9 Chapter 009 | The Next Step

In the whole region of Kanto, the gym which is renowned as the strongest, is, of course, the gym in Viridian city.

It is so strong, that there is a rule that denies trainers from challenging it if they don't have at least 7 badges.

That's why it is even called the final boss to reach Indigo League and many trainers fail to counter it despite defeating the other gym leaders prior to challenging it.

Like in the anime and video games of his past life, the gym leader of Viridian city was still Giovanni and he was even called the Strongest Gym Leader in Kanto.

At the same time, he is also really mysterious.

There were many rumors about how he nearly defeated the Elite four of Kanto in the past and how he's the descendant of a hidden household.

But apart from those rumors, there was nothing much on his history or personality.

There was only a little public information about him and no one even knew his surname. The only thing that people know that he didn't like to be in the limelight and hates attention.

Anyone would think that he was a guarded person after knowing all this, but Arthur knew the truth.

'The gym leader of Viridian city is also the boss of the criminal organization, Team Rocket and he's so guarded to hide this secret.'

Arthur obviously knew all this because of his past life knowledge.

In this universe, gym leaders are often being treated like celebrities and the information about them would always sell like hot pancakes.

They were respected and expected to show trainers the way of Pokemon.

In that case, What if one of the gym leaders was revealed to the head of a crime syndicate? It would most likely become the scandal of the year and the Pokemon alliance would be heavily criticized.

Many higher-ups might even need to resign from their posts.

Arthur guessed that this was the reason Giovanni was being so guarded. After all, there were high chances of him being exposed if he stayed in the limelight.

Regardless of all this, Giovanni being the boss of Team Rocket and a gym leader meant that Viridian city was practically under Team Rocket's control, even though not even the police knew about it.

As for why they don't know? It was because Team Rocket's activities were the lowest in Viridian city.

After all, one of the duties of a gym leader is to handle the crime rate, and won't it be weird if the strongest gym leader in Kanto can't even handle a criminal organization? Because of this, Giovanni created a facade.

On the surface, Viridian city was a peaceful town, but in the shadows, it was one of the hideouts of Team Rocket.

But due to their activities being the lowest in Viridian city, no one suspects it to be a hideout.

But there were still things going on in the background.

'Although it's not a crime hub, it is indeed the information hub.'

Arthur thought about the information he had gathered on Team Rocket's hideout in Viridian city and took a deep breath.

All sort of information can be bought in the hideout of Team Rocket in Viridian city, but it was not going to be easy. After all, he was still dealing with a crime syndicate.

He needed to make some preparations before heading there.

That's why he bought a mask that hides most of his face and a cheap hoodie. It was enough for him to not get recognized and quickly leave.

With all preparations done, he walked towards the Viridian gym.

The gym was the most popular and the biggest building in the whole city. In front of its entrance, there were two big, burly guards standing guard.

It looked like they would chew him out if he tried to enter the gym.

'I hope this works!'

Arthur took a deep breath and walked up to them. One of the guards blocked his way and glared at him.

"The gym is closed for today. Come tomorrow if you want to challenge it!" The guard said in an imposing manner.

"I'm not here to challenge the gym." Arthur glanced at the guard and continued, "I'm here to buy information."

"Buy information? Kid, this isn't such a place."

"You are just wasting your time."

Both the guards said and laughed like Arthur was making a joke, but he didn't back away and again repeated his sentence.

"I'm here to buy information!"

Both the guards glanced at each other like they were talking through their eyes. Then, one of them shook his head and opened his mouth.

"We don't sell information here." He stopped his sentence in the middle and then said, "But I think you will find what you are looking for in the alley next to the gym."

'So, that's where they sell information!!'

Arthur thought and grinned inwardly.

Although he knew that you could purchase information from Team Rocket's hideout in Viridian city, he didn't know the exact location. That's why he had directly gone to the gym.

His plan was risky, but it had worked in the end.

After nodding to the two guards, Arthur swiftly went to the alley next to the gym. The whole alley was shrouded with a heavy atmosphere and he felt a lot of gazes as he went deeper.

Finally, after some time, a man in black clothes approached him.

"This place is not for normal people. Get out of here if you don't want to be killed." The man said, eyeing him with a ferocious, but cautious gaze.

"I'm here to buy information."

"We don't sell it to just anyone."

The man said as he shook his head. Arthur was able to notice that some people had gathered behind his back. He was surrounded and there was no way to run.

'It looks like they are planning to ambush me in case things go wrong.'

Arthur thought and frowned inwardly.

It was not looking like a good situation for him, but he had already thought of a scenario like this and had made up a plan, but if he can, he wanted things to run smoothly.

After all, it was better to avoid bloodshed when he can.

He decided to keep bluffing till the end and if things didn't work out, he can carry out his backup plan.

"I didn't know that Team Rocket had started to discriminate," Arthur said, and instantly, the expression of the man changed.

He seems to be thinking of something as his expression changed from slight shock to fear, then he became calm.

Arthur was unsure of what was going to happen next. As he was thinking of his next step, the man in front of him opened his mouth.

"You need to come with me to the base. We don't sell information here out in the open."

He finally took a sigh of relief hearing that.

...

Announcement chapter coming soon.

Discord and more.