Ever Grande City.
At the entrance to the League Headquarters, the old butler Ken followed respectfully beside Shiro, his eyes filled with shock.
This was the Galar Champion and the newest Professor of Hoenn!
Although he had only arrived in Hoenn not long ago, he was already one of the most important figures in the region. With just a little influence, he could make all of Hoenn tremble.
Hunter W actually knew someone of this status!
No, it was someone of this status who actually had a connection with W...
Ken took a deep breath and fell into thought. His movements became even more careful as the two of them walked into the square.
Only then did Shiro speak. "W gave you everything, right?"
"Yes, including the communication device and the Pokémon..." Ken did not dare hide anything and answered in detail.
"Since the shares have already been transferred, you can go and take care of your business. Didn't W give you a task?" Shiro waved his hand.
"Yes..." Ken bowed respectfully. "Mr. Shiro, from now on, I will be Hunter K."
After saying that, Ken bowed again and left.
Shiro watched him leave but remained where he was. Through his psychic senses, he could feel someone running over from behind. Judging by the direction, they seemed to be looking for him.
A few moments later, an employee rushed out of the League Headquarters, panting heavily.
"Professor Shiro! Please wait, please wait..." The employee shouted desperately as he hurried over. Once he reached Shiro, he quickly continued, "Elite Drake, Elite Drake is looking for you. He has something to discuss with you..."
Shiro thought for a moment before agreeing.
Anything Drake encountered would most likely still be related to Team Aqua and Team Magma. At the same time, with the Hunters Guild developing to its current state, he had to eliminate Team Aqua and Team Magma as well. Otherwise, the Hunters Guild would inevitably face resistance from these two long-established organizations as it continued to grow.
Besides, these two organizations were almost like religious groups, and their goal was to revive Groudon and Kyogre.
Back in Lilycove City, Shiro had learned from Matt's memories exactly how far Team Aqua had progressed with its plan to revive Kyogre. On one hand, they had not gathered enough Water-type Pokémon. On the other hand, they had not even found Kyogre itself, let alone the Blue Orb that was essential for controlling it.
However, Team Aqua did have a "map" that could help them locate the orb.
Compared to Team Aqua, Team Magma should not be much further ahead.
After all, according to the original story, whether in the manga or the games, the two evil organizations only truly came close to completing their plans after the protagonist began their journey. Sapphire was still young right now, so their revival plans should only have just begun.
It had only been half a month since the incident in Lilycove City. Even if Team Aqua had been lucky, they should have only just found Kyogre's location.
Of course, even if the two organizations were progressing slowly, Shiro still needed to act ahead of time and eliminate these two threats before they could grow.
It would be best to work together with the Hoenn League to deal with them.
Helping Drake and helping the people of Hoenn eliminate those two evil organizations was something he naturally could not refuse.
"Alright. Lead the way."
After agreeing, Shiro followed the employee toward the League Headquarters.
* * *
"The plan has already begun, right..."
Inside Team Magma's new base on Mt. Chimney, Maxie raised his head and muttered to himself as he stared at the image of Groudon on the screen. He was completely focused on it.
"Reporting to the boss, the plan in Lilycove City has begun." Tabitha stood respectfully to the side.
The previous time, Maxie had ordered him to interfere with Team Aqua's operations and preferably cause a major incident in Lilycove City before pinning the blame on Team Aqua.
That required him to come up with a way to do it. According to the boss's orders, gathering Water-type Pokémon to create a huge wave sounded simple, but actually carrying it out was not easy.
Most of the trainers in Team Magma specialized in Fire, Rock, and Ground types. Not only did they lack any technology or equipment capable of gathering Water-type Pokémon, but there was not even a single person in the organization who was familiar with Water-type Pokémon.
As for Team Magma's chief researcher, Courtney, she spent all day researching Groudon and that "map." She barely paid any attention to Tabitha and could not provide him with any help.
Although Maxie had said that he could ask Courtney for help, he had actually just thrown the entire task onto Tabitha. If he failed to complete it, he might even face the punishment of being sacrificed to the God of the Land.
With no other choice, Tabitha could only seek help from the organization behind him.
"Boss, this is the current situation around Lilycove City." Tabitha handed over a relatively large communication device. On the screen, Water-type Pokémon could be seen gathering wildly in the waters around Lilycove City. They were all extremely furious.
It was obvious that if even some of the Water-type Pokémon released Surf first, the entire sea would be overwhelmed by huge waves.
With waves of that size, Lilycove City would have no way of resisting them. It might really become a city submerged in water.
Maxie glanced at the screen several times, and the expression on his face relaxed considerably. His tone, however, remained stern.
"Tabitha, keep watching them. The current plan can only be considered halfway complete. Come back and report to me after it is finished. I believe this shouldn't be difficult for you, right?"
Maxie turned his head. Beneath the reflective lenses, his cold eyes seemed to hide a mass of darkness. His thin, slightly aged face looked extremely gloomy.
Tabitha could not help but tremble. A chill ran from his tailbone straight to his head, leaving his entire body stiff.
Did he know?
Did the boss know?
That question kept circling in Tabitha's mind as cold sweat appeared on his forehead.
As he recalled everything that had happened since he joined Team Magma and the various missions he had carried out, the fear in his heart grew even stronger.
The Lilycove City plan alone was clearly something an ordinary Team Magma member could never accomplish. Yet Maxie had continued to pressure him without letting up, even threatening him with the punishment of being sacrificed to the God of the Land.
Maxie had never treated the other one of the three executives, Courtney, like this. His tone when speaking to her was completely different.
Had Maxie known about his background from the very beginning?
Was he simply using him to accomplish his own goals?
The more Tabitha thought about it, the more frightened he became.
It seemed that this was exactly what had happened.
But Maxie only gave a cold laugh before walking past him with the Team Magma members beside him. As he left, he said, "Hurry up and complete the plan, Tabitha!"
After a long while, Tabitha suddenly raised his head. There was no one in front of him anymore.
The cold sweat had already soaked through his clothes, leaving his entire body cold.
Once he confirmed that no one was around, Tabitha quickly slipped into a sealed room and secretly took out a communication device that did not belong to Team Magma.
On the back of the device was the logo of the Devon Corporation.
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