"Me?" Aoki smiled self-deprecatingly. "Do you really think that it is merely talent and simple luck that allows an ordinary person to progress to this current point?" He waved his hand dismissively and said, "It is better not to speak of it."
Yet, the more evasive he was, the more difficult Tian Haoyu found it to let the matter go. He looked at Aoki with a profoundly complicated expression, taking a deep, steadying breath before he spoke. "I need to go out and see the outside world for myself. Over these past few years, I have been either working directly for the League or undertaking deep undercover operations within various organizations. I have nearly forgotten the original reason I chose to become a Pokemon Trainer in the first place."
Aoki gave a simple, acknowledging nod. "If you require any assistance, you can contact me. If there is anything you do not understand, you can also come and seek my counsel," Aoki said to him.
Hearing this, Tian Haoyu did not press the issue further. He needed to see for himself; seeing was believing. Although the dream he had experienced felt intensely real, it was, in the end, still just a dream. He had witnessed and endured a great deal during his time embedded within Team Magma, but he knew that was still only the tip of a much larger iceberg. He wanted to travel across the different regions to see if the world beyond Hoenn held any differences, and he had decided his first stop would be the Kanto region. Aoki had no intention of stopping him; everything that needed to be done had been done, and now it all depended solely on Tian Haoyu's own personal choice.
"Then I will go out and prepare to depart," Aoki stated.
Tian Haoyu tightened his grip on the two Poké Balls in his hands, ready for a potential battle. Aoki was accompanied by his Slowking and his Gengar. With a casual wave of his hand towards the grey, chaotic wall that defined the boundary of the other dimension, a passageway shimmered into existence. Without a moment of hesitation, the two of them rushed out through the newly formed opening.
Sure enough, two days later, the members of Team Magma had not continued their vigil at that specific location. Although the initial appearance of Aoki and his companion had caused a notable commotion, it had not ultimately attracted sustained attention from the wider group. It was not until Slowking's potent psychic powers surged forth, initiating the preparations for a teleportation, that a frantic dog bark echoed through the area. A large, powerfully built Houndoom burst out from one of the Team Magma tents, tearing through the fabric of the shelter that had only recently been repaired. It was swiftly followed by a Crobat and a Camerupt.
This time, however, it was already too late. Slowking had not dispersed its psychic energy to protect Aoki broadly, but had instead concentrated it fully on executing the teleportation. Consequently, the launch was executed with incredible speed. Enveloped completely within the shimmering aura of psychic power, the two figures vanished instantly from their original positions.
Chi Yansong, who had managed to walk out of his tent just a moment too late, realized with dawning fury that he had been thoroughly deceived. The other party had not left the area at all, but had instead been hiding somewhere nearby, waiting patiently for Team Magma to relax its guard before making another move to escape. Just a moment earlier, he had caught a glimpse of Tian Haoyu, who was wrapped in numerous bandages, and his anger immediately intensified. However, he was unaware that Tian Haoyu, who had originally been so hesitant, had now decided, due to Aoki's interference, not to return to the League. Tian Haoyu did not harbor any significant hatred towards Chi Yansong personally; he had no real intention of seeking revenge against Team Magma. Now that he had let go of all his burdens, he felt that everything related to the team had nothing more to do with him.
When Aoki and Tian Haoyu opened their eyes again, they found themselves standing within the familiar forest on the outskirts of Meteor Falls. Tian Haoyu carefully placed the two Poké Balls he was holding back onto his belt; it was for the best that a battle had not occurred, as his Pokemon had not yet fully recovered from their previous ordeal.
Aoki, recalling the red and yellow energy crystal he had managed to snatch from Chi Yansong earlier, asked, "By the way, do you know what was inside that metal box Chi Yansong was holding so protectively the other day? He seemed to treasure it a great deal."
Hearing Aoki's question, Tian Haoyu looked at him with visible surprise, a strange light flickering in his eyes. After a moment of contemplation, he finally said, "Given your standing, you should already be aware that Team Magma has been relentlessly pursuing the Legendary Pokemon Groudon, correct?"
Aoki gave a confirming nod.
"In fact, these were some of the secrets that Chi Yansong himself revealed to me in order to secure my cooperation and loyalty," Tian Haoyu continued. "Both Maxie and Archie were once residents of a small, remote island village located overseas here in the Hoenn region. The people of this village held a deep-seated belief in the God of the Earth and the God of the Sea, namely Groudon and Kyogre. These two energy crystals were traditionally stored and protected within the village's ancestral hall. Maxie and Archie learned the ancient legends of Groudon and Kyogre from the village elders and subsequently developed a fanatical worship of these two Pokemon."
"It is just that Maxie believes that humans and many species of Pokemon live primarily on land, so he hopes to utilize the power of Groudon to dry up the oceans, thereby vastly increasing the living space available for humans and Pokemon. Archie, on the other hand, believes that the ocean supports the largest number of living creatures and hopes to use Kyogre's power to turn all the land into ocean, so that everything can return to a more natural, primordial state. There is a fundamental deviation in their core philosophies," Tian Haoyu explained, recounting some of the shared past of Maxie and Archie.
"What does all of this have to do with those two specific energy crystals?" Aoki pressed.
Tian Haoyu continued his explanation, "They learned from the village elders that the potent energy contained within these two crystals was a legacy passed down directly from the two great legendary beasts themselves. The belief is that when the two gods, who have fallen into a deep slumber, finally awaken, they will be drawn to seek out these two crystals. The existence of these crystals is said to make the two legendary beasts even more powerful upon their return. So, one night, Maxie and Archie conspired together and stole the two crystals. When they physically came into contact with the crystals, they each claimed to have witnessed a vision of the majestic elegance of their respective divine beast. It was primarily because of these two crystals that we now have the organizations known as Team Aqua and Team Magma. It can accurately be said that the very origins of both teams are rooted in this single event. Chi Yansong has always insisted that he is the chosen one, whose sacred purpose is to awaken the God of the Earth."
After hearing Tian Haoyu's detailed explanation, Aoki finally understood the purported function and significance of these two crystals.
"Maxie and Archie sent their operatives to investigate Meteor Falls on a previous occasion. Do you know the specific reason why?" Tian Haoyu asked rhetorically. "It was because they received what they believed to be instructions emanating from these two crystals. The fact that Team Magma and Team Aqua launched their attacks simultaneously this time was not a mere coincidence, nor was it the result of a prior agreement between Maxie and Archie. Instead, they both claimed to have received independent instructions directly from the crystals themselves. This is the main reason why I ultimately decided to steal the crystal from Chi Yansong."
Can Groudon and Kyogre still maintain a vague, dormant connection to these two energy crystals? Aoki was quietly surprised by this notion. Have they been silent for so long that they are now hoping that Archie and Maxie can somehow locate the Blue and Red Orbs to officially wake them? Or is this sensation purely a subjective feeling experienced only by Archie and Maxie themselves? Or, perhaps more disturbingly, is there another, unknown party manipulating events from behind the scenes? Now that Maxie had lost his energy crystal, Aoki found himself deeply curious about what the future would hold for the direction and fate of Team Magma.
"This is everything that I know. I have not yet had the opportunity to report this information to the old man. Please, when you return, help me to convey it all to him," Tian Haoyu said, concluding his account and making ready to depart.
"Are you truly certain you will not go back yourself?" Aoki asked one final time.
Tian Haoyu simply waved his hand without even turning his head to look back. However, just as he was preparing to set off for good, he stopped in his tracks and asked, without any preamble, "Aoki! You are not merely a civilian trainer, are you? And not just a simple member of the League either, correct?"
Aoki was visibly stunned upon hearing this direct question. Tian Haoyu, with his back still turned to Aoki, did not see the subtle shift in Aoki's expression, but he could feel the weight of the unspoken answer in the silence that followed. He had gotten the result he had been seeking.
"Thank you for the dream!" Tian Haoyu called out. "If... if! What I witness out there on my journey turns out to be exactly the same as what I saw within that dream, then I will return and I will join you! It does not matter if you are with the League, or with Team Rocket, or even with some other organization entirely! I want to see for myself just how far a person like you can ultimately go!"
With those final words, he stepped onto the back of his Pidgeot and disappeared swiftly into the vast expanse of the night sky.
After Tian Haoyu had vanished completely from sight, Aoki allowed himself a quiet, knowing laugh. "Did you manage to guess a little of the truth, then? The moment you first woke up? Or perhaps even earlier than that? But... he is indeed a promising candidate..."