Retracting his thoughts, Lysandre shifted his gaze to Maxie and Archie, who were still glaring at each other and shouting at the top of their lungs.
Maxie and Archie of the Hoenn region, Cyrus of the Sinnoh region, Ghetsis of the Unova region, and finally, himself from the Kalos region... all of them had successively received invitations to cooperate from the leader of Team Rocket, Giovanni.
Setting aside the wildly differing ambitions held by this group of people from various regions, there was no denying that Giovanni's proposal was genuinely tempting. Intelligence, funding, manpower—all resources would be shared mutually, yet they would strictly refrain from interfering in each other's affairs.
If the world truly was as vast as the Team Rocket leader claimed, far exceeding their imaginations, then to realize their dreams more quickly, consolidating resources and engaging in deep cooperation wasn't a bad idea.
And this organization—seemingly loosely connected on the surface, but actually bound tightly together by various ambitions and mutual benefits—was named Team Rainbow Rocket.
"Boss! The information on the ancient texts has been completely deciphered!"
Just as Maxie and Archie were about to step outside to settle things with a battle, and Lysandre's reminiscence came to a complete end, a chubby researcher wearing a flashy, bright orange-red uniform and comical glasses came running over with a look of fanatical excitement.
Giovanni was right. Hidden somewhere in this land of Hoenn was an ancient stone believed to be the origin of Mega Evolution.
Whether it was to amplify and control Kyogre, Groudon, and Rayquaza, or to awaken Xerneas slumbering in its tree form and Yveltal dormant in its cocoon form, this legendary Giant Rock was an absolutely indispensable artifact.
Consequently, upon hearing the news that the ancient texts had finally been completely deciphered, Maxie and Archie—who had just been ready to step outside for a true-man's duel—temporarily set aside their grievances and looked over with eyes shining brightly.
This was especially true for the Team Aqua leader. He shot a dissatisfied glare at the chubby researcher who had paused his report, then turned his head to yell loudly at Lysandre on the other side.
"Hey, Team Flare Boss! Lion-head! Hurry up and tell your underling to stop keeping us in suspense! Time is precious, so tell us exactly what was written on those incomprehensible ancient texts?!"
Hearing Archie's blunt and awkward nickname, Lysandre couldn't help but twitch his mouth.
To be honest, this translation job should have been the responsibility of Team Magma and Team Aqua, as they were the hosts.
As for why it ultimately fell on the shoulders of his Team Flare...
That was because, within Team Magma and Team Aqua, besides Maxie and his admin Courtney who possessed some level of education, the rest of them—from Team Aqua's leader Archie down to the lowest grunts—were a complete bunch of illiterates.
"Xerosic, please project the deciphered contents onto the screen."
"Understood, Boss."
At this moment, having received permission, the chubby researcher excitedly projected the contents of the ancient texts onto the electronic screen on the wall, looking as if the cause he had long fought for was finally seeing the light of day.
"First, regarding the contents of the first bamboo slip... After cross-referencing it with written records passed down from a thousand years ago, the general meaning translates to: 'To find the legendary Giant Rock, one must first find the corresponding door'."
Accompanied by Xerosic's fanatical explanation, the projection on the electronic screen gradually changed.
"And the method to open the door is recorded on the second ancient text. Opening the door requires two Key Stones. After gathering the light of the stones, a new path will appear... Based on the descriptions, the location of the Giant Rock ruins can be roughly narrowed down to an area about eighty kilometers outside of Rustboro City. However, the exact location will require us to go to the site and conduct a physical survey."
Using the specialized equipment from Lysandre Labs, Xerosic finally pinpointed the approximate location of the Giant Rock ruins.
"Rustboro..."
Lysandre, Maxie, and Archie muttered to themselves simultaneously.
Then, the gazes of all three men simultaneously fell upon the image before them, which had now transitioned into a digital map.
Rustboro City.
On a bustling street, amidst a crowd of well-dressed tourists, a solitary young girl stood on the right side of the road. Wearing a baseball cap, a heavy coat, dark sunglasses, and a face mask, her appearance seemed entirely out of place.
"Over here, over here!"
Seemingly spotting the figure she had been waiting for, the girl, bundled up tightly from head to toe, waved her hands enthusiastically.
Even muffled by the mask, the girl's deliberately lowered voice carried a clear tone of joy.
However, it didn't take long for the girl, who couldn't help but smile, to look down at the time on her PokéNav watch, and her joyful expression instantly froze.
As a future Contest Idol, how could the perfect partner she handpicked for their idol duo have such a poor sense of time?! We agreed to meet at 3:00 PM, and now he's exactly ten minutes and eight seconds late! If this were a commercial gig, this kind of 'playing the big shot' tardiness would result in a massive fine! A severe penalty!
"Mr. Hakuya, how could you be ten minutes later than our agreed time? You're way too slow~"
The girl put her hands on her hips. Even with half her face covered by the baseball cap, one could faintly see her fair, soft cheeks puffing out slightly, looking exactly like a Pachirisu that had stuffed several chestnuts into its mouth.
"Sorry, sorry. But it really couldn't be helped."
Faced with this complaint—which could only be described as cute and lacked even a shred of intimidation—Hakuya helplessly spread his hands and responded with a similarly teasing, formal title.
"Miss Lisia, managing to get here this quickly was already my absolute limit. After all, today isn't the weekend. I had to finish teaching my practical battle class to the students at the school first..."
After testing Latias's Mega Evolution in the early hours of the morning, he had returned to his dorm and barely managed to sleep until 11:00 AM before being woken up by thousands of text messages and Altaria emojis from Lisia.
Groggy, he skimmed through the message history and finally remembered that after the Wallace Cup ended, he had promised this idol girl that they would hang out and explore Rustboro City together. The meeting place was the West Street of Rustboro City, and the time was 3:00 PM.
And after a busy afternoon teaching his battle class, he was dragged away by Roxanne for a routine inspection of his Pokéblock-making techniques. After all that hassle, he finally arrived ten minutes late.
"Alright, alright. I won't hold you accountable for being late this time."
As the sugar mommy covering all the expenses for the outing, Lisia waved her hand, generously letting the matter slide.
"However, I'll be counting on you to be my tour guide for today, Hakuya!"
"Sure, absolutely no problem. Leave it to me." Hakuya patted his chest, taking on the role of the tour guide.
He was a man of principle.
Having accepted a 50,000 League Dollar "friendship fee," he would naturally dedicate himself fully to a small task like accompanying her on a shopping trip.