"Village?"
"That's right, Meteor Village, where the Meteor People settled after moving out."
Bashu nodded vigorously, "From my observation, most of the powerful Dragon-type Pokémon in Meteor Village head to Meteor Falls during the day. Only a few strong Dragon-type Pokémon remain along with many juvenile ones, and a bunch of elderly folks who aren't much for fighting.
"Now is the perfect time to strike! If we can capture all the Dragon-type Pokémon there in one go, this trip would be worth it!"
"Meteor Village... What about the Super Stone Mine at Meteor Falls?"
Pusen was stunned.
"Do you really think such a thing exists? I've been sneaking around detecting for three days, and there's no sign of it!"
Bashu gritted his teeth, "Besides, if there were really a Super Stone Mine, the Meteor People in Meteor Village would have surely excavated plenty, we can just snatch it from them! Do you really plan to wait here until the mission fails? Bringing back more Dragon-type Pokémon, at least we can face Boss Giovanni!"
"...Makes sense!"
Pusen didn't even think deeply, trusting his companion and having grown weary, he nodded in agreement within two seconds.
The other Rocket Team Members glanced at each other and agreed simultaneously.
After all, taking action is better than waiting foolishly here.
Seeing this, Pusen waved his hand boldly, "Bassen Special Agent Team! Target the southeast direction, Meteor Village—prepare for action!"
"Yes!"
The Rocket Team Members responded enthusiastically.
A colossal invisible object within the clouds, driven by its propellers, suddenly broke through the white clouds and headed towards Meteor Village. Not far away, a Swablu saw the disturbed cloud, and fear appeared on its face.
What was that? Did I encounter a ghost?
It flapped its wings and quickly flew away from this area, unwilling to stay even for a moment.
Meteor Village.
A peaceful scene.
The young dragons played innocently, the elderly Meteor People engaged in their favorite activities, free from much strife, not as noisy as the city.
There was only the chirping of Swablu and Altaria, and the wing-beating sound of Vibrava.
Baimu sat in the courtyard playing guitar, next to him were Blissey and Mawile singing softly, as he thought duet might increase their harmony and teamwork.
Halfway through the song.
Snap!
The guitar string suddenly broke.
"This..." Baimu looked at the broken string, then at Blissey and Mawile, "Well, let's take a break."
No matter how good a song is, repeating it again and again in a short time will eventually make one tired of it.
Moreover, this song might not be Blissey and Mawile's favorite; it's just a song they comparatively like and can sing well, but Blissey couldn't handle high difficulty all of a sudden.
"Happy..."
Blissey fell into a rare state of self-blame, and Mawile's mood was a bit gloomy too.
The practice before the last two Gorgeous Competitions was too smooth, making it feel confident that, apart from the regular preparation, it could easily complete a high-quality performance in a week to half a month.
But it got stuck with the duet.
Extremely depressed, yet nowhere to vent it.
No, wait.
There is.
Mawile stood up, ran to the Trainer's side, and jabbed his arm, punching it like a punching bag.
"That hurts."
Baimu looked at it helplessly, wondering where it learned this behavior, using him as a human sandbag when feeling down, despite having so many dolls.
Is it not painful to beat up the Trainer?
Though Mawile's punches weren't particularly heavy, their precision and consistency added up to quite a sting.
"Alright!"
Baimu reached out to hold its small fist, about to say something, suddenly looked up at the sky.
The next moment.
In the clear sky, a massive black-gray airship suddenly appeared, the bright red 'R' on the hull signaling their identity—
"Rocket Team!"
Baimu's expression changed; he hurriedly called out to the Aggron and other Pokémon scattered around the courtyard and swiftly ran indoors.
Dragon-type Pokémon all over Meteor Village looked up at the airship in confusion, not yet realizing what was happening, as they watched helplessly as the bottom of the airship quickly unfolded numerous portals, launching shiny projectiles.
Boom boom boom boom!
The shiny projectiles exploded, releasing a dense grayish-white smoke that instantly covered most of Meteor Village, leaving the Dragon Pokémon falling en masse unconscious, along with many unresponsive Meteor People who fainted.
Only a few reactive Meteor People managed to shelter inside their adequately sealed houses to avoid the ordeal.
Swiftly.
A piercing alarm suddenly resounded.
The sound came from the speakers on the village's electric poles, but as the airship released a rapid low-frequency sound wave, the speakers and streetlights instantly exploded into debris, along with the glass of many houses.
Baimu's residence, being relatively distant, barely managed to stay intact with its surface covered in dense fractures.
Inside the room, he quickly donned the Molten Rock Armor for the League Tournament, put on a gas mask, and handed Wood Fruit-made lozenges to all the Pokémon to prevent them from fainting from inhaling the smoke.
Thanks to his timely response and the slow spread of the smoke, apart from the Hydreigon headed for the Dragon Nest, all Pokémon were spared.
"The target shouldn't have been Meteor Falls... why did it become Meteor Village?"
Baimu looked out the window at the scene obscured by thick smoke, hesitated for a few seconds, then took the bombs made according to the female student's dream.
Mixing bombs is essentially similar to mixing fragrances, or perhaps it is due to a talent bonus, allowing him to easily create most types of bombs with available materials without much effort.
Might not be useful, but it doesn't hurt to bring them along.
The Rocket Team's purpose is unclear for now, but there are only a few possibilities—the numerous Dragon-type Pokémon and the Super Stones and Key Stones guarded by the Dragon Elder.
He clicked his tongue heavily.
One could only say that the Rocket Team is truly bold. Don't be fooled by the Dragon Tamers, who mostly seek nothing more than to become the Four Heavenly Kings or Champions through Pokémon battles, but their potential for warfare was evident from the battle of Pyrite Town.
The Rocket Team actually dared to target the solitary old and young in Meteor Village...
"Things are getting serious."
Baimu took a deep breath and looked at his Pokémon, "But before the Dragon Tamers have the chance to retaliate, we must find a way to resolve this incident."
Lairon and the other Pokémon nodded without hesitation.
Ever since coming to Meteor Village, everyone has frequently received care from the Meteor People. Neither the Trainers nor the Pokémon should stand idly by out of emotion or reason.
Baimu smiled contentedly before turning serious:
"I think their main target is most likely the Dragon Temple and the scattered Dragon-type Pokémon. Inevitably, they will deploy a large number of personnel… we can take them by surprise and destroy their airship."
He pointed to the airship in the sky outside the window, just as he was about to say more, a sudden gale outside shattered the already broken glass, scattering it with a crackling noise, and the hypnotic gas engulfing most of the village was quickly swept away.
Through the shattered window, one could see far in the distance, in the mid-air, an azure bird with head, tail, and neck covered by cloud-like pearlescent feathers, emitting a dazzling glow, letting out a sharp cry.
Mega Altaria, Fairy and Dragon Attribute.
There's no doubt this is the Pokémon of a Meteor Person!
Baimu's face showed joy, knowing that it was the Pokémon just now that brought in the [Gale], dispelling the hypnotic gas around.
Unfortunately, from his perspective, he couldn't see clearly who was commanding it, only vaguely making out a slightly short figure.
Elder Qing Liu?
What made his heart tighten was when the Mega Altaria evaded the high-pressure currents released by the airship, it countered by sending out visible pink soundwaves, but the surface of the airship lit up with deep violet waves, completely blocking the pink soundwaves outside.
"Protective Barrier!"
He furrowed his brows slightly.
Just as he feared, the Rocket Team, known as an evil organization with advanced technology rivaling the league, indeed mastered similar techniques.
Fortunately, after taking the sound from Mega Altaria, backed by the [Fairy Skin] Trait—[Giant Sound], the protective barrier began to flicker continuously, proving that its defense had limits.
This could definitely be considered good news.
However, as Mega Altaria was about to seize the opportunity to press the attack, a gleaming steelix suddenly appeared, blocking the Mega Altaria engulfed in azure flames with Iron Tail as it lunged toward the airship.
The smoke exploded with a "boom".
Then, a light representing Super Evolution shone through the dense smoke.
In an instant.
A super-evolved Steelix, far larger than before, appeared under Baimu's solemn gaze.
This beast's lateral steel bones were replaced by colorful crystal pillars, mysterious black base-blue pattern hexagons appeared at its joints, surrounded by countless metal fragments, two shovel-like constructs protruded from its chin, looking mysterious and fierce.
The two super-evolved Pokémon immediately engaged in a destructive showdown of various powerful moves.
He used the binoculars to observe the silver-haired Rocket Team member not far from the super-evolved Steelix, and after careful identification, he looked surprised. How could there be such a coincidence in this world?
This person was one of those who used the crystal system to persecute Lei Gong!
He remembers the name...
Bashu! Yes, Bashu!
Unexpectedly, this guy not only made it to Hoenn but also gained Super Evolution.
What about the other guy? That muscle-bound blonde named Pusen?
As Baimu shifted his gaze, he quickly found his target, the bespectacled, muscular blonde Pusen, who stood on a hovercraft, directing a group of Rocket Team members to recover the hypnotized Dragon-type Pokémon.
They used a peculiar-looking square box, which expands into a net when thrown onto a Dragon-type Pokémon, binding them and then automatically being retrieved back into the airship.
Highly efficient.
Even if the Dragon-type Pokémon woke up halfway, they'd be immobilized by the red currents released by the net, which applied even to the Ground Attribute Vibrava and Flygon.
Many of the lucky Meteor People who evaded the hypnotic gas rushed out of their homes, attempting to counterattack with their dragons, only to be struck by thunder or soundwaves fired from the airship, overcoming them with intense pain.
The power of black technology is evident.
The Rocket Team always seems to find ways to torture Pokémon.
Meanwhile.
Pusen, driving his hovercraft, led the remaining two Rocket Team members towards the Dragon Temple's location.
Their intent was clear; they were evidently after the Key Stones and Super Stones.
Mega Altaria, seeing Pusen's movement, hurried forward to stop him but was blocked by Mega Steelix, forcing them to continue their fierce struggle.
"...Looks like this is all the information I can gather."
Baimu quietly withdrew his gaze.
It remained unclear just how much strength was left in Meteor Village, but he could no longer wait; at least, he couldn't let that guy named Pusen barge into the Dragon Temple.
Allowing such a place to be destroyed is no different than having one's ancestral graves dug up.
Recalling the day his name was inscribed on the scroll, Baimu retrieved all his Pokémon except for the Galarian Corsola, then ran out from the house's back door.