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Liam and Lorelei walked side by side through corridor after corridor. Although the alarms on the walls were still blaring, no one else came out to stop them.
That… wasn't normal.
Intruders had already penetrated deep into the headquarters, yet aside from the initial wave of resistance, Team Aqua had made no further attempts to stop them. Liam couldn't help but feel puzzled—what exactly were they up to?
However, this confusion only lasted for about ten minutes.
When Liam and Lorelei entered a spacious chamber, Liam realized that someone had already been waiting for them.
There were eight people in the room. They stood silently, as if they had been expecting Liam and Lorelei all along. And among them—there was one person Liam recognized.
"Well, well—Leader Janine? Changed outfits, have we? That blue suit really doesn't match your temperament. Oh right—where's your little follower? That guy called Iga? Why isn't he with you?"
Among the eight, two stood at the front. The one on the left was Janine—the former leader of the Hunter Group, and one of Liam's targets on this trip.
But Iga was nowhere to be seen. Liam had no idea where that man had gone.
"Hm? Janine, you know this intruder? Hmph—useless as ever. The boss should never have taken you in. Now you're nothing but trouble."
Before Janine could respond, the burly man in a blue jacket beside him sneered disdainfully.
Janine merely frowned slightly but didn't react further.
"Oh my, looks like Leader Janine isn't doing too well in Team Aqua," Liam remarked casually, already piecing things together.
Janine simply smiled faintly and shrugged.
"Hmph! Kid! Cut the nonsense! I don't care who you are—but you dared to barge into Team Aqua's headquarters! Don't think you have a chance just because most of our main force is away! Let me tell you—so long as I, Team Aqua Executive Okawa, am here, none of your schemes will succeed! Men! No mercy! Attack!"
"Yeah!!"
The man calling himself Okawa charged forward with six subordinates. As they advanced, they quickly threw out their PokeBalls.
"Come out, Sharpedo!"
"Come out, Carvanha!"
"Come out, Mightyena!"
With a series of flashes, over a dozen Pokemon appeared. Together with their trainers, they rushed toward Liam in a coordinated assault.
Meanwhile, Janine remained still at the back, arms crossed, watching the unfolding scene with a faint smile—as if enjoying a show.
"Hmph. Overconfident fools. Garchomp—Sandstorm!"
Liam showed no mercy. With a cold snort, he released his Garchomp—
"GRAAAH!!"
After being absent for some time, Garchomp roared the moment it appeared. With a powerful swipe of its fin-like arm—
A massive sandstorm tornado instantly formed, stretching from floor to ceiling!
In the next moment, the sandstorm surged forward, sweeping up every member of Team Aqua and their Pokemon into the raging vortex!
This tornado-style sandstorm was Garchomp's latest training result—compressing what was once a field-wide sandstorm into a concentrated cyclone. Its control and destructive power were vastly improved.
"That should be enough. Garchomp, disperse the sandstorm."
"Graaah."
Boom boom boom—!
After a short while, Liam gave the order. As Garchomp dispersed the storm, the unconscious Team Aqua members and their Pokemon fell heavily to the ground, covered in sand.
"Now it's just you left, Leader Janine. I'm planning to take you back for questioning. Aren't you going to resist?"
With everyone else defeated, only Janine remained. Liam looked at him with a faint smile.
"Heh. I'm not like those idiots. Attacking a Champion? That's just asking for trouble. I'm not interested in suffering unnecessarily."
Janine replied nonchalantly.
"A wise choice. Since you're being so cooperative, how about answering a few questions? Where is Iga? And that guy just said Team Aqua's main force isn't here—where did they go? And where is your leader, Archie?"
Liam's smile faded as his tone turned cold.
"Oh? The Champion even knows our leader's name is Archie? You seem to know quite a lot… no wonder you managed to find this hidden underwater base."
Janine's eyes lit up slightly in surprise.
"Hmph. I know far more than you think. Enough talk—answer me."
Liam pressed on coldly.
"Heh… just as unpleasant as that brat. Fine, I'll tell you."
Janine sighed as if resigned, then continued.
"The Iga you're asking about—and Archie—aren't in this base right now. Iga is ambitious and capable. He only followed me before because he wanted to achieve something big. Now that I've fallen, of course he wouldn't stick around. With his abilities, he quickly gained Archie's favor. He's now one of Archie's trusted aides."
Janine paused briefly, then smiled faintly before continuing.
"As for Archie—about a week ago, Team Aqua received intelligence from a spy inside Team Magma. Apparently, those guys are planning to head to Mt. Chimney and reactivate the dormant volcanoes there—triggering eruptions to raise the overall temperature and expand landmass across Hoenn.
The moment Archie heard that, he couldn't sit still. He immediately took most of Team Aqua's main force to Mt. Chimney to stop them. Iga went with him."
Janine finished explaining everything in one go.
Liam's brows furrowed deeply after hearing this.
"Why does this involve Team Magma now… what a headache."
Team Magma—the other major criminal organization in Hoenn, opposing Team Aqua. Their beliefs were the complete opposite. They worshipped land and aimed to expand it, believing it would provide more living space for humans and Pokemon.
Honestly, the goal itself didn't sound bad—
But their methods… were far too extreme.
One problem after another.
At this moment, Liam sincerely felt that coming to Hoenn in the first place had been a mistake. He could have just stayed with Delia and lived happily—why get involved in all this trouble?
"…Sigh. Once this is over… I'm going back to marry Delia."
Letting out a quiet sigh, Liam made a firm decision in his heart.