call from Riley.
The boy never called him this early in the morning unless it was an emergency or something very serious.
"Hey, mate."
"Morning, Aizen." The Aura User smiled at him, but that smile was a little strained.
"Everything alright?"
"Yeah..." His friend sighed and then shook his head.
"The High Table has assigned me, you, and Sabrina for the Orre Operation. You will have to put aside the plans for next year."
"I see." He smiled.
"You were expecting it?" Riley surprisedly asked.
"Yeah."
Aizen took a deep breath and sighed.
"When do we have to leave?"
"Doesn't matter. We have fifteen months to complete the Orre Operation, and one slot is missing in our Cell. Whom do you want to invite?"
"You can invite your Girlfriend."
Riley raised his brow at him.
"Who?"
"Phoebe. We will need her Ghost-Type Pokémon."
The boy tensed up when he heard the name, hesitated, but then sighed and nodded his head.
"Go, meet her. Beg her for forgiveness, and sort out your differences before we leave. You have until the end of the first month."
It was not a request from a friend but an order from the Orayen Prince. Riley knew better than to argue with him and obediently nodded his head.
"Can you give her a call? She might not see me..."
"I will give her a call." He nodded his head and ended the ongoing call.
Finding the contact, he dialled another call, and soon a cheerful girl picked it up.
"Your Highness!" Phoebe, who was aiming to become an Elite Four of Hoenn, brightly smiled at him.
"Hello, Phoebe. How are you?"
"I am fine, Your Grace."
"You can call me Aizen."
"No." She adamantly shook her head and it made him sigh.
"Fine. I have made this call to inform you that you will be joining my Cell on an important operation. The orders have come from the High Table."
"Yes, Your Grace!" She solemnly nodded to him, expressing her willingness.
"Someone will come and see you soon to share the details. I hope you will not cause issues for me." He seriously said and watched her frown. "It's Riley."
Hearing the name, she froze, and then deeply furrowed her brows.
"I will try my best to..."
"Talk to him." He cut her off. "I know whatever happened was his fault, but if you can find it in your heart to forgive him, then do. In case you don't wish to see his face even after your talk, inform me. I will pick someone else in the Cell. You don't have to force yourself. There will be no blame on you."
"I understand, Your Grace." She lightly said, no longer smiling.
"Have a good night." Aizen smiled at her and ended the call.
Though he planned on taking a shower, he ended up taking a bath, lost in his thoughts, and then visited the Logistics Company to send out his Shopping to the Oak Laboratory.
When he returned to his suite after breakfast, he found Vulpix playing around with Clefairy, and the two immediately jumped in his arms.
"How do you feel today, Xeno?"
"Yip!" The fox showed its excitement and confidence, and Aizen was happy to see his resolve.
"You will be up against Munchlax later. If you win, I will give the Fire Stone to you." He promised.
Xeno obediently nodded his head, and the Clefairy giggled when he gave her some love.
Aizen left for the Rota Kingdom at 9 am and reached the destination in two and a half hours.
Instead of going to the Palace, he went directly to the Tree of Beginning to start the training of his Pokémon after several days of break.
He had left Sky, Aerius, and Atlas with Anira, and only Dexter was with him.
His other Vulpix, whom he was keeping for his sister, Dratini, Togepi, Shinx, Gengar, and Eevee were also at the Oak Corral.
Scizor, Kleavor, Machamp, and Crobat were at the Blanc Island.
Other than his Psychic Tank, he had Vulpix, Clefairy, Aerodactyl, Onix, Rhyperior, Arcanine, Lapras, Dragonair, Munchlax, Wartortle, Magikarp, Electabuzz, Nidorino, and Bulbasaur with him.
There was one free spot on his Roster, just in case he found a decent Grass-Type Pokémon.
He knew that Bulbasaur would not be enough, but he had Rinko with him, who could use Grass Type move.
Aizen also did not have enough time to train a young Pokémon and get it ready for the Indigo Conference. So, he only needed an adult Pokémon.
However, he was not too worried about it. His Team had enough firepower to cover this weakness.
After calling out all his Pokémon at the foot of the mountain, he divided them into pairs.
Electabuzz was up against Wartortle, Onix was up against Rhyperior, Lapras was up against Arcanine, Nidorino was up against Bulbasaur, and finally, Munchlax was up against Vulpix.
Aizen also called out Magikarp, who was caged inside a large Psychic Sphere, filled with water, hovering in the air, and witnessing the battles. Right under it sat Dragonair, coiled atop a large boulder.
By the side of the boulder, his Psychic Tank was meditating with its eyes closed, and Clefairy was sitting on top of it, watching everything with great interest.
Aerodactyl had gone out to hunt, and would not come back before evening.
The Orayen Prince kept his eyes on everyone, but his attention was on the battles between Nidorino and Bulbasaur, and Munchlax and Vulpix.
These were the four Pokémon he needed to work the most on.
"You will never be able to catch Xeno like this, Munchlax. Use your brains." He spoke to his Pokémon who was suffering against Vulpix's use of Agility.
And his heart skipped a beat when the gluttonous Pokémon stomped on the ground and used Fissure, which rattled the fox, who nearly fell into the crack.
Xeno was dizzy right now, and Munchlax was ready with his High Horsepower. He really did use his brains.
"Baby-Doll Eyes," Aizen whispered into his Pokémon's ears, who managed to regain clarity and used the move in time.
Munchlax hesitated and took mercy on Vulpix, but immediately regretted it when he was hit by Extrasensory.
What followed was the Will-O-Wisp, which struck the target. The devastating blueish-white flames left burns on Munchlax, but to the horror of Vulpix, the Gluttonous Pokémon stood up with a red glow in its eyes.
He was mad now, very mad, and the Vulpix, who was very tired, quickly used Hypnosis, however, it failed.
Munchlax slammed into the Fox, sending it crashing into the ground, nearly throwing it inside the crack before it managed to use its tail to stop itself.
"Extrasensory."
Aizen commanded when Munchlax was ready to use another High Horsepower.
"Vulll!!!" The fox used all of its remaining strength to throw a powerful Extrasensory at Munchlax, who was slapped away and crashed into a boulder.
Vulpix heavily panted as it watched the gluttonous Pokémon stand up again, and tensed up when he noticed that his opponent's eyes had not lost their glow of madness.
Munchlax stomped on the ground, generating an earthquake, which caused the already dizzy fox to fall and feel nauseous.
However, as soon as Munchlax approached it to give it a Body Slam, Vulpix used its tails to roll away at the final moment.
The Gluttonous Pokémon groaned and then to Xeno's disbelief, its body started glowing.
When the light subsided, his opponent had turned into a massive giant, and thankfully, Snorlax did not seem mad anymore.
"Vul..." The Fox complained to his Trainer, who, to his relief, arrived by his side and scooped it up in his arms.
"I am proud of you, Xeno. You could not win against Munchlax, but you did not lose either." He said and planted a kiss on the Fox's head.
"Vulpix..." He felt sad, but then his eyes shone in brilliance as he saw the Fire Stone appear before him in the air.
"Up for a second round against Snorlax?" Aizen knowingly smiled, and his Vulpix immediately grabbed the Fire Stone with his tails.
"Vulpiiix!!"
The Prince stepped back when his Pokémon floated in the air and started shining.
When the light subsided, a majestic Ninetales fox howled to the sky and then stared at Snorlax with its cold eyes.
The two Pokémon rushed at each other, and the second round lasted for a good hour before they both were exhausted.
Snorlax fell first, falling asleep, and Xeno finally stopped putting up a brave front and dropped down as well.
"Well done." The Orayen Prince complimented them and then recalled them inside their Pokéballs.
On the side, Bulbasaur and Nidorino, who had stopped fighting to watch the battle, tensed up under his gaze and quickly resumed their battle.
However, the two soon stopped again when they saw a brilliant light flash.
Dragonair immediately flew away as it saw the Shiny Magikarp start shining, and curiously looked at the massive red serpentine Pokémon who emerged out of it.
The mighty Gyarados let out a terrifying roar, announcing itself to the world, and seeing it, Aizen fell into a trance.
Magikarp had taken its time, but the wait was worth it. And now, he had a powerful weapon on his Team, which made him grin.
Aizen was happy today, very happy, and in the evening, to celebrate the day, he chose to Vein Travel to the Blanc Kingdom, to his Palace, to his Wife, and his Orange Flower...