Chapter 49

The walk to the Lavender Hospital was tense. They did not know why Brock had asked them to come here. The message only stated that Ash was missing, and that they should come to the hospital.

At the front desk, the receptionist personally led them to the top floor of the hospital where several constables were stationed. And then they were greeted by a tall man with purple hair.

"Hi, I am the Lavender Town Guardian, Oliver Marker." He said in a gruff voice as he drew his hand to Aizen.

"Aizen Orayen." The Prince looked the man in the eyes and gave him his name. The lack of surprise in Oliver's eyes proved his hunch that Brock had informed him about his identity. "Where's Brock?"

"He's inside. Come."

Oliver led them to a room that was reserved for patients with special Satus. And inside, they found the dark-skinned boy sitting on the couch waiting for them.

However, what caught Aizen's attention was the old man who was resting on the hospital bed with a bandage wrapped around his head. And the old man's eyes shined brightly when he saw Aizen and Anira enter the room.

"I would get up and greet you Prince, Princess, but the doctors have forbidden me from doing so." He politely smiled and greeted them.

"No need for that, President Fuji." Aizen return the smile and nodded. "And it's a pleasure to finally meet you." He approached the bed and shook hands with the old man.

"Would have been a real pleasure if we had not met under the current circumstances." The old man sighed. "Can I speak to you alone?" He straightforwardly asked.

"Sure." Aizen gestured to the girls to wait outside.

Brock and Oliver took their leave as well, and then Aizen used his Psychic Powers to scan the area before calling out Metagross and instructing him to keep anyone from eavesdropping on their conversation.

"It's safe now." Aizen nodded to the old man.

Fuji helped himself to sit up and then sighed as his shoulders slumped in helplessness.

"I was inside the Lavender Tower, meeting an old friend." He began. "It was then that I was attacked by members of Team Rocket. I was holding them back after sending a signal to Oliver, but then a young boy happened to enter the Tower and got caught in the fray. Team Rocket captured him, and then threatened me to hand over the case that I had on me or they would kill the poor boy." His voice grew sad. "I signalled to my friend Gengar to rescue the boy from the shadows, but Team Rocket was prepared and wore the scopes Silph Corporation made to see hidden Ghost Pokemon. They threatened me again, this time they even puched the boy hard in the stomach before telling me to do as asked. And I ended up giving them the case when they seemed adamant at pulling the trigger of the gun they held at the boy's temple. After that, they took the boy as a hostage and escaped from the place."

Aizen patiently waited for the old man to continue.

"I sat there defeated after what happened when your friend Brock found me. And Oliver arrived at the place a couple of minutes later." He looked at Aizen. "After I told Brock what happened to the boy he was looking for, he was livid and Oliver had to calm him down. We learned that you were in Town after Brock mentioned your name. And I asked him to call you here."

"May I ask what was in the case?" Aizen looked serious.

Fuji flinched under his gaze and lowered his eyes.

"Project M." He whispered. "I went against the orders of the Arcane Creed and secretly created the Master Ball."

Aizen's heart thumped hard against his chest at the revelation. He felt cold shivers up his spine and his mind was in chaos.

Several minutes passed, and Fuji did not dare to raise his head and take a look at his expressions.

The Orayen Prince took a deep breath and collected his thoughts before asking the next question.

"What was the success rate you managed to achieve?"

"The Master Ball we created can capture Guardian-Level Legends with a success rate of 30%. And there should be no problem in holding them inside. Other Pokémon who are not Legendary, regardless of their strength, will 100% be captured with Master Ball."

A success rate of 30% on Legendary Pokemon was outrageous. Even if the Guardian Level Legendaries were not the strongest, their Strength was nothing to scoff at. And 30% success rate meant that an injured and tired Legendary would easily be captured by these Master Balls.

"How many?" Aizen clenched his fist and asked.

"There are a total of 5. And I had one on me." Fugi honestly answered.

"And the rest of the 4?"

"They are at Silph Co. Headquarters, inside a safe that only I can open." He assured him.

"How did Team Rocket get to know of your creation?" Aizen had to keep himself from glaring the old man.

"Someone from my team has betrayed me..." The Old man's heart ached as he spoke those words. He had trusted his team with everything he had worked for in all his life, and in the end, he was betrayed.

Aizen nodded and walked over to the couch and sat down. He immediately contacted Bill, and sent a message to his Grandma about what Fuji had done. The Order was not going to go easy on the old man for what he did. No one could save him, and he would have to give up the presidency of Silph Co. to save the Company his forefathers had established.

"You will most likely be contacted or worse greeted by Joseph Stone in the next hour." Aizen stood up after he received the message from Bill.

Fuji nodded his head sadly.

"We will try our best to retrieve the Master Ball you have lost." Aizen sighed. "Can you tell me what is happening at the old Power Plant?"

"I don't know." Fuji looked at him and shook his head.

"Dexter, I want you to search for Ash. Do not engage with the enemy. If you manage of locate them, come to me."

"Meta..."

The Psychic-Tank acknowledged the command and teleported away.

"Get some rest, Mr. Fuji." Aizen advised the old man before walking out of the room where more trouble awaited him. "What's going on?" He asked when he saw the anxiety on their faces.

"We lost contact with Officer Jenny and her squad at the Power Plant." Oliver informed him. "The last message I received was her informing me that there were some shady people at the place, dressed in black uniforms."

Brock looked the most anxious of the lot.

"Aizen..."

"I have sent out Metagross to search for Ash." He nodded to the dark-haired boy. "I am going to head to the Pokemon Center and call my Pokémon. And then you, me, and Oliver are heading out."

"I am coming with you!" Misty stubbornly said.

"No, you are not coming with me." He sternly said. "Stay at the Center."

She wanted to argue but Anira grabbed her hand and shook her head. Both Leaf and Misty looked at her in surprise when she made no effort to go with Aizen, but instead stopped them from doing so.

"They could come back and attack Mr. Fuji again." Oliver spoke. "We can't just leave him without security here."

"We will stay here." Misty said, and Aizen frowned at her words.

He wanted to keep them away from all of this. But he knew that Mr. Fuji could be attacked again, and someone had to stay here.

"Bill should be here within an hour." Aizen looked at Anira. "And then you will leave things here to him and head straight to the Center. I could be late, so do not wait for me for the dinner. Okay?"

His little sister nodded her head.

"Be safe..." She looked him in the eyes and worriedly said.

"I will be safe." He smiled at her before walking away.

Thankfully, the Transporter was working fine in the Pokemon Center.

Aizen switched out Nidoran and called his Mega Salamance and Pidgeot from the Blanc Island. His Grandma had forbidden him from jumping into such situations without them, and he was not going to disobey her words.