Golurk's rocket propulsion was astonishingly fast. Catching up to a plane would normally be an easy task.
However, Team Magma's plane had receive special modifications. Upon detecting a Pokémon pursuing it from behind, rockets fired from both its wings and tail, suddenly tripling its speed and instantly widening the distance between itself and Golurk.
Tetsuya gritted his teeth and "stamped" his foot. "Kuso… that disgusting Team Magma! This whole thing was a trap."
Turning to look at Norman, whose eyes were red with tears, he could only offer a few words to try and calm him, saying, "Norman, Brodie has already been hit by my Pokémon's Sludge Bomb. He's certain to die, so at least that should bring some consolation to our fallen comrades."
Norman did not immediately respond to Tetsuya. His eyes grew even redder as he said, "It was my negligence that got you all killed… Team Magma must pay for your deaths with their lives…"
With that, Norman clenched his teeth and tightened his fists.
He slowly closed his eyes, seemingly summoning something.
A long, long time passed…
Team Magma's plane was almost disappearing from sight.
Suddenly, Norman opened his eyes, a brilliant light flashing in his pupils. He let out a thunderous roar toward the sky and shouted, "Old buddy…! Do me this favor!"
His voice echoed through the sky, lingering for a long time.
"…"
Moments later, the weather changed dramatically!
Dark clouds gathered across the sky, lightning flashed, and thunder rumbled…
The oppressive atmospheric pressure made it somewhat difficult to breathe.
Team Magma's plane was also forced to slow down because of the weather.
"It's been a long time…" Norman said with a sigh.
Two beams of light suddenly shot out from the clouds, and a green figure flickered in and out of view before finally revealing itself.
"Rayquaza… It's Rayquaza!" Tetsuya exclaimed, unable to suppress the excitement surging within him. This was the first time since his rebirth that he had encountered a Legendary Pokémon that embodied the powers of nature.
He had long heard that Norman shared an extraordinary relationship with Rayquaza, and sure enough, Norman could actually summon it…
It was simply unbelievable!
Rayquaza also sensed Norman's unprecedented fury. With a simple Dragon Rage, it launched an attack straight toward Team Magma's plane.
An explosion erupted in the sky, engulfing the entire aircraft and reducing it to dust!
"Ray… Quazaaa!"
Having fulfilled its purpose, Rayquaza disappeared into the clouds once again, and the sky returned to normal.
"Thank you…" Norman said, gazing up at the sky.
From the sudden change in the weather to Rayquaza's appearance, the destruction of Team Magma's plane, and the sky's return to normal, everything had taken just five short minutes.
This was the might of a Legendary…
"Norman…"
---◓---
With everything over, Tetsuya and Norman returned to Dewford Town.
"Brodie is dead, so it's time for me to head back. Norman, please inform Yuri for me," Tetsuya said.
Norman nodded. "Of course. I really owe you for your help this time. Without you, I wouldn't have had the chance to call… you know, Brodie wouldn't have died, and I'm afraid I might have fallen at Team Magma's hands as well.
However… the League lost so many elite members this time, and I cannot escape responsibility. I'll go directly to the League to accept whatever punishment they see fit."
This would probably remain a source of pain for Norman forever. Brodie's disguise art was convincing enough to pass for the real thing. Even people familiar with someone could not distinguish his disguises, much less Norman.
Brodie's death was also an enormous loss for Team Magma!
'Now I just have to stand firm in what I must do… I mustn't, and I can't, hesitate! This is tied to my very future… I can't allow any weakness on my path… Sigh, Imites…'
---◓---
With the matter finally settled, Tetsuya returned to Rustboro City. As a member of Devon Corporation, he naturally had unrestricted access to the company, although Steven had already left on a journey.
The request he had made had already been incorporated into the company's plans, and it would take approximately six months to complete. During these six months, he needed to hurry back to Kanto and obtain the Ditto's training method.
Tetsuya had originally planned to take a ship directly from Littleroot Town to Gringey City, but unexpectedly, all routes to Gringey City had been canceled.
After making some inquiries, he learned that Gringey City had been suffering severely from environmental pollution, and the entire industrial district surrounding the port had already been relocated.
This was certainly good news for him, and he could hardly wait to see the Muk in the sludge lake!
Left with no other choice, Tetsuya took a ship to a neighboring town. However, his destination was still Gringey City, and he managed to return there that very day.
Gringey City had undergone massive changes. Most of the workers in the industrial district had been dismissed and sent home, but the owners of a small number of factories had absconded with the money after failing to pay their workers' wages, leaving many workers seeking their unpaid salaries at places such as the Labour Bureau's petition office.
But how could the Gringey City government possibly have so much spare money?
It was already devoting its resources to the construction of the new urban district, and large numbers of residents still had nowhere to settle. The emergence of this problem only made an already difficult situation worse.
This might be an opportunity!
Tetsuya had an exceptionally keen eye for such things. Perhaps he could take advantage of this situation to squeeze a substantial sum out of the Gringey City government.
That very day, Tetsuya went to the sludge lake in the industrial district. Before he could even get close, waves of foul stench made him so nauseous that he could barely continue forward. With no other choice, he put on a gas mask.
It was not that he feared the poisonous gas… but rather that the stench was simply unbearable!
The sludge lake was now in an even worse state than before. The deaths of large numbers of Grimer and Muk had made the sludge lake even more toxic.
Looking across it, there were hardly any Grimer or Muk left. It seemed he needed to make the situation even worse once again!
---◓---
Ariados, the four-headed Weezing, and Drapion poured all their poison into the sludge lake.
Looking at the sludge lake bubbling with poison, Tetsuya nodded. "Soon… very soon. I'll raise an extraordinarily powerful Muk right here."
It was time for him to claim this territory.
After resting for the night, Tetsuya went directly to the Gringey City government's Investment Promotion Agency -IPA- the following day.
"How may I help you?" A staff member at the Investment Promotion office asked.
"I'd like to bid on a piece of land," Tetsuya said.
"Certainly. Let me first introduce the plots of land we currently have available for bidding. These are all designated for the new urban district and have great development potential. This plot here…" The staff member was preparing to introduce each plot to Tetsuya one by one.
"Wait a moment," Tetsuya interrupted. "The land I want to buy is one of the sludge lake in the old industrial district, the main one."
"B-But that plot isn't included in the bidding…" The staff member said, somewhat astonished.
How could anyone possibly want to buy that place!?
It could be said to have absolutely no value. Not only did it lack even the slightest development potential, but the sludge-covered land was also extremely toxic, and there were large numbers of Muk with nowhere to relocate.
It was nothing more than a worthless wasteland!
"Get your supervisor. I imagine the Gringey's government is desperate to get that troublesome piece of land off its hands," Tetsuya said.
The staff member nodded thoughtfully and said, "Please sir, just wait a moment!"
The attitude toward Tetsuya was completely different now. In their eyes, he was practically doing charity.
Anyone hoping to acquire other plots of land would probably have to flatter these officials and offer them gifts, but Tetsuya had no need to do any of that. Simply managing to sell such a worthless piece of land would be a major achievement in itself.