Zekrom ran off with N and Colress, which wasn't exactly good news.
The battle between Lance and Giovanni was intense, but as they fought, both of them disappeared, and no one knew where they went.
"So, the king of Team Plasma in the Unova region awakened the black dragon Zekrom…"
On the video call, Charles Goodshow, the white-bearded president of the Kanto League, rubbed his temples in frustration.
As the League's president, Goodshow enjoyed traveling to different regions during their league tournaments, checking out the development of new trainers.
Because of that, he was quite familiar with the legends of various regions. The fact that the ideal Dragon God from Unova's founding myth chose the leader of an evil organization was bad news for the Pokémon League.
"Zekrom's power is overwhelming. I'm no match for it. If Dylan hadn't shown up, I might have been in real danger,"
Lorelei reported calmly, stating the facts.
Due to her past experiences, she had an intense hatred for evil. As N was the leader of an evil organization, she would never back down, even if it meant her death. She would never bow before evil.
"Lorelei, you're overthinking it. N would never try to kill you,"
Dylan shook his head.
While N had become fanatically focused on his ideals because of Ghetsis's manipulations, at heart, N was a kind soul who desired peace. He could never kill anyone, especially someone like Lorelei, who loved Pokémon as much as she did.
"Maybe," Lorelei said after a brief silence, her voice calm.
"Dylan, do you know N? What are his ideals?" Charles
Goodshow asked thoughtfully, sensing that Dylan had some insight into N.
And since N had been chosen by the Ideal Dragon God, it meant his ideals must have been extraordinarily strong to be selected by the black dragon.
"I met him once. He's seen many Pokémon hurt by humans, so now his ideal is to separate humans and Pokémon, believing that's the only way for Pokémon to be truly free and happy," Dylan explained, giving a brief summary.
"Hmph," Lorelei let out a cold laugh, her tone dripping with sarcasm.
"An anti-social ideal… He's too extreme," Goodshow sighed, rubbing his temples once more. The idea of separating humans from Pokémon? That was impossible.
And even if it were possible, what would the world become? It was nothing short of anti-social.
"N's experiences growing up were very different from a normal person's," Dylan wasn't surprised by this.
N's ideals stemmed from his unique circumstances.
Born with the ability to sense Pokémon's thoughts and emotions, N had been isolated by Ghetsis, who adopted him and kept him away from humans. Instead, N grew up surrounded by Pokémon who had been betrayed, mistreated, and hurt by malicious humans. Naturally, he developed such extreme views.
A fabricated truth gave rise to a fanatically strong ideal, but this ideal was nurtured in an artificial world.
"He's actually quite pitiful," Dylan remarked with a sigh.
N was a tragic figure from beginning to end. It wasn't until the protagonist in Black and White completely defeated him that N realized his true ideals and freed himself from Ghetsis's control.
In Black and White 2, N even came to stop Ghetsis, who was now controlling Kyurem. Despite having viewed Ghetsis as a father, Ghetsis coldly declared that N had always been nothing but a tool and a monster to him. N's black (or white) dragon was even forcibly fused with Kyurem. It was a truly tragic story.
"No matter how pitiful he is, he's still a dangerous individual now," Lorelei said coldly.
"The Ideal Dragon God follows someone with sincere and powerful ideals. If someone with stronger ideals than N appeared, would Zekrom choose a new hero?" Lorelei mused aloud.
"Huh?" Dylan was momentarily taken aback.
"I think Lance is a better fit for Zekrom than that leader of an evil organization," Lorelei pushed her glasses up and stated plainly, noticing Dylan's confusion.
"Dylan, you're also better than that guy."
Lorelei still couldn't accept that the leader of an evil organization had gained the favor of the Ideal Dragon. Did he really deserve it? Lance was no worse than N! In terms of strength, Lance was one of the top Champion-level trainers. In terms of ideals, Lance also wanted to create a world where Pokémon could be truly happy, and he was just as unwavering.
And Lance wouldn't tolerate any evil. With Zekrom's power, Lorelei believed Lance could wipe out every evil organization!
Lance could scatter their ashes to the wind!!
Lillie nodded in agreement beside her. She really wanted to see her brother commanding the Dragon God! It would surely be incredibly cool!!
"Lorelei, you give me too much credit. My ideals aren't strong enough to be worthy of the Ideal Dragon," Dylan replied humbly. It was the truth.
He was just here for fun. What ideals did he have? Didn't every trainer want to be the strongest in the world?
Maybe his dream of capturing Arceus counted as an ideal?
Though that dream might be a bit grand, considering Arceus was the creator deity…
But even if capturing Arceus was a valid ideal, Zekrom probably wouldn't take it seriously…
After all, could Zekrom even stand up to Arceus's three "children"? Zekrom couldn't even defeat those three dragons, let alone Arceus.
"Honestly, I think I'm more suited to Reshiram than ideals,"
Dylan joked with a smile.
He didn't think Zekrom would recognize him, but he felt he might have a shot with Reshiram.
The truth of the world? He had already seen through it long ago.
"Are you interested in Reshiram, Dylan?" Charles Goodshow's eyes gleamed slightly at Dylan's words.
"Yes, President, I'd like to visit the Unova region to see if I can awaken the white dragon," Dylan admitted without hiding his thoughts.
"Go ahead. You can bring back the dragon, but you need to come back as well," Charles Goodshow smiled warmly, speaking with a hint of humor.
He was very fond of Dylan and believed he was a good candidate to succeed Lance someday.
But Goodshow didn't want Dylan going to Unova and never returning to Kanto—he'd cry his heart out if that happened.
"You're overthinking it, President. I have no intention of moving to another region," Dylan chuckled.
"Hahaha! Dylan, when you go to Unova, I won't be able to give you any special treatment. The Unova League won't be too happy about their Dragon God being taken by someone from another region."
Charles Goodshow pondered for a moment before speaking to Dylan.
While the Pokémon League was united, if the League were compared to a giant company, then the regions were like its individual departments.
Unova definitely wanted to deal with N and the black dragon, but unless things got desperate, they wouldn't want their legendary Dragon God taken away by a trainer from another region.
After all, they had plenty of strong trainers in Unova—who knew, maybe one of them could awaken Reshiram? Why bring in someone from outside?
"I understand," Dylan nodded. He hadn't expected Goodshow to offer him any special help. Awakening Reshiram would depend on his own abilities; outside help wouldn't make much of a difference.
"Dylan, you've done an excellent job this time, and you've even arrested two senior Rocket Executives. What kind of reward would you like?"
Charles Goodshow stroked his beard with satisfaction. He was growing more and more fond of Dylan.
However, as he spoke, there was a slightly awkward look on his face. He had received the battle report too: once again, the two Executives arrested were Archer and Proton.
It almost felt like Dylan was exploiting a glitch—he had already rewarded Dylan for capturing Archer and Proton last time, and now here they were again.
"I would like a Dreepy!" Dylan replied without hesitation.
"I had a feeling you would say that," Charles chuckled helplessly.
He had been keeping an eye on Dylan, whose Gym in Rota had introduced the Ghost-type as its fourth specialization.
Naturally, the Ghost/Dragon-type Dragapult would be at the top of Dylan's wish list.
"Is it difficuly? If Dreepy is unavailable, any other pseudo-legendary baby Pokémon will do."
"I'll discuss it with Chairman Rose in Galar, don't worry. I can definitely get you a Dreepy," Charles said with a warm smile, exuding quiet but unmistakable confidence.
After all, he was the President of the Kanto League and the President of the World Pokémon Association. His resources and connections were, without exaggeration, unmatched globally.
"Thank you."
A smile spread across Dylan's face. Archer and Proton really were the best! Such helpful people! He had to remember to bring a fruit basket when he visited them next time.
"Hehe~ This is well deserved, Dylan. I look forward to seeing you bring back that dragon from Unova. I suspect Chairman Frantz from Unova will be coming to pour his heart out to me soon enough."
Charles winked at Dylan, an unexpectedly humorous gesture from an old man.
"He'll have to come begging us," Charles thought gleefully.
The thought of Dylan bringing Reshiram, the White Dragon, back to Kanto and Frantz's crestfallen face made Charles certain he would be overjoyed when the time came.
Besides, with the White Dragon gone, it would be much harder for Unova to deal with the Black Dragon's hero, N. Of course, they'd have no choice but to turn to Kanto for help. That thought was too satisfying!
"I'll do my best," Dylan said modestly. After all, he couldn't guarantee success.
If the White Dragon wasn't willing, it couldn't be forced—wait, maybe it could.
As Dylan pondered, he realized that once Necrozma was involved, even forcing the White Dragon's capture wasn't out of the question.
Reshiram surely couldn't defeat Necrozma, and once its true form was revealed, a physical capture wouldn't be impossible. As long as he could catch Reshiram, Dylan wasn't picky about the method.
After all, Reshiram was just too beautiful. The idea of flying around Rota on such a majestic two-tailed dragon every day was simply too cool!
Of all the legendary cover dragons, Dylan found the White Dragon the most aesthetically pleasing.
After ending his call with Charles Goodshow, Dylan turned to Lorelei.
"Lorelei, has Lance returned yet?"
"No news. He's probably still chasing the Rocket Boss,"
Lorelei shook her head. She had just sent another message to Lance, but there had been no reply.
Clearly, Lance was in the midst of a cat-and-mouse game with Giovanni.
"Don't worry, Lance will definitely defeat that big rat," Lorelei said calmly, full of confidence in Lance.
But Dylan wasn't so sure…
He knew that while Lance was strong, Giovanni was no slouch either. Dylan doubted Lance could actually take him down.
At that moment, Officer Jenny's communicator rang in the distance.
"What did you say?"
Officer Jenny's expression changed, and she looked deeply troubled.
"Gym Leader Dylan, Elite Four Lorelei," Officer Jenny hesitated after hanging up the phone but eventually approached the two of them.
"I'm terribly sorry. Archer and Proton, who were under watch, have been rescued by a mysterious Rocket member."
Officer Jenny spoke with shame—it was a failure on the part of the police force.
"What did you say?" Lorelei's face instantly turned cold.
"Can you explain what happened?" Dylan raised an eyebrow. Since Lance hadn't sent any updates, it meant he was still occupied with Giovanni, so Giovanni couldn't have been the one to rescue Archer and Proton.
"Apparently, all the personnel guarding the two criminals mysteriously fell asleep. By the time they woke up, Archer and Proton were gone," Officer Jenny reported, clearly uncomfortable.
Lorelei's expression grew even frostier.
"Hypnosis, huh..." Dylan mused. Since this happened in Saffron City, it was likely Sabrina was involved.
Archer and Proton were really being prioritized by Team Rocket—captured twice, rescued twice.
"Looks like there are still opportunities to farm them for rewards. Not bad, not bad. Next time, should I aim for a Hydreigon or a Goodra? Or maybe a Kommo-o?" Dylan thought to himself.
It wasn't that he wanted to keep targeting the same people, but these particular "sheep" just kept delivering themselves to his door. It was frustrating for him too.
Every encounter in life is a reunion after a long separation. Archer, Proton—I really hope we meet again.
I truly love you both!
(Chapter End)