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"Anything."
The Masked Man replied almost without hesitation, which was incredibly surprising.
"Interesting."
Mammon's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Then why don't you tell me what you want to do?"
"…"
The Masked Man fell silent, evidently, without a clear answer from Mammon, he wasn't prepared to reveal his objective.
"I heard Karen mention that when Green escaped your organization, she stole your rainbow feather and silver feather."
Seeing the Masked Man remain silent, Mammon wasn't too surprised. Instead, he began to analyze on his own.
"You were very angry, so you had Karen and Will inquire about Green's whereabouts everywhere, and also search for the locations of Lugia and Ho-Oh."
"You really want to get them back, right? Because of their feathers?"
"I once heard that the Steel Master of Azalea Town possesses a special Poké Ball crafting secret technique that he carries with him. One of them is the Gold and Silver Ball, which can only be made with a capture net woven from a rainbow feather and a silver feather."
The Gold and Silver Ball, hailed as the 'Poké Ball that can capture time,' is also known as Steel's Cool Ball. Of course, it also has a more widely known name.
The GS Ball!
"The Gold and Silver Ball, specifically used to capture Celebi, which can 'time travel.' And now you're asking Dialga for help. You want to time travel, don't you? To travel back in time to mend regrets?"
Mammon looked at the Masked Man, who remained calm and expressionless, speaking unhurriedly.
So, the Masked Man's original goal was Celebi?
Upon hearing Mammon's well-reasoned analysis, Karen and the others finally understood the Masked Man's objective.
After all, the Masked Man was simply too mysterious, and his temperament was cold and ruthless. Who in the Masked Organization didn't fear the Masked Man?
Even Karen and Will held him in extreme awe.
"Am I right?" Mammon smiled, looking at the Masked Man.
The Masked Man gave Mammon a deep look, and the eyes beneath the grotesque ice sculpture mask couldn't help but show some ripples.
"As expected of Team Rockets's boss."
The Masked Man's deep, hoarse voice rang out.
"That's right, I want to create a GS Ball to capture Celebi," the Masked Man said indifferently.
"Legend says that during every full moon, light descends upon the Petalburg Woods shrine. At that time, I didn't know about the existence of the GS Ball. I tried to catch Celebi with my own strength."
"But even if I got myself covered in wounds, I couldn't successfully catch Celebi, which could 'time travel.'"
The Masked Man said calmly. From that moment on, he understood that the GS Ball was essential, otherwise, he would never achieve his dream.
"Tsk~"
Mammon couldn't help but click his tongue. So, the difficulty of catching Celebi, which can time travel, was imaginable.
Even a Trainer like the Masked Man, even if he was half-dead, couldn't catch Celebi.
But actually, an interesting point is that in the anime, Celebi has been messed with by villains more than once or twice.
Not to mention Celebi's own movie, in the movie "Zoroark: Master of Illusions," Celebi was also almost killed by the villain.
I wonder if the Masked Man would lose his composure if he knew this.
"However, compared to Celebi, Dialga, which represents the concept of 'time' itself, is of course better."
The Masked Man continued, that's right, Celebi is a Mythical Pokémon with the ability to time travel, but Dialga is a Pokémon born for the material concept of 'time.'
The superiority of one over the other is obvious.
"What do you want to go back in time for?"
Mammon was noncommittal, instead asking about the Masked Man's purpose.
"If I tell you my purpose, can you help me?"
The Masked Man asked in a deep voice.
"It seems you still don't understand the current situation." Mammon looked at the Masked Man with a half-smile.
The Masked Man's eyes beneath his mask narrowed slightly, and a massive, heavy pressure suddenly descended.
The petite Dark Mewtwo Y stood beside Mammon, its eyes burning with deep purple flames, making one's heart palpitate.
And behind the Masked Man, Calyrex, riding Spectrier, also looked calm, cutting off the Masked Man's retreat.
Noticing this, the Masked Man's eyes immediately darkened.
"I know that ten years ago, you were able to defeat and capture wild Ho-Oh and Lugia. I have to say, you are truly amazing."
Mammon gently played with the Poké Ball in his hand, looking at the Masked Man at his leisure.
"Although I don't know how you managed to do it, your strength must be very strong, right? But how many Legendaries can you defeat?"
The Masked Man fell silent.
Yes, his strength was actually exceptionally strong, so much so that ten years ago, he could easily defeat Ho-Oh and Lugia and capture them, even making them act against their will to capture talented children from all over Kanto.
But the Masked Man could feel the oppressive presence of Dark Mewtwo Y and Shadow Rider Calyrex; it was extremely powerful.
"I understand." The Masked Man sighed inwardly. He knew Mammon was trying to give him a warning.
He was currently in a disadvantaged position and had no right to bargain with Mammon.
"I want to travel back to a specific point in time to save my two Pokémon."
The Masked Man spoke in a low voice.
"What did you say?"
Green looked at the cold and evil Masked Man in disbelief, unable to accept his statement.
Kidnapping them since childhood, and the purpose was to catch Celebi to save his two Pokémon from the past?
It must be a lie!
Green couldn't believe it; this Masked Man was definitely lying.
"In an accidental incident, my two Pokémon died, and I couldn't accept that."
The Masked Man's tone was very flat, but no one knew how many years of persistence lay beneath his calm words.
"For this, I want to obtain Celebi. Only its time-traveling ability can allow me to go back to the past and save them."
The Masked Man's complex voice wasn't loud, but after his words fell, the scene fell into an unusual silence.
Everyone present was a Trainer who deeply loved Pokémon, so they clearly knew that if their beloved Pokémon partners died, the complex and painful emotions would be unimaginable, right?
And the Masked Man's obsession was truly not difficult to understand.
But was this really right?
"So, for your illusory ideal, must we also suffer?"
Green's eyes were Red; she still found it hard to accept.
"…I'm very sorry."
The Masked Man was silent for a while, only able to offer such a pale apology.
"I'm sorry for what I did to you all. It doesn't matter how you want to get revenge on me, as long as they can come back, I… can accept anything."
"Heh…"
Green sneered and said nothing.
"Silver, what do you think?"
Mammon looked at Silver beside him.
"Who exactly are you?"
Silver was silent, then looked at the Masked Man. He wanted to know the Masked Man's true identity.
The Masked Man hesitated for a moment, then slowly removed his ice sculpture mask.
At this instant, everyone's gaze was drawn to him.
The mask was slowly taken off, and an aged face with grizzled eyebrows came into everyone's view.
"This is…"
Green and Silver were stunned.
The large black robe was also removed, as well as the exaggerated wig. The Masked Man's true identity was a senior man wearing an antique shirt.
"Pryce, the Gym Leader of Mahogany Town…"
Green stared blankly at the aged man, her pupils trembling slightly.
Pryce, the Gym Leader of Mahogany Town's Mahogany Town Gym, was known as the 'Person who understands the harshness of winter,' and also called the 'Permanent Ice Wall.'
The Masked Man was actually Pryce?
This was unimaginable, because in the public's impression, Pryce was a frail old man who needed a wheelchair to move. Although he was reclusive, he was humble and polite when facing challengers.
As arguably the oldest Gym Leader in the Kanto region, Pryce's reputation was quite good.
But who would have thought that he was the mastermind behind the child kidnapping case ten years ago?
"Oh my, oh my~ This is truly… surprising."
Karen looked at Pryce with a click of her tongue, truly shocked.
The contrast was simply too great. She had originally thought the Masked Man would at least be a fierce-looking middle-aged man, but it turned out to be an old man.
And facing everyone's astonished gazes, Pryce's expression was very calm.
"Pryce, this is truly unexpected. You are a Trainer from the same generation as Professor Oak and his peers, aren't you? It is said that you, Professor Oak, Agatha, and Steel were all once good friends."
"I never would have thought."
Mammon clicked his tongue in wonder. In a sense, he truly admired Pryce, because judging solely from Pryce's experiences in the Special Chapter, he could actually be called a fanatic.
As Pryce himself said, when he was young, his two beloved Lapras died in an accident, leaving behind only one young Lapras, their offspring.
Because of this accident, Pryce was deeply affected. He gradually became reclusive and distanced himself from his former friends, Professor Oak, Agatha, Steel, the Day Care couple, and others.
Even though they composed a song, "The Boy on Lapras," to comfort Pryce, he didn't listen.
He couldn't accept the death of his beloved Lapras. Pryce slowly fell into extremism. He wanted to capture Celebi to take him back to the past to save Lapras.
Even if it meant resorting to unscrupulous means!
Under extreme obsession, although he grew older, Pryce's strength became increasingly powerful and terrifying.
Perhaps in his youth, Pryce's strength was not comparable to Professor Oak or Agatha, but as of now, Pryce has long surpassed them.
It is no exaggeration to say that this old man in a wheelchair before them is far stronger than the current Champions of various regions.
Aside from Giovanni, who possesses Primal Groudon, even Leon would not be enough for him to fight against.
Ten years ago, Pryce could defeat and capture wild Ho-Oh and Lugia. In the Special Chapter storyline, Pryce, remotely controlling Delibird, could easily defeat Ho-Oh with a type disadvantage.
It was simply incredibly exaggerated.
In the Pokémon franchise, Legendary Pokémon have always been the pinnacle of this world. Those who can stand on equal footing with Legendary Pokémon are absolutely at the peak of Trainers.
For example, Leon, who pushed the newly unsealed regular form Eternatus to its limits, and protagonists like Red, who captured a wild Mewtwo, or May, whose regular main Pokémon wore down Rayquaza before her Mega Swampert crushed it with one punch, are not even counted.
But an existence like Pryce, who easily defeated Ho-Oh and Lugia, is still very overpowered, even if it took him a lifetime.
However, his achievements in the field of Trainers have still reached a height that countless people cannot achieve in their entire lives.
"Oak and them…"
When his past friends were mentioned, Pryce's eyes showed almost no fluctuation.
After all, too much time had passed, and those friendships had long since faded to almost nothing for him.
"Alright, it seems you don't care much. So, back to the main topic, Silver, what do you think we should do?"
Mammon handed the decision-making power to his younger brother.
Rationally speaking, using this opportunity to capture Pryce and make him work for Team Rockets would absolutely be no problem.
After all, Pryce, apart from that obsession, had no other demands or desires. As long as they helped him save those two Lapras, he would be a super enforcer.
However, Silver was his younger brother, so Mammon still wanted to know what Silver would do.
Pryce looked at Silver upon hearing this, his cloudy eyes showing apology, but more so, pleading.
Silver hesitated.