Pokemon: I Transmigrated Twice

"Zorua was taken away by that masked man. How should we investigate? That guy flew away, and Houndoom's nose probably can't track him..."

 Karen furrowed her brows anxiously.

"Finding Zorua shouldn't be too hard."

 Stephen exchanged a glance with Will.

Will opened the backpack he carried with him.

 Stephen took out a small glass bottle from inside.

 On the bottle, the word "Zorua" was written with a marker.

"This is..."

 Karen leaned in for a closer look and found that the bottle contained a few nails.

"Never thought there'd come a day when I'd have to use this."

 Stephen held the bottle and said to the two of them:

 "We'll split up. Karen and I will head back to CIanwood City to use the equipment there to create a tracker for Zorua. Will, I need you to head to Mahogany Town and keep an eye on Pryce."

"Pryce? The Gym Leader nicknamed the Teacher of Winter's Harshness? Are you suspecting him, Stephen?"

 Will froze for a moment and asked.

Karen chimed in, "In the Johto region, most people recognize Pryce as second only to Altair from the Olivine Gym and Chuck from the Cianwood Gym in terms of strength. He's ranked third among Johto's Gym Leaders. He's powerful, and his specialty is Ice-types, but is he capable of matching that masked man?"

Stephen couldn't exactly tell them he knew the masked man's real identity because he had transmigrated. Instead, he gave a barely plausible reason:

 "It's just a suspicion for now. After all, in Johto, there probably isn't a stronger Ice-type user than him. Will, you only need to covertly monitor Mahogany Gym's movements—nothing else."

Even though Stephen knew the masked man's identity, he didn't dare act recklessly.

 Knowing who the enemy is one thing; being able to defeat them is another.

"If you dare harm Zorua, I don't care if you're a master-level trainer or whatever—you've already signed your death warrant."

 Stephen clenched his fists and silently vowed.

So far, Stephen's attitude toward Pryce was primarily one of avoidance, because Pryce's strength was genuinely terrifying.

If Stephen were to evaluate Pryce as a person, disregarding his strength, his opinion would remain the same as before: half-angel, half-devil, with a hint of that Uchiha Obito vibe.

To allow his Lapras to travel back in time and reunite with its parents, Pryce had essentially turned the Kanto and Johto regions upside down.

 He also destroyed the childhoods of many innocent kids like Green and Silver.

But Stephen wasn't the type to meddle unnecessarily. It was just like in his past life—if the World Government hadn't come after him following Vegapunk's death, Stephen wouldn't have bothered allying with the Revolutionary Army to fight Imu.

If Pryce wanted to create chaos, Stephen had no interest in getting involved.

 But now that you've dragged my companion into this, well, sorry—it's personal.

...

Meanwhile, on Mt. Mortar, west of Mahogany Town

In this mountain located between Mahogany Town and Ecruteak City, few people knew about the hidden secret base here.

"Eeek—"

Hearing the cries of birds and beasts from the sky above, dozens of children aged 5 to 12 wearing masks identical to the masked man's ice mask gathered in the base.

Some looked up at the Ho-Oh descending from the clouds. Their expressions were hidden behind their masks.

 Others kept their heads down, studying as if the sight was nothing out of the ordinary.

Among them were two masked children: a 7-year-old girl named Green and a 5-year-old boy named Silver.

 Both of them remained indifferent—they had already been abducted and brought here for over two years.

Both were kidnapped by Ho-Oh.

 And every so often, that big bird would abduct new children to join this child soldier army.

Green and Silver were long used to it.

"I wonder who the unlucky one is this time," Green muttered quietly while continuing to read her book on Pokémon evolution.

The kidnapped children were all taught by the masked man.

 Each was given a different area of study—battle tactics, Pokémon ecology, Pokémon breeding, and more.

Green's assigned focus was evolution.

Finally, Ho-Oh released its latest recruit.

 Some of the masked children glanced curiously in that direction.

Yet none of them recognized the boy lying there—Joker, the criminal who had turned Johto and half the Pokémon world upside down in the past two years.

The reason was simple: this place was completely isolated from the outside world.

 They had no idea what was happening out there and naturally didn't know who Joker was.

"Heh, a genius scientist from Team Rocket? After getting Giovanni's son, now you've found another good seedling."

At that moment, Pryce, wearing his ice mask, stepped out of the base.

 If Lance or Lorelei were to see this, they would've been utterly shocked—how could there be two masked men!?

Pryce waved his hand, and a Delibird shook itself, dropping a masked man from its back. The figure shattered upon hitting the ground—it was just an ice sculpture!

Ho-Oh then released its grip on Joker, letting him fall.

"Team Rocket's genius, I hope you'll work for me in the future," Pryce said coldly, his tone as icy and intimidating as his specialty.

The boy, lying on the ground, gritted his teeth and raised his head.

[I've run out of energy and can't maintain my transformation anymore...]

The next second, the boy on the ground started emitting a white mist, as if the Transformation Jutsu from the Naruto world had been undone.

Pryce's expression shifted drastically. When he looked again, where was Joker?

 All that remained was a weak, panting black fox!

"Big Sister Greeb!"

Silver tugged on Green's sleeve and pointed at Zorua.

Green, who had been determined to ignore everything and focus on escaping, finally noticed what was happening in the distance. She was stunned.

What... what's going on?

Behind his mask, Pryce's eyes widened as well.

Seconds later, Pryce remembered something.

 His old friend, Professor Oak, had mentioned in a recent Pokémon lecture that a new species of Dark-type Pokémon had been discovered in the Unova region.

 It could transform into other Pokémon or even humans, much like Ditto.

And Joker had recently been active in Unova.

In less than half a minute, Pryce pieced together about 70–80% of what had happened.

"You're Joker's Pokémon? Where is Joker himself!?"

Pryce's voice was icy and sharp, his tone teetering on rage.

 A trainer who had broken through the Champion level years ago and prided himself on being invincible had just been played for a fool!

Zorua stubbornly turned its little face away, and a loli-like voice echoed in Pryce's mind:

["I'd rather die than tell you!"]

Pryce froze again.

Telepathy?

 Interesting. No wonder Joker would capture it.

Pryce squinted his eyes and suddenly smiled. "Heh, it's much easier when you can talk."

[Huh?]

Hearing this, Zorua turned its face toward him, a sense of foreboding welling up inside.

Just as Zorua turned its head, Pryce threw out another Poké Ball. From it emerged a Gastly.

Although not an Ice-type, this Gastly was also one of Pryce's Pokémon. When acting under the guise of the Masked Man, Pryce rarely used his Ice-type Pokémon unless necessary, and he would never deploy his strongest team members. This caution was to avoid anyone suspecting that the Ice-type specialist Pryce might also be the Masked Man.

For everyday operations, Pryce primarily used Pokémon like Gastly, Ariados, and Golbat—creatures he had casually captured by the roadside, ones that were common and unremarkable. However, even these seemingly weak Pokémon, when wielded by someone of Pryce's caliber—whether as a master-level or even champion-level trainer—could unleash power far beyond that of any elite trainer.

In the recent battle in Ilex Forest, however, Pryce had been forced to deploy his strongest Pokémon, including Delibird and even Ho-Oh, due to the number of powerful opponents present. This was a necessary move, as Joker was a prospect Pryce had long sought to recruit.

Pryce felt that if he could just get his hands on Joker, his current group of underlings would become entirely disposable.

"Gastly, use Hypnosis," Pryce commanded.

Under Gastly's hypnosis, Zorua's eyes gradually became dazed, like a puppet that had lost its soul.

"Tell me, why did Joker have you impersonate him?" Pryce asked directly.

Based on his observations, there was no way Joker would have pulled such a trick after Pryce had joined the fray—it would not have escaped his notice. That left only one possibility: from the very start of the battle, the Joker who had appeared was, in fact, this Zorua in disguise!

But why? Why go to the trouble of creating a stand-in under those circumstances? Was he trying to hide something?

[Because Master...]

Under hypnosis, Zorua began telepathically revealing everything it knew to Pryce.

When he learned the truth, Pryce's eyes behind the mask widened in disbelief.

What an earth-shattering revelation!

The rising star of Team Rocket, Joker—who had turned half the Pokémon League upside down—and Stephen, the genius Pokémon researcher celebrated by the League for inventing the TM, were the same person!?

"Heh... hehehe..."

Pryce froze for a long moment before gradually calming down. Then, he couldn't help but laugh, louder and louder.

In the distant base, the children—Greeb, Silver, and the others—exchanged puzzled glances, wondering if the old man had lost his mind.

"Hahaha!"

After laughing heartily, Pryce finally calmed down again. He was ecstatic—truly ecstatic!

When he had first arrived in Ilex Forest and seen both Joker and Stephen, he had agonized over which of the two young geniuses to capture. After some thought, he ultimately chose Joker, reasoning that Stephen was a researcher highly valued by the League. Kidnapping him would surely provoke the full wrath of the Pokémon League, a colossal entity.

Joker, on the other hand, though a top-priority fugitive, was ultimately just a Team Rocket executive. Capturing him would at most draw the ire of Team Rocket.

Pryce understood well the difference between angering the League and angering Team Rocket. Besides, he had already kidnapped the son of Team Rocket's leader—why should he fear a mere executive?

But now, knowing that these two geniuses were one and the same, all his earlier concerns vanished. He could even use this secret to blackmail Stephen into working for him.

The thought delighted Pryce further.

"Stephen, you wouldn't want the League to find out your true identity, would you?"

...

Meanwhile, on the other side, after arranging for Lance—who had been frozen into an ice sculpture by Masked Man—to be taken care of, Lorelei hurried back to the Pokémon League headquarters on the Indigo Plateau to report the entire chain of events to Chairman Goodshow.

"This... this is unbelievable!"

After reading Lorelei's report, Goodshow, who had been daydreaming about the possibility of pairing Stephen with Lorelei and bringing him into the League, was completely stunned.

It turned out that Kodai—the man who had built his empire—possessed the ability to foresee the future, a power derived from Celebi!

According to the testimony of Kodai's top lackey, Goone, the Crown City tragedy in Sinnoh ten years ago was Kodai's doing. Back then, he had discovered a time ripple left by Celebi and absorbed its power. This interference with the balance of time and space had devastated Crown City, leaving it barren and nearly destroyed.

Even after more than a decade, the city was still in the process of rebuilding.

Goodshow could never have imagined that such a tragedy had been caused by something like this!

"He deserved to die," Lorelei said angrily.

According to Goone's testimony, Kodai had come to Johto from Unova this time also in search of time ripples. If he had succeeded, Ilex Forest—and possibly even the neighboring Azalea Town—would have faced utter destruction.

Kodai truly deserved death—no question about it!

For once, the usually soft-hearted Goodshow did not argue. He simply nodded.

"Joker was abducted by a masked man? And this masked man is incredibly strong?" Goodshow asked, seizing on another key detail.

"Strong—unbelievably strong," Lorelei replied, her tone shifting from anger to intense caution. Even as the Ice Elite Four member, she couldn't help but shiver at the memory of that encounter.

Goodshow massaged his temples, trying to ease the growing headache. After a long pause, he made his decision:

"I'll contact the media to expose the truth about Kodai. The credit will go to you and Lance. As for the masked man... let's keep his existence under wraps for now."

A super-powerful individual, stronger than a Champion, who could abduct Joker and defeat Lance in an instant, had suddenly appeared on the scene. And this person did not seem to be on the side of justice.

Revealing this information to the public, Goodshow felt, would only lead to chaos. It was better to keep it a secret for now.

"All right," Lorelei agreed. She didn't mind the credit being attributed to her and Lance. She wasn't someone who sought fame, and at the moment, there was no better solution.

...

...

...

Two days later, the Goldenrod TV station in the Johto region aired the following news:

["Today, our channel will bring viewers a report uncovering the truth behind the Crown City tragedy that occurred ten years ago. Thanks to the tireless efforts of Mr. Lance and Ms. Lorelei from the Indigo League Elite Four, we have finally identified the mastermind behind that tragic event. It turns out to be none other than Grings Kodai, the renowned entrepreneur and chairman of Kodai Network in the Unova region…"]

Goldenrod TV, the most-watched channel in the Johto region, heavily covered news related to Kodai.

However, key details such as the involvement of the Shiny Celebi, the Time Ripple, the Ice Mask Man, Joker's capture, and Lance being defeated in an instant were conspicuously absent from their reports. Instead, the news exaggeratedly praised Lance and Lorelei for their contributions.

"How hypocritical. Their so-called Dragon Master was completely defeated," scoffed Karen as she watched the news in the beachside cabin in Cianwood City.

Out of all the noteworthy events at the Ilex Forest battle, they chose to report on nothing but the insignificant news about Kodai.

Stephen chuckled and said, "That's normal. Reporting the other stuff would cause too much trouble."

As soon as he finished speaking, Stephen picked up a palm-sized piece of white paper from his workbench.

"It's done."

"What is it?" Karen asked curiously as she leaned closer.

The next second, Karen noticed that the piece of paper Stephen placed on the table began to move northeast on its own, even though there was no wind and no one was touching it.

"This is called a Vivre Card. It's a paper that represents the life force of its owner," Stephen explained as he wrote the name "Zorua" on the paper. "With this, we can pinpoint Zorua's location."

Karen didn't fully understand the Vivre Card's purpose but nodded as if she did. Suddenly, a question popped into her mind: "Then, Stephen, how are we going to rescue Zorua? Steal it?"

Considering that they had no chance of winning a head-on fight against the Masked Man, Karen figured stealing it might be their only option.

Stephen shook his head and asked her in return, "Why do we wear masks during our operations?"

Karen froze for a moment, unsure why Stephen was asking such a question now. After thinking for a second, she answered, "Because we don't want to reveal our true identities… Huh?!"

As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized something.

"You're saying that guy's true identity isn't something he can reveal either?!"

People like Elena of Team Shadow, Apollo and Athena of Team Rocket were already wanted criminals by the League, so they didn't even bother to hide their faces. But someone like Giovanni, who didn't want to expose himself, had to find ways to cover his face during operations.

In other words, the Masked Man also had a reason, like Giovanni, for not wanting his identity to be known.

Stephen smiled and nodded. "If we can uncover his identity, we can use that to turn the tables and threaten him."

Pryce, you wouldn't want the League to find out who you are, would you?

Just then, Will called.

["Stephen, I don't think Pryce is the Masked Man."]

Stephen raised an eyebrow and asked, "Oh? Why do you say that?"

Will explained, ["I asked around with the townsfolk in Mahogany Town. Pryce has been staying at the Mahogany Gym all week and hasn't gone out at all. Many locals even saw his Jynx pushing him in his wheelchair to the market to buy groceries."]

"Will, your eyes can deceive you," Stephen reminded him.

Using a body double? That's a trivial matter. Didn't I use the same trick back in the Ilex Forest?

Stephen then asked, "Pryce is in Mahogany Town now, right?"

["Yeah, I'm watching him right now."]

Sitting on a public bench, Will discreetly observed Pryce in the distance, being pushed in a wheelchair by his Jynx as they returned to the Mahogany Gym.

"Keep an eye on him!" Stephen emphasized.