Chapter 261 - The Draconid People and Zinnia
Athena reported, "According to our informants within Team Magma, Maxie and his top executives are currently plotting to seize Abyssal One!"
For Team Rocket, infiltrating Team Magma was laughably easy—their internal security measures were riddled with loopholes.
"Then we wait a bit longer," Giovanni said.
"Leader, you mean..."
"Although we don't know what Asahi did to make the Hoenn League strengthen security at Mossdeep Space Center... at such a critical time, the League can't afford to keep wasting its already limited manpower on such a 'non-essential' matter."
Giovanni saw through the situation clearly—if chaos erupted in Hoenn, the League wouldn't be able to spare resources on Mossdeep Space Center.
"Should we take action?" Athena asked.
She wasn't asking because of hesitation—rather, she simply didn't trust Team Magma and Team Aqua's competence.
Giovanni stroked his Persian's head and shook his head. "Maxie and Archie may be idiots... but they can at least handle something this simple."
"Our presence has already been exposed. If we make a move now, it'll only put the Hoenn League on higher alert."
"Besides, we have something even more important to focus on..."
"What is it?" Athena asked.
"Keeping an eye on Asahi!"
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"Achoo!"
Flying high above in the sky on a noticeably rounder Salamence, Asahi suddenly sneezed.
Rubbing his nose, Asahi was puzzled.
A cold? That didn't seem right...
Or was Gary secretly cursing him in his head?
Turning his head, Asahi glanced at Gary, who was fully wrapped up in a heavy-duty protective suit. The way Asahi stared made Gary's skin crawl.
"...What are you looking at?" Gary asked warily.
You couldn't blame him for being on edge—Asahi had a long history of questionable behavior. Just seeing that look on Asahi's face was enough to trigger his fight-or-flight response.
After all, Asahi had always been consistently unreliable when it came to acting like a normal person.
Asahi rubbed his chin and said, "I didn't say anything yet, so why are you so nervous?"
"...You weren't secretly cursing me in your head just now, were you?"
Gary's heart skipped a beat at those words, but on the surface, he retorted, "Why do you always look at me with such prejudice...?"
Just as Asahi was about to respond, Salamence suddenly let out a roar.
Asahi looked up, and after exhaling in relief, Gary followed his gaze.
In the distance, an island appeared over the ocean. On that island stood an immense stone tower, soaring into the sky.
The ancient, weathered structure left Gary, who had never seen such a grand architectural relic before, utterly awestruck.
"It's so tall!"
Then—
Click! Click!
Gary immediately pulled out his phone and started taking pictures.
These photos were priceless—whether for showing off to Professor Oak or flexing in front of Ash later.
At that moment, his previous fear was completely forgotten.
Shaking his head, Asahi patted Salamence and directed it toward Sky Pillar.
---
Sky Pillar - Base of the Tower
Standing before the entrance, Gary sent the pictures he had just taken to Professor Oak and Ash, but his face was filled with confusion.
"Asahi, your Salamence can fly to the top of the tower, right...?"
According to Asahi's research, Rayquaza resided at the very top of Sky Pillar.
From Gary's perspective, since their goal was to capture Rayquaza, they could just fly straight to the top. Why go through the trouble of landing at the entrance?
"Asahi, your logic makes no sense!" Gary protested.
Asahi shook his head.
"Gary, your thinking is all wrong."
Gary: "…?"
Asahi sighed in a let me educate you tone. "Yes, we're here to capture Rayquaza, but at the same time, we need to build a good relationship with it."
"Catching a Legendary Pokémon requires skill. If you just charge in and start a fight, that's not capturing—it's making an enemy!"
"We're League representatives, not some criminal organization like Team Rocket. Every action we take represents the League!"
"So, if there's a front door, of course, we should use it."
Hearing this, Gary muttered under his breath, "But… Didn't the Hoenn League already try capturing Rayquaza using technology? Their image in Rayquaza's eyes is already in the negatives..."
The moment he said it, Gary regretted it.
Crap.
I spoke too fast again.
Blatantly calling out Asahi like this… he was definitely going to suffer some revenge, right?
Just as he was bracing for retaliation, Asahi unexpectedly nodded in agreement.
"You've got a point."
Gary: "???"
Was this really Asahi? Not an impostor?
"But there's another more important reason why I landed here..."
Gary blinked. "What is it?"
Asahi didn't answer. Instead, he raised his hand.
"Salamence—Dragon Pulse!"
Salamence unleashed a deep purple energy wave toward the gate.
Before Gary could react, a female voice suddenly rang out—
"Salamence—Hyper Voice!"
A powerful sonic blast erupted from within the tower, colliding head-on with Dragon Pulse!
The shockwave from the clash shattered the old, weathered stone floor, sending debris flying.
Then, in a blur of motion, two figures dashed forward—two Salamence slammed into each other, locking into a brutal close-range battle!
At the same time, a young girl stepped out from the entrance.
She had short brown hair, wore an earth-toned cape, and had spiral ankle wraps around her feet.
With narrowed eyes, she demanded, "Who are you? Why are you here?!"
Asahi ignored her and instead turned to Gary.
"Now do you see why I landed?"
Back in the sky, he had already sensed an unusual Aura below.
So, to prevent any unexpected disruptions during Rayquaza's capture, he had chosen to land first.
Gary immediately understood, but another question surfaced in his mind.
Who was this girl?
She acted like Sky Pillar was her territory…
Gary voiced his question at just the right moment.
The girl huffed, clearly annoyed. "I asked you first! Who are you, and why have you come to Sky Pillar?"
Asahi still ignored her, turning to Gary instead.
"In the research I gave you, if you actually read it, you should know that there's a group of people who have worshipped and revered Rayquaza for generations."
"They call themselves the Draconid People."
He then finally looked at the girl and said,
"And she is one of them… Isn't that right, Zinnia?"
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