Related to Mr. Norman?
“His daughter?” Terrance guessed casually. Professor Birch immediately looked surprised. “I didn’t expect you to guess it so easily, hahaha…”
The rookie Trainer who had made an appointment to choose a Starter Pokémon was none other than May.
“By the way, Elite Four Terrance, after traveling such a long distance, you must be thirsty. Why don’t we head back to the Laboratory first?”
Professor Birch invited him with a smile. Terrance was just about to agree when his Elite Four medal suddenly received an urgent intelligence report.
“What’s wrong?”
Seeing Terrance freeze for a moment, Professor Birch asked in surprise.
“Please wait a moment.”
Only the Hoenn League’s Intelligence Center could send urgent reports through the Elite Four medal. This communication channel was generally reserved for informing the Elite Four of some major news.
“Team Magma is active again? The target is suspected to be Oldale Town, the Oldale Ruins…”
Terrance’s eyes flickered. The intelligence was urgent. At the moment, he was the League’s nearest top combat force to Oldale Town. According to the report, the League hoped that he would immediately infiltrate Oldale Town, take control of all local developments, and, if possible, capture Team Magma members alive.
Compared to Team Magma’s matter, his lecture with Professor Birch could only be postponed.
“Professor Birch, I’ve received an urgent mission. I’ll see if I can still make it to the lecture. If not, it will have to be postponed,” Terrance said quickly.
“I understand.” Professor Birch knew the heavy responsibilities carried by an Elite Four and was not offended in the slightest. Instead, his expression became serious. “Is there anything I can help with?”
“Not for now…”
Oldale Town was also located in the southern part of Hoenn. It was very close to Littleroot Town, and even on foot, the journey would take less than half a day.
Terrance had no intention of arriving in Oldale Town with great fanfare. Instead, under Mismagius’s disguise, he secretly made his way there.
“When will Team Magma show up?”
Although he did not know the source of the Hoenn League’s intelligence, Terrance dared not be careless. After thoroughly inspecting Oldale Town, he found no trace of Team Magma for the time being. It seemed they had not arrived yet, or perhaps they had intercepted the League’s intelligence and learned that the Hoenn League had already set up an ambush here.
Regardless, Terrance had Gardevoir begin placing Confusion Markers throughout every corner of Oldale Town, striving to ensure that nothing goes wrong and that any unusual movement would be detected immediately.
Oldale Town covered a large area but had a sparse population, with buildings spread far apart. Without prior preparations, it might be difficult to react in time when something happened.
Afterward, Terrance remained hidden, quietly observing every development in Oldale Town.
The next day, while concealed near the Oldale Ruins, Terrance suddenly spotted a suspicious-looking individual.
The man wore a dark brown explorer’s outfit and did not seem like a criminal, but to be safe, Terrance used the built-in system of his Elite Four medal to scan the man’s profile.
Moments later, he obtained the person’s information.
Professor Alden, Professor of Archaeology at Lilycove University, currently focused on researching ancient ruins throughout the Hoenn region.
“A professor, huh…”
On Terrance’s second day in Oldale Town, there was still no sign of Team Magma. However, he had already prepared himself for an ambush that might last several days. By now, the League had dispatched relevant investigators to the area, and many of them were already concealed at various locations throughout Oldale Town. Without Terrance’s orders, though, none of them would take action on their own.
“They…”
While observing the Oldale Ruins, Terrance suddenly froze as he spotted two familiar figures…. Ash and May.
The two had come from the direction of Littleroot Town. Before entering Oldale Town, they first passed by the Oldale Ruins.
“I actually forgot about May… If she’s starting her journey from Littleroot Town, then Oldale Town, with its Pokémon Center and close proximity, really is the most suitable first destination.”
Terrance continued watching. At that moment, Ash and May actually made contact with Professor Alden, but shortly afterward, the two hurried off toward the Pokémon Center.
“If Ash is here too, then Team Magma is very likely to appear within the next couple of days!”
Thinking of Ash as an event trigger, Terrance immediately became more alert.
After discovering Ash and May, Terrance did not meet them right away. He planned to make contact later.
Some time later, Terrance suddenly raised an eyebrow. Through Gardevoir’s Confusion Markers, he shifted his perspective and locked onto a public phone booth.
“James, Jessie, Meowth… Team Rocket has followed Ash to the Hoenn region as well.”
At that moment, Terrance perked up his ears and overheard the trio’s secret call. The person on the other end was none other than Team Rocket’s boss, Giovanni.
Inside the phone booth, Terrance listened carefully, but in the end, he failed to obtain any important information. Instead, James and the others were assigned a mission by Giovanni.
Up until now, Team Rocket had no operational base in the Hoenn region. Giovanni had ordered James, Jessie, and Meowth to establish Team Rocket’s reputation here…
“As long as they don’t ruin it, that’s already doing you a favor…” Terrance really wanted to complain inwardly.
Back at Team Rocket Headquarters, Giovanni did not truly expect James and the others to become branch leaders in Hoenn. He knew those idiots far too well…
After stroking his Persian, Giovanni hung up the phone and snorted coldly: “If we can gather some intelligence on Team Magma and Team Aqua through those idiots, it’ll already be a huge gain.”
After the commotion at the phone booth settled down, nothing major happened in Oldale Town for the rest of the day. Everything appeared peaceful.
As evening approached, Terrance was beginning to feel sleepy. Just as he was preparing to enter the meditative state, a sudden flash of insight streaked through his mind.
Immediately afterward, through a Confusion Marker, he spotted a group dressed in red uniforms.
“Team Magma, I’ve been waiting for you….”
…
…
Pokémon Center.
Professor Alden was giving Ash and the others a tour of his temporary laboratory inside the Pokémon Center while explaining,
“To study the Oldale Ruins, I’ve already made plans to stay here for a long time.”
“Unfortunately, I still haven’t obtained the four keys needed to enter the Oldale Ruins, so I can’t open it for the time being.”
Professor Alden was chatting happily with Ash and the others, completely unaware of the activity outside.
At that moment, Team Magma, having secretly infiltrated the Pokémon Center, suddenly threw open the door to the temporary laboratory. At the same time, the Pokémon Center’s power system was destroyed, plunging the interior into complete darkness.
In the darkness, a Team Magma Admin wearing red thermal-imaging night-vision goggles stepped forward under the protection of two subordinates and Pokémon, standing before the somewhat panicked Ash and the others.
“Professor Alden, we’d like to trouble you to accompany us to the Oldale Ruins.”
You can read ahead upto 65 chapters on my patreon and I’ve also activated (date to date) subscription model on my patreon.