Chapter 236: What Did You Hit?
Gary froze.
Groudon and Kyogre? Seriously?!
He knew Asahi was heading to Hoenn to deal with Team Magma and Team Aqua…
But he never mentioned bringing him along — let alone confronting legendary Pokémon!
"Uh… can I not go?"
It wasn't that Gary was scared — he just felt that, given his current level as a trainer, dealing with Team Rocket and preventing their resurgence seemed more fitting for him.
Asahi simply smiled. "What do you think?"
Gary wished he could slap himself.
How many times now… why can't I just keep my mouth shut?!
Cynthia, overhearing the conversation, was a bit surprised. "Asahi, you're heading to Hoenn to deal with Groudon and Kyogre?"
She'd heard rumors about the recent chaos in Hoenn — with Team Aqua and Team Magma running wild — but this was the first time she heard about Groudon and Kyogre being involved.
"I have reliable intel that both teams have discovered how to awaken Groudon and Kyogre," Asahi said calmly. "But it's nothing to worry about."
After all, compared to what Sinnoh was dealing with — with Cyrus trying to control Palkia and Dialga to create a whole new universe — Hoenn's "natural disasters" seemed almost tame.
Cynthia sighed, linking it to Sinnoh's situation.
"The League really never gets a break… can't these people just behave?"
If only… she could be in a café with a good book on ancient history, enjoying a quiet afternoon…
…
Time passed quickly.
Before they knew it, the preliminaries were over.
As one of the security heads for this year's Indigo Plateau Conference, Asahi's long-expected Team Galactic attack never came.
It was as if the previous hijacking incident had been Team Galactic's last move.
Still, Asahi didn't let his guard down. He hadn't forgotten that within Team Rocket, there was still Sird — a spy sent by Team Galactic.
So, for now, he had no choice but to stay alert and continue guarding Cynthia…
Letting out a sigh, Asahi was considering whether to stage a trap and lure the enemy into making a move when—
"Got it! I got it!"
Gary, hunched over his laptop, suddenly shouted with excitement.
Asahi, pulled out of his thoughts, frowned. "Why are you yelling? What did you get?"
Realizing he might have overreacted, Gary toned it down but still couldn't hide his excitement. "I drew Ash in the round of 16!"
In this year's preliminaries, both Gary and Ash had advanced easily — thanks, in no small part, to Ash's trusty Charizard.
Ethan and Silver, however, having only recently received their starter Pokémon, had a tougher time making it through.
Hearing Gary's words, Asahi finally understood why Gary was so excited.
Still, he couldn't help but throw some cold water on him: "Don't celebrate too soon. What if Ash pulls off something extraordinary and knocks you out?"
Logically speaking, that shouldn't happen.
But if it was Ash… there was always a chance.
"No way!" Gary was brimming with confidence. "I've studied all of Ash's Pokémon inside and out."
Last time, he almost lost to Ash's Charizard during the gym battle — that was because he let his guard down. This time, he was playing it safe. There was no way he'd mess up again!
Looking at Gary's cocky attitude, Asahi didn't see a shred of "playing it safe" anywhere.
Shaking his head, Asahi turned his gaze to Ethan and Silver. They had just finished their draws as well — Ethan's opponent was reportedly a top student from a Pokémon Research School, while Silver's was a traveling trainer from Johto.
Compared to Gary, who was itching to eliminate Ash, Ethan and Silver were much calmer.
After all, they had only been roped into this tournament by Asahi at the last minute. For them, the Indigo Plateau Conference was more about participation than winning.
Just as Asahi was about to offer some words of encouragement to the group, the communicator at his waist buzzed.
The caller ID showed Lance's name.
Asahi pressed the answer button. "Lance? What's up—"
"My men have spotted Team Galactic at the Indigo Plateau…" Lance said.
Asahi's brows arched. So, Team Galactic finally showed up.
Was it Sird?
"Send me the location — I'm on my way!"
…
Indigo Plateau
In a secluded alleyway, Lance was questioning an investigator with a bandaged arm.
"Asahi!" Lance greeted him as he approached. "This is the investigator who spotted Team Galactic."
At Lance's cue, the investigator retold the events.
Listening to the account, Asahi's frown deepened with every word.
When the investigator finished, Asahi asked, "So you're saying you identified the person as Team Galactic because you accidentally caught sight of their insignia — and then, in just one move, you were taken down, and they immediately left?"
The investigator nodded.
Asahi's expression darkened. "This sounds… deliberate."
Team Galactic wasn't the strongest of the criminal organizations, but they weren't amateurs either.
Though not as powerful as Team Rocket, Asahi didn't believe someone sent by Team Galactic to sabotage Kanto and Sinnoh's cooperation would carelessly reveal their insignia — and just so happen to be spotted by Lance's men.
Lance nodded in agreement. He had the same suspicion.
The way the attacker exposed themselves was too forced — like they wanted to be seen.
"What Pokémon did they use?" Asahi asked.
"A Crobat."
Asahi rubbed his chin. "That's a pretty common Pokémon… not enough to identify them."
At that moment, another investigator rushed over, reporting to Lance: "We've checked all surrounding surveillance cameras — there's no sign of the suspect."
Lance's face fell.
Ever since Asahi told him that many of the Indigo Plateau's taxi drivers were actually Team Rocket informants, Lance had pushed the League Council to install more security cameras in the area.
Yet now, those cameras seemed utterly useless.
But Asahi had a different take.
"To avoid every camera so precisely, there are only two possibilities," Asahi said. "Either they used a Porygon or a Rotom to hack the system… or they know the Indigo Plateau's layout very well."
"Did you find any signs of hacking?" Asahi asked.
The investigator shook his head. "We checked — there's no evidence of a breach."
"Then that leaves only one conclusion…"
—