Gil Ruth, a wealthy magnate from the Kanto region who could rival countries in wealth, was also a Creature Collector.
His hobby was collecting various rare Pokémon as his personal collection.
Different Colored Sprites, Conservation Creatures, and Mutant Creatures were all within the scope of Gil Ruth's collection.
However, with his collection ever-growing, Gil Ruth began to feel dissatisfied.
He set his sights on the Legendary Pokémon of myths and legends.
Even ordinary Legendary Pokémon like Moltres, Articuno, and Zapdos were not enough to excite him.
His target was more superior and mysterious than the Three Divine Birds, such as the Sea God Lugia.
After spending nearly a year on investigations and preparations, Gil Ruth, with his wealth that could rival countries and partnerships with various parties, ultimately set his sights on the Orange Archipelago.
Here, not only could he capture Lugia, but he could also capture the three Special Three Birds known as divine beings, which for Gil Ruth was an essential part of realizing his sense of personal achievement.
In order to successfully capture the Three Divine Birds and Lugia, Gil Ruth started spending a fortune buying the Pokémon World's top technological weaponry, but to his surprise, he managed to reach a partnership with the Rocket Team.
With the support of an underworld organization like the Rocket Team, capable of contending with regional alliances, Gil Ruth grew even more confident about his plan. He had money, and the Rocket Team had technology; a perfect match!
The preparation process went incredibly smoothly, even ticking several days off from the original schedule.
Gil Ruth had originally planned to capture the Three Divine Birds on the day of the celebration at the Asia Island Temple, luring out Lugia, but with everything ready, he could hardly wait and decided to start the capture plan ahead of schedule.
"Mr. Gil Ruth, we have locked onto those three islands. Among them, the energy response on Ice Island is the most pronounced, indicating that the Ice God Articuno might be active outside."
Inside a vast and well-decorated airship flying over the Orange Archipelago, an artificial intelligence-generated female assistant's hologram reported to a green-haired middle-aged man seated on a throne floating in the air.
"Articuno, a fine piece of ice artwork. Let's start with this so-called Ice God then." Gil Ruth picked up a military chess piece floating in the air, moved a piece closer to Articuno's position on the board, ready to checkmate at any moment.
Meanwhile.
In the Kanto region, at the Rocket Team Base Headquarters.
A giant flying machine took off, with Shinjo, Secretary to Rocket Team Boss Giovanni, leading the elite Rocket Team squad, "Shinjo Matrix," to the Orange Islands Region to execute the "Tablet Plan."
The Rocket Team's main operational areas were the Kanto region, the City Region, and the Seven Islands.
A century ago, three Mysterious Stone Tablets fell onto the Orange Archipelago and were contested by the Three Divine Birds. Although only a minority of records have survived, this became one of the investigative directions of the Rocket Team branch in the Seven Islands Region.
Ultimately, Rocket Team confirmed these three tablets to be the Tablets of Arceus.
However, due to the special location of Asia Island and the not-so-strong Rocket Team at the time, no action was taken. The Tablets of Arceus were tempting but not easily digestible.
Now, with the Rocket Team having grown, even having the resources to corrode the inner workings of the Alliance and the technological level to create or contend with Legendary Pokémon, the sealed Tablet data was unsealed by Rocket Team once again.
It just so happened that Gil Ruth became interested in the Three Divine Birds, constantly contacting underground forces in various regions to purchase weaponry, and Rocket Team planned to take advantage of this opportunity, secretly carrying out the Tablet Plan.
Rocket Team would operate undercover while Gil Ruth openly contended with the Three Divine Birds, drawing the Alliance's attention, which was the perfect time for Rocket Team to take action.
For the Tablet Plan, the entire Rocket Team forces in the Seven Islands Region of the Orange Archipelago were mobilized secretly converging around Asia Island.
Even Giovanni himself boarded the airship of the elite squad "Shinjo Matrix," intending to personally head to the Orange Archipelago as a hidden trump card.
For a time, undercurrents surged in the Orange Islands Region.
.........
"Who is this handsome guy?"
At the Datiji hut on Asia Island,
Festival Saintess Flora, seeing Fang Yuan and Eevee appear out of nowhere, asked Xiaozhi and the others.
"Flora… Brother Fang Yuan is our friend and a very impressive Trainer," Xiaozhi introduced.
Misty: "Also? Are you trying to say that you're impressive yourself?"
Xiaozhi: (‾◡◝)
"Pika…" Pikachu helplessly scratched its head.
"Cough, well, of course, I'm impressive too - after all, I can now command Charizard!" Xiaozhi asserted confidently. Although it was a tough journey, he had finally succeeded, moving Charizard with his actions and emotions, and as he spoke, he unconsciously looked at Fang Yuan, as if seeking praise.
"You can already command Charizard?" Fang Yuan was indeed surprised.
"Of course, I can!" Xiaozhi puffed out his chest and bragged.
"Congratulations." Fang Yuan smiled and offered his congratulations. That was really good, he had been worried that due to changes in the plot caused by him, Xiaozhi might not gain Charizard's approval; now he felt relieved.
After finishing his words, Fang Yuan looked at Flora. From the conversation he had just overheard from Xiaozhi and the others, this individual was the current saintess of the Asia Island Temple… Well, perhaps she could be considered a shrine maiden.