"How could this happen!?"
Watching his returning team, the Unova League's Bowen felt his expression instantly darken. From the original five-man squad, only one Elite Rank and one Leader Rank member had returned. Although both had successfully broken through within the spatial rift—attaining Middle-tier Elite and Elite Rank strength respectively—this did not change the fact that the Unova League had suffered devastating losses.
Indeed, while exploring this spatial rift was dangerous, losing one person was generally considered acceptable. Losing two would be described as a heavy blow. But now, with only two members of the Unova squad returning, even the term "bleeding out" was insufficient to describe the disaster. After all, those who could obtain these slots were all geniuses of the Unova League; losing even one was a cause for deep regret.
Instinctively, Bowen looked toward Gu Yuan, who was the last to return. In his heart, he felt this matter was somehow related to the boy. However, in the absence of evidence, anything Bowen said would only be dismissed as a lingering grudge, making it seem as if he were intentionally picking a fight.
Simultaneously, the leaders of the other Leagues noticed the Unova League's pathetic state, and their eyes began to shimmer. If the previous Regional Battle Tournament hadn't made these people feel much, the current state of the Unova League truly made them feel that the region had begun its downward spiral. Perhaps there was no gap yet in high-end combat power, but regarding the quality of the new generation, the Unova League was clearly failing to make the grade.
Noticing their gazes, Bowen naturally guessed what they were thinking. Yet, at this moment, anything he said would sound like an excuse. He could only wait until they returned to the Unova League to find a way to reverse this situation. Otherwise, if the other Leagues truly believed Unova had begun to decline, they might not launch an invasive war, but Unova's interests in other areas would no longer be guaranteed.
"Let's go. To celebrate everyone's safe return, I'm treating you all to a feast this afternoon," Drake said with a smile to Gu Yuan and the others after the black hole vanished.
Naturally, Gu Yuan and the others had no objections. Gu Yuan, in particular, was already prepared to let Charizard and the rest eat enough to cover dinner as well. Seeing Gu Yuan's grin, Drake suddenly realized he might have been a bit reckless in making that decision. Unfortunately, the words were already out, and he couldn't take them back now.
Upon returning to the hotel, Gu Yuan asked the waiter to bring out everything on the menu once just to sharpen their appetites. Then, under the astonished gazes of Longye and the others, he released Charizard and the rest to enjoy the feast. Seeing this, Longye and the others also snapped out of it and released their own Pokémon.
Left with no choice, Drake couldn't let his own Pokémon just stand there and watch. In the end, this lunch lasted a full three hours, concluding successfully only after exhausting the entire kitchen staff. Looking at his account balance, Drake decided that he would never, ever treat Gu Yuan to a meal again.
While some were happy, others were worried. While Gu Yuan and the others were having their party, Bowen was being severely reprimanded by Grimsley. There was no helping it; with such a massive loss, Bowen, as the team leader, would certainly have to bear part of the responsibility.
"Before you leave, keep a close eye on Gu Yuan. Find a way to figure out who he had contact with inside the spatial rift. If he met any of our Unova people, you should know what to do. Furthermore, before you come back, I will arrange for you to go undercover in the Kanto League. You will return only when you have made up for the mistakes you committed," Grimsley said slowly after regaining his composure.
"Yes!" Bowen replied, and Grimsley immediately hung up the phone.
As he put away his communicator, Bowen's expression grew even darker. His resentment toward Gu Yuan deepened, and he even began to hate Grimsley as well. After all, the task Grimsley had assigned was practically impossible to complete.
Bowen was already being watched by numerous other Leagues. If he went to ask them for news about Gu Yuan, they would immediately detect his intentions. He'd be lucky not to be mocked to his face; getting useful intelligence was a pipe dream.
This left Bowen with only one path: to be temporarily sidelined by Grimsley under the guise of punishment and then sent to the Kanto League. Only when he dealt with Gu Yuan—or made him lose his reputation—would he be able to return to the Unova League. Even with his Champion Rank strength, trying to stifle a genius in the Kanto region was an extremely difficult task. Even if he succeeded, escaping would be a massive problem.
This was why Bowen's face looked so terrible after the call. Even so, he had no chance to refuse. Although he had Champion Rank strength, he was nothing compared to one of the Four Elites like Grimsley. Since he only possessed one Champion Rank Pokémon, Bowen could only do as he was told.
Just as Bowen expected, over the next two days, no matter how they poked around, all they received were eye-rolls and sarcastic mockery from the other Leagues. They couldn't get any useful information at all. Furthermore, Gu Yuan had been avoiding meetings with other League members while inside the rift, so even if they wanted to cause trouble, they couldn't provide any useful intel.
Two days later, the various Leagues departed one after another. On the return voyage, Agatha began discussing with Gu Yuan how to deal with those families. Now, Gu Yuan's strength had taken a leap forward, making him sufficient to act as the vanguard against them. Gu Yuan had Agatha as his backing; once they caught the families' weak points, they would launch a strike immediately.
Armed with the evidence of crimes collected previously, Gu Yuan—who had not even set foot back in the Kanto region yet—was already drafting a plan to target these families. At this time, those unsuspecting families were still going about their business, completely unaware that Gu Yuan was ready to strike. Conversely, families like Cotton's had sensed a different atmosphere, but they had no intention of warning the others.
"I'm leaving first," Gu Yuan said, approaching Drake directly before the ship reached the shore.
"Go ahead. Be careful," Drake replied. Given his status, he naturally knew what Gu Yuan was about to do. All Drake could do was cooperate with him when needed; other than that, he could do nothing.
"Don't worry. You know me; as long as I want to, those people can't catch me. The ones who should be careful are them," Gu Yuan answered with a smile.
"Don't be too arrogant. Those families are not incompetent people."
"Yes, I know. I'm off."
With a wave of his hand, Gu Yuan had Alakazam use Teleport to make them vanish from the spot. After quickly arriving at the shore, Gu Yuan soon found Chika, who had been waiting for him.