Chapter 254: Night Raid
Around one or two in the morning, when the entire town of Celestic had fallen into deep silence, Rio suddenly opened his eyes. He reached into his bag and pulled out the ancient Poké Ball. With a flash of light, his most reliable tool—Gengar—was released.
"What is it?" Gengar grumbled, still half-asleep at being woken up in the middle of the night.
"I need you to temporarily disable the security cameras here, and put everyone—both people and Pokémon—into a deep sleep," Rio said.
Gengar floated out. About four or five minutes later, it drifted back. "Done."
Hearing that, Rio opened the door and stepped outside his lodging with Gengar. "Professor Yanase lives around here, right?" He scanned the town, recalling where she was staying. Unlike him—only staying for one night—Professor Yanase had come to Celestic Town to research Sinnoh’s history with Professor Carolina.
Before long, with Gengar’s help in unlocking the door, Rio strolled into Professor Yanase’s room. He wanted to find out exactly where she had thrown the Orb core that could control Rayquaza.
Whether deliberately or not, the moment Rio entered, he froze. Professor Yanase was lying on the bed in a rather revealing manner.
"Old ghost—what the hell? Have some respect!" Rio quickly turned around. "Use Psychic to cover her with the blanket!"
Gengar had said "something good" via telepathy earlier, and Rio had thought it was some kind of treasure. Instead, he walked into that scene.
"Don’t blame me—I didn’t do anything. She was like this when I came in," Gengar cackled, clearly enjoying Rio’s flustered reaction.
A few seconds later, Rio turned back around, looking at the now-covered Professor Yanase, who still had a certain allure. His mind involuntarily replayed what he’d seen.
What—were you expecting her to be completely naked? Think again. It wasn’t that extreme—just some... revealing sleepwear.
"Looks like the professor has some interesting tastes. Must be that lonely age," Rio couldn’t help but joke inwardly.
He could tell she was quite lonely. From a behavioral psychology standpoint, normal people don’t sleep like that, nor do they hug their blankets like stuffed animals—clearly, she’d been alone for a long time.
What, getting some ideas? Sorry—I’m a gentleman.
"Is that her daughter? She looks familiar." Rio noticed a framed photo by the bedside—what looked like a happy family of three: a man, a woman, and a little girl wearing a white knitted hat, with a sweet face.
"Dawn?" Rio remembered. She looked just like Dawn, the female protagonist of the Sinnoh arc in the original series. He also recalled that in the special manga, Dawn was supposedly the daughter of a wealthy Sinnoh family.
"So... Professor Yanase is Dawn’s mother?" Rio raised an eyebrow, then sighed. It’s true—the ones who shine in the Pokémon world are all people with status and connections. Thinking of it as a utopia is wishful thinking.
"Gengar—ask Professor Yanase where she threw the remaining Emerald Orb core after Rayquaza escaped from the Pokémon Association," Rio said, getting back to business.
Soon, Professor Yanase, eyes closed, explained: "After Rayquaza escaped, I was deeply upset. I ended up throwing the damaged Emerald Orb core into the lake at the Pokémon Association headquarters."
"Is that the headquarters in Goldenrod City, Johto?" Rio pressed.
"Yes," Professor Yanase confirmed.
"Looks like I’ll need to find an opportunity to visit the Pokémon Association when I get back to Johto," Rio thought.
"Professor Yanase—since you’ve worked at the Pokémon Association and are a core member of the Belari Family, you must know a lot about legendary Pokémon. I’d like you to tell me everything."
"Yes—as a core member of the Belari Family and a senior official of the Pokémon Association, I know a great deal about legendary Pokémon. I know that Moltres, one of the three legendary birds, frequently appears in..."
Professor Yanase began to speak at length. Rio listened patiently. She covered many legendary Pokémon—Moltres, Raikou, Articuno, Suicune, Groudon, Kyogre, and more. Most he already knew—until she mentioned Celebi.
"You’re saying that Celebi, the Forest Guardian, is likely to appear in the Ilex Forest in Johto in the near future?" Rio’s eyes lit up.
"Yes—according to Association observations, the Ilex Forest, which houses a shrine dedicated to Celebi, has been growing at an accelerated rate recently—much faster than before. That matches the signs of Celebi’s appearance, though it’s not yet certain," Professor Yanase said.
Rio’s eyes narrowed. He realized he’d have a lot to do once he returned to Johto. Not only would he need to visit the Pokémon Association, but also the Ilex Forest—which was near Azalea Town, where he and Mewtwo had been drinking. Now that Professor Yanase mentioned it, he recalled that when he’d chased Mewtwo through Ilex Forest, the trees there had indeed been noticeably more lush than the surrounding area—so thick that not a sliver of sunlight got through. He’d thought it was odd at the time.
A few minutes later, Rio left Professor Yanase’s room.
"Old ghost—you heard that, right? Celebi is about to appear. You might finally get to see your old trainer Gus," Rio said on the way back.
"Hahaha—yes! I’ll finally get to see Gus!" Gengar laughed heartily. It had been just as excited as Rio when it heard Celebi mentioned.
Rio smiled at Gengar’s laughter. What’s yours will always be yours; what isn’t, you can’t force. That was his attitude toward Gengar now. Sometimes, the more you try to hold on, the more others pull away. Give them freedom, and they’ll come closer on their own—that’s psychology.
Just then, Rio noticed something odd—every camera along the street was completely destroyed.
"I told you to disable the cameras—not wreck them!" Rio glared at Gengar.
"Disabling is the same as wrecking," Gengar said dismissively.
Rio rolled his eyes, too tired to argue. He went back to his room and fell asleep, waiting for the next day’s trip to Lily of the Valley Island, the venue for the Sinnoh Conference.