“The remnants of Team Magma and Team Aqua?”
“Maxie and Archie appeared one after another?”
When Terrance received the news, his face was filled with astonishment.
On the other side of the screen, Steven could only smile bitterly. “This operation failed because of my mistake. They seemed to have come prepared and were extremely familiar with every transport ship carrying the spatial teleportation device, as well as the storage location of every component…”
That was precisely why Steven had fallen into their trap. His momentary negligence had prevented him from watching over every location, giving the thieves an opportunity to strike.
“Can the spatial teleportation device still be activated?”
“The Dimensional Shifter that was stolen is an important control component of the spatial teleportation device. Without it, the device probably won’t function properly. Unfortunately, Devon has only managed to build one spatial teleportation device so far, and there’s no backup.” Steven shook his head.
Why had Team Magma and Team Aqua reappeared, and why had they stolen the Dimensional Shifter…?
There were far too many suspicious points surrounding this matter.
“Oh, right. The members of Team Magma and Team Aqua whom I detained have already been subjected to severe interrogation. Hypnosis was even used during the questioning, but their motive ultimately pointed to revenge against the League. In the eyes of these Team Magma and Team Aqua members, this operation was carried out to retaliate against the Hoenn League.”
Even with the spatial teleportation device stolen, it wasn’t as if the Pokémon League would be left completely incapable of dealing with the meteorite. Had Maxie and Archie lost their minds, sacrificing so many members for momentary satisfaction while also revealing that they were still alive and somewhere on the Hoenn mainland?
“This matter isn’t that simple. Judging from how familiar the two organizations were with every transport ship and how accurately they located several important components of the spatial teleportation device, there must be a mole inside Devon. This mole must hold a certain degree of authority within Devon and know most of its secrets. Moreover, I don’t believe their motive was revenge.”
“There may even be a third party involved.”
“Do you have any suspects yet?”
“Unfortunately, not at the moment, but we should have some very soon.”
Devon’s failure while transporting the spatial teleportation device had resulted in an essential component being stolen, immediately rendering the only plan approved by the Hoenn League useless. The subsequent simulation experiments could no longer be carried out either, leaving the Hoenn League with no choice but to convene another meeting for a second round of discussions.
As the meteorite drew closer, they had less and less time remaining.
During the meeting, numerous representatives proposed using a taboo weapon. However, Steven once again opposed the proposal, putting forward the option of “summoning Rayquaza” and explaining the Draconid people’s prophecy to everyone present.
Steven’s words, however, were met with a wave of scorn and ridicule. No matter how powerful and wealthy Devon was, making two consecutive blunders was far too disgraceful. Now that Steven had once again proposed a plan that had already failed once before, even several forces friendly with Devon remained silent.
At Devon’s headquarters, Steven had explicitly rejected Zinnia and denied the feasibility of summoning Rayquaza. Yet now, he had voluntarily proposed it during the meeting. Terrance was confused at first, but as the debate unfolded, he pulled out his hands from his pockets and revealed a look of realization.
The debate during the meeting primarily revolved around two options: summoning Rayquaza to destroy the meteorite or using a taboo weapon to destroy it.
The advantage of the former was that, if Rayquaza was willing to help, it could effectively drive away the meteorite fragments after destroying the meteorite, making the plan flexible and controllable. The prerequisite, however, was that they had to successfully summon Rayquaza and persuade it to help.
The advantage of the latter was that it could be implemented at any time. However, it had one drawback: although the taboo weapon could destroy the meteorite, the falling fragments would still constitute a disaster. The League would need to expend enormous manpower and resources across various regions to prevent those fragments from reaching the ground and causing localized destruction.
Even that “localized destruction” was only relative—it could very well spell total devastation for countless towns and cities.
Among those fiercely opposed to Devon’s plan to summon Rayquaza, the factions were mainly concentrated into two or three groups.
“The LaRousse Group.”
After leaving Ever Grande City, Steven’s expression remained calm, revealing neither joy nor anger.
“Although the LaRousse Group and Devon Corporation have very little overlap in their profit-making ventures, LaRousse has always obstructed Devon’s commercial development out of fear that this emerging power might replace it as the dominant force in technology. At previous meetings, the LaRousse Group repeatedly targeted Devon as well, but this time, it was unusually silent.” Terrance pondered for a moment before continuing, “Instead, the representatives who are close to the LaRousse Group repeatedly argued against the plan to summon Rayquaza today, as though they were trying to divert our attention.”
“Exactly…”
With Steven and Terrance already harboring preconceived suspicions, everyone looked like the mastermind to them, but the LaRousse Group was the most suspicious of all.
The LaRousse Group’s representative had not targeted Devon today and had remained silent, which appeared to be a sign of a guilty conscience.
However, if the LaRousse Group had behaved as it usually did, Steven and Terrance would undoubtedly still have regarded it as a prime suspect…
In other words, no matter what the LaRousse Group did, it could not clear itself of suspicion.
“If it really was the LaRousse Group, why would they sabotage this plan? If that meteorite were to fall, everything LaRousse has built would also be destroyed… Could they have done it merely to embarrass Devon?”
Although Steven and Terrance suspected the LaRousse Group, neither of them could identify a definite motive.
“Merely embarrassing Devon” and Team Magma and Team Aqua’s supposed “act of revenge” were clearly the most shortsighted kinds of actions. They simply did not seem like something a major organization of considerable scale would do. After all, taking such an enormous risk to carry out an act that would hardly deal Devon a fatal blow made little sense from the standpoint of benefits.
The outcome of the meeting was clear: Devon had failed to secure the support of the majority.
Rather than entrust their fate to the Draconid people and their intangible ritual—one that had already failed once before—they believed that although using a taboo weapon to destroy the meteorite might lead to unpredictable consequences, those consequences should still remain within a controllable range.
Even if there were casualties, those casualties would never include representatives like them. At most, some ordinary people or Pokémon would die.
Devon’s spatial teleportation plan had been sabotaged, while Team Magma and Team Aqua had resurfaced and openly issued a provocation. No matter what, Steven—the League Champion and Devon’s heir—could not swallow this humiliation.
“Wait…” Just then, Terrance suddenly received a communication request from Ash.
As soon as the connection was established, Terrance saw Ash’s face. Judging from his expression, Ash appeared extremely flustered.
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