"You're kidding, Dylan. You really made Giovanni one of the Kanto Elite Four?"
Leaf was completely stunned.
Giovanni was the former leader of Team Rocket—Kanto's greatest enemy. And now he was going to be one of the Elite Four?Had the world gone mad?
"A Giovanni without ambition is reliable. And if that ambition returns, there are people who can keep him in check."
Dylan shrugged. In Black and White 2, Giovanni had even participated in the World Championship. Becoming an Elite Four member? No big deal.
Besides, Giovanni's main goal right now wasn't domination—it was finding Silver. And when the day came that his ambition reignited, people like Red and Selene would be strong enough to keep him grounded.
"Whatever. I guess if anyone can handle him, it's you," Leaf muttered. If Dylan had made the call, she wasn't going to worry too much. He always had his reasons.
"Chairman, it's all arranged," Dylan informed Goodshow over the phone.
"Excellent! Dylan, let's schedule everything for tomorrow at Indigo Plateau. The four of you can be officially sworn in."
Goodshow sounded relieved. His end had gone just as smoothly. After hearing the full story, Professor Oak had immediately contacted Red and Blue, who accepted without hesitation.
They'd been preparing to challenge the League anyway. Being appointed straight to the Elite Four was even better.
"But Oak mentioned his grandson is fine with you being Champion," Goodshow added, "but he's dead set on claiming the title of head of the Elite Four."
"Typical Blue," Dylan said with a chuckle.
If Dylan hadn't taken the Champion seat, Blue might have challenged it himself.
"As for the head Elite Four seat… Giovanni's already called dibs. If Blue wants it, he'll have to battle Giovanni for it."
Rankings were earned, not given. If Blue wanted to be first, he'd have to prove it in battle.
As for last place… well, that was obviously Leaf.
"Perfect. I'll pass that along. Let's meet tomorrow afternoon?"
"No problem, Chairman," Dylan agreed.
The newly appointed Kanto Elite Four were about to gather for the first time. Giovanni would have to come from Johto, after all.
"Very well. I'll await you at Indigo Plateau." Goodshow seemed to be in good spirits again.
Despite the pain of Lance and the others "defecting," it felt like a new, solid foundation was forming.
With Dylan at the helm, it couldn't be anything but stronger than before.
"Thank Arceus for Kanto's deep bench of talent," he murmured.
Goodshow walked to the window of his office and looked out over the Indigo Plateau with a sigh.
Without this regional talent pool, the sudden loss of all four Elite Four members would have been devastating—maybe even a fatal blow to Kanto's prestige.
"The Gym Leader seats can't stay empty either," he muttered and began heading toward the cells where Janine and others were being held.
Back at Rota Gym...
"You're raising another new set of main Pokémon? You're seriously a monster."
Leaf stared at the three Poké Balls Dylan had just retrieved from the transporter.
"What? I told you—I'm building a full-type gym. I need all attributes to be top tier." Dylan rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, total dominance in every type. You're nuts."
Rota Gym was already the stuff of legend. Dylan had mastered Poison, Dark, Ghost, Dragon, Grass, Fire, Normal, Water, and Ice—plus Gold-tier legendaries. And every single Pokémon was absurdly strong.
Leaf couldn't even begin to wrap her head around how he trained them all.
She was supposed to be a genius too, but Dylan made her feel like a total novice.
"Who knows? Maybe I'll actually pull it off," Dylan said with a smile.
"So what's the type this time?" Leaf asked, intrigued.
"Come out."
Dylan released the three Pokémon.
The first was a humanoid, doll-like Pokémon with a purple and white body. It had a soft smile and droopy twin-horn "pigtails." Red triangular markings framed its eyes.
Indeed—it was Indeedee.
Bzzt~ Indeedee (female), Psychic/Normal type, Emotion PokémonAbility: Psychic SurgeMoves: Psybeam, Disarming Voice, Baton Pass, Helping Hand, Stored Power, Fake Out (inherited)
It seemed this batch would be Psychic types.
Leaf studied the gentle-looking Indeedee. Dylan already had Normal-type coverage, so this one was here for the Psychic angle.
Next was a tiny creature with soft pink skin, a little mouth, and stumpy limbs. Its pale blue hair curled inward to cover its eyes, and its tail stood upright like a party hat.
So cute.
Bzzt~ Hatenna, Psychic type, Calm PokémonAbility: Magic BounceMoves: Aromatic Mist, Disarming Voice, Life Dew, Confusion, Play Nice (inherited)
"Hatenna, huh? I think that's the female counterpart to Impidimp?"
Leaf recalled that Dylan had a Grimmsnarl on his team already.
"Exactly," Dylan confirmed.
Some Pokémon came in gendered evolutionary lines—Hatenna's final form, Hatterene, was the counterpart to Grimmsnarl. A forest witch versus a fairy demon.
Then Leaf turned to the last one: a very quiet little figure.
Small, humanoid, white body. Its pale blue hair covered most of its face, with yellow horns protruding from the head.
It was a shiny Ralts.
Bzzt~ Ralts, Psychic/Fairy type, Feeling PokémonAbility: TraceMoves: Draining Kiss, Hypnosis, Confusion, Double Team, Mean Look (inherited)
"Whoa! That's a shiny Ralts!"
Leaf blinked. Regular Ralts had green hair—this one was clearly blue.
"Yep. My dad, Steven, and Wallace helped me find it. Took some effort, but we finally tracked one down."
Dylan grinned. Ralts was a Hoenn-native species, and Steven and Wallace—former and current Hoenn Champions—had the resources to search thoroughly.
Most importantly, this shiny Ralts was female.
Some people believed Gallade was Ralts' "true" male evolution, but male Ralts could still evolve into Gardevoir too.
Dylan didn't care. He wanted that shiny Gardevoir aesthetic.
He appreciated strength, sure—but aesthetics mattered too. And a male Gardevoir just felt… off.
He'd considered Gallade if this one had been male—it was strong enough.
But a male Gardevoir? That was a hard no. Just too weird.
"Hello there. I'm Dylan. From now on, I'll be your Trainer."
He crouched and smiled warmly. The power of his Viridian Force spilled forth.
The sacred aura immediately endeared him to Indeedee and Hatenna, who leaned in close to nuzzle him. Even the shy shiny Ralts raised her head and stepped forward.
"Let's get stronger together," Dylan said, patting each of their heads.
With this, his Psychic team was nearly complete.
What a wonderful day.
The next afternoon…
Dylan flew to Indigo Plateau with Leaf and Lillie, leaving Lillie to wait outside while he and Leaf entered Goodshow's office.
Inside, Red, Blue, and Giovanni were already present.
"Sorry, looks like we're a bit late," Dylan said with a smile, greeting each of them.
"No trouble at all. Take a seat. You must be Leaf?" Goodshow asked kindly.
"Yes, sir. It's an honor to meet you, Chairman Goodshow," Leaf said politely, bowing slightly.
Red: "…"
Red tilted his head. When did Leaf get so formal?
"What a fine young lady. Please, sit."
Goodshow was clearly charmed. She was beautiful, talented, and well-mannered—a perfect candidate.
"You all know the situation. If you're here, that means you've agreed to be the new Kanto Elite Four."
"Once you fill out this paperwork and sign, you'll be official," Goodshow said, sliding the forms forward.
Giovanni picked his up and read carefully. It was mostly about resources, responsibilities, and rules. Standard stuff.
The League was fairly lenient overall. Even though the Elite Four were a region's frontline force, their titles were always subject to change.
"I've got one question," Blue said, leaning back in his chair. "Where are the old Four?"
He respected the previous Elite Four—especially Lance, the former Champion. Oak had only told him they'd stepped down, but not why.
"Don't know," Goodshow sighed. "I can't tell you where they went. But I can tell you this—someday, they might become your enemies."
His voice was heavy with regret.
"They've turned their backs on the League."
Maybe if he'd acted sooner, Lance wouldn't have gone to extremes. But hindsight was useless now.
Lance had carried too much darkness for too long. Now that he was free from League oversight, his path was bound to diverge further.
The League stood for justice. Lance, who had killed council members, clearly no longer shared those ideals.
"Huh." Blue raised a brow. That was a lot to process.
The former Elite Four might be their future opponents?
"Sounds fun." He grinned. He didn't care about their reasons. If they were enemies, they were enemies.
Losing? Please. When did the current beat the former?
And besides—they had Dylan now!
Dylan, his invincible best bro!
"One more thing—I've got no issue with Dylan being Champion. But who's going to be the head of the Elite Four?" Blue asked, arms crossed as he glanced around.
Dylan was Champion, fine. But the #2 seat—Elite Four head—was his to claim!
There could be only one second-in-command: Blue!
"I'm not fighting for it. I'll take the bottom spot," Leaf said immediately.
What was there to fight for? She wasn't beating any of these guys anyway.
And besides—wasn't it nice being the cute little sister with four big brothers?
"The order's up to you," Goodshow said. "You can battle to settle it."
Red pulled down his hat, eyes narrowing as he stared back at Blue. He wasn't about to give up the top spot.
"Well then, I'll say it now—the top spot's mine. Anyone object?"
Blue stood up, full of swagger.
Giovanni? Been there, beat that.Red? Same deal.
This time, the top seat belonged to him!
"Let's battle and find out," Giovanni said with a cool smile.
He had his pride. Now that he'd joined, he wasn't about to let some punk stand above him.
"Uncle Gio, you already lost to us. You really want to go again?" Blue scoffed.
"Gym battles are gym battles," Giovanni replied smoothly, sipping his tea with practiced grace.
"Tch. You saying you didn't go all out back then?"
Leaf: (°—°)Red: "…"
"Heh… Blue, let Uncle show you the true meaning of the earth," Giovanni said with a smirk.
These kids needed their egos trimmed.