"?"
Damian sent a question mark back to Giovanni.
For the first time, he felt that his old man's impression of him was far too rigid. He was clearly telling the truth.
What kind of image did he actually have in Giovanni's mind?
His father actually didn't believe him and even said he was taking things too far?
"I'm telling the truth. One of those two really is your granddaughter," Damian sent another message.
"?"
This time, it was Giovanni's turn to send a question mark.
As the saying goes, no one knows a son better than his father. Giovanni knew Damian very well. Although Damian liked to joke around sometimes, he would not keep repeating something like this if it were a lie.
In other words, Damian was telling the truth.
But the problem was...
Giovanni watched the video again. He even zoomed in on the faces of the two girls fighting.
No matter how he looked at it, they seemed more like twins. Of course, that was not the main point.
Genetic inheritance was mysterious, after all. It was perfectly normal for a daughter to look a lot like her mother.
Giovanni observed carefully and soon identified the girl with the dark blue hair and headscarf. Judging from her face and eyes, she did look somewhat like Damian.
But the problem was... her age did not add up!
Giovanni recognized the other girl. That was Platinum. Giovanni had seen her before.
If this girl with the headscarf was Damian and Platinum's child, how could she already be this old?
Even if she had taken growth hormones, that would still be impossible!
"You can't figure it out, right, Dad? Akari came here from the future. She really is your granddaughter," Damian replied with a smile.
A second later, Giovanni called.
"Where are you?"
Giovanni's usually calm voice carried an obvious sense of pleasant surprise.
"In Kalos, Dad. You really can't sit still, can you?" Damian said teasingly.
"That's my granddaughter. Of course I have to see her," Giovanni replied without hesitation.
A granddaughter!
Giovanni had never expected that he would get the chance to meet a granddaughter so soon!
"It's probably too late. Time travel has a limit. Let's wait for next time. There will be other chances," Damian said with a light laugh.
Kanto and Kalos were quite far apart. It would be too rushed for Giovanni to catch a flight now.
By the time he arrived, Akari might have already returned to Hisui.
Actually, there was a way. Hoopa could have brought Giovanni over.
However, Damian felt that wasn't necessary. More than anything, Platinum was probably not fully prepared yet. Akari certainly knew Giovanni.
But if Akari was close with Giovanni, then Platinum, as the future daughter-in-law, would definitely feel nervous and not know how to act in front of him. There was no need for that.
"..." Giovanni frowned. A rare feeling of frustration and helplessness appeared in his heart.
He really wanted to see his granddaughter Akari with his own eyes and have a good talk with her.
"Fine. Then I'll wait," Giovanni replied. No matter what, this was a huge surprise for him.
It was truly wonderful news!
"Has Groudon made it back yet?" Damian asked casually while watching the battle between Garchomp and Sneasler.
Damian had already replied to Giovanni yesterday, and Giovanni had felt relieved after hearing the situation.
"Not yet. I don't even know how long it will take it to walk back."
Giovanni rubbed his temples, feeling a bit of a headache. He was truly feeling the downside of having a Pokémon that could not fly.
If it could fly, Groudon would save a lot of time getting back to Kanto.
But now, it could only walk back one step at a time. He had no idea where Groudon was at the moment.
"I guess it should arrive tomorrow at the latest," Damian said with a laugh.
"I hope so," Giovanni sighed softly. He could only hope Groudon would not get lost or wander off somewhere.
But it probably wouldn't. After all, he had a good relationship with Groudon, and Groudon was very familiar with his aura. It should be able to sense him.
"By the way, you should be finished with the business in Kalos by now, right?" Giovanni seemed to remember something and asked Damian.
"Basically, there are no problems left. Why?" Damian nodded. Since Team Flare had been wiped out, there was not much resistance left in Kalos.
After all, even the Kalos League's official website was still posting announcements praising Team Rocket for bravely helping deal with Team Flare.
"The time for my Elite Four challenge is coming up."
"How can it be so soon?"
Damian was a little surprised. After all, there were still more than two months left before the League Conference. Was Giovanni already starting the Elite Four challenge?
"The Elite Four evaluation for a Gym Leader is very different from the normal process. Besides, Goodshow gave me special treatment. He's making things easier for me."
Giovanni smiled. The curve of his lips carried a deeper meaning.
This was also Goodshow's way of showing goodwill. After all, a Giovanni who had obtained Groudon would be extremely powerful.
Especially with the recognition of Champions like Leon and Cynthia behind him.
If Giovanni used Groudon in this challenge, Goodshow believed that even Lance might not be able to beat him.
In other words, Giovanni might become the new Kanto Champion.
"I see. So what are you getting at, Dad?" Damian raised an eyebrow.
"Your father is about to reach the top of Kanto. Aren't you coming to watch?"
A smile appeared on Giovanni's face. He looked very interested in Damian's reaction.
He did not believe Damian would miss the chance to watch a show like that.
"Ha~ I'm definitely going. I'll bring your future daughter-in-law with me."
Damian grinned. There was no way he would miss the scene of Giovanni taking Kanto's Champion seat.
"By the way, Dad, I just went to Hisui. I caught some Ursaluna, which are almost extinct in modern times. Do you want them?" Damian suddenly remembered.
"One of them is even Champion-level. You can train it as one of your main Pokémon. Ursaluna is a Ground/Normal type, and its overall strength is very solid," Damian added.
"Ursaluna?"
Giovanni raised an eyebrow. And what had his all-powerful son just said? He had gone to Hisui?
Giovanni naturally knew that Hisui was ancient Sinnoh. It seemed Damian was starting to come into contact with time itself.
As expected of his son.
"Sure. Send them over, then."
Giovanni smiled and nodded. Since Damian said Ursaluna was strong, Giovanni naturally trusted him.
If it really had enough potential, he could train it into one of his main Pokémon.
"Alright, I'm done talking. I'm watching my future wife and daughter battle over here."
After saying that, Damian hung up, leaving Giovanni on the other end not knowing whether to laugh or sigh.
What kind of phrasing was "watching my future wife and daughter battle"? Giovanni truly had to admire Damian's way with words.
At that moment, the battle on the field had indeed reached a critical point.
Platinum frowned. She looked at Garchomp, who had collapsed to the ground fast asleep, with shock and disbelief.
"How did this happen?"
That's right. Garchomp had actually fallen asleep!
But the Sneasler on the opposite side had not used any move like Hypnosis. The two Pokémon had clearly been fighting at close range the whole time.
The only explanation was the move Sneasler had just used to hit Garchomp. That move was Dire Claw!
"It looks like you noticed, Mom. That's right, it was Sneasler's Dire Claw."
Akari's familiar crescent-shaped eyes appeared again.
Sneasler stood in front of the sleeping Garchomp with a dangerous look on its face. It raised its long, sharp, dark red claw and slowly licked it.
"As long as Dire Claw lands, there's a chance it will leave the target poisoned, paralyzed, or asleep. It looks like Garchomp got very unlucky."
Hearing Akari's explanation, not only Platinum but also Caitlin and Serena, who were watching from the side, frowned.
This move... was a little too strong!
Sneasler's own strength was already very high. After all, it had been fighting Garchomp head-on the whole time. Relying on its speed, flexibility, and power that was not inferior to Garchomp's, it had been trading blows with Garchomp on equal footing.
And Dire Claw not only had strong status effects, its power was not low either!
Now that Garchomp had fallen asleep, it could only stay there until it woke up—unless it used Sleep Talk.
But Sleep Talk was too random. And Garchomp knew many moves. What if it randomly used a non-attacking move like Sandstorm or Helping Hand?
"Those three status conditions are all troublesome, no matter which one you get. This Pokémon is really hard to deal with."
Serena was already thinking about how she would handle this Sneasler if she were the one facing it.
"Actually, under normal circumstances, if Dire Claw lands, the most likely result is poison. Platinum was just a little unlucky."
Damian walked over and shook his head. When he had been on the phone just now, he had naturally stepped a little farther away from Caitlin and Serena.
"This Sneasler definitely has the Poison Touch Ability."
"Poison Touch?"
Serena's expression changed slightly.
Poison Touch: When this Pokémon uses a contact move, there is a chance it will poison the target.
And from what Damian had just said, it sounded like the activation chance for Dire Claw's added effect and Poison Touch did not overlap.
That made it even more frightening!
As long as Dire Claw landed, Poison Touch had a chance to poison the target. Even if Poison Touch did not activate, there was still the separate chance of poison, paralysis, or sleep from Dire Claw itself!
This Sneasler was practically a walking status machine!
"That's why I said Platinum was a little unlucky. She didn't get poisoned. She got put to sleep instead," Damian shrugged.
With the combined odds from Poison Touch and Dire Claw's own effect, the chance of poisoning the target was naturally higher.
And it had to be said that sleep was much more troublesome than poison or paralysis.
With poison, you could at least try to defeat the opponent before the poison wore you down, or force a double knockout and create an opportunity for the rest of your team.
Paralysis would slow a Pokémon down and sometimes lock up its body, but that was still much better than sleep, where it just had to lie there and take hits.
To be honest, Platinum was at a disadvantage in this battle in some ways. After all, she really did not know much about the Hisuian Pokémon Akari was using.
Although Akari would tell Platinum her Pokémon's types, just knowing the typing was definitely not enough.
So while this battle looked fair on the surface, Platinum was still at a disadvantage because of the information gap.
"I'm afraid Platinum won't be able to beat Akari today," Damian calmly gave that conclusion.
Akari's strength really was astonishing. To an outsider, it would probably seem impossible that Akari had only been traveling for four months.
The battle that followed played out exactly as Damian expected. Although Platinum was very strong, Akari was not weak at all.
Combined with the unfamiliar power of her Hisuian Pokémon, Akari eventually defeated Platinum.
Looking at her Entei, which had fallen to the opposing Hisuian Samurott's Ceaseless Edge, Platinum looked a little dazed.
She had originally wanted to use this battle as a chance to guide Akari. After all, Akari was her future daughter, wasn't she?
But now it seemed...
As the one who lost—and as the mother—she was the one who needed guidance...
Had Akari really already surpassed her? Could strength like this really be reached after only four months of traveling?
This shouldn't be possible!