Aoki was not surprised at all that the League would plant an undercover agent within the Magma Team.
Surprisingly, this undercover agent had been able to achieve such a high rank.
The fourth cadre of the Magma Team—this was indeed surprising.
He wondered if there were similar agents within Team Aqua or Team Rocket.
Aoki's heart tightened slightly.
He asked calmly, "What is the matter that brings you to see me?"
Tian Haoyu's face was full of helplessness. "It is time to report to the old man, but I cannot contact him no matter what. I remember the old man telling me before that if I cannot reach him, I can come to you. If someone trusted by the old man can be contacted through you, there should not be any problem, right?"
Hearing this, Aoki understood.
So that was it.
In order to ensure stability within the Hoenn League, Drake's injury had not been made public.
Wattson's injury had already had a huge impact on the Hoenn League. If news of Drake's injury were to spread now, it was estimated that the Hoenn League would truly fall into chaos.
At the very least, the prestige of the Hoenn League would be reduced to its lowest point.
It was normal that Tian Haoyu, from within the Magma Team, was unaware.
"In a few days, you should be able to contact Champion Drake," Aoki said lightly.
Hearing this, Tian Haoyu was stunned.
"Has the old man encountered some difficult problems?" Tian Haoyu asked.
Aoki shook his head slowly. These matters truly could not be discussed.
"Anyway, you will be able to contact Drake in a few days. You should report the intelligence to him yourself." Aoki really did not want to get involved in the affairs of the Magma Team now.
It was best not to participate if possible.
After hearing what Aoki said, Tian Haoyu did not press further.
He had no choice but to seek out Aoki.
Since Drake would be reachable in a few days, it did not matter if he waited a little longer.
Tian Haoyu nodded and walked toward the exit.
The laziness and smile on his face gradually faded away.
As an undercover agent, although he did not wear a mask like Aoki, this real mask was actually much more taxing to maintain than any false one.
When he walked past Aoki, just from his aura, he seemed like a completely different person—exuding the typical presence of a Magma Team cadre.
Tian Haoyu paused for a moment.
His voice, soft yet clear, reached Aoki's ears. "Sometimes, when you stay in the Magma Team for too long, it's easy to forget who you really are. In the Magma Team, I have also witnessed many things the League has done wrong. Aoki... tell me, what exactly is wrong with this world?"
The words were spoken softly, like a question or a whisper.
The fact that Aoki could hear them clearly meant Tian Haoyu was speaking directly to him.
Aoki stood there motionless, sensing the person behind him had already left.
But his words left Aoki deep in thought.
"Struggling on the boundary between good and evil, you have witnessed the evil within good and the good within evil?" Aoki's expression was complicated.
In truth, their situations were somewhat similar. Aoki served as a cadre in Team Rocket while also holding the position of chief investigator in the League, seen as one of the League's next generation of hopes.
But Aoki was somewhat different from him.
Having lived a previous life, Aoki had long understood the harsh realities of this world.
Moreover, he had gradually moved from the side of evil toward good, so he felt no particular aversion to the evil within good, nor was he overly moved by the good within evil.
But Tian Haoyu was different; he was moving from good toward evil.
As a legitimate member of the League, he must have been influenced by the League's ideology from the very beginning, convinced that the League was good and the Magma Team was evil.
But he discovered precious goodness within the evil of the Magma Team.
This greatly surprised him, and upon closer contact, he further uncovered the existence of evil within the League's supposed good.
As a result, the beliefs he had held since childhood were challenged, and his once firm will was shaken.
Although the Magma Team was an underground force, it had given many impoverished individuals, who originally had no chance of becoming Trainers, an opportunity to turn their lives around.
Although the League was an organization that advocated justice, it placed too much emphasis on social class and often turned a blind eye to the struggles of those at the bottom.
Tian Haoyu saw all of this.
So now he was deeply confused, uncertain whether what he was doing was right or wrong, or even what he ought to do.
Aoki had experienced the most filthy and wicked aspects of the Pokemon world's underbelly. As he drew closer to the just League, he could understand some of the relatively darker things they concealed.
But Tian Haoyu had always lived in an ideal, utopian world. Suddenly exposed to the darkness at the foundation of Pokemon society, he was both shocked and bewildered.
"What a pitiable man," Aoki sighed inwardly.
Tian Haoyu must be struggling immensely at this moment.
"Should I report this to Champion Drake?" Aoki's eyes gleamed with contemplation.
There was a certain amount of room for maneuver.
He took out his communicator and sent a message to Drake regarding Tian Haoyu seeking him out.
As for Tian Haoyu's mental state, after a moment's hesitation, Aoki deleted the text he had just drafted.
Then he stuffed the communicator back into his pocket.
"Only those who have lived through such experiences can understand things that some people will never perceive," he murmured softly.
Aoki restored everything in the hall to its original state and slowly walked toward the backyard.
It had been a false alarm.
However, Tian Haoyu's strength was truly not insignificant.
Aoki could sense a strong feeling of threat from him.
Bzzzt—
Just as one matter concluded, another communicator in Aoki's pocket vibrated.
He took it out and glanced at it.
"It really is one crisis after another," his tone carried a hint of helplessness, but more than that, surprise.
The information came from the Kalos region.
To be precise, it was from Lysandre of Team Flare.
When Aoki had entered the Ho-Oh space, he had asked him to send people to the Kalos region to search for the Nibel Plateau, a place forgotten by humans.
He had not expected that after a month and a half, Team Flare had actually managed to locate this place.
Aoki put away the communicator.
"Nibel Plateau... if I remember correctly, that should be where that Pokemon is living now," Aoki thought to himself.
The Nibel Plateau was not clearly marked on maps of the Kalos region.
Because it was a place forgotten by humans, it was home to a large number of Pokemon, all of whom kept their distance from human society.
This Nibel Plateau had become the dwelling place of a legendary Pokemon, Volcanion.
What interested Aoki was not this Volcanion, but the Kingdom of Azoth, which had taken mysterious science to its extreme!
And the highest culmination of the Kingdom of Azoth's mysterious science—the existence that had nearly plunged the entire kingdom into chaos!