"Phew, fighting solo, I should be able to handle Agatha."
After fleeing far from the Power Plant, Ace sat casually on the ground, analyzing the recent battle situation. "But those Pokémon legions, all of them together, are not something any single person can deal with."
Unless...
Ace looked at Mewtwo.
Unless Mewtwo had its future strength, then there'd be no question; it could basically flatten the Elite Four. No matter how many Pokémon legions came, they wouldn't be enough for Mewtwo to fight.
Of course, Ace could also count on Chansey.
But while Chansey was formidable, it would still have trouble against Ghost-type Pokémon.
It wasn't that it couldn't defeat them, but Ghost-types' Destiny Bond was just too annoying.
Especially with hundreds of Ghost-type Pokémon, even if one couldn't finish off Chansey, a few hundred surely could wear it down to death.
So a widely circulated saying goes: a Ghost-type Pokémon at full health isn't scary, the most terrifying thing is when it's at low health.
Whether it's Pain Split or Destiny Bond, it can drive a person to stomp with rage.
Therefore, Ace felt that his main quest really did have to follow the plot, otherwise, just the Pokémon legions prepared by the Elite Four would be enough to give Ace a run for his money.
The combined Pokémon legions of the four Elite Four members numbered nearly a thousand. Even if it killed Ace, there was no way he could fight nearly a thousand Pokémon in one go and then deal with the Elite Four.
Because, he would truly die!
"Still too weak, huh…"
Ace sighed with emotion, also feeling fortunate that he had gone to the Power Plant.
Originally, Ace's plan was to infiltrate Cinnabar Island and defeat the Elite Four, which would definitely earn him an S-rank evaluation.
However, Ace had forgotten about the Pokémon legions prepared by the Elite Four. In the plot, these Pokémon legions were dispersed to four cities to cause destruction, which allowed the protagonist group to gradually defeat the Elite Four.
It was precisely because of this that Ace had forgotten this crucial factor.
Since the plot hadn't begun yet, these Pokémon legions were basically all on Cinnabar Island. At this moment, Cinnabar Island could be said to be an impenetrable fortress; trying to infiltrate it was basically a pipe dream!
However, this probing attempt allowed Ace to realize this important factor.
So, Ace's next actions would be even more cautious. Unless he had 100% certainty, he wouldn't initiate an attack.
"Let's go, Mewtwo."
Ace looked at Mewtwo. Mewtwo, however, held up a single finger at Ace, then returned to its Poké Ball.
"This guy, still not convinced, huh?"
Ace looked at the Poké Ball containing Mewtwo with a chuckle, helplessly putting it away.
At this point, Mewtwo and Ace's friendship had long surpassed 100, and Mewtwo would consistently complete any training tasks Ace assigned to it.
Logically speaking, given all this, Mewtwo should have recognized Ace as its Trainer by now.
But Mewtwo didn't think so.
The single finger it held up just now represented Ace's agreement with it.
It would do three things for Ace, and then Ace would set it free.
Clearly, even if Mewtwo acknowledged Ace in its heart, Mewtwo itself yearned for freedom even more.
"The last thing... let's use it against the Elite Four then."
Ace patted the fanny pack behind him. Crobat burst out, grabbed Ace, and flew towards the nearest airport.
After purchasing a ticket to Rustboro City, Ace boarded the plane and sat by a window seat.
"Six hours, quite a distance."
Ace sighed, also feeling a bit pained about his wallet.
The plane ticket wasn't cheap, but to go to the Meteor Falls, Ace had to make a trip to Hoenn.
Moreover, according to the existing information, there were definitely Key Stones and Evolution Stones in the Meteor Falls.
Before the plot officially began, Ace wanted to enhance his strength as much as possible, otherwise, he simply couldn't accept the penalties for the main quest.
Passengers gradually boarded the plane. Soon, a male Trainer with a backpack sat next to Ace.
As for why he judged the other person to be a Trainer, Ace explained that one could distinguish ordinary people from Trainers just by their demeanor.
Ace recognized him as a Trainer, and the man also recognized Ace as one.
He put his backpack away, sat down, buckled his seatbelt, and extended his hand to Ace. "My name is Hughes. Nice to meet you."
"Ace."
Ace shook his hand, while his mind quickly sifted through his memories, only to find no impression of this person.
Ace then felt relieved; he was probably just a background character.
The plane soon took off. Ace then noticed that this "Hughes" fellow was quite familiar and talkative.
Ace barely engaged in conversation with him, but Hughes just kept chatting away about his travel experiences.
Although Ace wasn't particularly interested in him, he could glean some information about other regions from his words.
So, even though Ace found the other person a bit verbose, he patiently listened.
Then, as they talked, from the hardships of travel, they moved to the difficulty of making money, then complained about the lives of the upper class, and somehow, the conversation drifted to the Sinnoh region.
"Ace, you wouldn't believe it, these upper-class people have been getting quite the raw deal lately, especially in Sinnoh."
Ace came from Sinnoh, so he was a bit concerned about news from there. He replied, "What happened? Did something occur in Sinnoh?"
"Something huge happened!"
Hughes exaggerated, "The major families in Sinnoh almost all fell into obscurity in a short period of time, with very little news, and many upper-class individuals died. It's said they caught some kind of spreading disease, and the pathogen was only recently eradicated. It was terrifying."
Ace was slightly stunned. Cynthia had also returned to Sinnoh around the same time, and she was also a rich young lady from a major family.
Ace took note and then asked for more detailed information.
From Hughes's mouth, Ace gradually gathered intelligence and then discovered some problematic points.
Namely, during this crisis for the major families, only one remained completely unaffected.
As for this sole survivor, Ace knew without a doubt that it must be the Berlitz family.
This prominent family, which would become incredibly wealthy in the future and control over 80% of Sinnoh's real estate, was also the only major family that had sided with the Pokémon League from the very beginning.
Connecting these dots, Ace's heart sank a little. He had figured out exactly what was going on.
"The League has such ruthless methods..."
Ace thought silently to himself, but he also knew very well that if the League wanted to continue developing in the Sinnoh region, there would inevitably be conflicts with these major Sinnoh families.
However, Ace hadn't expected the League to be so ruthless, cutting the Gordian knot so swiftly, directly taking care of all of them before these major families could even react.
With this move, Sinnoh essentially became a League dictatorship, its control far exceeding that of the League in any other region!