Edward didn't turn down his brother's offer. He followed Steven and left the scene, heading straight back to the hotel in Eterna City. As for the attackers who were captured, they were likely already on their way to Officer Jenny's task force for further investigation.
"I estimate that there will be more of these kinds of attacks in the future," Steven said as they sat in the car. "Now that the news is out, I'm afraid people like that will keep showing up around you."
Edward rubbed his forehead wearily. He understood what Steven meant, but he felt helpless about the whole situation. Just like Steven said, now that the fact that he possessed Groudon had been leaked, similar attacks would probably continue.
Edward was a bit frustrated. If he had known this would happen, he wouldn't have tossed that Poké Ball in the first place. But now that it had already happened, regret was useless—he had to find a way to fix it.
As he pondered, Edward thought of the simplest solution: have Groudon returned to the League's control. If that happened, then all the trouble would fall on the League, not on him.
But neither the League nor Edward could predict what would happen if Groudon were released. After all, even the last two times Groudon stirred, it caused minor earthquakes near Mt. Chimney. If Groudon were to fully awaken, it was hard to say what disaster might unfold.
That was also why the League had insisted Edward continue to hold onto Groudon for now.
The second option was for Edward to awaken Groudon and simply let it leave on its own. That way, he'd be free of the burden. But as for actually catching Groudon?
Edward never even considered that possibility.
Legendary Pokémon weren't that easy to capture. The League had been around for a long time, and in all that time, records of successfully catching Legendary Pokémon were almost nonexistent. That's why someone like Tobias had drawn so much attention—he was a complete outlier.
"What a headache… but I'll just have to figure it out," Edward said, massaging his temples. He was already feeling tired—after all, he hadn't slept well the night before.
Steven didn't say much else. He just reassured Edward that the Stone family's wealth was more than enough to ensure his safety.
After dropping Edward off at the hotel, Steven also left. The Hoenn region wasn't exactly calm today either. It seemed Team Aqua's attack on Edward had been a diversion, a ploy to draw the League's attention away from Mt. Pyre, where they were actually concentrating their forces.
As a League Champion, Steven had also received a summons and needed to head to Mt. Pyre to deal with the situation.
"Has the Mt. Pyre storyline been triggered early?" Edward muttered as he sat in the hotel lounge. The two security officers assigned by the League weren't currently present, but Edward knew they were nearby, watching over him from the shadows.
Right now, however, his attention was more on Hoenn. Team Aqua's sudden action might have been prompted by Team Magma's recent setbacks—their base was exposed, several high-ranking executives arrested—so they might be taking a reckless gamble now.
Under normal circumstances, Team Aqua should've been working with Team Magma. But since Magma had gone quiet after their defeat, it looked like they'd entered a dormant phase.
Edward hadn't seen them make any moves in quite a while.
He tapped his fingers against the table.
If he were Maxie, and he were cornered like this, he'd either lay low and rebuild in secret… or go all-in and gamble everything in one final move.
"Shizuka," Edward suddenly called out.
Zoroark quickly came over.
"Hire a top-tier security team from Sinnoh to protect me for the next few days," Edward said, rubbing his chin. He had a feeling that Maxie might be planning something big—throwing all his remaining resources into a desperate play to steal Groudon.
It wasn't out of the question.
After all, if those kinds of people suddenly go quiet, it usually means they're planning something massive—maybe even a "surprise" visit for him.
"Got it, boss. How many should I hire?" Zoroark asked, eyes watching Edward intently with a strange gleam.
"Hmm… five teams. Put it on the company account," Edward said after a moment of thought.
It might be a bit excessive, but if Team Magma was truly gearing up for something big, this level of defense was necessary. Edward wasn't going to take chances with his safety.
"But with only Q and Fort around…" Edward muttered, glancing at Q sleeping nearby and then at Fortune, who had barely participated in today's fight.
His trump cards weren't fully revealed yet, but he couldn't help but regret not being able to return to Hoenn and bring Gengar over for protection.
If Gengar were here, things would be a lot easier—its strength was formidable.
Because of today's attack, Edward had no desire to go out. He stayed in the hotel and focused on editing the script for Alien.
This was his next planned horror movie. On the one hand, it could earn him fear points. On the other, it could be submitted to the Unova film competition, maybe even win him a nice prize.
As Edward sat in his chair working on the Alien screenplay, he suddenly felt his phone vibrate.
It was a message from Cynthia.
"Has Team Galactic pulled out?" Edward yawned as he read it. Cynthia updated him on the current situation and apologized, saying she still had to deal with Team Galactic and wouldn't be able to accompany him to the archaeological site.
Edward didn't mind. He had already seen what he wanted to at the ruins.
The only thing that still puzzled him was the whole Cinderella story that had been unearthed at the site. He had a few theories, but none that he could confirm. After all, Zoroark hadn't revealed much either.
So far, nothing about her screamed "Shizuka."
"Now that things in Sinnoh have wrapped up…" Edward decided it was time to head back. Staying here wouldn't yield much more, and things in Hoenn were starting to heat up. It was better if he returned.
But just as Edward was about to leave—
A strange, piercing screech suddenly echoed through the air, shattering all the windows in the hotel.
Caught completely off guard, Edward cried out and clutched his ears in pain.
It felt like his entire brain was buzzing, the inside of his skull ringing violently, and his ears were aching intensely.
(End of Chapta)