Pokemon: With Title System

Chapter 86 – The Fear of Being Controlled by a Client

"Thank you so much for the help!" Bill said gratefully.

Even though he had hired moving company Machamp and Machoke, Fighting-type Pokémon weren't exactly known for being gentle. Given the delicate nature of his scientific instruments, Bill had been constantly on edge, worried they might break something.

It was mentally and physically exhausting.

But thanks to Asahi's Gardevoir, all of those concerns vanished.

"No worries," Asahi replied.

With the moving done, Bill invited Asahi and Green inside the lighthouse.

The interior was mostly empty, with most of the research equipment already packed up. Only some basic furniture remained.

The top part of the lighthouse, which had been damaged by the giant Dragonite, was haphazardly patched with wooden planks. It looked so fragile that a single heavy rainstorm could probably tear it down.

No wonder Bill had decided to move back to Cerulean City.

After brewing coffee, Bill sat down, and Asahi asked,

"The top of the lighthouse—was that really damaged by an unknown Pokémon?"

Even though Asahi knew it was a giant Dragonite, he played dumb.

Hearing the question, Bill's enthusiasm skyrocketed.

"Did Professor Sakuragi tell you about it? I really did encounter a giant, unknown Pokémon… but unfortunately, I never got to see its true form."

Bill sighed, clearly disappointed.

At this moment, Asahi finally asked a question that had always bugged him since watching the original Pokémon series.

"Bill, you're a researcher, right? You're well-versed in Pokémon species… So shouldn't you already know what it is just from its silhouette?"

Bill sighed again.

"You'll understand when you see it yourself…"

He pulled out a tablet, opened a video file, and hit play.

On the screen, the outside environment was covered in thick fog. With nightfall and the dense mist, visibility was less than a meter.

In the eerie silence, a giant shadow loomed, followed by a deep, resonant roar—then, out of nowhere, a massive hand swung at the lighthouse.

The screen immediately cut to static.

"You see? It's not that I couldn't identify it—it's that the fog was too dense and there's too little information to work with."

Bill looked utterly defeated.

"Under normal circumstances, I could have identified it by its cry alone. But with this thick fog… I got nothing."

After so much time and effort, this was all he had to show for it. It was beyond frustrating.

But Bill didn't notice Asahi's expression suddenly turn weird.

"…Bill, can you rewind to 3 minutes and 42 seconds?"

Bill was confused but complied, rewinding to the timestamp Asahi requested.

"You found something?"

Asahi didn't answer immediately. Instead, he frame-by-frame played the footage.

Then—bam.

He paused at a very specific moment.

The frame froze right as the giant claw swung toward the lighthouse.

Ignoring the massive, orange-colored paw, Asahi focused on the corner of the screen.

There, in the fog—a faint pink blur flashed for a split second.

Though extremely blurry, Asahi immediately recognized it.

Mew.

Had he not spent so much time around Mew, he might have mistaken it for a trick of the light.

[Mew? Wasn't it supposed to be tracking Mewtwo? Why is it here?]

[Did it already check out Team Rocket's base and realize it's too difficult, so now it's looking for the giant Dragonite as backup?]

---

Asahi didn't tell Bill about Mew.

Not because he didn't trust him, but because Mew was searching for Mewtwo—and Bill couldn't help with that.

However, regarding the identity of the unknown Pokémon, Asahi could provide some hints.

Pointing at the orange glow in the fog, Asahi asked,

"Bill, doesn't this color look familiar to you?"

Bill squinted.

"…You're saying it's a Dragonite? But Dragonite don't grow that big. That glow could be just light refraction from the mist."

Clearly, Bill didn't believe it could be a Dragonite.

After all—Dragonite that size don't exist.

Kanto isn't Galar—there's no Dynamax energy to explain it.

But Asahi wasn't in a hurry.

Using the tablet's drawing tool, he outlined the claw's silhouette.

"Even if you ignore the color, can you name another Pokémon in Kanto that has this exact claw shape?"

Bill mentally sketched it out—and suddenly froze.

It really did look like a Dragonite's claw.

"…Could it really be a Dragonite…?"

Just as Bill felt like he was on the verge of solving the mystery—

Asahi added, "Of course, this is just my reasonable speculation based on the footage. To confirm it's a Dragonite, you need to verify it yourself."

Bill: "…"

He had almost jumped for joy, only for Asahi to crush his excitement at the last second.

Asahi—you're really good at killing the mood.

---

The fact that Mew had shown up at Bill's lighthouse made Asahi feel that Mewtwo's situation was more complicated than expected.

If it was an easy problem, Mew wouldn't still be wandering around.

Too bad Asahi had missed his chance to talk to Mew. If he had seen it, he could have asked what was going on—maybe even helped.

After discussing the giant Dragonite, Asahi brought up the real reason he came.

"…You want me to join the International Police's Kanto Division as a R&D specialist?"

Bill was surprised.

It seemed Professor Sakuragi hadn't mentioned this to him at all.

"That's right," Asahi confirmed. "Professor Sakuragi agreed to be an advisor, but he declined to handle equipment development—and recommended you instead."

Bill hesitated.

Clearly, he wasn't completely unaware of the Kanto Division's messy situation.

Asahi sighed.

Ever since his previous boss got himself killed, the division's reputation had plummeted—making it hard to recruit anyone.

Bill was deep in thought.

Funding for scientific research was increasingly competitive, and securing investors was difficult.

Despite his past success in Pokémon transport technology, his recent years had been focused entirely on unknown Pokémon—with no major discoveries.

Now, the International Police was offering him funding and resources.

"…What would my job be?" Bill asked. "What kind of equipment do you need?"

He braced himself for demanding requests.

But Asahi casually said,

"Nothing too urgent—just design a comfortable harness so a two-meter-tall flying Pokémon can carry a stone slab without discomfort."

Bill: "…"

That's it?

Compared to the insane demands of past investors, this was too easy!

Just as Bill felt relieved, Green suddenly chimed in excitedly.

"Wait—we can request custom gear now? I have some ideas!"

Bill's stomach dropped.

---

And then it began—Green rapidly fired off a massive list of requests…

Bill immediately felt the crippling fear of being controlled by a client.