Zinnia honestly felt this Team Rocket guy in front of her was a bit Way Too Extreme.
Blowing up office towers, leveling people's buildings every time he opened his mouth… was that really the kind of ideology a person in peacetime ought to have?
Damian, meanwhile, thought Zinnia was still being a bit conservative. With a grudge that deep, she still hadn't taken him up on his suggestion?
"You know our clan's prophecy, don't you?"
Zinnia set that topic aside for now. She hadn't directly agreed to Damian's proposal, but she had to admit she'd been moved by his so‑called "sincerity."
She was absolutely going to avenge Aster.
But all three of her targets were major powers—especially the Johto Pokémon Association, with the Indigo League at its back.
"Of course. The meteor crisis from the prophecy." Damian nodded.
A long, long time ago, meteors had constantly streaked across the night sky. Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre had been locked in battle, and humans had fallen into utter despair—until Rayquaza descended and put a stop to them.
A thousand years later, a meteor fell on what was now Sootopolis City. Groudon and Kyogre were awakened and fought again, and people were once more shrouded in despair.
At that time, the Lorekeeper prayed to the Grand Meteor Delta, begging Rayquaza to descend. Their plea reached Rayquaza, and the Grand Meteor Delta's power successfully triggered Rayquaza's Mega Evolution, letting it defeat Groudon and Kyogre again and force them back into slumber.
Saved twice by Rayquaza, the Draconid people built Sky Pillar to worship it, and on the murals inside Sky Pillar, they left behind a prophecy.
A thousand years later, a new Meteorite would descend, and before it struck the continent, Rayquaza would have to be summoned once more to shatter it.
"So you do know." Zinnia narrowed her eyes slightly. She really couldn't understand how Damian, someone who wasn't Draconid at all, knew this prophecy.
"That part doesn't matter. What matters is—you really do need backup, don't you, Zinnia?" Damian waved a hand with an easy smile.
"Whether it's the prophecy business… or your sister's revenge."
"I can handle it on my own."
Zinnia's tone went cold. She did not like the way Damian was talking to her.
"Sure. But wouldn't it be way easier with our help, Zinnia?" Damian's smile didn't dim in the slightest.
"If you want to get revenge for your sister, you're gonna need teammates who share your goals. And we'll back you."
Damian picked up the gold badge on the table and slowly placed it into Zinnia's hand.
This time, Zinnia didn't let go of it.
"There's no downside for you. And you'll be free to call on Team Rocket's resources however you want."
"Sounds real nice. After that I'll be wanted by the Pokémon League too, won't I?"
Zinnia stared at the gold badge in her hand for a long time, then couldn't help but laugh.
"So what? It's not like we're gonna lose a piece of meat over it."
Damian couldn't have cared less. He met Zinnia's eyes, and both of them ended up laughing.
Yeah—Zinnia hadn't rejected him.
Damian was right. If she wanted justice for Aster, Zinnia needed a powerful force at her back—one that wasn't afraid of the Pokémon League.
And a completely unrestrained Team Rocket fit that perfectly.
Team Rocket needed her strength, but she needed Team Rocket's strength just as badly. Win‑win.
Watching Damian and Zinnia having already reached a tacit agreement, Courtney's face stayed blank, betraying none of what she was thinking.
She felt like her whole worldview had just been rewritten.
Team Magma had only ever wanted to expand the land, that was all.
And what had these two just been talking about?
The House of Berlitz, Devon Corporation, the Pokémon Association, and some kind of prophecy about a Meteorite falling from the sky?
Seriously? Weren't the things they were discussing just a little too high level? And they actually wanted to take all of that down??
Courtney really felt like her horizons in the past had been way too small. She had no idea if they could actually pull it off—
But one thing she did know was that Team Magma and Team Aqua were screwed.
They really were.
In Lilycove City, Maxie stared at his communicator, which had stayed stubbornly silent, his brows knitting tighter and tighter.
An entire hour had gone by, and Courtney still hadn't reported back.
Maxie had no idea what exactly had happened, but he could guess Courtney had probably been captured.
"Team Rocket. What's Team Rocket doing in the Hoenn Region?"
Maxie couldn't wrap his head around it. A heavy sense of foreboding was creeping into his chest.
Even here in Hoenn, Maxie knew perfectly well who Team Rocket were—Kanto's most powerful underworld evil organization.
An evil organization that had managed to flourish right under Indigo League's nose.
An organization like that had to be incredibly strong. Even if they'd crossed the sea to get here, there was no way they'd be some minor nuisance.
And they'd already come knocking.
"You think Team Magma's got no one worth fearing?"
Maxie adjusted his glasses, a cold light flashing in his eyes. Even someone as calm as he was couldn't help feeling a surge of anger.
Team Magma was Hoenn's local power, yet Team Rocket had only just set foot in Hoenn and had already stormed into their base and captured his Admin Courtney.
What did they think that was?
They might as well have walked up and slapped him across the face.
Fine. Fine!! That was how little they thought of Team Magma?
Even so, Maxie was, by nature, calm and calculating. He prided himself on not being anything like that meathead Archie—he used his brains to get things done.
"Team Rocket's too aggressive. A head‑on confrontation would be a terrible idea."
Maxie quickly came to that conclusion. Team Rocket were foreign invaders, sure, but they were still a dragon from across the sea. He had no clue how many people they'd actually brought.
But the fact that Courtney hadn't managed to escape and had been captured outright… you didn't need more proof than that. Whoever Team Rocket had sent was no pushover.
Maxie had no intention of charging in to clash with Team Rocket now. What if they lost?
Let tigers and wolves maul each other.
"Archie's an idiot—but he can be useful. And besides—"
Maxie's thoughts spun.
Sending his lifelong enemy Archie in to fight Team Rocket was the optimal move.
No matter which side won, Maxie could live with it.
The problem was, getting the two sides to clash in the first place wouldn't be easy.
Actually, that wasn't quite right—Team Rocket would definitely go after Team Aqua.
If he had a location on one of Team Aqua's core bases, he could just toss that over to Team Rocket.
They'd definitely show up to wreck the place, wouldn't they?
Maxie clicked his tongue in annoyance. He just didn't know which base Archie was currently holed up in. If he did, he really could sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight.
But it didn't matter. He still had a brilliant move left.
A cold smile tugged at Maxie's lips as he opened a drawer and took out a spare phone.
"Hello? Ever Grande Police Department."
A crisp, serious female voice—Officer Jenny's—came from the other end of the line.
"Officer Jenny, I'd like to report a crime!" Maxie coughed twice, then put on a panicked, anxious tone.
"Please calm down, sir. Tell me what happened." Officer Jenny tried to soothe this "concerned citizen" on the verge of freaking out.
"My friend and I were hiking on Mt. Chimney when we ran into a group of terrorists calling themselves Team Rocket. They stole our Pokémon and kidnapped my friend!"
"What?"
Officer Jenny blurted out in shock.
Team Rocket??
"Are you sure they were Team Rocket?"
Officer Jenny was stunned. Since when did Hoenn have Team Rocket?
Weren't the local nutcases just Team Magma and Team Aqua, those two idiotic extremist eco‑groups?
"I'm absolutely sure. They were wearing black uniforms. I'm really worried about my friend, Officer Jenny—she's a girl. I'm terrified those Team Rocket thugs might do something to her."
Maxie kept his face utterly blank as he let worry and fear color his voice, begging Officer Jenny for help.
"I understand. I'll notify the Lavaridge Town police immediately. Don't worry, we'll do everything in our power to rescue your friend!"
Officer Jenny gave a solemn promise, then asked for a few simple details—like the exact location of the supposed Team Rocket robbery.
Maxie gave her the position near the now‑captured base without hesitation.
That base was already in Team Rocket's hands; if Team Magma couldn't keep it, there was no way in hell Team Rocket were getting to keep it either.
He hung up.
"Heh～ Let's drag this trouble east, then. Team Rocket, huh? Go have your fun with the Hoenn League first."
Maxie let out a low, cold laugh.
With the Hoenn League putting out warrants for Team Rocket, there was no way their lives would be easy.
At the end of the day, this was Hoenn's turf, and Team Rocket didn't have any roots here yet. Their footing wasn't even remotely firm. Under the Hoenn League's 'careful attention,' they'd be stumbling every step of the way.
That was his brilliance as Maxie.
Real players used their heads.
If all you knew was brute force, you'd end up like that idiot Archie—nothing but muscle, and a brain the size of a walnut.
Right then, the Officer Jenny who'd taken the report immediately relayed the information up the chain.
And the final result was———
"Huh? Team Rocket?"
In the League building in Ever Grande City, inside the Champion's office, the current Hoenn Champion, wrapped in a white cloak, stared in confusion.
With his fair, handsome features, noble and elegant demeanor, and tall, slender frame—this was Wallace.
He had originally been Sootopolis Gym's Gym Leader, and a master‑class Coordinator to boot, but thanks to his close friend's heartfelt invitation—
He'd become the Hoenn League's Champion.
His good friend, meanwhile, had run off to happily dig rocks on his own.
Yeah. Wallace had sent that good friend his "warm regards" more than once in his heart.
"Team Rocket… I remember they're from Kanto, right?"
Wallace propped his chin up and thought it over. He honestly didn't care all that much.
In his opinion, so‑called evil organizations were just small‑time annoyances—like Team Magma and Team Aqua.
To be honest, when he first heard about Team Magma and Team Aqua's ideologies, Wallace hadn't been able to stop himself from laughing out loud. Expanding land and sea? Seriously?
That was the dumbest reason he'd ever heard.
He honestly felt those two organizations were some kind of cosmic joke.
"Yes. Team Rocket is a very evil and powerful evil team. According to intel, they even invaded Alola not long ago,"
Jenny, the commander on duty, reported gravely.
"Champion Wallace, now that Team Rocket's invaded Hoenn, I'm afraid they're up to no good."
"Don't worry about it, Officer Jenny." Wallace lowered his head with a faint, composed smile, his tone calm and unruffled.
"It's just an evil organization. Hardly something great."
Wallace was very confident.
He even figured Team Rocket had probably just been pushed too hard over in Kanto and were now trying to find new ground—hence the incursions into Alola and Hoenn.
"But to actually dare snatch my Hoenn citizens' Pokémon, and even kidnap people—that's far too much!"
Wallace slammed the table and shot to his feet, indignant and righteous, brimming with hatred for evil.
Officer Jenny quietly watched their Champion's entire performance.
"This is an outright insult to the Hoenn League. Villains like that—we have to hit them with everything we've got!"
Wallace declared, full of righteous fury.
"Then… Champion, what are you suggesting?"
"I'll go in person. A mere Team Rocket—let me, Wallace, grant them a suitably elegant finale."
Wallace smiled faintly, absolutely dripping with style.
"Th‑there's no need for you to go in person, is there?" Officer Jenny was briefly stunned.
"The best way to deal with a criminal organization like this is to strike them with lightning—give them no chance to slip away and rise from the ashes." Wallace intoned solemnly.
As if he'd miss this chance to get away from Ever Grande City.
If he didn't grab this opportunity now, how was he supposed to go enjoy the Pokémon Contests in Mauville City later?
As for a little thing like Team Rocket? Whatever.
~~~
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