"Damian, Hoenn League wants to awaken Groudon to deal with you."
Seeing the message Giovanni sent over, Damian couldn't help but laugh.
Damian was downright amused; he'd just been fretting over where to find something that couldn't fly.
As for looking for Groudon, they were obviously planning to have Groudon counter his Kyogre, right?
The basic idea wasn't exactly wrong. Among the super‑ancient Legendaries, Kyogre and Groudon really were evenly matched.
But clearly Steven and the others knew nothing about the Orbs. Groudon's Red Orb was still in his hands. Let Groudon go 1v1 against Primal Kyogre like that?
Primal Kyogre would probably just fire off one Origin Pulse and Groudon would be face‑down on the ground.
Damian shook his head, chuckling, and sent back an "ok" sticker.
He'd just wait then. Wait for Steven and the others to awaken Groudon and send it at him. Right now Groudon was still in slumber, so even Kyogre couldn't sense its location.
But once Groudon woke up, as long as neither side deliberately hid its aura, the two of them would be able to sense each other.
Damian wasn't in a hurry. He was in a great mood, meticulously retouching the couple photos of himself and Cynthia.
"Post them on the Hoenn forums first, then upload them to the Sinnoh Region sites too. Cynthia's body really is something else～"
Damian couldn't help sighing. He should find a chance to have Cynthia and Caitlin shoot a joint photo set someday, though Caitlin probably wouldn't be into it.
....
Elsewhere, in the League cells of Ever Grande City.
A young man with a heavyset figure was sitting on the bed in his prison uniform, spacing out. The gloom in his expression made him look rather intimidating.
This was Tabitha, Admin of Team Magma. After Team Magma's main base was seized by Team Rocket, Tabitha had escaped.
He couldn't accept any of it. In his heart, Team Magma and Lord Maxie were his only true belonging!
He'd originally been planning how to break Maxie out, but he'd unexpectedly run into May on the road—the same May who'd interfered with them before.
And then… that was it.
He'd been beaten by May, captured, and handed straight over to Officer Jenny.
"Tabitha."
Right then, a steady voice reached Tabitha's ears.
Tabitha turned his head. Outside the cell, Steven and Nemona were looking in at him, with an Officer Jenny by their side.
"Heh heh heh～ Look who it is. The esteemed Sir Steven. Never thought you'd come to see me."
Tabitha looked at Steven, genuinely surprised, and flashed his trademark sly smile.
"I have something to ask you. You'd better answer truthfully."
Steven's handsome face was set and serious.
"Sounds important, sure… but I'm not promising I'll tell you anything."
Tabitha leaned back against the wall, fully in "what are you gonna do about it" mode.
He was already in a cell. What could Steven do to him now?
It's not like Steven was going to beat him up. Steven wasn't the kind of guy who tortured prisoners.
"You'd better cooperate. This concerns the entire Hoenn Region." Steven could see how little Tabitha cared, and his tone cooled as he warned him.
"Tabitha, the League won't use torture—but we can decide where you serve out your sentence." Officer Jenny slapped the bars, her voice icy.
Compared to Steven, Officer Jenny—as a cop—definitely knew better how to talk to criminals.
"Tch～ Just ask." Tabitha clicked his tongue, annoyed.
True enough: for a fat guy like him, if they assigned him to road work and hauling bricks, he'd be worked to death.
"You Team Magma people were gathering info on Groudon all this time, right?"
Steven's voice was low.
"That's right." Tabitha froze.
"Then do you know where Groudon is slumbering?" Steven stared hard at him.
"You're trying to find Groudon too? What do you want with Groudon?"
Tabitha gave Champion Steven a confused, puzzled look. As one of Team Magma's "Three Flames," and Maxie's right‑hand man to boot, Tabitha's status in Team Magma had been very high.
"That's none of your business. Just answer the question."
Steven's tone stayed flat.
Tabitha's eyes flickered; the cell suddenly went quiet.
"So you do know?"
And without question, that reaction from Tabitha was enough to show he really did know something about Groudon's location.
"Heh heh heh～ I do have a few possible Groudon slumber locations. But I really want to know—Champion Steven, why are you looking for Groudon?"
Tabitha let out his signature laugh again, sounding downright wicked.
"How about you tell me the reason, Champion Steven? I'm very curious."
"You little—!!" Officer Jenny was starting to get angry.
"Kyogre. Kyogre has awakened. I need Groudon to deal with it." Steven stopped Officer Jenny with a hand. There was nothing worth hiding here.
Tabitha was just a prisoner, after all.
"Oh?"
Tabitha's brows drew together at once.
"Didn't Team Aqua's bunch get wiped out by Team Rocket too?" Tabitha remembered that clearly. Even Archie had joined Team Rocket.
"That's right. It was Team Rocket who awakened and then caught Kyogre." Steven answered directly.
"So, Tabitha, tell me the info you know. You hate Team Rocket too, don't you?"
"Hehehe…" Tabitha let out a cold laugh, but his expression did turn darker.
So it was Team Rocket that had caught Kyogre.
"I don't know exactly where Groudon is slumbering, but back then we'd already pinned down a few locations with a high likelihood. You'll have to search them yourselves."
Tabitha's voice was very low.
Yes, he really didn't like Team Rocket—maybe "loathed" was more accurate. If it weren't for Team Rocket, Team Magma would probably have already built their dream world by now!
"No problem!" Steven's eyes lit up with relief.
"Also, if you want to awaken Groudon or even have it beat Kyogre, you'll need to find Groudon's Orb too."
Tabitha continued, sharing the info he knew with Steven.
"Orb?"
Steven and Nemona exchanged a glance and saw the same confusion in each other's eyes.
"Groudon's Red Orb. That's Groudon's original power, but for reasons unknown, that power transformed into a crimson orb."
Tabitha explained.
"As long as you have the Red Orb, you can use it to control Groudon. And only with the Red Orb can Groudon return to its original, peak form and unleash its full power."
"Where's the Orb?"
Steven frowned in thought. He'd never heard of this before.
But he had to admit, this was critical information.
So that meant… the form Kyogre changed into that day was Primal Reversion?
"From what I've investigated, Kyogre's Orb and Groudon's Orb are both being held by an elderly couple at the top of Mt. Pyre." Tabitha answered everything without holding back.
"Good! Tabitha, write down the possible Groudon slumber locations. If they're real, you'll have made a huge contribution!"
Steven memorized it. He knew Mt. Pyre—it was the Pokémon cemetery.
"As long as you can wipe out Team Rocket, that's enough." Tabitha said lightly.
"You can count on it!"
Steven hurried off with Nemona.
No time to waste, and Steven was in a hurry, so the two of them went straight to Mt. Pyre on Metagross's back.
By the time they reached the summit of Mt. Pyre, the sky was already dark.
But Steven and Nemona did find that elderly couple, and through questioning, learned that the two Orbs really were in their care.
Steven was elated. This was great!
But then…
"What did you say?"
"Earlier, a young man said he was here on behalf of Champion Wallace to collect the Orbs, so we handed the Orbs over to Champion Wallace."
Hearing the elderly couple say that, Steven's pupils contracted sharply.
Wallace??
"What's wrong, Champion Steven?" the old woman asked, puzzled.
"I understand. You two should rest early." Steven replied with a forced smile.
After saying goodbye to the couple, Steven's brows were tightly knitted.
"Senior Wallace took the Orbs? That doesn't sound right…" Nemona felt something was off. Why would Wallace want those two Orbs?
"Impossible. Wallace doesn't know anything about the Orbs. Someone used Wallace's name."
Steven's voice sank. He had never doubted Wallace—
Except for when Wallace said, "You can always trust me."
Even so, just to be sure, Steven still called Wallace.
"Hello? Steven, how'd it go?"
Wallace's voice came through first.
"Mm, Tabitha was very cooperative. Wallace, did you send anyone to Mt. Pyre to take any Orbs?"
"What Orbs? Nope." Wallace answered naturally.
"Got it. I'll fill you in when I'm back."
Steven drew a deep breath and then hung up.
"It has to be Damian!!!"
Steven's brows furrowed hard. The first name that came to mind was Damian.
Team Magma had been swallowed up by Team Rocket, even Maxie had been captured. It wasn't strange at all for Team Rocket to have gotten intel on the Orbs.
So Damian had used Wallace's name and walked off with both Orbs!
"What do we do now, Senior Steven?" Nemona asked, face scrunched up.
"Head back to Ever Grande City first. We'll deal with finding Groudon later." Steven rubbed his brow. He'd finally gotten some good news, only to find they were one step too late.
Meanwhile in Ever Grande City, Wallace was sitting on the sofa, secretly scrolling through his phone with Leon at his side.
"Shock! Sinnoh Region Champion Cynthia Suspected to Be on a Date With Her Boyfriend?"
This was the thread they were currently looking at.
"Hiss!!"
When they saw the photo on the phone, Wallace and Leon traded a glance, both sucking in a sharp breath.
Spicy. Way too spicy!!
Because in the photo, Cynthia was wearing an off‑shoulder pencil skirt, with a black garter strap around her upper left thigh—sexy and stunning.
Her pretty face was slightly flushed, her eyes seemed to shimmer with shy, watery light, her toes pointed, and her lips—glossed a bright, vivid shade—were gently pressed against the boy's cheek.
Holy crap. That's Cynthia?!!
Wallace was completely stunned, staring at the photo on the phone screen, then glancing over at Cynthia sitting not far away, flipping through an ancient text.
"Champion Cynthia really is gorgeous."
Leon couldn't help but sigh softly. Of course, this was just him admiring her looks. For Leon, women only got in the way of Pokémon battles.
A battle maniac had no need for romance; women would only be a distraction. But he could still appreciate beauty when he saw it.
"The key point is, that's Damian!" Wallace looked at Cynthia with sympathy.
That bastard Damian, forcing him into girls' outfits was bad enough, but now he'd forced Champion Cynthia to take photos like this with him?
Yeah, Wallace instinctively assumed Cynthia had been coerced by Damian—
And, well, he wasn't exactly wrong.
Damian really was a born‑evil Team Rocket type!
Wallace glanced at the comments. Sure enough, in just a short time, there were already several thousand.
Without question, this couple photo set was going to spread across the entire net at high speed.
Champion Cynthia's reputation…
Wallace was already feeling a bit grateful, honestly. Thank goodness Damian wasn't into men, or into cross‑dressed guys like him.
Otherwise, if he had to shoot this kind of photo with Damian while in girls' clothes, he'd rather jump into a river and drown!!
Shooting with Steven would be one thing. But shooting couple photos with Damian? Wallace would never agree to that!
~~~
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