Rustboro City, the ruin cave.
The damp air, carrying the crisp scent of minerals and moss, condensed into fine water droplets on the rock walls.
Whenever footsteps lightly echoed along the rugged, uneven rocky passages, water droplets would fall from the ceiling, splashing into tiny blooms of water on the stone surfaces.
Rocks, fossils, ores... just looking at them was enough to make one's heart leap with joy.
And the beauty of these rocks was in no way inferior to any gemstone or starry night.
Though they lacked a bright and flashy exterior, that low-key, understated atmosphere was precisely where their charm lay.
Looking at the surrounding rock faces, which had been soaked by flowing water over thousands of years to reveal a jade-like luster, Roxanne's face was filled with absolute intoxication.
However...
The young teacher turned her head, her gaze falling upon the black-haired young man currently crouching down to soothe a wild Aron.
After expressing that he meant no harm, Hakuya fed a purple, cube-shaped piece of food to the Aron's mouth.
This was an Old Gateau he had picked up in the randomized world.
Its effect upon consumption was to cure a Pokémon of all status conditions.
For this Aron, which had fallen into a state of Confusion, this was undoubtedly the food it desperately needed right now.
"..."
Seeing this scene, the corners of Roxanne's mouth unconsciously curled up into a smile.
In Hakuya, she saw a beautiful radiance no less stunning than that of the stones.
—That was passion. A fiery passion for Pokémon was an absolute necessity for a Trainer.
Amidst her admiration, she couldn't help but gently furrow her brow again.
Even the most foolish person should have realized by now that the rioting of these wild Pokémon was very abnormal.
—In just a short ten or so minutes, they had encountered no less than twenty wild Pokémon attacks inside this cave. Aside from attacks by naturally ill-tempered Pokémon like Graveler, there were also quite a few wild Pokémon like this Aron—they hadn't actively attacked, but were instead trapped in a state of Confusion.
For this kind of situation to occur, there had to be some criminals playing dirty tricks in here.
Thinking of this, the smile on Roxanne's face gradually faded.
On the other side, the newly revitalized Aron shook its head, turned around, and crawled back into a nearby rock crevice.
Not long after, the kind-hearted Trainer received its reward.
Hakuya looked at the sparkling, brown gemstone held in the little creature's mouth and exclaimed in surprise.
"Huh? Is this a Rock Gem?"
[Rock Gem: A gem of the Rock type. When held, it increases the power of a Rock-type move for one use.]
Unlike the wild Pokémon they had encountered earlier, this Aron's personality was clearly much more docile and happy to approach a stranger Trainer.
"Thanks a lot~" "Aron~"
Watching the black-haired young man before it solemnly place the Rock Gem into his pocket, the Aron happily narrowed its eyes.
Immediately after, it tugged at Hakuya's pant leg with its mouth, then hurriedly ran on ahead.
"Hmm... You're saying you want to lead us to the bad guys who invaded this place."
Hearing the psychic telepathy translated by Latias, Hakuya muttered thoughtfully.
"Aron~"
...
"I see. It's because of these guys that the wild Pokémon inside the cave ruins have become so irritable."
Poking her head out from a concealed tunnel opening, Roxanne looked at the figures in the distance wantonly excavating the stone walls, their faces full of excitement as if they had dug up some good stuff, and couldn't help but furrow her brow.
Standing beside her, Hakuya nodded thoughtfully.
"...It really is Team Aqua, huh?"
As a Pokémon fanatic, he could naturally recognize these guys excavating the stone walls at a single glance.
Those blue sailor uniforms were simply way too obvious.
—Team Aqua. As the villainous organization spanning the entire Hoenn region's storyline, they were an extreme environmental protection group. Rather than an organization, in a truer sense, they were more like a fanatical cult that worshipped the ocean as their faith.
By the looks of it, these guys had not only beaten them to the punch by arriving here first, but they were also the main culprits behind the turmoil within this cave ruin.
"Are their main teams comprised of Mightyena, Graveler, and Golbat?"
Noticing a few pairs of crimson red dots in the darkness, Roxanne, as an academic Trainer, instantly locked her gaze onto several purple silhouettes hanging upside down from the cave ceiling.
That was a highly common reconnaissance and warning tactic used by criminals—although these bat Pokémon had poor eyesight, often struggling to clearly distinguish objects even a few meters away, they could confirm their surroundings via ultrasonic waves emitted from their mouths. They could even directly detect and pinpoint enemies thousands of meters away.
Although there were numerous tunnel openings here, which drastically reduced their scouting range, as long as they took just a few more steps forward now, they would immediately attract the attention of these sentries.
Wild battles were completely different from official Pokémon battles. If one was too reckless and hot-headed, it was very easy to get surrounded and fall into a dangerous situation.
But while she was still pondering how to best conduct this wild battle, a familiar voice suddenly rang in her ears.
"Let's just charge straight in, Floragato." "Meowhaha-meow~"
"Huh?"
Roxanne was slightly stunned, but after seeing who had spoken, she was instantly relieved.
Right, of course. It was Mr. Hakuya, that absolute stat monster.
Then why should she even care about wild battle tactics? They could just steamroll their way right through!
"Who's there?!"
"Enemy attack!!!"
Just as Hakuya and Floragato took the lead and charged to the very front, the Golbat hidden in the shadows were the first to sound the alarm, instantly making the Team Aqua grunts—who had been engrossed in digging up fossils with pickaxes—react.
"Mightyena, use Crunch!"
"Graveler, use Rollout!"
"Golbat, use Air Slash!"
Countless move effects stacked together. For a Trainer who had only ever fought official Pokémon battles, this was undoubtedly an intensely high-pressure fight.
But having seen far crazier scenes in the randomized world, Hakuya and Floragato looked at this spectacle without a shred of fear.
In fact, facing a Mightyena that had targeted him—attempting to capture him as a hostage to force Floragato into obedient submission—Hakuya simply sidestepped to easily dodge its pounce, and then delivered a solid punch straight into its stomach.
"Hiss..."
As the Mightyena's Trainer, the grunt looked at his instantly one-shot Mightyena and then at Hakuya, who looked like he had just gone for a stroll, his face turning pale as he stumbled back several steps.
Meanwhile, Hakuya shook out his hand and sneered coldly.
Kid, my powerful physique tempered in the randomized world isn't something your Pokémon can match.
At this moment, the Team Aqua squad leader, lingering in the back, also saw Hakuya take out the Mightyena with one punch. His eyelid twitched involuntarily, but as the current backbone of the team, he still angrily roared:
"You bastards! A bunch of useless bastards! You can't even win a thirty-on-one fight?!"
As he spoke, he threw out dozens of Poké Balls.
Given the open and flat terrain here, Hakuya was completely free of any lingering worries.
"Floragato, use full-power Petal Blizzard."
Facing opponents swarming in from all directions, Floragato's gaze sharpened, and terrifying Grass-type energy rapidly gathered alongside leaves and petals.
"Quick, use Protect!"
The Team Aqua squad leader's brain spun for a moment before he roared frantically.
Even though they had the absolute advantage in numbers, the terrifying aura made him feel an inexplicable surge of dread.
Subsequently, this squad leader witnessed the most shocking scene of his entire life.
BOOM——!!!
A [Petal Blizzard]—powerful enough to be equated to several [Leaf Storms] stacked together—suddenly descended, sweeping across the entire clearing.
Even [Protect], which claimed to perfectly block all moves, completely shattered under such terrifying offensive stats.
The petal storm, its momentum undiminished, blasted toward the opponents, instantly sending the horde of Pokémon he had just sent out flying backward, unconscious.
While Hakuya neatly wrapped up his side of the Pokémon battle, Roxanne on the side had also taken out the remaining enemies.
Using the vines created by Floragato, these initially unruly grunts were tied up tightly. The Team Aqua members stationed here totaled thirty-five, and they hadn't even lasted half a minute before being wiped out in one fell swoop.
And looking at the Team Aqua squad leader—who was firmly bound by vines yet still trying his best to maintain a stubborn expression on his face—Hakuya gave a grand wave of his hand, summoning the little jet plane that had been following beside him in an invisible state.
Forget it. I can't be bothered to go through the normal procedure of reasoning and interrogating for intel. They don't deserve it.
"Latias, please do me a favor and brainwash the guy puffing out his chest the hardest."
"La-woo~"
"???"
Hearing Hakuya immediately resort to harsh interrogation tactics right off the bat, the man in the sailor uniform—who had originally wanted to display his perseverance as a squad leader and stubbornly refuse to yield a few times—widened his eyes, utterly dumbfounded on the spot.
—No, seriously, bro.
Since when did League Trainers stop following the rules of engagement?
Instead of verbally interrogating, you're just jumping straight to using a Pokémon's powers? That's way too ruthless!
However, before he could even open his mouth to say anything, Latias's psychic power had already seized control of him.
Although in the games, a Pokémon's psychic abilities didn't have much out-of-combat utility, back in reality, a Psychic-type Pokémon undoubtedly possessed advantages that other types could hardly match. Whether it was casually levitating objects in daily life, or effortlessly extracting intelligence through forced interrogation like this, they were absolutely top-tier.
For a split second, looking at the nearly despairing squad leader, Hakuya felt like he was the villain here.
"I see. The purpose of your trip is to secure the Legendary Giant Rock inside the ruin... And besides the Giant Rock, you're also following orders from the team's Admins to survey and excavate the fossils within the ruin..."
After listening to the squad leader's forced confession, Hakuya couldn't help but furrow his brow.
Even before the interrogation, he knew that these villainous organizations had their eyes on the Legendary Giant Rock inside the ruins.
He just didn't expect them to act so quickly. He clearly remembered Steven saying that the intelligence regarding the ruin was currently highly classified. Yet, before they even arrived, this temporary squad assembled from Team Aqua, Team Magma, and Team Flare had beaten them to it, and even had the spare energy to excavate fossils from the ruin's cave on the side.
—The methods of the Team Rainbow Rocket version of Giovanni are truly extraordinary. Despite being physically located in the Kanto region, he's managed to infiltrate the Hoenn League until it's as full of holes as a sieve. The fact that these three organizations obtained such crucial intelligence is absolutely inseparable from him.
"Ms. Roxanne, my method of interrogation just now wasn't a problem, right?"
Glancing at the girl beside him who had remained silent the whole time, Hakuya suddenly remembered something and asked.
He suddenly recalled that the League had some sort of regulation stating that you apparently couldn't arbitrarily use Pokémon to attack opposing Trainers.
Given the conservative nature of this Rustboro Gym Leader, did her silence indicate disapproval?
"Ah? Of course that wasn't a problem at all."
Roxanne shook her head, indicating she had absolutely no objections to Hakuya's approach.
"Although the League does indeed forbid the use of psychic moves and such against Trainers, those restricting regulations only apply during normal Pokémon Trainer battles. As for dealing with these guys..."
With lowered eyes, Roxanne briefly swept her gaze over the Team Aqua grunts currently huddled together and trembling in fear. Her delicate, graceful brows furrowed slightly, and a rare look of anger surfaced on her pure, beautiful face.
For someone like her who deeply loved Rock-type Pokémon, Team Aqua's actions of destroying the cave and driving Pokémon away from their homes were something she could absolutely never tolerate.
Since the other party consisted of crooked villains, there was naturally no need to keep reasoning with them.
And the only ending suitable for bad guys was ultimately death or rotting away in a prison cell.
"I didn't speak just now only because I felt that using psychic brainwashing for interrogation was still far too gentle of you, Mr. Hakuya..." Realizing she might have been misunderstood, the girl waved her hand. Subsequently, a smile appeared on her face that made the Team Aqua grunts feel an even deeper, bone-chilling fear. "Next time, perhaps using some other, more physical methods would be better?"
"Ah..."
Hakuya didn't know whether to laugh or cry at Roxanne's response.
He originally thought that brainwashing them for intel was far enough, but he hadn't expected the usually conservative Roxanne to actually believe physical torture was more appropriate.
Hmm... isn't this a case of a conservative thinking the radical is being too conservative?
Shaking his head, Hakuya recalled the much more important matter at hand.
The fact that Team Aqua and the others had targeted this place a step ahead of them was not good news.
That Legendary Giant Rock was not just an important source of Mega Evolution; the energy it contained was inextricably linked to Kyogre, Groudon, and Rayquaza.
Needless to say, this was an absolutely massive incident concerning the safety of the entire Hoenn region.
"I have to explain the gravity of this situation to Steven in advance."
Just as Hakuya was preparing to notify Steven, the communicator in his pocket rang.
Just like them, Steven, who had arrived at the first basement level of the cave, had also encountered the Team Aqua and Team Magma members excavating fossils. After some interrogation, he too had learned that these groups had set their sights on the Legendary Giant Rock within the ruins.
"Since that's the case, we need to speed up our progress."
Hakuya stated his current inner thoughts without hesitation.
"Setting aside the fact that those guys from Team Aqua targeting the Legendary Giant Rock naturally harbor malicious intentions... more importantly, if we aren't extremely careful, that stone packed with immense energy is going to bring about massive trouble."
"Massive trouble?" Sensing the urgency in Hakuya's words, Steven's tone grew serious.
"Yes. The absolute worst-case scenario is..."
Hakuya revealed an exceptionally stern expression.
"The energy leaking from the Legendary Giant Rock will awaken Kyogre and Groudon, who are supposed to be slumbering."
"Kyogre and Groudon?!"
Steven couldn't help but widen his eyes, his voice involuntarily raising an octave.
Regarding these two super-ancient Pokémon possessing the mighty power of nature, he had naturally only ever heard of them in legends.
—Even if they did absolutely nothing, the moment these two behemoths—who existed purely for battle and destruction—awoke, they would unleash calamities that would affect the entire Hoenn region, and even the world. This was a terrifying scenario that had already occurred thousands of years ago.
But then, after a long pause, an even more shocking piece of news came from the other side of the communicator.
"No... it's highly likely it won't be as simple as just awakening them."
Recalling the plot of the anime, Hakuya suddenly felt the extreme urgency of the current situation.
In the anime, that Legendary Giant Rock had triggered an intensely violent battle between Kyogre and Groudon.
Although it was true that in the end, the Mega-green-caterpillar (Rayquaza) swooped in to save the day with a [Dragon Ascent], now, with the existence of Team Rainbow Rocket, the timeline of this world was clearly an absolute mess. Nobody could guarantee what the outcome would be after awakening the 'fat fish' and the 'flightless lizard'.
"Steven, you should still remember the mural we saw when we first entered the cave ruin, right?"
Given that the Hoenn Champion was also highly familiar with the legends of Groudon and Kyogre, Hakuya didn't offer any excessive explanations. Instead, he directly stated the intelligence he currently possessed.
"Once the Giant Rock is activated, the energy it emits won't just awaken Kyogre and Groudon. It will also cause them to revert back to exactly what was depicted in the mural, entering the far more powerful Primal Reversion state. When that happens, it won't just be Rustboro City getting annihilated by those two; the entire Hoenn region will plunge into a state of extreme peril..."
Roxanne, who had been listening carefully from the side: "???"
Steven, whose brows were already furrowed tightly as he debated whether he should contact the League Elite Four to rush over here: "???"