Shiro patted Corviknight on the neck as he searched along the northern coast of Lilycove City.
He had already looked through Matt's memories, but there had been no mention of any plans related to the Pokémon rampage in Lilycove City.
Perhaps Archie was being extremely cautious and had kept even his core members in the dark. Or perhaps Team Aqua truly had nothing to do with it.
Still, Team Aqua couldn't escape suspicion, especially considering...
Their base was already empty.
Shiro had arrived above Team Aqua's base. He didn't even need to land and inspect the place, let alone use his psychic powers.
The chaotic tracks left behind by their retreat on the ground, along with the pirate ships still visible on the sea, made it clear that Team Aqua had already abandoned the base.
"A!"
With a low shout, psychic energy erupted from around him and spread throughout the entire area surrounding Team Aqua's base.
After scanning and searching for several seconds, Unown A could only shake its head. 'There's nothing here.'
It hadn't found any suspicious equipment, such as some kind of advanced device capable of releasing electromagnetic waves to influence Water-type Pokémon. Every machine inside Team Aqua's base, no matter how strange it looked, had already been powered down and was no longer operational.
After receiving Unown A's findings, Shiro frowned and looked toward the pirate ships disappearing into the distance.
'Could it be on one of their ships?'
After only a brief moment of hesitation, he vanished from the spot.
* * *
Aboard one of Team Aqua's ships.
The members of Team Aqua were sailors by trade and knew the sea like the back of their hands. Without needing Archie to give them many instructions, they quickly got to work, each taking care of their own duties.
The five ships sailed in a grand formation toward the southeastern waters of Hoenn, where they had received information that Kyogre was located.
On one of the ships to the left, Shelly was directing several sailors as they cleaned the deck.
"Move all these things inside. Then clean out the cabins. Once that's done, the place will be ready for people to move in."
As she watched several crew members enter the cabin one after another, Shelly was about to follow them when her body suddenly stiffened.
The deck was now completely empty. Apart from the salty sea breeze blowing past and the occasional cries of seabirds, there was nothing else around.
She struggled desperately for a moment, but her efforts were completely useless. As she realized she couldn't move at all, her expression gradually filled with terror.
Anyone who suddenly discovered that they could no longer move their own body would naturally feel afraid.
"You're Shelly, one of Team Aqua's SSS trios, aren't you?" a cold voice came from beside her.
Shelly's pupils contracted sharply. Only then did she notice the strange black-clad trainer standing next to her. Due to the angle and her limited view, she couldn't make out his appearance.
'Did he do this? Is he using some kind of Pokémon to control me?'
Instead, Shelly felt somewhat relieved and quickly began thinking through the situation.
'If he's human, then there's nothing to worry about... My Pokémon were all trained by me, too!'
At the same time, the Poké Balls around her waist began to shake slightly, as though the Pokémon inside were about to break free on their own.
However, a hand swiftly pressed down on them. With the smoothness of someone who had practiced the movement countless times, the black-clad trainer locked every single Poké Ball before any of the Pokémon could emerge.
Feeling the Poké Balls at her waist fall still, Shelly's heart sank to the bottom.
'It's over...'
This person's strength was definitely far beyond hers. He wasn't relying solely on some strange Pokémon to accomplish this!
"I only want to ask you a few questions. You'd better think carefully and tell me the truth. Otherwise, I'll have to force the answers out of you."
The black-clad trainer stepped in front of her. Only then could Shelly get a clear look at his face. Her expression shifted from shock and panic to utter disbelief. She had never expected...
It was the newly appointed Professor, the Galar Champion!
'If this is the Pokémon League's doing, shouldn't they have sent Drake and the other three Elite Four members?'
If it were Hoenn's Elite Four, Team Aqua might not necessarily fear them, provided there were no more than two of them.
But this was the mysterious Galar Champion, a completely different matter.
Shelly swallowed nervously, not daring to meet his gaze.
Shiro paid no attention to these little details. In an even tone, he asked, "What caused the Pokémon rampage in Lilycove City?"
Hearing his question, Shelly wore an expression that suggested she had expected it.
What else could someone from the Pokémon League want with Team Aqua? It could only be the wild Water-type Pokémon rampage that threatened the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Lilycove City.
Team Aqua's base was right next to the city, and the rampaging Pokémon were all Water-types, which suited their usual interests. Even if the League didn't suspect Team Aqua of causing the incident, they would naturally come to investigate.
Shelly could only force a bitter smile. "Galar Champion, we really didn't cause this Pokémon rampage. Why would Team Aqua do something like this when it would only put us under suspicion and leave us in a difficult position?"
Shiro remained unmoved and continued questioning her, "Then why did you flee? You should have connections with certain people in the League, shouldn't you? Don't you have anything to explain?"
Shelly's expression immediately grew complicated. After hesitating for a moment, she replied, "That was originally the plan. But then… you suddenly stepped in and captured Matt."
Under normal circumstances, given Team Aqua's close ties with certain people in the League, they would naturally have explained the situation as quickly as possible. They might even have taken the initiative to help the League deal with the Pokémon rampage.
Even Team Aqua's raids had been carried out with the League's tacit approval. They never deliberately harmed ordinary people, limiting themselves to stealing Pokémon.
However, everything changed when Matt was suddenly captured.
Since he had been defeated in public by the passing Galar Champion, Officer Jenny in charge of the case could no longer secretly return him to Team Aqua. She had no choice but to send him to the Hoenn headquarters.
Once Matt fell into the hands of Drake and the other members of Hoenn's headquarters, there was practically no chance of him escaping.
Drake was notorious for his ruthless temper. He had never shown mercy to Team Aqua or Team Magma. During their previous operations, he had killed numerous members of both organizations.
There was no need for Team Aqua to guess what would happen next. Matt had undoubtedly been subjected to severe torture. He might even have been killed already.
With that, Team Aqua's ambiguous relationship with certain people in the League had come to an end.
Even Shelly couldn't say for certain why Team Aqua had suddenly become an enemy of the League. Everything had happened far too quickly.
Shiro fell silent for a few seconds before asking another question, "Then do you know of any way to stop the Pokémon rampage?"
If he didn't have to worry about the consequences, there were plenty of ways to deal with the rampage. The simplest would be to forcibly clear the area. However, as long as the situation hadn't reached the point of complete collapse, he didn't want to resort to such extreme measures. He also didn't want to use his psychic powers to solve the problem.
The Pokémon rampage covered far too large an area.
Using his psychic powers might allow him to show off his abilities in front of everyone, but it would also expose the Unown and might even lead some people to figure out the identity of Hunter W.
**
**
**
Thank you for reading! If you'd like access to extra chapters and want to support my work, you can visit my P@treon:
P@treon/SilverShark769
Vote with Power Stones for Bonus Chapters!
Your support means a lot, thank you!