As if sensing Ace was about to leave, Rayquaza fired a Dragon-type energy beam from its fingertip, injecting it into Ace's body.
This was Rayquaza's goodwill. Although Ace's actions didn't restore much of its power, it did feel a hint of recovery. So, Rayquaza's impression of Ace had improved. The next time they met, Rayquaza probably wouldn't slap Ace right away.
"I will go search for the Life Force for you. I hope I can find it."
Ace communicated with Rayquaza through the Green Orb. "By the way, can you feel where your Life Force is?"
Rayquaza retracted its claw and didn't answer Ace's question.
Its silence was the best response; it seemed Rayquaza couldn't sense its lost Life Force either.
"See you in a bit."
Ace said his final words to Rayquaza, then took off the Green Orb and put it back in his utility belt.
After recalling Chansey, Aerodactyl grabbed Ace by the shoulder and, once again, rushed into the turbulence, disappearing from the Sky Pillar.
"Based on the currently known information, my targets are these."
Ace looked at a map of the Hoenn region, marking several points on it.
"Rustboro City, the headquarters of Devon Corporation. Mossdeep City, the Mossdeep Space Center. Then there's Dewford Town, and finally the now-abandoned Seafloor Cavern."
He marked four points on the map. There wasn't much to say about the first two. As for Dewford Town, anyone who had played the games knew to go to the Granite Cave there to deliver a letter to Steven Stone. And Granite Cave was a must-visit for rock collectors, so there was a high probability of running into Steven there.
As for the last one, the Seafloor Cavern, in Ace's memory, the "flower" device was placed there. But that was in the future, and Ace couldn't be sure the item was there now, so he put Seafloor Cavern last.
Ace had been to Rustboro City before, but the items there had already been moved, so he didn't hold much hope for that place. Given his current location, Ace had Aerodactyl fly directly to Mossdeep City.
Mossdeep City.
A large island city located in the northeastern corner of the Hoenn region, it was also home to Hoenn's largest rocket launch center. It was worth noting that Steven Stone had a home here, and he currently lived in Mossdeep City.
Ace landed on the outskirts of the city and then recalled Aerodactyl. As he walked through the city, Ace pondered what identity he should use to search for clues.
A Pokémon Trainer? A Pokédex holder? Or a descendant of the Meteor Falls Clan?
His identity was crucial for any potential future negotiations with Steven, so Ace had to be careful.
After asking a few residents, Ace quickly found the Mossdeep Space Center, the massive rocket launch facility.
Just like with Goldenrod City in Johto, getting into the Mossdeep Space Center, a vital research institute in the Hoenn region, was a big problem. However, in his current situation, the problem wasn't too big for Ace.
"Gengar, I'm counting on you."
Ace sent out Gengar, gave it some instructions, and then had it Mega Evolve.
Gengar nodded at Ace, and its body slowly disappeared into a dimensional rift. After Mega Evolution, Gengar's stealth was even more powerful than before. And its move during the battle with the Elite Four, where it used a dimensional rift to absorb a curse and then transfer it to Slowbro, was something even Ace hadn't expected.
Now, with the nature of its dimensional rifts, Gengar was able to sneak into the institute without much effort. It no longer needed to move through shadows; as long as Gengar wished, it could open a dimensional rift in any room of the building.
"Remember, Gengar, first go look for rocket fuel. Life Force is a type of energy, so it's most likely being used as fuel."
After roaming the entire space center, Gengar recalled Ace's words and, in a flash, arrived at the space center's fuel room. This was where the rocket fuel was stored. The walls were thick and the room was well-sealed. Before it Mega Evolved, Gengar would have found it difficult to get in unless it followed someone.
The warehouse was filled with liquid and solid rocket fuels, but it was too difficult for Gengar to distinguish if any of them contained Life Force. Relying on its instincts, Gengar searched the shelves and quickly found something out of place.
It was a metal sphere. Compared to the other solid and liquid rocket fuels, this thing was clearly odd.
And odd was exactly what it was supposed to be!
Seeing this, Gengar opened its mouth, swallowed the metal sphere, and then quickly left the fuel room, returning to Ace's side outside.
"Did you get it?"
The Mega Evolution wore off, and the now-normal Gengar dug around in its stomach, then handed two items to Ace.
"Two?"
Ace was stunned. A metal sphere he could understand, but a small piece of a fossil of unknown composition left him bewildered.
Fossils at a rocket launch center?
But Gengar quickly cleared up Ace's confusion. It had obtained this fossil from the Devon Corporation last time, but had forgotten about it in its stomach. This time, it took it out to give to Ace.
After understanding the context, Ace turned his attention back to the metal sphere. Placing a metal sphere in a fuel room was indeed strange. Ace quickly began to examine the metal sphere, but as he looked closer, he realized with frustration that it was a small device containing liquid oxygen and had nothing to do with Life Force!
"My guess was wrong..."
Ace put both items into his utility belt. It was normal to guess wrong; after all, this was just Ace's speculation based on a tiny bit of the manga's plot, so the accuracy wasn't very high.
But this at least eliminated one incorrect location. Mossdeep City had another place: Steven's house. Ace definitely had to go search there. Even if he couldn't find a Key Stone, he wanted to see if there was anything worth his attention.
After recalling Gengar, Ace walked out from his hiding spot. Recalling the directions he had just asked from a passerby, Ace headed towards Steven's residence.
After all, as the Champion of the Hoenn region, his every move attracted a lot of attention. So, Steven's house was easy to find. It was like how even if Ash stayed in Pallet Town, there were still plenty of aspiring Trainers who wanted to challenge him. In their eyes, losing was just losing, since he was the Champion. But if they could somehow pull off a win, they could brag about it for a lifetime.
And right now, Ace was going to play the part of just such an "upstart."
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