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Chapter 199: ‘Celebi’s Blessing’
🕑 Added 2025-03-02 10:12:24 +0000 UTCChapter 199: ‘Celebi’s Blessing’
"Taking on the Masked Corps?"
Sabrina was puzzled. Wasn’t the original plan to have Team Rocket deal with them?
Hearing her question, Asahi replied, "That was the previous phase of the plan."
"Team Rocket has now officially started a war with the Masked Corps, so our plan is moving into a new phase."
Sabrina was intrigued. "So what’s our next move?"
Lately, she had been stuck at the gym, dealing with new challengers every day. It was beyond dull. She had long been looking for an excuse to ditch work and go out.
"The current plan is: Silver will disguise himself as a rookie trainer in Johto to gather intel on the Masked Corps and Team Rocket. Green and I will be in charge of contacting Johto’s gym trainers, while Mewtwo will protect us from attacks by Team Rocket and the Masked Corps. Sounds like a fair distribution, right?" Asahi explained.
Silver had no objections. After his battle with Gary, he had a much clearer understanding of his own strength. A recon mission as a disguised rookie trainer suited him perfectly.
As for Green, she had been following Asahi during the evaluation of Kanto’s gym trainers, so she had no issues either.
"What about me?"
Sabrina was confused. She didn’t hear anything about her own role.
Asahi looked at her strangely. "Aren’t you busy with your gym? Of course, you’re staying home to watch over things."
"This isn’t a final showdown—we don’t need that many people."
Sabrina: "....."
She felt like Asahi was deliberately leaving her out.
…
"But seriously... What kind of gym leader runs off on adventures every day?"
If Lance found out Sabrina abandoned her gym to tag along with him to Johto, his blood pressure would definitely skyrocket…
Sabrina huffed. "That’s none of your concern. I’ll have my family take care of the gym in my absence."
Hearing that, Asahi recalled that Sabrina’s father held an important position in the Pokémon League.
If he stepped in, then there was indeed nothing to worry about.
"Fine... Then you’ll be responsible for contacting Whitney at the Goldenrod Gym and coordinating support from the League," Asahi said.
With the maglev train connecting Saffron City and Goldenrod City about to open, Sabrina and Whitney—being gym leaders of those two cities—would soon be "neighbors." Assigning Sabrina to liaise with Whitney was the perfect choice.
As for coordinating the League’s support…
Sabrina managed the countless students at Saffron Gym effortlessly, so handling this task should be a piece of cake for her.
Sabrina didn’t mind this arrangement, but she was still annoyed that Asahi had initially planned to leave her behind.
Under her piercing gaze, Asahi felt awkward and quickly changed the subject.
"By the way, how’s Matori doing lately?"
Matori had been locked up underground for half a month since he captured her. Recently, Sabrina and Butler had been in charge of watching over her.
Hearing that name, Silver also turned his attention toward them.
Over the past two days, he had learned that Matori was Giovanni’s secretary. He was quite curious about her.
Although Sabrina saw through Asahi’s obvious attempt to divert the topic, she still answered,
"Still the same—refusing to reveal anything about Team Rocket..."
[Want me to try that hypnosis technique you used before?]
Sabrina asked Asahi through telepathy.
"What hypnosis technique? We’re a legitimate League-affiliated organization," Asahi replied with a blank expression.
Sabrina gritted her teeth.
She should have known better than to rely on Asahi.
…
Ignoring Sabrina’s frustration, Asahi let out his Pokémon so they could roam freely, then lay down on the couch, hugging Eevee while checking his phone.
First, he contacted Blaine, asking him to retrieve the Meteorite Fragment for research.
Then, he messaged Steven in the Hoenn region, inquiring about the Mossdeep Space Center’s progress on Meteorite research.
Lastly, he reported the tax audit results to Lance.
While waiting for replies, Asahi turned his attention to the system.
[Please select your reward]
[1. Celebi’s Blessing]
[2. Ho-Oh’s Blessing]
[3. Lugia’s Blessing]
Among these, only Celebi’s Blessing had appeared before—Ho-Oh’s Blessing and Lugia’s Blessing were completely new.
As always, the system provided no descriptions.
Clearly, the effects of these blessings were left for him to figure out.
Based on Asahi’s understanding of these Pokémon…
[Celebi is the Guardian of the Forest, possessing the power to traverse time… so its blessing is likely related to nature and time.]
[Ho-Oh… Given its connection to Suicune, Raikou, and Entei, its blessing might be related to life—possibly regeneration or resurrection?]
As for Lugia’s Blessing… Asahi didn’t even consider it.
He already had a real Lugia—what did he need a blessing for?
"Right, little Lugia?"
Hearing Asahi’s words, the young Lugia looked up with a confused expression.
Asahi waved his hand dismissively. "Never mind, keep playing!"
Even though Lugia was still young, Asahi believed that one day, it too would master the power of blessings!
Little Lugia blinked, then went back to playing board games with Swampert and Gengar. For some reason, those three had been hanging out together a lot lately.
Asahi refocused on the system panel.
After a moment of thought, he made his choice.
Although Ho-Oh’s resurrection ability was tempting, considering their upcoming mission… Celebi’s Blessing was the more useful option.
And more importantly, with Gardevoir and Mewtwo protecting him, if he ever did need resurrection, then the enemy would have to be absurdly powerful.
And knowing himself, if he ever faced such an enemy, he would’ve run away long before it got to that point.
So…
[System, I choose Celebi’s Blessing!]
As Asahi made his choice, a warm current surged through his body.
A strange energy radiated from him.
Sabrina, Gardevoir, and Mewtwo—all of whom were highly sensitive to energy changes—immediately noticed and turned toward him.
Sabrina studied Asahi with curiosity. She could sense something had changed about him, though she couldn’t quite explain it.
How to put it…
His usual unserious demeanor suddenly seemed deeper and more mysterious. There was also a faint, refreshing aura of nature around him—soothing and inviting.
A stark contrast to his usual self.
Gardevoir, feeling the energy, simply snuggled up to Asahi, closing her eyes to bask in it.
Mewtwo was initially surprised.
Then, seeing Gardevoir pressing close to Asahi, its eyes flickered with hesitation…
Should it report this to Mama Mew?
